'China Travel: What To See' ↓

Nanjing is one of the four great ancient capitals of China. It is also the second largest commercial center in the East China region, behind Shanghai.

My friend says the city is a cheap copy of Shanghai, with construction sites everywhere, even in the city centre. In the underground train, you can find parents with children wearing open trousers in tow - a scene you probably won’t see in Shanghai. So if you want to see a Chinese city of mid-level of development, and see a bit of Chinese culture and history, you probably should come to Nanjing.

I must say, Nanjing is not very exciting. But Nangjing is a popular tourist destination for Chinese tourists, because of some historic and cultural sites. And the city wall and the interspersed lakes do add to the charm of the city.

Here’s some travel info inside the city:

Bus No.1 runs from Confucius Temple all the way northward to the train station - every one or two minutes. 2 RMB fare for an air-conditioned bus, and 1RMB without air-condition. This is the city’s most popular and frequent bus line.

Nanjing’s train station is impressive, like an airport, very moden and new. In front of the train station lies a lake and some relaxing areas. “Probably the train station is the most impressive of all in Nanjing,” my friend said, who just visited the city.

Anji is about 1.5 hour bus ride from Hangzhou. It is China’s biggest bamboo forest. The film Couching Tiger Hidden Draggon was shot there. Remember the beautiful martial art scenes taking place in a bamboo forest? It is there, in Anji.

There are two bamboo-related spots in Anji. Don’t get confused. One is the forest itself. To visit, you pay 20 yuan for the entrance ticket.  Another is a man-made bamboo museum, with performance, display, etc. The entrance ticket to this Zhu Bo Yuan (Bamboo Museum) costs about 75 yuan. I didn’t go to the museum - it looked too artificial and touristic for me. The forest (Da Zhu Hai) was my destination.

Da Zhu Hai is not as great as I imagined. It was a good walk, though, in the shadow of bamboos, and listening to the wind wisphering to the trees. The authority is planning to have cable cars here and a hotel is being built in the forest area. I hope Anji bamboo forest won’t become a tourist trap too soon, like other tourist attractions in China.

At the entrance to the forest, some locals sell ready-to-eat spicy bamboo shoots. 2 yuan for a cup. Very delicious!

To go to Anji, take a bus from Hangzhou’s northern bus station. Buses depart every hour. The fare is 23 yuan. When you get to the Anj bus station after a 1.5 hour drive, take another bus at the same bus station to the bamboo forest. Fare is 4 yuan. The journey takes about 30 minutes. Don’t get surprised if you have to leave the bus and be picked up by a broken mini-bus half way. You don’t pay extra for the pickup, though.

There are guesthouses and restaruants run by local farmers about five-minute walk from the entrance to the forest. The people living in the forest area and in the town of anji are among the friendliest people I’ve ever met in China!

A local woman I met outside the entrace to the forest, invited me to her home, offering me “white tea”, a local variety of tea, and telling me stories of her family. I initially thought she wanted to sell me stuff. But it turned out that she was just being friendly and hospitable. My friend said, hey you are Chinese, how come you do’t know if the people are friendly or just want to cheat you? Well, the fact is I really cannot distinguish. Human nature is too complex for me to gauge.

On the heels of the plum blossoms in Februray, come the cheery blossoms in March/early April. It is breathtakingly beautiful, especially in the lake area. Nice weather. Splendid flower season.

Plums bloom when winter transitions into spring. That is about February through early March. You can see the splendour of plum blossoms in their red, pink and white across the whole valley in the Botanical Garden in the city of Hangzhou. End of winter/early spring is the perfect time to see the city.

The month of May is the time Pipa fruit ripens in southern China. I joined a local tour to Tangxi near Hangzhou (about one-hour bus) to pick pipa. You don’t ususally see pipa in the West, and it seems to me that not many people in the east know it either. I was glad that I had chance to taste it.

What is the taste like? If it is a good one, pipa is pretty sweet and tastes fresh and good, but it means that your hands are all sticky from the sweet afterward.