“Whaaat?! Why go to China?” If we got $1 for every time we heard people say this, we would almost be buying a new car by now. We first visited China in 2016 to explore the bigger cities of Shanghai, Xi’an, and Chengdu. Back then, our first son was just under 2 years old, and we were family travel newbies. We returned home with a great impression of China and always had plans to come back and explore this humongous country.
Zhangjiajie National Park – The Avatar Inspiring Landscape and Yangshuo Karst Mountains have always been in our travel bucket lists. Also, ancient towns of Fenghuang and Furong have been lurking in our Instagram algorithm!
So here are the things we did during our two-week China trip:
Day 1-2: HONG KONG
Last time we were here, Tara was 8 months pregnant with our eldest son, almost 10 years ago! Hong Kong is famous for being a shoppers’ paradise, so of course, we had to check out Harbour City Mall, K11 Musea Mall, and the Mongkok area. But our boys’ favourite was Sham Shui Po Toy Street!
After enough retail therapy, we headed out to Nan Lian Garden and the adjacent Chi Lin Nunnery for some tranquil time. It was a great escape from all the crowds.
A visit to Hong Kong is not complete without trying out the Cha chaan teng-style cafes. Most of these places only accept cash, so be prepared! We loved our time at Red Tea and Australia Dairy Co., trying out their well-loved dishes like ham & macaroni soup, French toast, and (somehow…) the best scrambled eggs we’ve ever had!
Day 3: GUILIN
We then took the bullet train from Hong Kong West Kowloon Station to Guilin West Station, a journey of 4 hours.
The immigration process at the station was smooth, and boarding the train was also a seamless process. Very civilized without anyone cutting lines!
Our hotel (Aroma Tea House) was quite central, so we explored Guilin mainly on foot to see the Elephant Trunk Hill, walk around the lake, and see the Twin Pagodas lit up at night. We were pleasantly surprised by how clean the streets were and how almost all vehicles are electric.
Over the next few days, we hired a private guide and driver named Jerry we found via TripAdvisor.
Day 4-5: YANGSHUO
A 2-hour drive from Guilin is the famous Yangshuo area (the area where all the picturesque karst mountains are).
First, we stopped by Xingping town to take the 4-seater Li River motorized bamboo raft. The journey took about 1 hour, and it was just breathtaking! We absolutely had the most perfect blue-sky day here. Then we hiked up 500 steps to Xianggong mountain to see even more spectacular views.
Afterwards we continued with the traditional 2-seater Yulong River bamboo rafting, also lasting 1hour. We got wet during some of the river drops, which the boys loved.
We ended the night watching a Chinese show called Impression of Sanjie Liu. Honestly, we have not read what the show is about. With over 600 performers it was quite beautiful to watch and directed by the same guy who directed the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games opening ceremony.
The second day, we went to the newly opened Ruyi Peak for its glass bridge and cable car ride. We were truly impressed with China’s architectural innovation. It serves as a great example of how thoughtful engineering and nature can coexist in perfect harmony, creating a landscape that is as breathtaking as it is inspiring.
Surprisingly, our highlight in Yangshuo was hiring an electric motorbike (with a sidecar)! It wasn’t something we initially planned to do. But we couldn’t resist exploring the pretty riverside rice fields (no cars allowed). We soaked in the scenery at our own pace, even stopping for a coffee break.
Our second night ended with a beautiful display of fireworks at Yangshuo Zen Garden resort hotel, and I participated in a tea ceremony and meridian conditioning as a complementary service from the hotel. What Tara initially thought was a remedial massage turned out to be an hour long of traditional whacking/slapping from my head all the way down to my toes. A very painful experience she shall never have again lol.
Day 6: LONGJI
Saying goodbye to Yangshuo was hard. But we had to move on to Longji rice terrace area, which is a 2.5-hour drive away. We visited Jinkeng Terraced Fields inside the Dazhai Village. The fields were massive, way bigger than the ones in Bali. It even has its own cable car! Best of all, no annoying swings or loud clubs here.
We continued on to Pingan rice terrace (where our hotel is also located) to see the famous lookout points. We then hiked all the way down the terrace, which our boys loved as we spotted frogs, tadpoles, and water spiders.
Day 7: FENGHUANG
It was a 5-hour drive to reach the ancient city of Fenghuang, and we are officially in Hunan province now. We were impressed with the Chinese highways and even more with the Chinese gas station/rest area. Everything is impeccably clean, even the toilets!
We arrived just in time for a late lunch and wandered around on foot. This ancient town is so well-preserved; we felt like we have gone back centuries in time. Yes, it looks just like in old-time Chinese drama series! It was so peaceful in the daytime; however, come nighttime, it was absolutely PACKED with local group tours wanting to see the town lit up and ladies dressing up in traditional costumes for a photo shoot.
Day 8: FURONG
Only a 1.5-hour drive, and we finally reach Furong ancient town. Famous all over Instagram for its waterfalls, it surely lives up to our expectations. It is a very small ancient town and easily explored in half a day. The footpaths allow visitors to walk behind the falls. The best view, though, is from the restaurants up above, where we just sat and admired the views till the night light comes on at 6.30 pm.
Day 9-12: ZHANGJIEJIE
A 2-hour drive from Furong, and we finally arrived at Wulingyuan – the gateway town to Zhangjiejie national park. Here we said goodbye to our guide Jerry as he passed us on to his friend, Eric Denny, a private guide in Zhangjiajie.
Firstly, we must say using a guide was the BEST decision as the national park is HUGE with lots of SECRET SPOTS and the park is not English-friendly. We surely would have gotten lost and wasted so much time in the park having to navigate the long walks/bus system/minivan/buggy/elevator and cable car system. It is complex!
Our guide, Eric, was able to streamline the process for us, pre-booking all the necessary tickets to avoid the big crowds and the local tour groups.
On the first day, we saw Tianzishan Mountain and Yuanjiajie (Avatar mountain) area, and this was a full 10-hour day! We also went on the Bailong elevator (world’s tallest outdoor elevator), which was absolutely mind-blowing. Again, just impressed with China’s architectural marvels.
The following days we visited the other parts of the national park; Yellow stone village (HuangshiZhai), which has the largest viewing deck – but view-wise not as stunning. We also did the Baofeng lake cruise and the famous Zhangjiejie Grand Canyon glass bridge (China’s longest glass bridge).
Our Tianmen mountain visit was unfortunately done on a rather foggy day, so views of the famous mountain hole were obstructed. But luckily, we still managed to see the famous 99 bends road via China’s longest cable car. Since we did not feel like going down 999 steps in the rain and fog, we went down the mountain via China’s longest escalator totalling 897 meters!
Booking.comDay 13-16: SHANGHAI
By the time we reached Shanghai, we were running out of gas!
We arrived in Shanghai just after 1am due to domestic flight schedule changes. Worse still we didn’t get a proper rest the next few nights because our hotel set all rooms central air conditioning at a very warm (and not adjustable) 27 degrees Celsius! Why so warm?!
After spending over a week in the smaller towns, we were glad to be back in a big city with modern tall buildings, western-style coffees, and we even snuck in some Western meals! lol.
The last 1.5 days of this trip we spent at Shanghai Disneyland. All we can say, even though we went on a weekday, it was incredibly busy. And Shanghai Disneyland is HUGE. It is bigger than 2 Disneyland Paris parks combined! And yes, it’s the biggest Disneyland in Asia!
Booking.comAIRFARES
We booked this trip with Singapore Airlines about five months in advance. We paid $4,300 for the 4 of us. Tickets to Japan for the same travel period (Easter school holidays) with the same airline would have cost us $4,000 extra. So still no Japan trip yet!
ACCOMMODATION
This time, all our stays were in a hotel or small boutique hotel with a family room consisting of 2 double beds or 4 single beds booked via Booking.com and Agoda.
Our Hong Kong hotel, Park Hotel, was the most expensive at $381 per night!! But the location was great, and it was relatively spacious (for Hong Kong standard).
Otherwise, hotels in China are way cheaper. On average, we paid $203 per night. Hotel rooms in China are generally spacious.
GETTING AROUND
In Hong Kong, we relied on Uber (which still uses the local Red & White taxi fleet) and MTR to get around. Note: at the airport arrival, Hong Kong taxis only accept CASH!
Using private driver/guide in China simplified our transport arrangements. From our stay in Guilin to Zhangjiejie we travelled with our guide Jerry in his BYD electric car. His service fees include his EV charging and his accommodation costs.
While in Zhangjiajie our guide Eric Denny and his team took us from one place to the next. His service fees include entry to the national parks.
In Shanghai, we didn’t bother with public transport and relied 100% on Didi (Uber equivalent in China). It’s super-duper cheap, with most 10-minute rides costing $5.
Booking.comFOOD & DRINKS
This is our first-time visiting China where we actually enjoyed the food. There are so many varieties of food from one region to the next. Having translation apps like Papago and with the help of our local guide made food selection much easier.
We enjoyed vegetarian dishes when we were there. Especially the unique variety of mushrooms and eggplants!
We did get a bit too confident after a week. We accidentally ordered the tofu soup with… weatherfish Chinese loach! Hilarious when we look back on it, not delicious at the time. At least it wasn’t the salamander!!
IS CHINA SAFE?
ABSOLUTELY! We feel it has become super safe with CCTV monitoring in the main streets. In Shanghai, policemen could be seen patrolling touristy areas like Nanjing Road. We never had to worry about safety in China.
WOULD WE GO BACK?
ABSOLUTELY! Since returning from China, we have been bragging about it to our friends. There are plenty of great airfare deals at the time of writing (April 2024) to bring tourists back. China is also bringing back visa free travel for residents of some countries like Singapore, Malaysia, and Germany.
China is HUGE, and we look forward to visiting other regions in the future.
