The China List
(Mum and Jane with the Pudong skyline at night: Shanghai, China)
To organise my thoughts on our trip, I thought I’d put a list together of all the things Mum and Jane had seen and done for the first time during the trip. For some of these, it was my first time too – but half of them I have already done and seen. If anyone has any additions, just comment and I shall add them in (within reason). So, to begin -
We have visited:
The fastest train in the world (the Maglev in Shanghai up to 431 kph)
The largest public square in the world (Tiananmen)
A 26m tall Buddha statue carved from one block of sandalwood
The highest observation deck in the world
The tallest building in China (and the light speed lift! Well, 80 metres per second)
Two of the four most Famous gardens in China (Summer Palace and Lingering Garden)
Chairman Mao’s mausoleum
The longest wall in the world
At least seven UNESCO world heritage sites including the Forbidden City, the Great Wall, two classical gardens of Suzhou, the Ming tombs, the Summer Palace gardens and the Temple of Heaven
For the sisters, it was their first time:
Visiting China (and all the places listed above)
Eating Hotpot / Steamboat, Sushi, Squirrel fish, fresh dumplings, Beijing (Peking) Duck
Seeing the Jinji Lake flame fountain laser show
Having a Chinese foot massage
Buying themselves sets of real pearls at Pearl City
Having a Chinese silk jacket tailored for them
On a sleeper train
Hearing Ping Tan opera
Seeing live animals in the supermarket
In a ‘fake’ market
The ‘inadvertent’ bribe. Don’t ask.
Using a crouching toilet pan
Eating a 12+ course dinner
Having a Chinese medical consultation
That’s all I can think of just now but there must be more. It was an amazing trip and I hope they enjoyed it as much as I did – maybe more? I stressed out a bit, so hopefully they’re experience was generally more relaxed!
I think that you have forgotten the “light speed” elevator in the bottle opener.
Perhaps the fake market too, also inadvertently giving a bribe to queue jump, eating at one of the poshest restaurants in Beijing, mastering (or nearly) the lack of a sit down toilet. The list is endless, having a consultation with a chinese herbal doctor, taking more taxis in a fortnight than I have in the rest of my life. It was such a great holiday many thanks to both you and Ying for making it very special. xx
Just added these to the list – I forgot all those – phew! We packed it in…