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submitted 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) by Quaxamilliom@hexbear.net to c/chapotraphouse@hexbear.net

Anyone been there and can offer tips? Going with my wife and 7 year old kid this coming summer and couldn't be more excited. Love to know any tips for eating vegan (none of us eat meat) and cool commie things to see and do, here is a first draft of the itinerary so far:

Land in Hong Kong and spend a week there

Train to Guilin, spend 2 full days there (4 days total counting travel days)

Train to Changsha (home of Chairman Mao), again 2 full days, 4 total with travel days

Train Hangzhou, 4 full days here, 6 total with travel days

Train to Shanghai, 5 full days, 7 total

Train Beijing, 5 full days, 7 total leaving early morning last day

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[-] grouchy@hexbear.net 5 points 11 months ago

I haven't been there in more than a decade (and wasn't a commie at the time*) so can't give advice, but make sure to check out West Lake while you're in Hangzhou! iirc most of the nearby food on the shore is a tourist trap though, so you might wanna arrange meals a little further away, but again, dunno what it's like now. For vegan food, probably look into places catering toward Buddhists (not necessarily vegan but higher chance of vegan items on the menu and/or the people running the place understanding more specific dietary requests), sometimes hard to check even without a language barrier though.

I'm also tempted to suggest taking a day or two to check out Suzhou (Zhouzhuang is super cool and there are a gazillion gardens; Tiger Hill is also interesting but I'm biased cuz I'm into the related history) but that probably makes the itinerary too cramped.

Oh right, this again is probably outdated info but I'd recommend carrying around packs of toilet tissue/wipes as not all facilities have toilet paper. Similarly, some places will only have squat toilets, so that's also something to maybe plan ahead for if it's a concern for anyone in your family.

  • I will mention Lu Xun wrote two famous essays on the collapse of the Leifeng Pagoda (near West Lake); I thought it was kinda ironic visiting the reconstructed pagoda but think my feelings have shifted a bit since. It's the kind of place worth checking out once but maybe not a second time, I think, and there's so much to see and do in the area I might not prioritize it personally.
[-] Quaxamilliom@hexbear.net 5 points 11 months ago

some places will only have squat toilets, so that's also something to maybe plan ahead for if it's a concern for anyone in your family.

I grew up in Iran and actually love squat toilets, my wife and kid have never seen one though i dont think haha, should be a fun little culture shock.

this post was submitted on 08 Dec 2023
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