Ultra-modern yet utterly ancient: China's contrasting highlights

China is a land of contrasts – state of the art modernity, surrounded by ancient wonders from over 4000 years of civilization: vertiginous skyscrapers surrounded by vast rural landscapes. The city of Chongqing is one of the largest in the world, with a population of 31 million people, sprawling across dramatic mountain sides and plunging valleys, at the confluence of the Yangtze and Jialing Rivers. Here elevated cliffside neighbourhoods are connected by raised roads and cable cars, and metro lines literally travel through buildings, as the city extends not only widthways over miles of suburbs, but vertically up the sheer slopes. This remarkable metropolis was to be the starting of Bury St Edmunds’ Assistant Manager Darren’s trip, courtesy of China travel experts Wendy Wu Tours:  

“I flew out with Air China, and the airline was very efficient - on time, with great food, and you actually had quite decent leg room, which isn’t always the case. Our flight landed in Chengdu and we immediately boarded a Bullet Train to Chongqing, our base for the next five days. This immediately got our trip off to an exciting start and set the tone for the entire trip. Because Chongqing is so spread out and so very green, it really doesn’t feel that busy at all - London feels far busier! Over the next five days we explored the highlights of the area:

The Tongnan District had ancient, cobbled streets and local delicacies to try. You could just get lost in the winding streets and the sights and smells really awakened the senses! We were greeted by locals who came out to sing and dance for us! The Dazu Rock Carvings are a UNESCO World heritage site and feature thousands of religious carvings and sculptures dating back to the 7th century. The site has over 50,000 statues!

The Pandas at Chongqing Zoo, who were really active as it was the morning and their feeding time! We also took a cable car across the Yangtze River.

An evening Yangtze River Cruise featured a drone show, lighting up the Chongqing skyline. With amazing drone formations of pandas and people, this was incredible, I don’t think I’ll ever forget it.

Taking a bullet train up into the mountains we visited Shizu Mountain and walked some of the Wanshoushan Scenic Trail, known for its fearless female warriors and stunning mountain views. Here we enjoyed lunch, sampling rice tea and having a go at the local dancing, which was fun. I’m not normally much of a dancer (especially when completely sober!) but even I got involved!

Our final day trip from Chongqing was to the Three Gorges in Wulong, which is famous as a film location for Transformers Age of Extinction. The scenery and views from the top of the gorge was like something out of Avatar. We then descended into the Gorge by a rotating sky-lift down the mountain – the breathtaking scenery was a real highlight. My top tip would be to pack a lightweight raincoat as it can get very damp in the mountains.

Later that evening we witnessed the famous Chongqing Monorail pass through the 9th floor of a residential building!

Leaving Chongqing, we headed to Shanghai for the last two days of our trip. We spent one evening cruising down the river with stunning views of Shanghai, with European architecture on the east side and a cyberpunk, futuristic city on the West side – it’s like something out of a film!

We only had two days in Shanghai but we managed to visit the 3rd tallest building in the World - The Shanghai Tower, Yu Gardens, China Town, the French Quarter and the Jade Buddha Temple. We also boarded the Maglev train, which travels at 301kph and goes from the City Centre to the airport in just 7 mins!

All of the hotels selected by Wendy Wu were 4 or 5* and therefore stunning. The rooms were clean and spacious, with all the modern gadgets you’d expect - they even had UK plug sockets, so no need for a travel adapter. I particularly like the view from the Chiyou Julicheng Hotel, which had stunning views of the temples lit up and night and the surrounding mountains.

All of the hotels had pools, gyms, spas and beautiful garden areas, located very centrally either right by the top attractions or easily accessible by public transport. All the staff were so friendly and couldn’t do enough for you and the robots that delivered room service were a constant fascination! The Sheraton Hotel in Shanghai was close to the river and not far from the top sites like the Shanghai Tower and the Bund - a historic waterfront promenade and historical district. My balcony overlooked the river and the city skyline, which was lit up like a neon-infused future-scape, reminiscent of Blade Runner.

China is great for foodies – hotel breakfasts offer both European and Chinese cuisine, but I’d really recommend trying local dishes too - Chongqing’s specialty is a spicy hotpot, where diners cook their own ingredients, laced with peppercorns for intense flavors and a fiery kick. Personally, I preferred the cuisine in Shanghai as it featured more sweet and sour flavours, which I love.  Don’t be afraid to give using chopsticks a go too - I don’t often use them at home, but I became very good by the end of the tour! My other top tip is to download an eSIM for accessing the internet, as many websites that we take for granted are banned in China. You’ll definitely want to be able to post all of those stunning pictures!

Expanding from their first tours to China in 1994, Wendy Wu Tours currently offer extraordinary trips to more than 40 destinations worldwide. From the highlights of classic Group Tours to their Go Beyond Tours that take you further off the beaten path, from Solo Tours to Tailormade and Private Groups - Wendy Wu’s expertise and attention to detail is exemplary. Our tour guides were amazing, I can’t praise them enough - their knowledge and experience was outstanding and they were so helpful, with a really good sense of humour.

Before travelling to China, I expected the country to feel more over-developed, but a lot less modern, so I was very surprised by the expanses of such stunning scenery, and in terms of the technology, China is light years ahead of Europe - advancing at such a rate, it will soon outpace the rest of the World, if it hasn’t already. I think any traveller would enjoy China - it’s got everything - a beautiful culture, with futuristic cityscapes and stunning scenery!