A great hike and a small taste of China that leaves you wanting more. I enjoy hiking and love the Far East for its culture so this trip was a good choice when comparing length, cost, activities and travel involved. The majority of the time was spent hiking the Great Wall (6 days).
A worry I had before setting off were that it could be quite monotonous spending all your time walking on a wall but I was pleasantly surprised to find that each day and usually multiple times during the same day the terrain would vary from fresh reconstructed parts of the wall to sections that were ruins and had not been touched for hundreds of years. The constant ups and down, with some sections being *very* steep, some minor scrambly sections, areas that looked to have a sheer drop to one side and also not really knowing what was coming next as you headed around a corner or over a ridge made for a fantastic hike.
The scenery was amazing, seeing the Wall snaking over the beautiful mountain ridges for miles into the distance leaves you in awe of the sheer scale of its size and human effort that went into building it. The apricot trees were blossoming and the skies were blue for most of the trip.
Walking the untouched areas meant that for the majority of the trip we were the only group walking the wall which added to the experience and lessens that feeling of "being a tourist". One day we did walk a beautiful but touristy part of the wall that was fairly packed with visitors but this was a nice experience, especially the huge groups of local school children who wanted to practice their English skills with us and take selfies with members of our group.
At the homestays the local families were friendly and welcoming and the food provided was outstanding, and quite different to the usual fried Chinese food you may be used to in the UK.
Our final day was spent in Beijing, visiting Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City which is a worthwhile experience and along the way we attempted Tai Chi, visited a Taoist shrine, saw a Kung Fu and an acrobatics show as well as some shopping in town. This was just a small taster of the China experience and it did leave me wanting to visit other parts of that vast country at some point.
I've been on a few Exodus tours and I've been fortunate once again to have shared this one with an extremely friendly, kind and funny group of people that made the trip all the more enjoyable.
Want to visit China again! Dear Raylene, Now that we are back in Spain and with our routine, I would like to thank you. The trip was so perfect!!! We enjoyed every moment, and we loved China!! I didnt expect so much about your country!! Now I am looking forward to visiting again and visit other corners of your beautiful country!! Thank you so much again, and hope to travel with you again.
Imperial China and Yangtze River Cruise We have just returned from this busy and full on trip. As other reviews have said 'China is big!' We saw and experienced so much - from the different styles of food, transport and sites. Our guide was informative and shared lots of information regarding Chinese culture and history as well as the amazing development that has occurred during the last 20 years.
Ruby ZhaoTravel Expert in China
Cindy WangTravel Expert in China
