Hi, been in hiatus for quite a long time and now I’m back. Due to current Covid 19 situation and most of us staying at home, cannot go anywhere, travel restricted so what is the best activity rather than to update your almost “bersawang” blog right?
The first question is where to start? My Cambodia blog still pending. But still didn’t get the motivation to continue so I think I will start with new post about my previous trip to China. Actually I’d been to China twice. 1st was in 2015 where I covered Beijing, Xian & Chengdu. 2nd trip was recent one in early 2019 where I covered Shanghai-Harbin-Tianjin.
China for me is a very amazing county, as it is very large… each of the region represents different culture, history and environment. Never had enough to explore this country infact there is one region that I really want to explore, which is Xinjiang. It is located in the northwest of China close to Central Asia (Afghanistan, Kazakhstan), thus resulted in different cultural compared to typical Chinese as the people there are more influenced by Middle East/India tradition. There are lots of Muslim community there too from Turkic Uyghur, Kazakhs and Kyrgyz ethnics. Geographically also mostly like in middle east (uninhabitable deserts, dry glasslands, etc).
Ok2.. I'm being carried away (as usual) and almost out of topic :P Let me take you back to story for the place that I've been rather than the place that "dream to be there but don't know when" :D So we start with my 1st China trip in 2015 to Beijing, Xian & Chengdu. (Hopefully I can still remember the details.. luckily all the photos taken help to walking down the memory lanes)
Preparation
(i) DATE & WEATHER
As ussual, preparation before travel always makes me aroused and excited since I’m a planner type of person. So far I didn’t dare to just walk in and go with the flow to travel especially when travel abroad. Even travel locally, I still make a preparation, what's more if oversea. One of the reason is I usually travel with tight budget and time. So earlier plan is essential to make sure that I didn’t burst my budget or wasted my time. Other reason is security aspect. As a woman and I usually travel with my buddy, Nor (just the two of us, not in the large group) so we need to prepare carefully. We don’t want to end up stranded in foreign land late at night due to miss the transport or got lost, etc....
If u follow my previous post, U will know that I will always covered as much places as I could when visited each country. If mentioned China, Beijing is definitely the city you should visit right? Not only as a Capital of China, who don't want to miss The Great Wall, one of World's 7 Wonder and Forbidden City where the civilization of China we knew right now originated. So ya it was definitely in our list. Then we searched also any city that we could bundle with Beijing, than found out some traveller included Xian also as it can be reached by train from Beijing, so we extended our trip to include Xian as the idea of having an overnight train oversea was really exciting and of course the Terracotta Army’s attraction. Chengdu was then included simply because flight back to Malaysia was cheaper as it’s nearer with Malaysia. So that's how we came up with these cities selection where our trip will start from North (Beijing) to the South (Chengdu).
So next after fixed the places, we checked our leaves and decided to travel on 6/11 until 14/11. About 8days 7nights including 2nights overnight on train….(This was one of the highlight of my trip and I will share it later!) Quite tight but sufficient to cover all major attractions.
November is considered early Winter in China. My friend who went there few days earlier reported to me that it was snowed on their last day in Beijing. Short one.. Temperature was about 1-5 degC so I already packed my padded jacket/winter jacket but trench coat was still suitable that time.
(ii) FLIGHT TICKET
Flight undoubtedly Air Asia was the cheapest. We booked around June, 5months before our departure with total cost RM700 for returned trip.
Details as per below. The flight from KL to Beijing took approx. 6hours and from Chengdu to KL took approximately 5hours. Times for those 3 Cities are the same with Malaysia time.
(iii) ITINERARY
Once you already have set the date, next step is to plan an itinerary. This is so that you get the idea on where to stay / book accommodation and if any transportation or admission tickets needed to book earlier.
Basically, our rough itinerary were as per below:
Day 0 – Flight to Beijing. Arrived Beijing at Midnight.
Day 1 – Visit Tianmen Square, Forbidden City, Beijing Olympic Stadium (Mostly Beijing City Area)
Day 2 – Whole Day Great Wall & Silk Market
Day 3 – Summer Palace then Train to Xian. Overnight train.
Day 4 – Arrived Xian. Xian City Wall & Muslim Quarter.
Day 5 – Whole Day Terracotta Museum. Bell & Drum Tower.
Day 6 – Morning visit nearby area / mosque then Train to Chengdu. Overnight train.
Day 7 – Arrived Chengdu. Panda Zoo, Tianfu Square, Jinli Street
Day 8 – Last shopping Jinli Street, then to Airport back to KL.
So based on itinerary above, 3 accommodations we needed to book. 1st at Beijing for 3nights, 2nd at Xian for 2 nights and 3rd, 1 night at Chengdu.
For transportation, 2 train’s tickets needed to book in advance. Read my next post on accommodation ok.
Enchanting China (Beijing, Xian and Chengdu) Fast Link Here
1) Day 0 - KL to Beijing night flight
2) Day 1 - Beijing first city Tour - Tianmen Square & Forbidden City
If u follow my previous post, U will know that I will always covered as much places as I could when visited each country. If mentioned China, Beijing is definitely the city you should visit right? Not only as a Capital of China, who don't want to miss The Great Wall, one of World's 7 Wonder and Forbidden City where the civilization of China we knew right now originated. So ya it was definitely in our list. Then we searched also any city that we could bundle with Beijing, than found out some traveller included Xian also as it can be reached by train from Beijing, so we extended our trip to include Xian as the idea of having an overnight train oversea was really exciting and of course the Terracotta Army’s attraction. Chengdu was then included simply because flight back to Malaysia was cheaper as it’s nearer with Malaysia. So that's how we came up with these cities selection where our trip will start from North (Beijing) to the South (Chengdu).
So next after fixed the places, we checked our leaves and decided to travel on 6/11 until 14/11. About 8days 7nights including 2nights overnight on train….(This was one of the highlight of my trip and I will share it later!) Quite tight but sufficient to cover all major attractions.
November is considered early Winter in China. My friend who went there few days earlier reported to me that it was snowed on their last day in Beijing. Short one.. Temperature was about 1-5 degC so I already packed my padded jacket/winter jacket but trench coat was still suitable that time.
(ii) FLIGHT TICKET
Flight undoubtedly Air Asia was the cheapest. We booked around June, 5months before our departure with total cost RM700 for returned trip.
Details as per below. The flight from KL to Beijing took approx. 6hours and from Chengdu to KL took approximately 5hours. Times for those 3 Cities are the same with Malaysia time.
(iii) ITINERARY
Once you already have set the date, next step is to plan an itinerary. This is so that you get the idea on where to stay / book accommodation and if any transportation or admission tickets needed to book earlier.
Basically, our rough itinerary were as per below:
Day 0 – Flight to Beijing. Arrived Beijing at Midnight.
Day 1 – Visit Tianmen Square, Forbidden City, Beijing Olympic Stadium (Mostly Beijing City Area)
Day 2 – Whole Day Great Wall & Silk Market
Day 3 – Summer Palace then Train to Xian. Overnight train.
Day 4 – Arrived Xian. Xian City Wall & Muslim Quarter.
Day 5 – Whole Day Terracotta Museum. Bell & Drum Tower.
Day 6 – Morning visit nearby area / mosque then Train to Chengdu. Overnight train.
Day 7 – Arrived Chengdu. Panda Zoo, Tianfu Square, Jinli Street
Day 8 – Last shopping Jinli Street, then to Airport back to KL.
So based on itinerary above, 3 accommodations we needed to book. 1st at Beijing for 3nights, 2nd at Xian for 2 nights and 3rd, 1 night at Chengdu.
For transportation, 2 train’s tickets needed to book in advance. Read my next post on accommodation ok.
Enchanting China (Beijing, Xian and Chengdu) Fast Link Here
1) Day 0 - KL to Beijing night flight
2) Day 1 - Beijing first city Tour - Tianmen Square & Forbidden City
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