At the end of October, a group of us took a 10 day trip to China! China has always been on my bucket list, mostly for the Great Wall, and I was so excited to finally check this country off my list! I had talked to many friends before visiting China and had received mixed responses on the country. Many summed it up by calling a visit to China, “an experience.” Truthfully, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect prior to visiting, but I was sure it would be an interesting trip. I can safely say that if you are on the fence about traveling to China, I would definitely go! We had some hits and misses, but overall, we loved our visit! Since I have a lot to share from our trip, I will be splitting up our itinerary into two parts. Here is part one of our itinerary of how we spent 10 days in China!
While discussing traveling to China, we toyed with the idea of traveling on our own, as we typically do. However, getting around China seemed a bit more daunting due to the language barrier and cultural differences. My mom ended up finding an amazing Travelzoo deal for a guided trip to China with UTO Vacation that was mostly all-inclusive (i.e. flight, hotels, many activities, and some meals). Due to the amazing price, we couldn’t pass it up! Although we aren’t normally into group tours, I am actually very glad that we had a guided tour for our first visit to China. I do think it would be difficult, but not impossible, to do on your own. If you are planning to visit China on your own, I would recommend booking tour guides at many destinations.
Another thing to keep in mind: if you go on a guided tour, be prepared that you will likely stop at many shops where you are encouraged to buy. This is how they subsidize the tour cost. We visited many different factories and shops, including a jade museum, silk factory, and embroidery shop. In general, we enjoyed learning about the various topics and didn’t feel pressured to buy. The sales teams will leave you alone if you don’t seem interested.
Beijing: Day 1-3
We started off our trip to China in the capital city of Beijing! I had heard mixed reviews on Beijing, with most people commenting on the crowds and horrible smog. While our plane was arriving in Beijing, we could barely see out the windows and were worried that the smog would be terrible! However, the next morning we woke up to clear, smog-free skies, which continued during our stay in Beijing. Maybe we got lucky, but I have heard that the smog tends to be better in the fall season. You may want to keep that in mind if you’re planning a trip!
We stayed at the Chun Hui Yuan Resort, which was lovely but located far outside of the city. Due to the location, we found that it would be very difficult to get into the city on our own as it wasn’t located near the metro stations. This meant that we ended up doing all of the optional excursions while we were in Beijing as we weren’t sure how we could explore on our own. If you are on a guided tour, be aware that the hotels will likely be located outside of the city center.
Forbidden City
On our first full day in Beijing, we visited two of the “must-see” sights in the city, the Forbidden City and the Summer Palace. While I was doing research on Beijing, these two spots popped up everywhere! They should definitely both be visited on a trip to Beijing, whether you go on your own or with a tour!
We visited the Forbidden City first, and I would definitely recommend only doing this with a guide. It was incredibly crowded and chaotic, and we would have had no idea how to get around if we weren’t with a guide. It is a historical site that served as the home of emperors for many years – as such, there is a lot of interesting history to be learned about the complex. We were especially fascinated by the history of the concubines.
Summer Palace
After visiting the Forbidden City, we toured the Summer Palace. As the name suggests, the Summer Palace was where the emperors would go to spend the summer months. It’s a very large complex and is quite beautiful, with a large lake to walk around and various gardens and temples. I wish we had more time to explore the whole property – we were only able to see a small fraction of it. If you come on your own, give yourself a few hours to walk around and take in the sights. It does get very crowded here, so try to come earlier or later in the day to beat the majority of the crowds.
Outfit Details:
Fall was surprisingly warm in China, so most days I opted to wear dresses. On this day, as we were visiting a few historical sites, I opted to cover up a bit more. I wore a pair of olive pants (similar) and a white bodysuit with a grey cardigan (similar). For the accessories, I added a fall-toned scarf (also seen here) and a cognac purse (similar). These canvas sneakers are ones I wore several times on the trip as they are so comfortable!
The Great Wall
The next day was our last day in Beijing (we only had two full days there). On the itinerary was our visit to the Great Wall! As I said before, the Great Wall was the main reason why I wanted to visit China, and it definitely lived up to my expectations! We only visited a small piece of the Great Wall, but it was still magnificent!
It was absolutely incredible to walk along the Great Wall and to imagine what it would have been like to patrol it back in the day. If you are visiting the Great Wall, be prepared for how difficult it is to climb. The stairs can be incredibly steep, and as it is built into the mountainside, it goes straight up! Definitely not for the faint of heart! I am scared of heights, and had a bit of difficulty at times, but it was definitely doable!
Outfit Details:
My floral red maxi dress is from Lulus, but is mostly sold out. This dress from Asos also looks great! I paired the dress with a white denim jacket and my favorite pair of white sneakers. Perhaps not the most practical outfit for climbing the Great Wall, but the dress was flowy and comfortable!
These were the highlights of our visit to Beijing! All in all, we loved our time in Beijing and it certainly exceeded my expectations. We found the city to be so much cleaner and safer than we had expected, based solely off of what others have said of Beijing.
Suzhou: Day 4-5
Shanghai
After our time in Beijing, we hopped on a quick flight to Shanghai to explore the other part of the country. We flew to Shanghai in the morning and then drove into town to walk around the Bund. Shanghai felt a lot like NYC, and is the business hub of the country. We only spent a few hours here on this morning as we were returning again in a few days.
We walked around the nearby streets taking in the sights, including all of the brides and grooms posing for pictures on the streets. In the span of an hour or two, we probably saw around 15 different couples taking engagement/wedding photos! Maybe a local can explain this one to me haha! Then, we grabbed some dumplings and noodles at a nearby stand before hopping back on the bus to drive to our next destination.
Old Town Suzhou
Up next was the town of Suzhou. Suzhou is famous for its canals and is a UNESO World Heritage Site. We spent a few hours walking around the canals and experiencing the local culture. It was definitely a different experience than what we had in the large cities of Beijing and Shanghai, but we loved our time here and getting to see the more “gritty” parts of the city.
Then, our tour guide brought us to the main part of the city where our hotel was located. We stayed at the Pan Pacific Suzhou for one night. We had so much fun wandering around the canals in the evening and experiencing the local night life. The weather was mild and it seemed as if all of the locals were out dancing, singing, and strolling along the canals. After wandering for a while, we went to the nearby Beijiang Restaurant for dinner.
Outfit Details:
My white ruffle hem midi dress is from Abercrombie. It’s sold out in white, but some sizes are still available in other colors. I paired it with a denim jacket and my canvas sneakers.
That’s the recap of the first half of our trip to China! Coming up next will be part two which will include our time in Hangzhou and how we finished out the trip in Shanghai!
