Travel destinations in China – Part 1

From the standpoint of travel, my trip to China is by far the most memorable. I spent about 12 days visiting the typical venues in Beijing, Xian, Guilin and Shanghai. Scenery, cities, historical points of interest abound in China and the country has obviously undergone dramatic changes in becoming modern and welcoming to tourists. The transportation is more than adequate, the local tour guides are knowledgeable and courteous and the hotels have incredible amenities and serve unbelievable breakfasts buffets that last up to four hours.

One thing that we don’t hear discussed much even as we prepare for a trip to China, is the state of their toilets. The hotels and some restaurants, of course, have Western toilets but in most places today, the toilets are still down on the ground; some of them are made of porcelain but it is still necessary to squat down to use them.

On my tour, it became something of a joke… When we arrived at the Great Wall from Beijing, for example, our tour guide announced while pointing to a building, “5-star western toilets.” On a river trip on the Li river, a tributary of the Yangtze river with some of the most beautiful and unusual scenery I’ve ever seen, one of my fellow travelers who had recently had a hip replacement declared herself unwilling and indeed incapable of using the squatting toilet on the boat.

Many of us would go the entire day without using these facilities, preferring to wait until we returned to our modern hotels. That is no easy feat when you’re gone from 8:30 in the morning until about 5:00 in the afternoon.

Squatting is perilous and might need to be emphasized more to tourists preparing to go to China. Perhaps they might choose to do certain exercises to prepare for this.

Certainly, it is not a criteria to use to judge the country. China’s history of more than five thousand years provides us with much more beauty and tradition to view and learn about. A return trip is definitely in my plans although I will avoid going in 2008 since a large venue such as the summer Olympics doesn’t sound like something I want to be involved in.

China is grand, beautiful and mysterious and I plan on visiting it again soon and often.