Mastodawn

myrmepropagandist

In a few years my husband wants to go to China. We've been before to the big cities which are amazing but we'd like to go to one of the dozens of cities in China with millions of people most people in the west know very little about.

I'd like to go to see ancient invertebrates. Is there anything to do at the Qingjiang biota? There has to be a university or museum or something there.

My husband speaks Chinese ... poorly, like a 10 year old. Which I think is impressive tbh.

@futurebird Air in China is improving and maybe the world will be a safer place to travel in a few years.

Speaking at a 10-yr-old level IS impressive. :)

myrmepropagandist Mar 10

It only took 15 years!

@futurebird Kudos to any who stick with non Latin languages and different alphabets, ways of thinking and expressing ideas. :)

everything_bagel

@futurebird I lived briefly in Anji (安吉县), which is home to the bamboo forest where they filmed scenes from Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. I don’t know that there’s much else to see around there, but the bamboo forest was very impressive, and while I was there I think I had a different bamboo dish every single day. Still fascinated by the things they did with bamboo in food there.

I also spent time in nearby Nanxun (南浔镇), which is a really interesting town with some good historical things to see. Pretty sure I nearly killed an old woman there by almost walking into her while rounding a corner and simultaneously being the first white person she’d ever seen.

May Likes Toronto Mar 10

@futurebird Shangri-la was one of my favourite places. Most of Yunnan is gorgeous. I spent a year in Chongqing and it's probably a completely different city by now. They built like 5 subway lines that year.

Laurel Stvan Mar 10

@futurebird I haven’t been there in a couple decades. At the time, it really helped to have local univeristy host/guides. Here’s a few places that might be relevant

http://english.qdio.cas.cn/support_system2016/the_marine_biological_science_museum_cas2016/

https://english.zmu.edu.cn/info/1019/1072.htm

https://artsandculture.google.com/partner/insect-museum-of-west-china

Kudos to any knowledge of Chinese! Does he read it?

The Marine Biological Science Museum, CAS----Institute of Oceanology Chinese Academy of Sciences

IOCAS, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Institute of Oceanology

myrmepropagandist Mar 10

He can read like street signs maybe? Simple things. Reading is apparently hard!

Laurel Stvan Mar 13

@futurebird Street signs and place names are a key component. Along with key ingredients—chicken, beef, noodle, fried, beer. 😄

Michael Busch Mar 10

Mandarin or something else?

Since I know only enough Mandarin to say that I do not speak it; which briefly caused some confusion when I was in Guangzhou and did not also know how to say that I do not speak Cantonese...

myrmepropagandist Mar 10

@michael_w_busch

Yes Mandarin.

Cantonese is more useful in NYC, but that's only true in a few places.

Michael Busch Mar 10

When I was in Taipei, I had the same confusion with Mandarin and Hokkien.

Fortunately, my hosts made allowances for the hapless American.

Papa Wheeli Mar 10

@futurebird

China is great! I've been there a few times (my wife is from Beijing), and traveled a lot.

You shouldn't have any trouble with the language. Even in the "small" cities (only 8 million people!) people love to practice their english on you. Just know the symbols for "man" and "woman" so you can find the correct bathrooms. : ) The easiest way to get places is by train. There are high speed trains and trains that travel at night everywhere.

One bit of note, the smaller the city and the father from the larger cities you go, the more people will gawk and treat you as a spectacle. I'm just a regular white guy and I experienced it. If you have features unusual to Chinese people (eg dark skin, curly hair, like your profile picture) people *will* just come up and touch you and take pictures of you without asking. But, they don't generally mean any harm?

@futurebird as someone who went to college in Pittsburgh i am fascinated by Chongqing, gives the strong impression of "what if the Burgh had the population of NYC"

@futurebird (to be more specific, their common experience of entering a building at ground level, taking the elevator more than a few floors, and exiting at ground level)

@futurebird I'd love to visit Chongqing just to see the absolutely wild topography.

It makes me think of Genting on steroids. Genting is a casino resort in Malaysia perched on a mountain. One hotel there has a bus/taxi station at ground level; eight stories below the lobby which is also at ground level among other fun architecture. Chongqing looks like that scaled up to an entire city.

Matthew Exon Mar 10

@futurebird If you want a place the tourists skip, maybe Hohhot? The city itself is a dusty smoggy hole, but the Inner Mongolia Museum is one of the best I've seen in China (albeit that was 2014).

@futurebird I would also like to visit the provinces outside of Shanghai. I hope that is what you are referring to, @futurebird@[email protected]
. Everyone is like: "Let's visit the popular location first." and just forget about the country side, where the hard working people live... I, on the other hand, would like to go to China, and visit the villages there.

The Human Capybara Mar 10

@futurebird It IS impressive. I'd like to be able to speak Chinese like a 10-year old!

And that sounds like a great trip to organize!

David Fleetwood - RG Admin Mar 10

@futurebird The area around Guilin & Lipu is absolutely gorgeous. One of my favorite places.