Travel Tuesdays 7: China

So, Tuesday seems to have crept up on me again…

For today’s post, I’ll talk about China. I lived in China for two years (from 2014-2016) and had a few chances to travel to various places within my province (Henan) as well as further afield. 

I lived in Zhengzhou, which was one of the ancient capitals of China. Despite feeling like the city was too big, crowded and dirty, there were lovely places to be found, where you could find some culture and pretend to step back in time for a while.

Near Zhengzhou are the cities of Luoyang, Kaifeng and the Shaolin temple – the birthplace of Kung fu! All are very much worth a visit, where you can get a taste of ancient China (and meet some interesting monks, in the case of the Shaolin temple.) 

The scenery in Henan province is also quite impressive. I really enjoyed taking some trips to the mountains, for a bit of fresh air -although it’s difficult to find peace and tranquility in such a highly populated area of China!

Further afield, I found Beijing to be a great place to visit. Of course, the highlight for me by far was the Great Wall, where you can merrily wander along and delight in the surrounding scenery for miles around.

The Terracotta Warriors in Xian are not to be missed! It’s so interesting looking at how different each warrior is, thinking about how long it would have taken to make all of these little people and what a surprise it would have been for the farmer that came across them after they’d been buried deep underground for hundreds of years!

Another favourite place of mine is Hong Kong. I found the city to be vibrant, fun and full of character! 

The last place I want to write about in this post is Hainan, a small island in the very south of China. It’s nicknamed the “Hawaii of China” because of its year-round warm temperatures and lovely beaches. I went there during the winter and really enjoyed the chance to sunbathe on the beach while it was so freezing in the north! However, I’m sure the real Hawaii is slightly cleaner than Hainan…