China. Two Weeks. Over 3000 miles traveled. Terracotta. Disney. 2nd Tallest Building in the world. Tropical Beach. I’m tired.
Our summer vacation, which we began setting up in the fall, turned out to be drastically different than we anticipated. Thanks, Obama. Kidding. But really… Thanks, Covid. Let me just preface this post by saying though – we actually had a summer vacation. Most people probably aren’t getting one, so we are very thankful for our situation.
Our original vacation plans were to travel to Italy and France this summer. I even had an inkling of a notion to slip over into Spain and run with the bulls. And the… Covid. Currently, we can’t even leave China. If we do, like many of our colleagues, we won’t be allowed back into the country until who knows when. So, we scrapped any out of the country plans. No going to Italy and France. No going home to the US for a few weeks. We can’t even go to Hong Kong or Macau, which are technically part of China. Plan A was a European vacation. Plan B was an American vacation. Onto Plan C… a Chinese vacation. Which of course, turned into a Plan D.
Plan C was simple – hit up all the touristy Chinese vacation spots – The Great Wall, Terracotta Army, and finally Shanghai… cause you know… Disney. My better half does all the planning legwork. I just sit back and argue about it when she brings up an idea I don’t like. She quickly had us lined up for Beijing to visit the Great Wall, but then it fell through. There was a “flare up” of Covid in Beijing and we were warned to steer clear. So we did. Maybe next year for the Great Wall. We then moved to plan D – Which would be Xi’an (Terracotta Army), Shanghai (Disney and tour Shanghai), then there was an option to visit Sanya, which is a tropical island in southern china for some beach R&R.
Before our trip could begin, we decided to teach two weeks at my wife’s school for a summer camp. Cause… they would pay us. So even though I can barely tolerate my own children sometimes, I signed on to teach a whole butt load of them. Two weeks of crazy humidity and crazy, but surprisingly well-behaved elementary children later, we were done, had pockets full of cash and were ready for our summer adventure to begin. We had a few travel options – one of them being by train. China has an extensive rail network with bullet trains, sleeper trains, all that jazz. And we’ve never taken a train as a family. Yes, we travel all over and back again and have never been on a train (Subway doesn’t count). Did we take the train this time? Nope. Maybe next time! We had some people tell us and read some reviews about their train experience, so we decided against it, for now. And besides, flights are DIRT CHEAP at the moment. I mean, DIRT CHEAP. The wifey found us some super inexpensive seats to Xi’an, and we were on the plane bright and early on a Monday morning.
This city has some history. It has, on multiple occasions, been the capital of China, since its founding around 200 BCE. They even have a WALL around the city. No, it’s not the original wall, but a re-constructed 14th century version of it. So, it’s not an ancient wall, but a Medieval wall. It still looks really cool. We stayed in a hotel that was a stone’s throw from the wall. We had only planned 2 days in Xi’an, though now I wished we would have had more, if nothing else than to eat all the delicious food there. There’s also a Muslim quarter, which came because Xi’an was a major hub of the Silk Road. There are three main streets (more like big alleys) that we walked through – food and collectibles abounded in this area. We also visited the Drum Tower – which has all the drums that were used back into the day to signify things, such start of the work day, end of the work day, storm approaching, etc. The drums were huge. Modern technology has made them obsolete but it was still neat to see them well preserved.
Day 2 of Xi’an is when we headed out to the Terracotta Army. Its about a 45 minute trip out of the city, but our taxi driver got us there in under 30 because he drove like an absolute maniac. We were totally confused when we got there though – where to go, where to buy tickets, do we pay in cash, do we need masks. We finally got all sorted out and then headed inside the giant complex. It’s a nice 5 minute walk from the road, through a lovely park area, and then you arrive at the “pits”. There are four of them, each at different levels of excavation. Pit 1 is the most famous, and largest, with mostly everything already excavated. The other pits are in various forms of excavation, with some of the pits only half way completed. It truly was an amazing experience, a must-see for anyone who is into history. The army was buried with China’s first emperor in 210 BCE. Yeah, like a long time ago. I won’t bore you with more history, but this was one of the main things I looked forward to when we knew we were going to be living in China. It did not disappoint. And to make our son happy, there’s a McDonald’s at the complex. But they didn’t have Chicken McNuggets. How can you be a McDonald’s and not have McNuggets???
After another night in Xi’an, we packed up and headed out uber early for our flight to Shanghai and Disney. Traveling right now is kind of hectic. China is broken up into provinces (think States), and each province or sometimes city wants you to have a special health code that they can scan on your phone to make sure you’re Covid free. You basically scan a QR code, fill in your information and you’re good to go. It’s not that simple though as most of the time the language is in Chinese or it’s just confusing in English.
We had to show these QR codes everywhere – getting on planes, coming into a hotel, going into Disney. We “thought” we had it all figured out as we waited in line at our gate to board our flight to Xi’an. We get to the dude that scans our tickets and he tells us to step aside for a moment. And then we were racially profiled. For being White. Or American, one or both I dunno. Even though we had our QR codes, and my wife even had a printed note (in Chinese) of where we live/where we’ve been, they still grilled us about everything. It was awkward and annoying, as everyone on the flight was staring at us like we had a disease. In retrospect, it was a mild inconvenience and pales in comparison to what other people go through all the time. So I’m not complaining. Silver lining – when we take these flights, my better half sits in a three seat row with the kids and I’m stuck sitting with strangers in the row across. On one of the flights, the two ladies beside me weren’t too happy sitting next to me, and in fact, waited until I had finished my plane-served snack and put back on my mask before they took off their masks and touched their food. But on another flight. I was sat next to a Mom and her son. As I looked over to my son to give him the Vulcan “live long and prosper” sign, the Mom and her son laughed, and then commenced to trying to make the sign with their hands. Through broken English/Chinese, I schooled them in the ways of the Trek and as I left the flight, we exchanged a Live Long and Prosper salute to each other.
We made it safe and sound to Shanghai and were whisked to a Disney resort to spend a few nights. Covid compliance is in full effect though, so we had to mask up pretty much everywhere on Disney properties, there are no meet and greets with characters, no fireworks, no parades. Other than that, it was Disney as usual. Well… Chinese Disney. At Hong Kong Disneyland, mostly everything is bilingual – in Chinese and English. Not so much in Shanghai. While the signage around the park has both Chinese and English, all the performances, rides, voice-overs were all in Chinese, so there were plenty of times when we just smiled and had no idea what was happening. Again though, it’s Disney and it’s fun.
Here are some highlights of Shanghai Disneyland:
Disney Hotel guests are allowed into the park a full hour before the general public. This let us knock out a whole section of the park each morning before it got crowded. Worth the money.
TRON Lightcycle was a blast. It replaces Space Mountain. You sit on motorcycles in this roller coaster and go both inside and outside at a fast clip.
Camp Discovery. It’s a ropes course. Yeah, I know… a ropes course. I’ve been on plenty, they are all basically the same. This one was awesome. It’s built around a Disney made mountain with waterfalls. There are three different trails you can climb around on. Each trail has different “levels” of ways to go. So, if you’re like my wife, you can take the easy route each time and just walk across simple bridges. Or, if you’re like me and my son, you can literally climb around a cliff edge against a waterfall as water is splashing down on you. This was by far my son’s favorite thing he did at Disney and a total surprise at how fun it was for me.
Blue Frog – Best restaurant we ate at while at Disney. There was a Cheesecake Factory close by, but we opted for this place and thankfully made the right choice. This spot had plenty of western options for the kids. The burger I had was excellent and my wife was able to curb her Mexican food craving as well.
Pirates of the Caribbean ride – Pretty cool experience. You sit in a “boat” and go through the different POTC movie experiences inside a huge indoor facility. They spent a lot of money here as the special effects were top notch. But in true fashion, the ride seemed to have a hiccup half way through – it stopped and we sat in mostly darkness for about 5 minutes before it started up again. They did make some kind of Chinese announcement, but we had no idea what it was about. I blame my wife. She broke a ride at Hong Kong Disney too. That’s her super power – breaking technology.
We rode pretty much every ride and saw most of the shows at Disney, but as this isn’t just a Disney Post, I’ll leave you with those highlights and of course pictures.
After a few days, we checked out of Disney and headed to downtown Shanghai – to the best hotel we’ve ever stayed in. I am not in charge of our finances, so my wife could have paid a fortune for all I know, but this place was the bomb. Have you ever tried a bidet? So here’s the thing. I lived in the UAE for a year. In our bathroom, there was a seperate bidet that sat next to the toilet. I never used it though, other than to wash my feet off. Well, this boujee hotel in Shanghai had one built into the toilet. The toilet seat was also heated, which is literally the smartest idea ever. Back to the bidet – it had a remote on the wall next to the toilet. You just pushed it, it did the business, and even dried you. The western world is missing out on this amazing device.
So, Shanghai. It’s the NYC of China. But cleaner. In 2010, we went to the world’s tallest building in Dubai. Shanghai has the current second tallest building, the Shanghai Tower, so we had to hit it up as well. The observation deck of this building is even higher than the one in Dubai. We did this on a weekday as well, so it wasn’t as nearly as crowded as it could have been. While it was a little overcast, we could see everything pretty well and enjoyed our ride to the clouds. We also heard there was a Taco Bell near our hotel. We got kind of excited. Is Taco Bell the most amazing thing ever? No. But, when you haven’t had some of it in a year, it’s a nice treat. So We headed over… and… it was closed. But wait! There was another location. We ordered for delivery and also got Papa John’s for the kids. We all gained 10 lbs from this experience. We also visited an aquarium while in the city, which is what tourists with kids do. I wish I could have stayed longer in Shanghai, if not for anything other than the hotel’s bidet.
Our final destination was Sanya. We left it as an option, but gave it the green light when we heard back from some expat friends who had a blast there. Sanya is a beach town on the island of Hainan in Southern China. It also happens to be on roughly the same latitude line as Hawaii, so well… we were in. We booked it last minute, so our hotel, although still pretty nice, was the last one we could find on short notice. Long story short – the pool was amazing, the views were spectacular and we still found western fast food for our kids. The only bummer was the watersports. The dude running them would only allow me on a jetski if HE went with me. I turned him down. But still, Chinese Hawaii was a great way to end our trip.
After two weeks and 3000 miles of travel, its good to be back home. We still have the rest of the summer to relax before our schools start up again, in whatever capacity Covid will allow.
What an absolutely travel journal. Thanks for sharing. I sure hope to get back soon to hear about your adventures in person. Cheers