China is so much, outsize, a mix of extreme climatic, geographical and ethnic conditions.
China makes noise, so much noise between its deafening horns, the loud music and the loud swarm of people.
China is a country projected towards the future: alongside the works of the imperial dynasties, the narrow and tortuous alleys that smell of incense and the red lanterns, you find yourself walking on open construction sites next to cranes that at full speed cranes build buildings futuristic.
China is a green lung that captures the soul: just get away from the congested metropolis to admire fabulous scenery, made of karst pinnacles and intricate bamboo forests.
What we liked
• The small villages and rice paddies of the Guangxi region
Here we found the rural China that we have sought so much, that far from the crowd, from the artificial lights perpetually lighted, from the western lifestyle that is increasingly insinuating; China that goes slow, that knows how to stop and live day by day.
• The superlative landscapes of the Zhangiìhijie National Park and the Huangshan Sacred Mountain (the Yellow Mountain)
• Chinese cuisine
After our “burning” experience in India (⇒ have a look to our travel in India), we could not have done better in China! Chinese cuisine is very varied: it does not end in the sad saucer of white rice, but ranges from tasty noodles soup to every possible cut of meat imaginable.
What we did not like
• The constant presence of the human hand
The beauty of the landscapes that China is able to give is partly blurred by the construction of gondolas, lifts and trains in the natural parks, literally stormed by groups of Chinese tourists. So it is a little less that feeling of being explorers of uncontaminated places, that we like so much: here, to dominate is not Mother Nature, as it should be, but the hand of man.
• The ancient testimonies of imperial China, made of temples immersed in peace and red lanterns, are increasingly rare and most of the time they are turned into tourist booths. Next to an ancient temple it is not unusual to find a Mc Donald or a KFC.
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