So you want to see the real China then? Well read on for a bit of decent advice into how to properly dip your toes into the world's largest country by population. One thing you need to know first is that visiting Shanghai and Beijing are not really visiting China. The reason is these places now have street signs in English, an influx of foreign workers and they are well connected with internet, telephone and all modern communications. To see the real China you need to avoid those two big cities and get out into the obscure countryside where China breathes the way it really lives.
I'm talking about mainland China here - not Hong Kong, not Macau, not Taiwan. I'll also take Tibetout of the equation as it's a separate political matter but the real China is also mainland China. From my endless visits to China, I list Shanghai and Beijing as the worst two cities or places to go in order to see China. They are on a level with Hong Kong and Singapore as global cities these days. With Italian restaurants, Irish pubs and French bakeries in those cities, they somehow seem a bit less authentically Chinese nowadays. You need to head to places where there is not a hint of anything thatis not Chinese. Get completely off the beaten track!
Until you have sat down in an unknown village, eaten food that you don't even know what it is, stranded miles from any city you have even heard of and with no foreign writing in sight, or any foreigners, then you really haven't yet experienced China!
So get off the beaten track to see the real China. If you experience these things then you are really in China:
1. No-one is sight speaks a word of English, some of them only speak a local dialect which isn't even Chinese Mandarin!
2. You get totally lost on a bus and end up stranded.
3. You see more chickens than cars in the village you are in.
4. There are no mobile phones or internet connections anywhere.
5. Nothing on sign posts is written in any language other than Chinese.
6. You don't have a clue what was in the food you just ate!
If you've ticked those 6, then congratulations you have seen the real China! If you haven't, please grab a bit of what you're missing, you will love China. China is the world's largest country by population and the travel possibilities are completely and utterly endless. China surprises me on every visit. It actually astounds me that in the list of the world's leading travel bloggers, loads of them either haven't been to China, or have only been to Beijing, the Great Wall or Shanghai. Get out and see China - it's an amazing place.
I'm talking about mainland China here - not Hong Kong, not Macau, not Taiwan. I'll also take Tibetout of the equation as it's a separate political matter but the real China is also mainland China. From my endless visits to China, I list Shanghai and Beijing as the worst two cities or places to go in order to see China. They are on a level with Hong Kong and Singapore as global cities these days. With Italian restaurants, Irish pubs and French bakeries in those cities, they somehow seem a bit less authentically Chinese nowadays. You need to head to places where there is not a hint of anything thatis not Chinese. Get completely off the beaten track!
Until you have sat down in an unknown village, eaten food that you don't even know what it is, stranded miles from any city you have even heard of and with no foreign writing in sight, or any foreigners, then you really haven't yet experienced China!
So get off the beaten track to see the real China. If you experience these things then you are really in China:
1. No-one is sight speaks a word of English, some of them only speak a local dialect which isn't even Chinese Mandarin!
2. You get totally lost on a bus and end up stranded.
3. You see more chickens than cars in the village you are in.
4. There are no mobile phones or internet connections anywhere.
5. Nothing on sign posts is written in any language other than Chinese.
6. You don't have a clue what was in the food you just ate!
If you've ticked those 6, then congratulations you have seen the real China! If you haven't, please grab a bit of what you're missing, you will love China. China is the world's largest country by population and the travel possibilities are completely and utterly endless. China surprises me on every visit. It actually astounds me that in the list of the world's leading travel bloggers, loads of them either haven't been to China, or have only been to Beijing, the Great Wall or Shanghai. Get out and see China - it's an amazing place.
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For more authorative articles like Backpacking in China visit Jonny Blair's global travel site Don't Stop Living - a lifestyle of travel for more tips and advice.
