China
“We thought China would be the hardest trip we had ever taken”
We had been talking about China for several years.
But every time it felt too complicated to arrange on our own: a different language, the apps, payments, trains, enormous cities.
At the same time we wanted to see completely different sides of the country — old Beijing, the Great Wall, the Terracotta Army, the landscapes of Guilin and futuristic Shanghai.
Where Easytravel really mattered
The schedule changed — a new ticket and transfer were arranged before we had even started looking for a solution.
The driver could not understand the address — the manager sent the name and address of the place in Chinese.
We needed medicine — they found the nearest pharmacy and sent the name of what we needed in Chinese.
- Beijing
- Xi’an
- Guilin and Yangshuo
- Shanghai
Their route
- Days 1–3Beijing
Met at the airport, the hotel, the Forbidden City, Tiananmen Square, the old districts and the Great Wall. A more remote section of the Wall was chosen to avoid the bulk of the tour groups.
- Days 4–5Xi’an
High-speed train. Chinese railway stations were what worried us most before the trip, so Easytravel prepared a short set of instructions in advance: where to go, what to show and how early to arrive. Then the Terracotta Army, the old city and the Muslim Quarter.
- Days 6–8Guilin and Yangshuo
After Beijing and Xi’an came karst mountains, the Li River, small settlements and a day on bicycles with no fixed programme.
- Days 9–11Shanghai
The Bund, Pudong, an observation deck, the old quarters and a free day.
- Days 12–13Last days
A calm final day, restaurants, walks, shopping and the transfer to the airport.
“No museums. No compulsory stops. Just nature”
“Most of the difficulty of China happened somewhere outside our holiday”
“It was our journey — simply organised very well by someone else”
Photographs from the trip
