Originally Posted by
moondog
-Lastly, I feel compelled to talk about tour guides again. They simply aren't needed for Beijing or Shanghai, but those of you who absolutely insist should consider going the Starbucks route. That girl who is reading the thick English novel: 1) speaks English; 2) has tons of spare time; and 3) understands history every bit as well as the guides who offer services on TA.
I had a Starbucks moment like that she was quite cute and fun to chat with.
My favorite China experience was taking the train from Beijing to Guangzhou earlier this year. Did the 6 person sleeper and had a great time with my fellow travelers including a mother trying to set me up with her daughter that is going to Med School here in the states. My Chinese is very limited and the mother's English wasn't very good so it created quite the interesting conversation and included lots of use of phone translators and her texting her daughter! I really enjoy China and look forward to coming back next year.
Cheers
Howie