Organized with the help of Antoine from the China-Roads agency, the trip took place in excellent conditions, and we were fascinated from start to finish. We initially indicated the two main themes we wanted to cover:
– Modern China, and particularly the achievements of French and foreign architects in major urban metropolises
– Ancient China, which we knew very little about, with particular attention to bronze works and Buddhist sculptures, as well as everything relating to the masters of classical doctrines
1-Program
The circuit consists of three parts:
a- Hubei Beijing, Chengde and Tianjin
b- Shandong, very detailed circuit: Dezhou, Liaoshang, Jinan, Tai’An (Mt Taishan), Laiwu, Zibo, Binzhou, Dongying, Weifang, Yantai, Weihai, Qingdao, Linyi, Zaoshuang, Qufu, Jining, Heze.
c- Jiangsu, Henan, and Zhejiang-Luoyang, Dengfeng, Kaifeng, Nanjing, Hangzhou, Suzhou, Shanghai.
Overall, the various tours were well-balanced. Our only regret was not spending more time in Luoyang, which would have been possible by taking two days from the Shandong tour:
Snow Lake in Xuehou. This is a very large tourist attraction that would have been very busy during the high season and, therefore, would have been of little interest to us. When we passed by, it was completely deserted, which produced the same effect.
The Peony Park in Heze. A beautiful, large park, but it wasn’t the flowering season.
2-The striking impressions
We were very impressed by the rich collections of the museums we visited. In particular, Jeanne Wang showed us around the private Poly Art Museum in a tower block of the New Poly Plaza in Beijing. There, we found the finest private collection of antique bronzes from the Shang to the Qin eras. Likewise, the Buddhist statues from the Sui and Tang periods are exceptionally beautiful.
In Zibo, we saw the excavation fields and museum of buried chariots and horses, which are of great interest and give an insight into the Qi civilization.
In Luoyang, we were amazed by the visit to the sculpted Buddhas of Longmen. Despite the monument’s fame, visiting it is a truly emotional and artistic experience.
In Suzhou, we particularly enjoyed the local archaeology museum built by the architect Pei, a modest building surrounded by a garden that is a successful reinterpretation of the art of Chinese gardens.
Finally, we were able to see the exhibition of urban planning projects in the city of Shanghai. This allowed us to better understand the city’s achievements, which are of exceptional interest.
3-Logistics
The cars and driver are generally impeccable. We found that in Hebei, we were particularly spoiled because we had a Mercedes sedan driven by an unusual, friendly and attentive driver, who seemed very comfortable. We only learned at the end of the trip that he was the husband of our guide, Jeanne Wang, a fashion photographer by trade, and that the car was their family car. It was a huge surprise and we are glad we didn’t make a mistake and regret not having interacted with him more, unaware that he spoke perfect English.
The hotels, in their diversity, were generally excellent. We were impressed to be accommodated, even in the most remote locations, in high-end, new, sumptuous, and gigantic hotels, sometimes with few occupants.
We took the TGV trains, which we found very comfortable and punctual, and nothing short of the TGVs in France. The ultra-modern stations are astonishingly large.
4-The guides
Since we don’t speak Chinese, our understanding of the country depends entirely on the quality of our guides and their ability to grasp our points of interest. In this regard, we were particularly spoiled by our three guides, whose only commonality was their excellent command of French.
In Hebei, Jeannette Wang won us over with her great efficiency and extreme kindness. She impressed us with her dynamism and entrepreneurial spirit and appeared to us to be representative of the class of young actors in the modern Chinese economy.
In Shandong, Michel Zhou, a man of experience who spent his long career working abroad, then headed a large public travel agency in Shandong, was an inexhaustible source of information and lessons on the history of China, on the realities of Chinese society and the economy today. Our daily dialogue with him was particularly enriching for us and, finally, he satisfied Marthe-Elisabeth’s tireless curiosity for Shandong cuisine, which he knew inside and out. He also has the gift, wherever we are, of finding the little restaurant where we can eat a delicious new local specialty.
For the rest of the tour, our friend Philippe Lu, who came from Yunnan, at our request, following a previous tour to Yunnan successfully organized by you, to accompany us from Qingdao to Shanghai, was true to himself: intelligent, cultured, always curious to broaden his knowledge, he very well mastered the preparation of visits to a region he knew little about, which he was happy to discover with us.
We were particularly pleased with the quality of the human contact we had with the guides on this trip.
Mr and Mrs Eladari