A morning-early aft. at the Summer Palace, another somewhat busy attraction - but only really near the entrance areas. The grounds of it are large and most don't seem to explore much. Plenty of nice quiet trails and areas. Another surprise.
Three weeks across Mainline China, Hong Kong and Vietnam.
798 Art Zone was previously unknown to us before arriving, but we went here after the Summer Palace. It's an industrial zone converted for art exhibitions and general artsy.. stuff. It was really quite cool. Some of the individual exhibitions were surprisingly expensive by China standards, but it was enjoyable.
Didn't take many photos, but the Hutongs in Beijing feel like they deserve more attention than they get in tourist guides. Obviously it's hard to compete against the globally recognised attractions Beijing otherwise offers, but in our limited experiences, they felt like a good place to be.
The scale of The Forbidden City is probably the most impressive thing about it, we didn't enter through Tiananmen square - scared off by the warnings of huge queues, so we walked straight in. Again, very popular attraction - but the enormous amounts of space meant that it didn't feel crowded (aside from a garden towards the north of the city).
Terracotta Army, we got there for the 08:30 slot and had a good chance to enjoy the place before the larger crowds came. It is an impressive discovery and the history around here is super interesting to read about. We also went to the Lishan garden, there is a good museum on there, but it didn't feel as necessary to visit there. If you're tight on time, skip the garden - you won't miss *too much*.
Cycling around Xi'an city walls for sunset, this was a great experience. We took a tandem bike around the full ~14km, finishing off at Yongxingfang food street.
Our last day in Xi'an, it was hot. We visited the Giant Wild Goose Pagoda and the nearby theme park, Tang Paradise. Theme parks aren't our thing, but this was basically empty when we went and it's reasonably well done and quite relaxing.
1000 trees shopping centre, French quarter, general Shanghai walkabout, a bit of shopping and Yuyuan old street.
Shanghai Greenhouse Garden, in Shanghai Expo Park. Supposedly the largest greenhouse in Asia. The different biomes and path through them was well done and I think absolutely worth visiting, I'd like to come back to visit the wider expo park though - there seems to be a lot more to see here.
Temple Street market and the Avenue of the Stars.
Flew from Shanghai to Hong Kong for a few days. First full day, we went to a local cha chaan teng (with very friendly staff!) and the M+ Museum. The museum was excellent, we spent over 4 hours there and really enjoyed it. It's in a cool building too right on the harbour.
Another drizzly day in Hong Kong, but it was a welcome break from the heat and not particularly disruptive. Hung Hom Kwun Yum Temple, Nian Li Garden.
Exploring a bit of Mong Kok at night.
First day in Hanoi, coming during this time of the year is a bit of a risk - it's hot and rainy. First night, we encountered a lot of rain. We stayed in the old quarter near Hoàn Kiếm Lake.
Hanoi streets.
Arriving in Tam Cốc, cycling around the area. I bought an Insta360 X5 and a clamp in China, so this was one of the first real tests of it.
Tràng An boat tour, despite the commercialisation around this route - the actual experience was nice. Relaxing.
Photos for this leg haven't been posted yet.
Our first Beijing attraction, Temple of Heaven. This is better in person than I expected it to be, there were a LOT of people here, but the size of the grounds makes it manageable and doesn't dampen enjoyment too much.
Mutianyu section of the great wall, it's a bit of a drive, 1.5-2 hours from central Beijing, but seems to be worth choosing this over the nearest accessible section. It is really quite impressive, the scenery around this section does add a lot to the experience.
First day in Xi'an, we took a high speed train from Beijing to Xi'an which was overall a great experience. Our first day was spent mostly walking around the Muslim quarter, mosque and the old streets. Xi'an immediately gave off a nice vibe.
Shanghai Skyline from 'The Stage' observation deck and The Bund. It felt like we had the observation deck mostly to ourselves for a few decent periods of time, the most people up there with us was about 10-14 or so. It seems to be a good pick compared to other, much busier observation decks. Also gives you a slightly different view than the more popular.
Hang Múa at sunset. It was hot, humid, quite busy, but nonetheless a good experience.
The last few days when we returned to Hanoi were super hot, reaching 39c - so we took it quite slow and as it was nearing the end of our three-week trip, relaxing and not feeling the need to rush to see everything felt okay. Train street, museums, aquariums, shopping centres, etc.