China Trip

At the beginning of the holiday, Nonsuch HP was lucky enough to be part of the 2011 trip to China. It was a fantastic adventure, covering a huge range of experiences from the historic Forbidden City in Beijing to the bustle and glamour of Shanghai's skyscrapers. Here's a brief outline of some of the things that we did:

Beijing
Monday: Fly in from Heathrow via Dubai, check in to Hotel, street life in Beijing while en route to dinner and supermarket!



Tuesday: Great Wall of China (Badaling section), Jade workshop, Summer Palace, Olympic Stadium, Roast Duck Dinner



Wednesday: Queue for Chairman Mao's mausoleum, Tiananmnen Square, Forbidden City, Pearls Display (and supermarket!), Temple of Heaven, serious shopping in the market, railway station for Xian

Xian


Thursday: Overnight train to Xian, check in to 5 star hotel, cycling on city walls, lunch and art gallery, Big Goose Pagoda (Buddhist temple), Grand Mosque, Dumpling Dinner and Tang Dynasty show (traditional singing and dancing, etc)

Friday: Terracotta Warriors and museum, lunch, visit workshop to see reproduction of warriors in clay, Xian station for trip to Suzhou


Suzhou
Saturday: Overnight train, breakfast in Suzhou park (joining elderly residents with their Tai Chi!), Humble Administrator's garden, flower and animal market, lunch, check in to hotel, visit silk factory, canalside walk through traditional Pingjiang district and visit to Pingjiang lodge, dinner in teahouse and night time show in the Master of the Nets garden.



Shanghai
Sunday: Bus from Suzhou to Qiandeng canal district, visit temple and ride on canal boat. Arrive in Shanghai and lunch in Date Tree vegetarian restaurant. Visit Shanghai Urban Planning exhibition hall (including huge model of the city). Check in to Holiday Inn, dinner then river cruise to see Shanghai at night.







Monday: Bus tour of Pudong skyscrapers, walking tour along Bund. Dim Sum lunch, tea ceremony and shopping in Yuyuan Bazaar. Walk through French quarter then return to hotel. Farewell dinner then visit to Shanghai gallery of Modern Art and rooftop bar on Number 3, the Bund with spectacular views.



Tuesday: Early rise, drive to the airport and home to Heathrow with brief Starbucks stop in Dubai.

As you can see we were kept pretty busy! Many thanks to Ms Hartley for organising the trip and to Greg Stoneham and his team for guiding us so expertly. If trip members think something has been left out, please let us know.