Global warming is affecting it, though. One tourist got killed by a big chunk of ice that dropped from one of the famous ice sculptures.
Global warming is affecting it, though. One tourist got killed by a big chunk of ice that dropped from one of the famous ice sculptures.[/quote]
God Journalists!! Harbin- gers of bad news. 
Divea, the bad jokes thread is in another forum.
India is huge and diverse, and every day will bring at least one moment of pure magic. So will Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam etc.
All the time I spent living, working and traveling in China I was waiting for one magic moment to come. Just one.
Fail.
Yes China is big and yes it is interesting in a way, but no magic. Ever. For me it will never anything more than a place to work and make money, and rush away from as soon as work is done. I would go to any other country in Asia to travel but never again China.[/quote]
Well then itās your attitude that may be holding you backā¦or you are looking for a true developing countryās environment, which China is not anymore.
I know, but you post real good jokes there. What is a girl to do? 
[quote=āheadhonchoIIā]
Well then itās your attitude that may be holding you backā¦or you are looking for a true developing countryās environment, which China is not anymore.[/quote]
Yes, it must be me. Couldnāt be anything wrong with China. 
Let me put it in terms even you shouldnāt be able to argue with. I have tried traveling in China and didnāt enjoy it for a variety of reasons. I enjoyed a lot of other countries in Asia far more, I think they are better value for money and because of that, I wouldnāt personally spend a moment of time in China that I wasnāt being paid for. Your mileage may vary.
You traveled in China and liked it. Good for you.
I lived, worked and traveled there and basically hated it. Iāve lived and traveled all over Asia for nearly 30 years now and would rather vacation / travel anywhere except China. We have different opinions but I do not tell you that you are wrong. Tell me Iām wrong one more time and Iāll come choke your pet panda to death. 
That sounds a bit mad, redwagon. 
Yes, and telling people with differing opinions that they are wrong sounds very Chinese.
Where are you from, if you donāt mind me asking?
India is huge and diverse, and every day will bring at least one moment of pure magic. So will Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam etc.
All the time I spent living, working and traveling in China I was waiting for one magic moment to come. Just one.
Fail.
Yes China is big and yes it is interesting in a way, but no magic. Ever. For me it will never anything more than a place to work and make money, and rush away from as soon as work is done. I would go to any other country in Asia to travel but never again China.[/quote]
I guess it comes down to where exactly you went in China. Iāve been to over half the provinces in the mainland and, yes, the vast majority of those places were absolute shitholes. There is absolutely nothing to recommend in places like Guangxi or Shandong. I hope I never have to pack into another smelly, dangerous sleeper bus and take a 15-hour bus ride through the night from one industrial city to another and spend hours looking for a cheap hotel (15-20RMB per night) that admitted foreigners.
But Iāve had mindblowing experiences in places like southern Guizhou province, where I visited a fireworks festival that made the Yanshui firework festival look like a pathetic joke; or a three day bus ride heading west from Kangding into southern Qinghai province, where I saw some pretty awesome high plateau scenery and met all sorts of interesting Tibetan people who freely talked about Tibetan independence and the Dalai Lama with me (something I imagine wouldnāt happen in the Tibet āSARā); or hanging out for a few days with a traveling performance troupe that was doing old-fashiony burlesque shows in rural Yunnan.
Will I ever have a similar experience again? Itād be nice. Iād love to be able to take two months off and explore the border area between Xinjiang and Kazakhstan with some fancy camera gear by myself, but for various logistical reasons Iām not seeing that happening. And if I had a week vacation, Iād probably just hop on a plane to anywhere in SE Asia.
[quote=āalidarbacā]
Will I ever have a similar experience again? Itād be nice. Iād love to be able to take two months off and explore the border area between Xinjiang and Kazakhstan with some fancy camera gear by myself, but for various logistical reasons Iām not seeing that happening. And if I had a week vacation, Iād probably just hop on a plane to anywhere in SE Asia.[/quote]
Forget Xinjiang. Kyrgyzstan is where itās at.
How about a two week bike tour around Kyrgyzstan? I had a look at this link and it got me dreamingā¦
that cycle tour looks real good
Redwagon, you are putting words in my mouth. You are the one claiming China is crap this and crap that so you are setting yourself up for a rebuttal. Anybody knows thatās absurd for such a huge country with 1000s of years of history and culture. People come from all over the world to visit China.
I am not remotely Chinese but I appreciated all these things on my short visits there (all for business so far). Itās great being able to speak Chinese and interact with the locals in their own language, rather than bad English in the rest of Asia, also being able to read their signs and some of their inscriptions on their monuments. I landed in a place called āJiuZhaiGouā once by accident, that place is really pristine looking in a way that nothing in Taiwan is and still has Tibetan herdsmen in the park area.
You prefer the more undeveloped regions, so itās your personal preferences. I on the other hand believe modern China does have some interesting things going on (both good and bad) and I enjoy to see that aspect too.
Well, if you were fluent in Thai or Vietnamese you would have a far better time in those countries too. China may be nice enough in parts, but the politics of the country suck (and therefore a lot of your interactions with people and places). Why go to a police state for fun? I mean, Yemen and Sudan also have thousands of years of culture and a fascinating history and lots of exciting and different things to see and do, but you wouldnāt catch me going to either one of them in a pink fit.
If itās Chinese culture you want, go to Taiwan, or Hong Kong, or even San Francisco! 
Politics is one thing but to say you donāt visit a place because you donāt like itās politics, thatās a bit strong. Letās rule out USSR for 50 years, most of the Middle East, vast swathes of Africa and probably America for lots of Europeans. Visit the place first and then make a decision. I have had very interesting discussions with Chinese, even about Falun Gong, totally unsolicited but only when they were on their own. We canāt blame regular people for government suppression.
As a interesting corollary, try debating about the Thai king in Thailand, or having a drink and wearing a skirt in Muslim Aceh, or even getting a drink in Egypt these days, see what happens.
Of course personally I like to visit other parts of Asia too and regularly do. I find China more similar to Korea and Taiwan and Japan than to SE Asia. That is another reason not to lump it in with SE Asia, it is more similar to a developed country in many respects now.
Well, if you were fluent in Thai or Vietnamese you would have a far better time in those countries too. China may be nice enough in parts, but the politics of the country suck (and therefore a lot of your interactions with people and places). Why go to a police state for fun? I mean, Yemen and Sudan also have thousands of years of culture and a fascinating history and lots of exciting and different things to see and do, but you wouldnāt catch me going to either one of them in a pink fit.
If itās Chinese culture you want, go to Taiwan, or Hong Kong, or even San Francisco! [/quote]
I dunno if youāve been to China, Urodacus. but it is China, not just red lanterns and bland dumplings. The people are people, courageous, hardworking and simple folk. You may not like it, which is fine. But to say it is akin Yemen is illogical. Even if it is, the OP does not want to fly far off to Sudan and Yemen.
I mean if you say politics, the UK has monarchy not tto mention its colonial past, the US is policing other states, India has the caste system, Indonesia and Malaysia are muslim states, So is the middle east, Africa has tribal wars, Australia was very unfair to its nativesā¦yada yada yada.
If you want diversity go to India. But if you WANT to go to China, you have plenty to experience. Wasnāt this a travel question???What has politics got to do with it. From what I know leaders of all democracies have very fond memories of travelling in China!
I agree with uro. Iām glad I visited China, but ā¦ it could have been SO much better if they hadnāt wrecked everything.
The historical sites were all painted with the same colour paint. Give me a real temple in Taiwan or HK, any day.
At the end of the day, the leadership are scumbags. Melamine scandal covering, prisoner executing, Taiwan bullying pricks. Why give them your tourist cash too?
[quote]it could have been SO much better if they hadnāt wrecked everything.
[/quote]
Itās either your own govt. or somebody elseās who comes in and wrecks everything. Thatās what Govts do.
Yes, but I think our governments are less revolting than Chinaās.
heheheehehe we and ours is better than them and theirs. Whatever. I rest my case.