There are a number of options to get to Auckland from Dubai on a lie flat bed (search results from Skyscanner for travel 4 months in advance, just for comparative purposes):

• Emirates flies direct in under 16 hours but at NZ$6k per seat it’s a bit pricey
• Singapore Airlines stops off in Singapore will get you there in 18 ½ hours for NZ$3.3k
• Thai Airways stops off in Bangkok and does the trip in less than 30 hours for NZ$3k
• China Southern was very reasonably priced at NZ$2.9k with one stop over in their hub in Guangzhou taking 31 hours
• Etihad will get you to take a bus to Abu Dhabi then a stopover in Hong Kong – all up 33 hours and a shade over NZ$5k
• Air China stops off in Peking, taking 33½ hours for NZ$5.5k
• Korean Air takes longer – 37 hours with a stopover in Incheon but a reasonable NZ$4.3k
• Cathay was the cheapest though, less than 28 hours with a stopover in Hong Kong for NZ$2.5k.

In our case (because of Christmas) the search engines were bringing up prices for Cathay of NZ$3.5k pp. I reached out to my travel agent and was surprised that he was able to get it cheaper, coming in at NZ$6.3k all up.

So for our NZ$6.3k (£3.2k/US$4.6k) we’d get

• access to a business class lounge in Dubai
• lie flat beds for 7½hours on CX0738 in one of Cathay’s A330-300 Airbuses
• three and a half hours in one of Cathay’s four lounges in Hong Kong
• another lie flat bed for 11¼ hours on CX0199 in the A350-900.

I figured we’d have to get some sleep with all that lying down!!

So that was the plan… but the universe hasn’t met a plan it can’t derail.

Business Class Check-in Dubai

We rocked up to the Business class check-in at Dubai well and truly early. I figured to maximise our time in the Lounge (free food! free drinks!) we’d try checking in early. Understandably the lady at check-in said that we were too early, so we headed upstairs to watch the planes taking off and to do some work.

We settled for a small snack to tide us over, and then at the appointed hour we headed back down and queued.

We were second in line behind a slim middle aged man, and when they opened both Business class check-in desks we could overhear his conversation. He was apparently irate that he wasn’t able to get a boarding pass for his onward journey – the staff member had first said that it was because the onward flight was full and then changed her story, and that it was because it was too early.

Angrily realising that he was making a scene, he muttered “they’re two different things – which is it?” before heading off up the stairs towards the lounges. The lady serving us said that we’d have to get our onward (HKG-AKL) boarding pass from the transfer desk in Hong Kong.

I was a little uneasy – this was the first time this had ever happened so I wasn’t sure if it was an operational issue or something I needed to worry about. More importantly I didn’t want to worry Ange if it wasn’t needed. So we ensured that we wouldn’t have to collect our luggage in Hong Kong and recheck it and then headed up to the lounge.

Lufthansa Business Class Lounge Dubai

We had a few dirhams left from Dubai, so we stopped off in one of the many souvenir shops just after the security checkpoint and tried to find something worthy of what notes we had remaining. I eventually settled on a couple of toy camels which would use up most of my money, and then we made our way up the escalators and down a seemingly never ending corridor towards the Lufthansa Lounge.

Cathay don’t have enough business class passengers travelling from Dubai to justify having their own lounge, so they have an arrangement with a couple of other airlines to share theirs. Our flight was assigned the Lufthansa one and I was looking forward to showing Ange how Business class passengers were treated (my memories of the United Lounge at Heathrow top of my mind).

I must admit to being a little let down – the spaciousness and facilities from the United Lounge weren’t replicated here. Don’t get me wrong – the comfy chairs with USB and power points at each were better than sitting in a crowded and noisy terminal, but it proved to me that there were lounges and then there were lounges.

We’d made a point of getting there early and it proved a good idea. While there was a very good variety of food available, there really wasn’t a whole lot of it. As the lounge began to fill up we appreciated the opportunity that we’d had on arriving first to sample whatever we liked, as towards the end there wasn’t much of anything!

The food itself was simple but good and the staff were constantly in motion from the kitchens, replenishing the small plates.

We kept one eye on the Departures board at the reception and when our flight showed up as Boarding, we headed down to the gate. I was explaining to Ange as we went that we could afford to wait a bit longer in the lounge as the timings of loading would be dictated by getting all the Economy passengers on. She smiled and explained that she was keen on checking out the seat.

I grinned as we approached the gate and saw the snaking line of passengers waiting to board. Normally such a sight would fill me with dread for the impending wait, and I knew that’s what Ange would be feeling. But the Business class desk was empty and so we barely slowed down and then we were aboard.

Funnily enough, although the First and Business class passengers have their own airbridge, the Business class seats are split across two sections, one up front and the other after the Premium and Economy class airbridge joins the plane.

We were in the second section and so traipsed through the entire other Business section to get to our seats. It would have been quicker to just have used the Premium/Economy airbridge…

The Seat

The seat itself is in a herring bone layout which just means that it’s sitting at an angle. It’s laid out in a 1-2-1 formation and Ange and I were fortunate enough to get adjoining seats, but if you were travelling alone there’s plenty of privacy: the seats are angled away from each other.

The Panel

Tucked away is the command centre of the seat, the panel. Here you find a reading light, a phone/remote control which pops out of the panel and is connected by a retractable cord, the seat control, a UK power point and collection of audio and USB ports.

Cleverly tucked away was a little closet with a fancy set of headphones hanging inside. The inside of the door was mirrored so if you wanted to see if you had any spinach stuck in your teeth after dinner you wouldn’t have to get up to go to the bathroom.

The Amenity Bag

I’d told Ange about the amenity bags that I’d got from Air China and so she was quite looking forward to the goodies and so after an initial inspection of the seat when she couldn’t find them she looked at me quizzically and asked if I knew where they were.

I looked around and couldn’t find them so said that I didn’t know – maybe Cathay didn’t do them? Not long after that the customer services rep came through the cabin handing them out and order was restored.

So, what do you get in the amenity bag?

• travel socks
• eye mask
• ear plugs
• toothbrush
• toothpaste
• mouthwash
• restoring mist
• lip gel
• moisturiser

The beauty products, Ange assured me, were a good quality brand (Jurlique) – I wouldn’t know…

The Food

We eat with our eyes. There are a bunch of scientific studies that indicate that food presented well is reported as tasting better. Further studies show that having food with decent cutlery actually makes the food taste better too. Even bearing those two studies in mind, I still think that the food in Business is better than that in Economy. But I’m open to it being all psychological.

The Bed

The mere fact that you are fully reclined makes sleep possible for me. And that means a lot. The Cathay seat on the A330-300 has a cubby at the end of the bed where tall people put their feet, so that does restrict movement a little when you’re fully stretched out.

Apart from that, the seat/mattress is comfortable enough and the duvet is particularly nice. Even with the seatbelt on it is possible to find a couple of comfortable positions.

Hong Kong

Still a bit groggy from the flight, we made our way off the flight. Being very near the door for the Economy airbridge we were pretty much first off and headed towards the terminal.

I kept repeating “Transfer Desk, Transfer Desk” to myself so that I wouldn’t forget and end up on the streets of Hong Kong, but I needn’t have bothered.

A pair of Cathay staff were waiting for us just inside the terminal with a sign with our names on it. We identified us and they walked us to the Transfer Desk but I was a little worried that they had felt the need to ensure that we made it to the Transfer Desk.

We soon found out why.

“I’m very sorry sir, your flight is full in Business Class and you have been selected for moving to economy class.”

Oh wow I thought, this sucks – I guess this is what happened to the other guy in Dubai and why we weren’t able to get boarding passes printed.

“We’ll give you compensation for swapping you to Economy sir”. I look over at Ange – this was supposed to be her Christmas present!

Uh, is it possible to get us in business class on a later flight? I ask. The lady behind the counter looks uncomfortable and says that as it’s Christmas time all the other flights to Auckland are full. I’m tempted to say that’s fine, we’ll wait (expecting them to pick up the tab for a hotel room while we wait) but the fact that it’s only a week before Christmas makes me reconsider – getting home together in time for Christmas is slightly more important than travelling business class.

“We of course will offer you compensation” repeats the lady behind the counter, reading out some numbers. I plug them into my foreign exchange converter and it comes to $400. “That’s each” she says, beaming. I frown at her – that’s a bit of a slap in the face – bumping us down to Economy and then offering a pittance. She seems taken back, as if we should be very happy for the offer, and tells us that the amount they’re offering is the difference between the last minute Business Class fares on this leg and the last minute Economy seats.

One of the other staff at the Transfer desk comes over and asks how essential it is that we travel in the same cabin. I look over at Ange and she shakes her head – images of splitting the time in Business Class fleetingly pass through my mind.

What about Premium Economy I ask? Do you have two seats there? A quick look through the computer tells us that there’s nothing available there.

The team leader chats with our original staff member and comes over with a piece of paper. This is the amount we’re offering you she says and I look down. There are more numbers there than previously mentioned and I plug these into the Foreign Exchange app on our iPhone. My eyes widen. The original lady had put the decimal point in the wrong place.

The amount of Hong Kong Dollars that they are offering in compensation translates to close to NZ$8,000 – close to NZ$2k more than what we’d paid for the complete trip for both of us.

I nod, now understanding their reaction and ask if we can have a minute to discuss the offer.

Our first choice would, of course, be to do the Business Class trip, but if we rolled the dice and gambled on there being a pair of cancellations in Business class between now and Christmas, then we may end up stuck in Hong Kong, especially if there were no available Economy seats!

Better to take the money and run – a totally free Business Class experience from Dubai to Hong Kong might be worth the misery of Economy for 12 hours to Auckland. Maybe. I apologised to Ange and said that I guess it was only half the Christmas present I had promised, but she was good about it.

Begrudgingly we agreed. We were allowed in the Business Class Lounge while we waited, and at the last minute they would see if anyone was a no-show in Business Class. If there were two no-shows in Business, they would give us those seats, but otherwise they would give us envelopes with HK$ in them and two boarding passes for Economy class seats. They’d try to give us exit row seats.

The Wing: Business Class Lounge in Hong Kong

The circumstances tainted the lounge experience at Hong Kong, which was a pity. Cathay has four business class lounges at Hong Kong, and we were directed to The Wing, which was an airy, spacious collection of comfortable couches and work areas. In addition to the standard array of food and beverages that the Lufthansa lounge had offered in Dubai, it also offered a Noodle Bar where chef’s would make you your noodles to your liking.

If we’d been heading home in luxury, I would have been nudging Ange and saying annoying things like “this is more like it, aye?”, but as it was it felt more funereal. Like we’d won the reverse lottery.

As our flight time approached I started heading up to the counter at reception to enquire what time we should head down to the gate. I kept getting told to come back in twenty minutes. I guess they wanted to ensure they’d had every opportunity for someone to be a no-show and get them off the hook for the compensation payment.

The flight now said “Final Call” and as I headed up to the receptionist she beckoned me over and proceeded to count out the Hong Kong dollars, and to get me to sign a form to show that I had received the cash.

Beep! Beep!

Then we were sent downstairs where a golf cart was waiting to whisk us across the terminal to our gate. I’ve seen people using the carts before in other airports and always thought they were for those who were too confused to navigate the airport, or too large or old or had mobility issues.

It was a novelty for me to be on one: I loved it and had to take a time lapse of it: apparently they’re not allowed to take the carts on the travelators – my argument that it would make the trip quicker didn’t sway our driver at all. Maybe next time…

There was only a small line waiting for boarding – most passengers were well and truly aboard by that stage, and while we weren’t last on, there were only a few people behind us.

We had managed to get seats by the emergency exit, and on the Airbus A350-900 this means that there was room enough to really stretch out.

It’s a double edged sword though, as most people used that area as a waiting spot for the toilets. It also means that instead of an entertainment screen which is on the back of the seat in front of you, it folds away into the arm of the seat, and you can’t use it during take off and landing.

Food

OK, so there was no napkins or tablecloth like we got in Business, and the cutlery was plastic and not metal, and the presentation was in plastic containers, but the food itself was OK. Probably not quite as nice as in Business, but still perfectly edible.

Sleep Would Be Good

After the light meal, they dimmed the cabin lights and people tried to sleep as best they could. Dozing was probably the best I could do – I’m 6’4″ (193cm) and there’s usually no neck support on airline seats for me, but I was surprised that Ange wasn’t able to do better sleep-wise.

For her it’s the noise of the engines and sitting upright. We hadn’t gotten a lot of sleep on the first leg from Dubai (maybe because of the excitement of being in Business Class?) and so the next twelve hours were pretty hellish.

We’d gotten maybe two or three hours sleep on the Dubai – Hong Kong leg, spent three and a half hours in Hong Kong at the lounge and that was all after a full day in Dubai, so we were struggling with maybe three hours sleep over a forty hour period. I don’t know about Ange but I was pretty ratty towards the end there.

Mercifully, eventually, the cabin lights came back up and thoughts turned to breakfast. I find that sleep deprivation can be countered to a certain extent by maintaining blood-sugar levels, so I figured things would be better after breakfast. I hadn’t considered that every man and his dog would now need to use the toilets and decide to congregate right beside us. Sigh!

Arrival

Despite having an exit row seat, the emergency exit precluded a view outside, so we didn’t get to recognise landmarks as we approached Auckland, but they did have cameras in the body of the plane so that you could follow the progress as we got closer.

The hot breakfast of sausage and omelette made me feel almost human, and I guess the excitement of finally being home also added to the ability to think and operate.

Once we landed and taxied to the terminal, we waited to be allowed to depart. I tried not to think “if we were in Business class, we’d be off by now”, and instead concentrated on the fact that the Business class passengers would be waiting for the luggage at the same conveyor belt that we would be soon enough!

Getting Bumped

So this is the bit where I wax lyrical about how getting bumped from Business class was the best thing that could have happened and it gave me a greater appreciation for when I do travel in premium classes. Bullshit. I wanted to share the experience of travelling Business class with Ange plus get some sleep on the flights and I paid for it, so despite a getting sizeable chunk of cash back, I didn’t get what I really wanted.

I checked in with my travel agent to see what the story was. He told me that airlines overbook Business as well as Economy and they get to decide who they bump. It happens: deal with it.

I then did a little research and found some truly alarming stories of different airlines not being quite so generous with their compensation offers – in fact European Union law says that airlines only have to give a compensation amount equal to:

• For short-haul flights of less than 1,500km, you will receive 30% of the price of the flight.

• For medium-haul flights of 1,500km – 3,500km, or flights within the EU of more than 1,500km, you will receive 50% of the price of the flight.

• For long haul flights of more than 3,500km, you will receive 75% of the price of the flight.

  It is likely you will only receive a refund for the portion of your journey that was downgraded. For instance, if you booked a return ticket for £1,000, but were only downgraded on the return leg, your reimbursement may be calculated as a percentage of £500.

So, I must admit that after I got over the disappointment of getting downgraded, I think Cathay’s compensation policy was possibly the best I could have expected.

The post Review: Cathay Pacific Business Class Dubai to Auckland (Bumped!) appeared first on etrip.tips.

Hotels in the Shanghai Disney resort

When we visited the Shanghai Disney resort we knew we wanted a Disney option for our accommodation. The park is quite far from the central city (about 45 minutes on the underground) and we knew that as we’d be having long days in the park it would be easier to stay close by. The complimentary transport and guest service standards make staying in a Disney hotel a simple choice.

There are two hotels to choose from – the luxurious Shanghai Disneyland Hotel and a more budget friendly Toy Story Hotel (still not cheap). We opted for the Toy Story Hotel because it was unique to anything offered by other Disney parks (we’ve visited them all).

When booking be careful to check fluctuations in the nightly rate – when we priced up the holiday we multiplied the cost of a weeknight stay and we had a bit of a shock when we plugged in the final dates and saw the difference in price over the weekend.

I really enjoyed staying at the Toy Story hotel. It was bright, airy and spacious and not overly themed (although I’m not sure what level it would have to reach for it to be over-themed in my mind).

It was close to the park but not walkable so we were reliant on the free Disney transport bus, which ran around every 10 minutes to the park gates and every 15 minutes to the tube station. I don’t remember us ever waiting longer than those times and often a bus arrived shortly after we arrived at the bus stand (in either direction).

There were a couple of quick service restaurants in the hotel that offered some good food options and weren’t too busy when we visited them. I really like the detail of the Toy Story kites in the main restaurant.

The hotel cast members were all very friendly and helpful. They spoke the best English of anywhere we had stayed in China (English is not widely spoken and you should be prepared for language barriers).

The best advice I have is to always carry the information you need already translated. TripAdvisor has an excellent feature that allows you to see the name and address of a hotel, restaurant etc in the local language. Our taxi driver from the train station was pretty lost when we first said ‘Disneyland’ until we showed him the address in Chinese.

Downtown Disney and the Shanghai Disney complex

We arrived in Disney in the late afternoon, checked into our hotel and then decided explore Downtown Disney and nose around the Shanghai Disneyland Hotel. It is as impressive and luxurious as all the other flagship Disney Parks hotels. It’s walkable to the park gates (by my standards but I have a high step tolerance for Disney!) and is also served by a boat and bus.

Probably the main reason to stay here is the impressive views of the castle and the expectation of watching the fireworks show (more on that later). Overall, given the price difference and theming I was pleased we opted with the Toy Story Hotel.

If you’ve been to any other Disney parks then Disneytown was as you would expect it to be. A mix of retail and dining options, along with a Lego Store and ‘World of Disney’. There is also a theatre with a Mandarin version of the Lion King stage show, strangely enough we gave it a miss ;P 

We weren’t too inspired by any of the dining options: lots of mainstream Asian options which didn’t compare to the amazing, authentic food we’d been eating during our time in Beijing. However, we then walked around a corner and discovered our all-time favourite American chain restaurant – The Cheesecake Factory. As we were already tourist sellouts in Disney we thought we might as well embrace that by eating in The Cheesecake Factory.

Downtown Disney was fairly quiet, especially when we were able to compare it to the crowds we experienced in the parks. Even during peak dining times we didn’t experience long wait times for tables. The retail stores were easy to navigate and there were no long queues at the checkouts.

Two days in Shanghai Disneyland

I’m an early riser and a planner when it comes to visiting theme parks. I found the planning a bit difficult for Shanghai Disney. We visited within its first year of being open and not much information had been published about visiting the park apart from the official website.

I’ve tried to fill in some of the questions I had when I visited but I’m not in a position to offer a blow-by-blow two day itinerary, mainly because half the fun is in deciding on the day what you want to do next. 

Arrive early – even earlier than you expect

So I couldn’t manage the planning I wanted before visiting but I could definitely manage the early-rising. We left our hotel about an hour before the park was scheduled to open, which in my experience of other parks is plenty of time off-peak.

We arrived at the security gates about 20 minutes after that and realised that everything I thought I knew about visiting a Disney park was wrong. We were confronted with the largest entry queue I’ve ever seen at a Disney Park (note: I’m an off-peak visitor). We waited in the queue for security for about an hour, got through the bag check and then waiting another 20 minutes at the ticket gate.

I was pretty stressed by this point because we didn’t enter the park for an hour after opening, at which point a lot of the advantage of getting up early and beating the queues had vanished.

The following day we got to security 90 minutes before opening, there was still a large crowd in front of us, and we made it into the park exactly at opening time. That day we also didn’t take bags with us and while there was some advantage to a faster security process, there was no line for people without bags.

The security check really impacted my enjoyment of the parks. One of the things I appreciate about visiting the Disney Parks is the focus on ‘efficiency’ and this was totally lacking in the entrance process to the park. As it was my first impression of the park it left a negativity that was difficult to shake.

FastPass first

I was caught out when it came to the FastPasses because it’s different (again) to the system in other Parks. In Shanghai Disneyland there is one FastPass kiosk located at the guest services for each land that has FastPass rides (when I visited there was one in Tomorrowland, Fantasyland and Adventure Isle).

These kiosks distribute FastPass tickets for all of the rides in that Land but only the rides in that land (you can’t get a FastPass for Tron from the Adventure Isle kiosk for example). The popular FastPass rides are: Tron, Seven Dwarfs Mine Train and Soarin’. Conveniently they are all based in different lands, so you have to decide upfront which kiosk you are going to visit.

On the first day we arrived too late to get a FastPass for any of the popular rides. However, we were able to FastPass both Peter Pan and Winnie the Pooh, which worked quite well for us.

On the second day we joined the queue for Soarin’ FastPass approximately 10 minutes after the park opened, it took a further 10-15 minutes to get through the queue and our FastPass time was 15:00-16:00. In that time FastPasses for Seven Dwarfs Mine Train had been distributed.

If you don’t manage to FastPass one of the popular rides then (based on the queues we experienced) I think it’s unlikely you’ll be able to ride them all. However, the Mine Train and Soarin’ are clones of the Florida rides so I’d recommend focusing on Tron for the unique experience (until it opens in Florida).

Also remember that you are locked out of receiving another FastPass until your ride time comes around, when we took a Soarin’ FastPass we were unable to FastPass anything else that day.

Visit the key rides

As with any trip to a Disney Park head to the popular rides first. The two headline rides that are unique to Shanghai Disneyland are:

• Pirates of the Caribbean
• Tron

The other popular rides are:

• Roaring Rapids (similar to other rapids rides in Disney parks)
• Soaring over the Horizon (the ride is exactly the same as the reimagined Soarin’ with a different intro video in Mandarin)
• Seven Dwarfs Mine Train (I assume it’s exactly the same as Florida, the queue was always 2 hours+ when we walked past)

Note: Voyage to the Crystal Grotto was closed when we visited.

All of the key rides had a long queue from open until close. Pirates generally had the shortest queue of about 45 minutes, all of the other main rides were over 90 minutes.

Pirates of the Caribbean merges cutting edge technology with Disney imagineering to spectacular result – if you’ve been on Spider Man in Universal then it’s similar to that but on water. My husband hates simulators (I always have to ride Star Tours alone) but the special effects were subtle enough for him to not have a problem.

I think the fact that the boat always stays level while the environment changes and moves helped create a sense of more natural movement. The technology allows for superb storytelling (even if it is in Mandarin) and I was genuinely delighted every time we went on the ride.

Tron is a motorbike roller coaster – you actually sit on a seat like a motorcycle. From what I’ve seen of Avatar Flight of Passage in Florida it looks like a similar concept to that ride seat. The last bit of the queueing system is really nice for Tron because you get sneak peeks at the ride launching, similar to Rock n Roller Coaster, and I think that adds to the build up.

I think its biggest flaw is that it doesn’t quite provide for the avid thrill seeker, it didn’t leave my adrenaline pumping in the same way Rock n Roller Coaster does. However, the novelty of the motorbike carriages and the transition of the track through inside and outside still meant we went on three times and I can’t wait until it arrives in Florida and becomes part of my regular Disney holiday.

From what I went on and remember, all of the rest of the rides were very similar to their counterparts in other parks. Queues for all of the rides were longer than I expected (nothing had a queue shorter than half an hour from when the park opened) and the park was very busy when walking around.

During our two days we managed to get on all of the rides we wanted to (with multiple rides on Tron and Pirates) but it was tight. Due to the length of queues I don’t think you could manage everything in a day unless you were happy to just ride Tron and Pirates and see anything else as a bonus.

We didn’t do any character meet-and-greets. These are normally low on my priority list in the park and from what I remember about the queueing times we weren’t incentivised to wait. If character experiences are important for your visit then you’ll have to be prepared to sacrifice the rides that you’ll be able to go on in two days.

Walking around the park

All the literature about Shanghai Disneyland proudly proclaims that the castle is the largest in any park and it’s easy to see that it isn’t just a technical distinction on paper. It’s huge – in every dimension. It contains a ride, walk through experience, princess meet-and-greet, Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique and restaurant. It sets the tone of a visually stunning park that the rest of the lands live up to.

When I go to a park I might never visit again I really try to take in the details of walking around the park and Shanghai Disneyland had a lot to offer. Garden of the Twelve Friends and Once Upon a Time are walkthrough experiences that it would be easy to miss but are fun to take the time to enjoy and add to the unique experience of Shanghai Disneyland.

Tomorrowland and Treasure Cove were my favourite lands due to the attention to detail and ease of navigation. On our second day we enjoyed slowing down for lunch at the Stargazer Grill which had a lovely outdoor terrace overlooking Tron and Tomorrowland.

We also skipped the parade in the hopes of getting on the rides during the quiet times. We caught parts of it and it looked like a fairly standard parade, possibly with newer more elaborate floats but not really anything more than the parks we visit more frequently offer.

Fireworks

My favourite way to end a day in a Disney Park is with a show or firework display and I had high hopes for Shanghai Disneyland as it was built in the home of fireworks. I was sadly disappointed though.

Instead of fireworks the evening show focused on projections onto the castle coordinated with the fountains and Disney music. There were some fireworks but not many more than you see in the photos on the website. This does seem to be the way a lot of the nighttime castle shows are heading in Disney Parks but I think there needs to be a balance between Castle illuminations (where you have to have an unhindered view) and fireworks (which can be enjoyed from more obscure viewing points).

Shanghai Disneyland didn’t quite get this balance right for me. But it did mean on the second night we could leave and skip the crowds.

If you are looking for a good place to watch the evening show from, I recommend the side of the Gardens of Imagination that leads to Tomorrowland. Just before you get to Mickey Avenue there’s a side exit that leads to Downtown Disney and you can escape the worst of the crowds (always my least favourite part of any Disney Parks day).

The post Reflections on Staying at the Shanghai Disneyland Resort appeared first on etrip.tips.

• Beijing which included
  • Walking the Great Wall at Mutianyu
  • Temple of Heaven, Hutongs, Summer Palace
• Xi’an
• Shanghai

India

• New Delhi
• Agra
• Chand Baori
• Fatehpur Sikri
• Ranthambore
• Jaipur

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We arrived in Shanghai and grabbed the high speed train, the Maglev, into the city proper. Our flight had arrived from Xi’an on time at 4:35 and by 5:22 we were hitting speeds of over 300 kph (186 mph). Apparently they didn’t reach top gear as they regularly hit 431 kph (267 mph) and have the potential to hit 501 kph (311 mph). Shanghai’s public transport system is extensive – growing from zero in 1995 to being the longest in the world in 2010, and looking to double that length before 2020.

I’m staying using points at the Four Points Pudong and very quickly raise a smile at the layout of the room. The shower is a glass-walled enclosure separating the bathroom from the bedroom. A screen can be lowered if you’d like to do your business in private but the openness of the layout tickles me.

In the interests of making the most of the time we have available, we head straight out to the waterfront, starting on the Eastern side at Lujiazui0. The place is buzzing and you can see why – an impressive city-scape of neon-lit skyscrapers across the river in the Bund make a great backdrop for photo opportunities.

It’s a wonderfully romantic location for the couples in the crowd – a great spot to hold hands and gaze into the hazy night air – the recent rains and low cloud reflect the lights wonderfully, a bit wasted on me and Ben though.

We’d heard that there was a train which would run under the river from one side to the other and so we hunted it down. The entrance wasn’t the easiest to find, but we managed to locate it and then… well I guess it’s best described as a WTF? moment.

Please enjoy this video by another traveller:

On the western bank we’re in The Bund – the area where the Western powers dominated Chinese life back in the early parts of last century. The views back to where we had just been are no less impressive and we grab a beer at one of the many river side bars and watch the ships heading up and down the river. They’re amazingly low in the water and we guess that these aren’t the ocean-going transporters but are shuttling goods from the cities further inland on the Yangtze River.

Day One: Nanjing

I had heard that there was a museum commemorating the atrocities performed by the Japanese during the pre-World War 2 conflict with China and thought it justified a day trip to Nanjing. I hadn’t drawn the connection between Beijing and Nanjing, but I found out that while Beijing meant Northern Capital, Nanjing was the Southern Capital. The city was called Nanking in 1937.

After taking a 2 hour train trip, we leave the train station and try to find the entrance to the metro. We look and we look and while we see crowds of people, taxis and the odd bus we can’t see any likely looking entrance to a Metro station. I eventually ask someone and while they don’t speak English, it’s wonderful what a smile and imaginative mime will do for communication. The metro entrance is not actually at the railway station but is only a little walk away. Not in the direction I was going to head off in, so I was happy that I asked. We manage to find our way to the Museum without any other mishap.

The Museum is set up in a proscribed route, which I guess is to avoid bottle necks from forming and impeding progress. The rainy weather matches the sombre mood of the exhibits and art installations and I learn a lot about the events around that time. It’s still, even after 80 years, a contentious issue between the Japanese and Chinese governments, and there’s a lot to think about on the way back.

I think about the experience on the way back and feel unfulfilled. As usual I try to figure out why – the Museum itself was well laid out, informative with grisly-at-times exhibits, so it’s nothing to do with that.

Eventually I figure it out – it took about two and a half hours each way to spend ninety minutes at the Museum. So it just didn’t feel like the Museum justified the trip out by itself. I guess if we had tried to see more of Nanjing, or had something else to pin the day trip on it would have felt like a better use of our time.

The fact that I had pushed the destination as well made me feel bad – not quite a wasted day, but definitely not as rewarding an experience-wise as some of the other days. It got worse when I discovered there was a Sheraton in Nanjing (I was staying at Sheratons using points) – so we could have flown to Nanjing from Xian, stayed overnight, gone to the Museum in the morning and then headed to Shanghai straight away afterwards. 20/20 hindsight I guess…

Day Two: Parks and Tianzifang

If we’d been spoilt in the north with blue skies after the smog had burnt off, the south balanced that out with a pretty constant drizzle. It wasn’t too unpleasant and we figured it kept the crowds at bay, so I think we came out ahead. After being disappointed with our trip to Nanjing, I left Ben to decide where we went. He wanted to get a souvenir or two and elected for a trip to the arts and crafts neighbourhood of Tianzifang in the French Concession.

On the way to the markets we came across a very interesting set of marquees in the park. At first I thought that these were missing children but all the photos were of adults – male and female. The people sitting under the awning made it clear that photos weren’t allowed and then Ben put one and one together. “They’re match-makers” he said. And then it made sense.

Instead of going on Tinder, you could sign up for “Tent in a Park” and have your details put on a poster under an awning. I guess it’s just the form that changes – people have been match-making for others since biblical times – whether as a formal vocation or just because our of busybodyness!

The park has a few interesting sculptures in it and my favourite is the “tennis balls in white tights” one.

Tianzifang

And then we are in Tianzifang. We grab a bite to eat at a fish restaurant before heading in to the arts and crafts for shopping. The restaurant has a large fish tank near the entrance full of fish and after our meal I notice a doorway on the way out and slip into an amazing room full of tanks with a huge variety of living fish and shellfish.

Some of them have a constant stream of moving water so the fish are constantly swimming in one direction, and there are a few nets lying around, so you can catch your own I guess. It’s certainly one way of ensuring that your produce doesn’t go off!

We wander around the markets for a while – Ben knows that shopping isn’t my thing so frequently makes sure I’m not getting grumpy or bored, but truth be told, there’s enough interesting things to gawp at that I really don’t mind.

We end up looking in a tea shop and a lovely young shop keeper offers to take us upstairs for a tea ceremony. When we go up the narrow stairs to the upper floor, another shop keeper is just finishing their ceremony, so we mill around and examine some of the gold-inlaid tea sets attractively presented in packing boxes.

Before too long we’re sat at the table being introduced to a number of different flavoured teas and learning about the relative merits of the different strains. Ben is quite taken with a set consisting of a pot and three cups and adds a few jars of his favourite blend as well.

Suitably happy with his purchase we head back to the hotel. On the way back I ask for a crash course in negotiation – Ben is a bit of a pro with negotiations and I thought he did pretty well at the tea shop. He says when you’re negotiating, always look them in the eye. When you make your offer you want to see some pain in there –  that shows that you’re getting a good deal. I squirrel that snippet of information away ready for the Indian leg of my trip.

The next day we head to the airport – for Ben this is the end of the road and he heads back to London. For me, it’s the halfway point and I head to Rajastan in the North of India for a week.

Previous: Xi’an | Part of Trip: Pollution & Tigers | Next: New Delhi

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Temple of Heaven

The Temple of Heaven is a World Heritage Site and is an impressive chunk of greenery in the middle of Beijing. It has an interesting history but for me the most interesting part of it is how the modern Chinese use it as a celebration of their individual pastimes. Almost like a recruiting drive.

We entered through the south gate and the place is awash with various groups of people doing Tai Chi, painting kanji on the paving stones with water and playing a badminton-like game. Throughout the extensive parklands outside the Temple proper, there were groups singing, stretching and playing all manner of games from Go to chess to Mah Jong. It gave a truly vibrant insight into the life of today’s 21.5 million Beijing residents.

That’s in sharp contrast to the actual interior of the Temple proper. By all accounts it’s an influential piece of architecture and a fascinating historical location, but compared to the vibrancy of the scenes outside it leaves me feeling empty, as if this is the ghost town and just outside the walls lives and breathes the real Beijing.

Hutong

Hutongs are narrow streets or alleys surrounding traditional houses with a central courtyard. As Beijing has grown, neighbourhoods in this style have been bulldozed. Attempts to protect them are in place and we have a rickshaw tour arranged through one section.

We stop off at a Traditional Courtyard House where we wander around and look at how people used to live.

The hutong themselves are usually now in well-to-do neighbourhoods –  they are close to the centre of Beijing and also to the lakes which alleviate a little of the oppressive heat in the middle of summer. I assume that the ever present surveillance cameras are here for home security rather than Governmental supervision.

The lake front is as you would expect – packed with eateries, but still provides a few surprises in the number of Germanic beer halls.

Our pedaler doesn’t complain the whole way and I don’t detect any changing of gears – just the steady progress of a man on a mission. We’re on the tuk tuk for maybe 40 minutes so it’s quite impressive – I’m not exactly light!

Later on I mentioned to our guide that we’d seen the HumVee and she mentioned that while China was politically communist, that they were economically capitalist. An interesting distinction I thought.

Summer Palace

Finally, off to the Summer Palace. The Summer Palace is an extensive collection of palaces and gardens on the shores of a lake complex in the North West of Beijing. It’s full of locals and tourists all having a look around and up until half an hour before the end it’s just a prettier upgrade on the other places we’d been.

But a little way before the end point we come to this walkway. Our guide explains that the frescos on this corridor depict the trials and tribulations of the Monkey King. She starts telling us about some of the story around the Monkey King and I frown as they all sound very familiar.

In New Zealand in the 80s there was a Japanese TV program, based on a Chinese novel which told the legend of Monkey. I don’t realise how much of the legend stuck with me until we start regaling our guide with facets from the legend that we recall from the TV show over twenty years ago. The staff which fits in his ear. His companions Tripitaka and Pigsy. His cloud that he can ride. At first our guide is delighted that we know the legend, but that soon turns to a weariness as we walk along regaling her with the things we remember and then her countenance changes to a tired forbearance.

Pigsy and the Monkey King.

Would I go Back?

The Temple of Heaven is fascinating, not for itself, but for the activities around it. If I went back I would be tempted just to wander around watching people doing their activities and playing their games.

The Hutong around the Qianhai and Houhai lakes are pretty cool – if I went back in summer I think a day spent wandering around the lakes and partaking in beers and ice creams would be relaxing – I don’t think I’d go back to the Traditional Courtyard House and I think the rickshaw riders will be relieved that they won’t have to take me for a ride again.

I’d be most tempted to go back to the Summer Palace though – it’s an extensive area and with more time you could avail yourself of the boats on the lake or spend more time in the palaces.

But overall, I’m thinking that they count as “one and done”.

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Beijing is the third biggest city proper in the world and home to significant historical sites – which reflects the fact that it has been in existence for over three millennia. It is the cultural capital of China, and has over 20 million people living there

Climate is important, but Beijing is known for being very polluted. Maybe not as bad as New Delhi in India, but still pretty bad.

How Long Should I Go?

There is a lot of agreement amongst sources for the top things to see in Beijing – Fodors and Rough Guide both have the Forbidden City, Tian’anmen Square, Temple of Heaven while TripAdvisor has the Great Wall in 5 of the top 10 slots! The great news is that while the Great Wall is a little way from the city (depending on which section you decide to visit), a lot of the top attractions are clustered in the middle of Beijing.

How Do I Get There?

Beijing is a major international hub and the second busiest airport in the world for passenger services. I have seen flights as low as £350 return from London.

How Do I Get Around?

Beijing’s public transport is wide and varied and although we could have taken advantage of it, we decided to rely on our privately arranged travel guide to get us from one place to the next. Wikitravel has a pretty good overview of the public system and if you want a second opinion try the Travel China Guide.

How Much Is It To Stay?

Skyscanner has the majority of its hotels in the £40-80 range and AirBnB shows a correspondingly cheap stay of £20-60.

What Shall I See?

My travelling colleague (Ben) and I were keen on seeing the standard touristy things and he had a connection to a tour guide that the airline crews used when they were in country. We certainly didn’t want to miss the Great Wall and decided that the stretch of the wall outside of Beijing proper warranted the additional travel time. We also wanted to visit Tian’anmen Square and the Forbidden City (I’m a sucker for that sort of marketing – “forbidden”? Count me in!).

Day Zero

Ben was a frequent enough flyer to have access to the BA Lounge at Heathrow and was allowed a guest. Unfortunately while he was allowed to check in early because of his status, I wasn’t and so I shouted him a beer while we waited for the check-in desk to open for me. Our flight was an overnight one and I wasn’t looking forward to it – 10 hours with no sleep and then a foreign country didn’t sound like the best way to start the adventure!

We arrived at 9am and made our way to the hotel via taxi. I knew that if we could make ourselves stay awake all day then we would be better off in the fight against jet lag. The fact that we couldn’t get our rooms til at least 2pm was helpful. When Ben suggested we walk around the city to keep ourselves awake I couldn’t fault him on his logic.

So! Beijing! First impressions?

Everything is bigger – the streets are vast and for the most part crammed with traffic. The sky started as a haze which we later learned was smog (though the locals will bend over backwards to avoid calling it that), which slowly burnt off by late afternoon to show the blue sky that we should have been enjoying all day. I decided that the protection from the sun that the smog provided wasn’t worth the lung-damage – in New Zealand the ozone layer is thinner so the damage due to the sun higher, but the air tends to be a lot cleaner.

Crossing the street was interesting – the streets are so wide that sometimes people cant make it all the way across in one phase so they forlornly wait in the middle of the street waiting for a gap for them to complete their journey. The phases are very long also so that it can feel like forever before it’s the pedestrians turn again.

I was walking along and I heard a smash behind me. Turning around I saw that a bus had passed too close to a road sign and the wing mirror had clipped it in an explosion of plastic. Either the stress on the wing mirror had been passed through to the window and so it totally shattered, or else a piece of the plastic had hit the window with enough force to break it.

As we crossed the street at one point I noticed a very freaky occurrence – no traffic at all in one direction. absolutely flummoxed I had to take a pic to prove it. Within two minutes the place was covered in cars again.

The streets closer to the hotel were interesting – we ventured off the main roads and discovered a fish market with tanks of live fish and buckets full of eels all very much alive. It was a better view of how the locals lived.

Day One: Great Wall

After we get back from the Great Wall we’re walking like a pair of greenhorn cowboys after the first full day in the saddle, so we decide to get dropped off at a massage place near our hotel. No happy endings or other shenanigans, we go for leg massages in an attempt to arrest the agony. I don’t know what I was expecting, but I can’t feel any change as we awkwardly shuffle back to the hotel.

Day Two:  Temple of Heaven, Hutongs & Summer Palace,

Still feeling the effects of the Great Wall, we head off with our tour guides for another tour, this time remaining within Beijing.

Day Three: Tiananmen Square, Forbidden City, Olympic Village

On our last full day we decided to brave the centre of Beijing and visit Tiananmen Square, visit the Forbidden City and lastly check out the Olympic Village.

Tian’anmen Square is one of the world’s biggest squares and houses the Tomb of Mao Zedong, the founder of Communist China. We consider visiting the tomb but the queue of people waiting to enter is both formidably long, as well as notably stationery, so we elect to take photos and then try to find some shade in the Forbidden City.

The Forbidden City is very, very large, and despite the historical importance and World Heritage Site status, I’m left underwhelmed. I try and figure out why.

I’m concerned that it may be situational – the crowds of people and the overbearing heat with minimal shade. But annoying as I find those two things, they’re not the root cause – and it’s not a case of unrealistic expectations – I hadn’t known what to expect. No, I figure it out eventually. When I went to Windsor Castle or Buckingham Palace in London, I was in the spot where the monarchs of the country ruled throughout history, and the building itself was one representation of that.

But the bulk of the gravitas of the attraction was in the original fittings – the paintings, busts, memorabilia which constantly reminded of the events and people in history which were tied to the crown. These things, plus the knowledge of the historical context of them reinforced the sense of historical significance of the building.

The Forbidden City on the other hand, was the attraction. Maybe a better detailed knowledge of the history, or a guide giving the context of everything would have enhanced the trip, but it did devolve into “yet another building and yet another courtyard” by the end of the tour. Though the foreign tourists with “I  BJ” t-shirts were always good for a giggle.

And so our tour guides picked us up from the exit and we arranged for them to drop us off at the Olympic Stadium. Built for the 2008 Summer Olympics, the stadium and surrounding park will also be used in the 2020 Winter Olympics. In addition to the iconic Birds Nest, the delightfully mushroom-shaped observation tower and the Water Cube for swimming events attract the eye.

Would I Go Back?

I haven’t done justice to Beijing – a city that’s been such an important part of Chinese- and therefore World-history can not be summed up in a few short days. It would certainly merit return visits – the Great Wall has many parts and now that I have ticked off the main tourist sites, the lesser known secrets await discovery. So yes, I would certainly go back – a day by the lakes in summer and maybe a couple of days hiking along various sections of the walls sounds great!

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We arrived in Xi’an late after our flight was delayed from Beijing. We hadn’t organised a transfer to the hotel, so elected to catch a cab from the rank. We had heard that taxi drivers out of the main cities probably wouldn’t know English, but since we were staying at the Sheraton, we assumed that the drivers would know how to get there.

The driver was all smiles and nods when we asked if he knew where the Sheraton was and even said the hotel name back to us, so no red flags there, and we headed off.

The driver didn’t turn the meter on and when we pointed to it and tried to get him to turn it on, he dialled his dispatch and passed us the phone. We told the guy that answered where we were heading and he told us in English it would be ¥150.

We passed the phone back to the driver and they chatted in Chinese (I can’t differentiate Mandarin from Cantonese – for all I knew it was Mongolian!) and then he hung up. Assured that the driver knew where we were going, and the price was set, we could relax.

As soon as we left the airport we pulled off the main high way and parked at a gas station. The driver motioned for us to get out of the car. Bugger that I thought and stayed put. What’s he going to do – drive off with our luggage?

The driver shrugged and started to refill the car from the LPG pump. I realised I was probably disobeying health and safety regulations – having no passengers in the car was probably a rule while refuelling. Some fellow tourists were experiencing the same situation in the taxi beside us.

I figured that the drivers probably ran the car so low on gas that they had to refuel on getting a fare otherwise they wouldn’t be able to make it back into town.

Interesting situation – did they sleep in the cabs overnight? How’d they get home? Anyway, taxi refuelled, we headed back onto the highway and towards Xi’an.

As we approached the city, I looked out the window. Whole neighbourhoods of almost finished 30+ story apartment blocks loomed above us. This was in a city which I’d been told was a “tourist town”. It turns out Xi’an has 9 million people in it and 14 million in the metropolitan area. Basically a city the size of London which had for years been the terminus for the Silk Road taking goods from Europe to Asia and back. The scale of the construction left me agape. The street lights illuminated crane after crane hovering over semi-finished uniform apartment blocks – whole city blocks neatly surrounded by construction fences. An Australian friend had been telling me that one of the reasons that they had avoided the Global Financial crisis was because of China’s unending appetite for construction – Australia provided the raw materials to fuel China’s building boom.

The construction sites gave way to the familiar built up areas of a CBD – and then we were inside the great walls into an old city – one with a thriving night life: there were people everywhere. I frowned slightly, knowing that our hotel was outside the great walls which encircled the very centre of the city.

If we’d been on the meter I would have thought this a standard taxi drivers scheme – take the tourists through a market and let the crowd delay the trip, running up the fare. The fact that we were on a set fare meant that either he didn’t know where we were going or didn’t know the best way to get there.

The driver pulled up outside a Hilton and turned to us smiling. His smile faded as our looks conveyed the fact that while, yes, it was in fact a Hilton, that wasn’t where we expected to go.

It was Ben who figured it out – “Sheraton” apparently could be confused with “Hilton” if you pronounce words as Kiwis do – without a lot of enunciation. I had the address in English in my booking confirmation but that was not going to work, so I got out my phone and with great reluctance turned on Mobile Data.

It took about two minutes to punch in the address and get the little blue dot on Google Maps, and then I handed the phone to our friend in the driver’s seat. I had to zoom in a little to let him see the Chinese characters of the street names, but he got it, and away we went.

He called dispatch on the way and the guy on the other end of the line tried to get more money out of us. We explained gently that we’d agreed the price and we weren’t to blame that they couldn’t differentiate one hotel from another.

I’m in two minds if we were in the right there. Anyway, eventually we made it to the hotel.

Day One

We had a couple of hours before our tour to the Terracotta Army, so we thought we’d head to the walls to check them out up close. The Hilton was about where the brighter yellow circle is on the map – the Sheraton we were staying was outside the West Gate towards the left hand side of the map.

We had enough time for a quick scurry around the top of the walls – where we discovered there were bikes for hire and the walls themselves were a perfect candidate for a ride – evenly paved and very wide – much wider than the Great Wall. We made a note to come back and try to do a circumnavigation the next day before we had to go to the airport.

What would a tour be without the ubiquitous souvenir shop stop? In this case it was a little more defensible as it consisted of a five minute discussion on the methods used to produce the terracotta warriors, followed by a good hour in the rather cavernous shop.

The most appealing part was the terracotta bust creation – you could give them a couple of photos of yourself or a loved one and get them to make a likeness of yourself in terracotta. It takes a while to make them though, and they are expensive. I joked and said that sorted Xmas presents for the year! I actually thought they meant that you could get your head placed on a terracotta warrior’s body, but it would seem all the warriors had to follow a set pattern – the dude bowing on his knee had to all look the same etc.

So how expensive were they? For the largest statues – about my height and twice what I weighed, the price was ¥16,500 (£2,000 or $2,400). But there was such a range to choose from in terms of size. There were only a few types of soldier to choose from though: Emperor, General, Captain, Officer, Bowman and Crossbowman.

Then on top of that you had the horses as well. The shop was huge and filled with the standard fare – rugs and silk etc. The big difference was the huge furniture section with jade figurines and expensive woods, all polished to a golden lustre.

So after everyone had bought their fill of assorted figurines, it was off to the Terracotta Army – or to give it its proper name the Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor. The car park is a bit of a trek from the actual Mausoleum – but electric carts ferried us all. I noticed that they arrived empty but left full and wonder what would cause such an imbalance of passenger numbers…

We arrive at the three Mausoleum buildings and our guide give us a really good piece of advice: the order in which you visit the buildings makes a big difference to your enjoyment of the attraction. It’s best to build up to the main building, so start at the smaller ones and work your way up. We follow her advice.

The two first buildings are pretty cool: you get to see a museum exhibit and some of the soldiers in situ. The main building is enormous – like an aircraft hangar. There are crowds of both locals and foreigners and the edges of the pit forming a natural choke point where everyone is pushed close to each other.

I feel someone opening my backpack which I was wearing on my back like a rookie traveller. I have my camera around my neck so there’s nothing in the backpack, but still I kick myself for bad travel security. Turning around quickly does nothing to identify the culprit.

So I just zip the bag back up and put it on my chest where it should have been from the get go.

The main hall is brilliant. The terracotta warriors are amazing and seeing them as they were buried gives a new perspective. The scale of them is truly appreciated only when you reach the end of the hall near the well that a farmer was building when he first discovered the terracotta warriors. He was single-handedly responsible for this whole centre of industry.

I jokingly asked our guide whether they gave him a commission on each figurine sold or every visitor and she good-naturedly assured me that in Communist China he was adequately rewarded with being able to keep his life…

After we take in the splendour of the warriors en masse we move around the far side and come to the section where the warriors are dug out, catalogued  and cleaned up. The work stations look like airport security x-ray machines.

The warriors are an amazing experience and well worth the trip. Upon exiting we are funnelled out to a large street with souvenir shops and restaurants on all sides. The mercantile efforts are truly awesome.

We walk back to the carpark past the shops as the empty electric carts go along parallel to us, separated by a hedge. I guess if they were available we might miss the opportunity to spend money on the souvenirs. Couldn’t possibly have that.

After seeing how much went on the previous night on our way to the hotel, we were very keen to take in the nightlife of Xi’an and it didn’t disappoint.

The highlight for me was a street team making a candy not too dissimilar to toffee with seeds. One guy mixed the ingredients and then placed the candy on a drum before two of them hoisted enormous mallets and proceeded to flatten the mixture, alternating so quickly that if one of them was half a second out of synch he would have lost an arm.

Ben got some and we wandered down the streets gawping at everything and chewing contentedly. Very more-ish.

Not something you see everyday – amongst the toys and gadgets there was an enormous telescope on the back of a bike. I’m not sure what they were pointing at because there was ample light pollution, but it was indicative of the “surprise around every corner” sort of chaos of the night markets.

Oh – and we didnt really raise any eyebrows or attract unwanted attention – there were children and families out and about – most of the crowds seemed to be locals and it didn’t feel dangerous – not sure what it would have been like for unaccompanied women, but it was a good vibe.

Day Two: Last day

Our domestic flight was at 2:15, so we needed to get to the airport at 12:15. So if we got up early enough we’d be able to spend an hour, an hour and a half on the walls and still have enough time to get back to the hotel and pack.

We got up early enough and headed to the West gate where we had seen the bike hire shop the previous day. Empty. Not only of other tourists and people in general but also bikes – that particular shop wasn’t open. So, knowing that the wall was a giant ring, we head off towards the South gate and lo, on the Southern wall we found an open bike hire shop.

We looked at the time and did our calculations – and then decided that yes, even though we weren’t the fittest, we’d still be able to make it back in time and so we headed out.

There is a certain magic being the only ones around on something like the City Walls of Xi’an – even with the knowledge that the “fog” obscuring the buildings in the distance is most likely smog. And viewing the residents doing their thing in the public spaces around the wall was a fascinating insight into the pastimes.

As the sun came out it burnt off the smog and it looked like being a pleasant day. The guy in the boat I think is collecting some sort of plant from the water.

Also in the squares on the banks of the moat were people doing Tai Chi, and people whipping – one with a giant bullwhip (above) and a couple of others with musch smaller whips who would use them to keep tops spinning on the ground. The bullwhip had an awesome crack which echoed off both the city walls and the surrounding buildings.

Would I Go Back?

If I was on a trip to China and someone wanted to go to Xi’an I would be definitely up for that – a couple of days to revisit the Terracotta Army and the City Walls would be great. I’d even add a visit to the Drum Tower and maybe catch the Tomb of Emperor Jingdi Hanyangling. As far as a destination though, it’s a long way to go just for the Terracotta Army…

Previous: Tian’anmen Square & The Forbidden City| Part of Trip: Pollution & Tigers | Next: Shanghai

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We woke up early to head out to Mutianyu for the Great Wall. As we left the outskirts of Beijing we were no longer under the haze of the smog – though our hosts were most insistent that it was in fact fog! The carpark at Mutianyu leaves you to walk up a little township of refreshments and typical tourist trinket stores to the main entrance where you buy your tickets. And that’s where the choices begin.

You can choose to either walk up to the wall or take the cable car. No-brainer there – why waste energy walking to the wall? Then you have to choose whether to take the cable car to Tower 6 or Tower 14. Unfortunately the two cable cars are run by different companies, so you can’t go up to Tower 6 and back down Tower 14 on the same ticket.

The good news is there is a toboggan down from Tower 6 as part of that cable car ticket.

• Entrance to the Wall  ¥45
• Cable Car to Tower 14 one way ¥80, round trip ¥100
• Cable Car to Tower 6, descent by toboggan ¥100
• Just descend by toboggan  ¥80

So we grab a combo to Tower 6. Our guide accompanies us to the Wall and then briefs us on what is in store for us and then tells us where to meet her and the driver. With that she leaves us and heads back down. We’re on our own. We have yet another choice – we can head right and go the short route to the end of the wall and then head back up, or we can head uphill to the left while we’re still full of energy. We decide that if we still want to see Towers 1 – 5 then we can catch them on the way back, and we head off uphill.

The wall is sparsely populated with people – mainly locals, and a good mix of people who look like they’re here for a nice walk and proper local tourists. The sun has decided to say hello and I regret not wearing a hat. It’s a good problem to have as it means that we’re away from the smog.

I don’t know why, but I am absolutely thrilled to be here. This is the Great Wall! The undulations of the hill line are reflected in the stone at the top of the wall and so the way is definitely not flat. Steps up and down and gentle inclines make a hundred meters feel like five hundred. I look out across the forest and think about soldiers being stuck up here watching for invading Mongol hordes two thousand plus years ago. 

The Towers aren’t really much – back in the day they would have been shelter and housing for the watching patrol who would have signalled the main force back in the nearby town should there be any sign of approaching trouble. Then the army would march to the area of the wall where they were most sorely needed. For our walk we tick them off as we head towards Tower 24 – the end of the wall at Mutianyu.

I make the joke that the times may have changed but the Chinese are still on the lookout for invaders. The camera can swivel around at least 270 degrees so even though it’s pointing out towards where the Mongols would have approached from, I’m pretty sure its to keep an eye on what’s going on on the Wall.

By the time we’ve reached Tower 14 the local tourist numbers have increased significantly – presumably those who came straight up the cable car. Not too much longer afterwards we reach a particularly nasty section of the wall:  a stretch of stairs at a vertiginous angle.

The Tower at the top of that stretch is a welcome rest area and has great views. A few street vendors have set up shop there with one selling water and beers and another selling flags. I must admit we’re feeling pretty happy with ourselves for getting this far.

The flag salesperson suggests we take a photo with the Chinese flag which we’re only too happy to do. We’re surprised when he has a New Zealand flag – they only have about twenty to choose from but I guess we come in large enough numbers to make it worth their while to stock them!

We’re looking around and the wall seems to continue, but we find a warning sign indicating that this is the end of the line for tourists, and that no-one should pass. Which we of course duly obeyed and turned back to retrace our steps.

But if we had continued on, then this is the sort of thing that we might have seen. Trees growing in the shade of the walls on the edge of the path. Dusty dirt barely held together with raggedy yellow grass encroaching on the paving stones.

If we had continued even further, we may have seen parts of the wall collapsed and allowing access to the hilltop. The Towers up this far are semi collapsed as well.

And then the most interesting part. Our legs are aching, but we’re bloody-minded enough to want to reach the end. While there are other more steep sections of the Wall, this bit is diabolical. The trees have grown up through the paving stones, buckling them. Then gravity takes over and they slip away downwards.

The trees and grass aren’t sufficient to keep the dirt in place so you’re either trying to climb sandy dirt at a 45 degree angle, or else treacherously detached paving stones which may or may not decide to support your weight. The trees are surprisingly strong as I find out by arresting my downhill slide and then losing my footing and coming to a crash at its base. No harm apart from ego.

We continue on and eventually we reach the end. The sense of accomplishment is surprising and I share a handshake with Ben and we take a few minutes to rest and take in the sights. The last tower is in surprisingly good shape – many of the others on the way have been in much worse condition.

From the last fort we can see in the distance another section of the wall. I find out later that this is accessible from Jiuyanlou and we can see people at the top of towers and picnicking at the end of the wall. It gives a sense of the scale of the Wall – while it can’t be seen from outer space (seriously – you can’t see eight lane interstate highways, why would you be able to see a twenty foot wide wall?), you can start to get a feel for the multiple layers of wall built over the centuries (see map by Maximilian Dörrbecker above).

After a sufficient rest we turn and start to make our way back to the cable cars and then I discover we have made an error in judgment. The muscles in my legs have tightened from the rest – if I had been smart I would have stretched before resting, but instead they have decided that they didn’t like the trip out here (oh – and stretching to begin the journey would have been smart too) and have decided to go on strike. That wouldn’t be a problem on the regular part of the Wall but up this way there are some treacherous sections and you kind of want to have full control of your legs for them!

It’s very hard work on the way back – legs quivering on the down hill sections and complaining on the steps up. It’s a toss up which is worst – the dusty section with the loose and sliding paving stones or the well paved section closer to the cable cars which has the added advantage of more kilometres of post-tightening distance.

We pass Tower 14 and because our tickets are for the cable car/luge we have to keep going to Tower 6. Each step is agony but we manage to get to there and then have to make a decision. We’re both keen to take the luge down, but the line is considerable.

We wait maybe 10 minutes before Ben says he’s going to go down the cable car instead. I look at the path back up to the tower level which is required to reach the cable cars and think that an uphill walk isn’t going to be pleasant. I tell Ben I’ll meet him down at the bottom and wait for my turn.

I kind of zone out and only snap out of it when I realise someone is yelling at me in heavily accented English. “Single? Single?” I eventually decipher. Uh, yes. I manage and am ushered to the front of the line. Apparently there are a group of three tourists and they need someone else to make a four. Fantastic!

I get on the luge and get ready to zoom down the hill with the wind in what’s left of my hair. But! Despite a myriad of signs saying not to go slow or to take selfies, I am stuck behind someone who insists on doing both. I only just resist the urge to reach ramming speed and bulldoze us both down the course.

Eventually we reach the bottom and I find Ben and our guides and we head back to the hotel.

I am convinced that we must have walked at least 20km (12miles) – 10 to the end of the Wall and then another 10 back. I’m completely thrown by the fact that it is not even 5km in each direction!

Would I go back?

Yes. The Great Wall is a bit of a strange tourist attraction – for a start its not just one thing: as the top map shows, its a conglomeration of different walls in different places built over an extended period of time. Because of that your experience with the Wall is going to be very dependent on which section of the wall you visit, how built up or wild you want it and how much hiking you want to do. You can even dive into a man made lake which has submerged part of the wall!

Previous: Beijing | Part of Trip: Pollution & Tigers | Next: Temple of Heaven, Hutongs & Summer Palace

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Here at etrip we are always interested in alternatives, because when it comes to travel, we’re choosing the experience and cost of one particular destination over all the alternate ways to spend that money and time. So the choice of a different class of travel from economy usually boils down to the decision of whether or not the additional comfort is worth the additional cost.

Long-haul travel is a bitch. It’s usually expensive, invariably uncomfortable and most of the time you end up losing at least a day. Throw in the fact that being 6’4″ (193cm) means that I never sleep on long haul flights when I’m in economy. Which results in being a brain-dead zombie for 30 hours and then struggling with jetlag for a week.

So when I head back to New Zealand to visit family over Christmas, I try to go business class with one of the airlines offering a lie flat bed. If you’re keen on figuring out whether the seat on a flight is fully flat or at an angle, follow these steps:

1. Find the flight number and airline that you’re thinking of going on (in my case CA856 & CA783, CA784 & CA855)
2. Plug that information into
   1. www.seatguru.com/findseatmap/findseatmap.php OR
   2. www.seatmaestro.com/
3. Check out View Map from the results page, and make a note of the aircraft type (CA855 & CA856 are the Airbus A330-200 332, CA783 & CA784 are the Boeing 787-9)
4. Finally check out the seat description (Both have 30 angle-flat Business class seats: The Airbus A330-200 has 80 inches between them @170°, the B787-9 has 60)
5. alternately you can check on the airline’s website (A330 200 or the closest I could find to the B787-9)

Normally if you’re travelling business class, then you get access to a lounge before your flight – unfortunately I haven’t been to all the lounges across the world so can’t give you pointers on which to choose, but other people have. I particularly like this photo essay which adequately shows the marathon to get to Heathrow Terminal 2’s lounges. Just be aware some of the sites may be a little out of date.

Sometimes you don’t get a choice – I was only allowed into United’s lounge, but couldn’t complain and it is important who you fly with: Air China doesn’t have lounges of their own so you use the lounges of Air China’s Star Alliance partner airlines. Keep an eye out for categoric guides also.

Price

So, you’ve got a better seat, better food, (sometimes) VIP treatment at security check points – what does all this cost? Like every other ticket, your flight price fluctuates over time. Averages don’t matter – I’m only interested in how much my selected tickets will change. You may want to set up an alert on Google Flights, or check out these other tools to monitor your ticket/route prices.

London: United Lounge

Before the flight I’m invited to use the United Club Lounge which is almost empty. I thought I would have the choice of Star Alliance lounges but apparently not. I had read that the Air Canada lounge was the best and so naturally enough I wanted to visit that one. I can’t fault the United one though. Ample seating, a huge bar, nice food – what more could you ask for?

London to Beijing / Beijing to London

Flights CA856 (LHR-PEK) and CA855 (PEK-LHR) are in the Airbus 330-200 with only three rows of 2-2-2 in front of the doors and another two rows beyond the doors. The first leg was about half full, so the staff were very attentive and proactive. The seat folded down to practically flat – none of the precariously perched sleepers here!

Of the two planes I travelled on, this was my favourite – at a 80 inch seat pitch (seat pitch is the distance between your seat and the one in front – for reference budget airlines have 28-30), it feels incredibly roomy, and my legs barely reached the footstool in front of the screen.

As we approached Beijing I looked out the window and saw the Great Wall of China (the light line on the hill)

Beijing Lounge

We’re let off the plane by sky-bridge and head towards the transit lounge. You go past the temperature checking station and then turn left before you hit the Immigration counters. A brief check of your passport later you head downstairs and meld with the passengers coming through outbound immigration to go through security.

After that you’re ejected into the main concourse of the terminal. Perched above Burger King and KFC is the transit lounge which serves a bewildering array of airlines.

By surrendering your boarding card you can enjoy the sleeping pod – unfortunately they don’t have a roof so the light is unrelenting. Better save that eye-mask from the amenities bag! There are only six of these so they are in great demand – get in early! I got one pretty easily between legs one and two, so I assume I’ll be able to get one just as easily between legs three and four – not so!

The theatre is a weird set up – no sound on the TV and awesomely comfortable chairs.

The Business Class passengers get a special bus to take you out to the plane when the flight is not served by a sky-bridge. 

The Food

I must admit I would be happy eating this food every day. I don’t know what they ate in Economy, but I’m very happy with what I had. You even get choices at each meal stage. My only regret is not mixing up my choices too much. Amusingly on the Beijing-London leg one of the other business class passengers was eating KFC on the plane!

Beijing to Auckland

The second and third legs of the trip CA783 & CA784 were in the Boeing 787-9, which has a larger Business class cabin which holds all five rows of 60 inch pitched seats in the same 2-2-2 formation. To save space further, they’re slightly offset from forward facing.

I managed to get some sleep on the Beijing to Auckland leg by sleeping on my side, but on the return leg I couldn’t get comfortable – I blame it on attempting to sleep on my back: when my shoulders touched both sides of the bed at the same time I felt claustrophobic. It didn’t happen with the Airbus, even though both seats are the same width.

The 787-9 doesnt have shutters for the windows per se, instead it has a gel which can be controlled to allow a certain amount of light in. Here’s a video demonstration. The upshot is that it makes for some eerie images:

Lounge: Auckland

Seeing as there are only three lounges at Auckland Airport, it makes sense that I’d be directed to use the Air New Zealand lounge. The Emirates & Qantas Lounge services the Oneworld alliance airlines, and there is a pay lounge (Emperor Lounge). Its a good size, and is quite busy but I manage to snaffle one of the swinging chairs in the outdoor section. Nice to get some real fresh air!

Clayton Tremain has a pretty comprehensive review of the lounge.

Auckland to Beijing

Beijing

Old school sleeping pods…

I mentioned the “fog” to my girlfriend over IM – her response? There’s a Red “Bad Air” alert – that’s actually smog!

I also read a review of the free bar in the lounge that they didn’t have very good brands of spirits. I can’t vouch for the actual liquid inside them, but these bottles are definitely name brands….

Beijing to London

Summary

So was it worth it? For me, having to be awake for over 30 hours isn’t fun. And being cramped up with a 32inch pitch for 12 hours at a time in economy doesn’t appeal either. My back and neck end up killing me for weeks afterwards.

It’s quite possible to get sleep either sleeping in the airport on seats or in a pay by the hour hotel, so really the question is:

Is the price difference between the economy ticket with cramped seating plus the cost of sleeping in Beijing worth the superior treatment and perks available to Business class customers?

I have seen ticket prices for the routes mentioned above for £2,031 in economy and £6,189 in business class. I wouldn’t be willing to pay that sort of money for economy, but if you do some other searches you can come up with closer spreads: £1,230 vs £2,243 for example. If you expand out beyond Air China and don’t care about the dates you travel then you can get as low as £600 and £2,300 return. Watch out for the seat pitch and whether its truly a lie flat bed though – all business classes are not equal!

I had found the flights I ended up taking for close to £1,900 but wasn’t able to get them (issues with getting leave approved) and ended up paying £2,200 for them.

Basically I’m paying close to £1,000 extra for my neck and back being OK after the travel and for a combined total of about 10 hours sleep in each direction. Plus the unlimited food and drink in the lounges.

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