My First Trip To China Together With My Mum!
This is my second trip travelling out of ASEAN region, where I have to plan every bit of the itinerary myself (the first was back in May 2024 where me and my mum travelled together to Japan). With the experience from the Japan trip, I am less concerned and worried about what to plan for our itinerary this time round, as I would have roughly known what mu mum would like to experience, and hence what to include and what to exclude in the planning.
However, this trip has a new worrying factor, and that is the use of Alipay! As an individual who is not very tech-savvy, so much so that I do not even use Google Pay in Singapore, Alipay is one that I really need to learn how to use (frankly speaking, after using it this trip, it was super easy to use, seamless, but because it is so good, it made me worried if I overspent). Nonetheless, the decision has been made in July when I saw that Scoot and Jetstar were running some promotions, and I booked the flights for 2, flying with Scoot from Singapore Changi Airport to Hangzhou Xiaoshan Airport (杭州萧山机场) for our 9 days 8 nights trip, and flying with Jetstar from Wuxi Sunan Suofang Airport (无锡苏南硕放国际机场). Feels good to be able to materialize another wish of mum's to travel to China! Just to sum up, for this trip, I only used 2 apps, Alipay for all payments, and Trip for all purchase of the bullet train tickets (buying train tickets via Trip is slightly more expensive than via 12306 app, but because my registration and verification with 12306 failed, I decided to forego the hassle and just pay a little more administration fee and get things settled quickly via Trip).
Without further ado, I will share the travel journey below:
Day 1
We boarded the plane around 4.30pm and arrived in Hangzhou at 9.45pm. Hangzhou Xiaoshan Airport (杭州萧山机场) is huge and it takes a long walk to get to the immigration clearance. There are also beautiful decorations along the way, so I took some photos.
Finally cleared the immigration, and here comes the real test for me: the use of Alipay. Thankfully, my Alipay worked well after I tried to use it to buy a bottle of mineral water from 7-11, and I was amazed at everything I could do using only Alipay. We also booked our first Didi ride (滴滴) through Alipay, and soon a driver accepted the order and we successfully boarded his car. The drive to the hotel took about 30 minutes. It was pitch black outside and there was nothing to see. At around 11:45pm, we finally arrived at our hotel (和颐至尚酒店). The check-in process was a breeze, and I finally got to see the hotel’s robot that delivers food to guests. After cleaning up, it’s time to rest.
Day 2
Today is the day to visit West Lake (西湖). I decided to take up on the challenge of walking around West Lake for a whole day with my mum, instead of taking the tram rides, so that we can visit our selected places of interests that we want to see. As opposed to all the early itineraries in Kyoto, the itinerary here in China are all more laid back. The day started with the hotel's buffet breakfast, where we just munch our way through the different varieties.
After breakfast, we set out from the hotel and walked towards West Lake (西湖), where we will slowly walk around the lake in the clockwise direction. The environment around West Lake (西湖) is beautiful, and we also saw many local aunties and uncles doing morning exercises, including Tai Chi and sword dance! We walked passed Gong De Fang (功德坊), Imperial Pier (御码头), Shuang Tou Bridge (双投桥), and Lei Feng Pagoda (雷峰塔) (yes, it is the pagoda that monk used to trap the white snake in the Chinese folk tale "The Legend of the White Snake"《白蛇传》). After walking for more than 2 hours, we came to the Chinese-style Starbucks for a short break. Although we have been walking for a long time, we have only walked a quarter of the West Lake!
Our Starting Point at West Lake (西湖)
The View Of Lei Feng Pagoda (雷峰塔)After a coffee break, we continued to walk slowly and detoured to Prince Bay Garden (太子湾公园). However, it was the off-season and there was not a single flower to be seen. Disappointed, we walked back the way we came from and luckily passed by Hangzhou Flower Garden (杭州花圃) where mum was able to take photos with some beautiful flowers. Finally, we walked to this highly rated restaurant called Green Tea (绿茶). A beautiful restaurant with a nice environment. The food was delicious too! I ordered braised pork, stir-fried seasonal vegetables, and steamed eggs.
It was already past 3pm after lunch and we continued walking around the West Lake (西湖). We passed by the Yue Fei Temple (岳庙) and the Broken Bridge (断桥).
Yue Fei Temple
By the time we finished our walk, it was already around 6pm and it was already dark (feels like 8pm in Singapore) and mum was obviously exhausted. So we hurried back to the hotel for her to rest and I went to Yintai Mall (银泰商场) next to our hotel to pack some simple dinner at Ma Yong Ji (马永记), which includes pickled cabbage beef buns (酸菜牛肉夹馍) and lamb skewers. After dinner, it was time to rest and be ready for the next day!
Day 3
Again, this day started with the buffet breakfast at the hotel, after which we went to new attractions around the West Lake (新西湖十景). The first stop was YunQi Bamboo Trail (云栖竹径). This attraction is a very beautiful place, similar to the Arashiyama Bamboo Forest in Kyoto. It has a long peaceful path with many bamboos and maple trees along the way.
YunQi Bamboo Trail
When we reached the end of the path, we needed to turn back and go back to the starting point. Our next destination was 'Nine Creeks in Misty Forest' (九溪烟树). There is a small waterfall and a pond here, and I believe it will look very beautiful when all the maple trees here turn red. Sadly, when we arrived here, the autumn colors had not yet fully arrived, so it was mostly green and somehow lacked the charm of autumn.
The Long Jing Tea (龙井茶园) Fields
Nine Creeks in Misty Forest (九溪烟树)
The Reflections at Nine Creeks in Misty Forest (九溪烟树)
After lunch, we went back to the hotel to rest. Later in the evening, we went to Song Cheng (宋城) with a local tour group. The only reason why we went with a tour group is because Klook cancelled my tickets and I am unsure if I can get the tickets on the spot, so, going with this group with transport to and fro is possibly a good idea. The main purpose of going there was to watch the main drama performance, Song Cheng Eternal Love (宋城千古情). Since we were early, we just walked around the park and took pictures at interesting places. There were other free performances in the park, which we decided to forego and just enjoy taking pictures around the park. When it was time to enter the theatre for the show, the crowd was simply terrifying, even though it was a Tuesday! Hundreds and thousands of people (mostly Chinese from other provinces and regions from what we saw, but also some foreigners, including a Thai tour group and us) flooded into the theatre and the commotion is real, but thankfully they were quite orderly and settled down quickly. The performance was filled with dance, acrobatics, and also combined with CGI to merge with the performers on the stage, making the stage show even more incredible. The program also included famous folk tales such as "The Legend of the White Snake" (白蛇传), "Liang Shan Bo and Zhu Ying Tai" (梁山泊与祝英台) and the story of General Yue Fei (岳飞传). Overall, the performance was very exciting and we enjoyed every moment of it.
Song Cheng 宋城
The Legend Of The White Snake (白蛇传)
Liang Shan Bo and Zhu Ying Tai (梁山伯与祝英台)Story of General Yue Fei (岳飞传)
Day 4
After breakfast, we went to Qing He Fang (清河坊) this morning. We walked around and saw that the things sold in the shops were a bit similar and repetitive. Since Hangzhou cakes and pastries are generally quite sweet, we did not buy any to bring back home.
Qing He Fang (清河坊)
Then we went to another new attraction around West Lake, Huang Long Tu Cui (黄陇吐翠). It has its own miniature bamboo forest, but the highlights are the dragon pond and waterfall.
Huang Long Tu Cui (黄陇吐翠)
Dragon Waterfall and Dragon In Pond
Overall it was nice, but a bit repetitive, especially when the autumn colors have not fully bloomed yet, so it was a bit boring.
Afterwards we came to Xiao He Zhi Jie (小河直街), where it started to drizzle. Despite the drizzle, we walked around the place a little to admire the beauty of the bridges and the flowing river.
小河直街
The Scenery To Admire Here
On the one hand, it was to avoid the rain, and on the other hand, it was quite late and we have yet to have our lunch, so we went to Yu She (鱼舍) for lunch. I think the food tasted okay. The steamed fish was not as fresh as I would expect it to be, but the vegetable tasted nice.
As it was still raining at night, we had a simple beef noodle dish at Qing Zhen Ramen (清真拉面) next to the hotel for dinner. By comparison, I now believe that Ma Yong Ji (马永记) pickled cabbage beef buns (酸菜牛肉夹馍) is really delicious, because Qing Zhen Ramen's beef buns was really too oily. After dinner, it's time to pack up and prepare for tomorrow's bullet train trip from Hangzhou (杭州) to Suzhou (苏州)!
Day 5
We started the day with the same breakfast again, which we were already starting to get a bit bored of the food, so it was a good thing that we will be checking out today and transfer to another hotel in Suzhou (苏州). It had been raining all morning, luckily we left the hotel 2 hours earlier so we arrived at Hangzhou East Station (杭州东站) early despite the traffic.
This was our first time taking the high speed train. Getting into the station was a bit like going through immigration at the airport so I was glad that the whole process was smooth. After that we boarded the bullet train to Suzhou (苏州).
After a 1 hour and 45 minute ride we finally arrived at Suzhou Station (苏州站). From there we took a Didi to Hanting Hotel (汉庭酒店). Check in was smooth and we rested a little at the hotel before deciding to walk to Ping Jiang Road (平江路) for lunch and sightseeing.
We had lunch at Din Tai Xian (鼎泰鲜). Yes, it sounds like a knockoff version of Din Tai Fung (鼎泰丰) and sure enough, I believe so, because their Xiao Long Bao (小笼包) was a total disappointment, as the skin was so thick it felt like we were eating dough. Luckily I only ordered one set instead of two. On the other hand to be fair, their noodles and vegetables were decent. But I must say the Xiao Long Bao ruined the impression of the whole meal.
After lunch, we just strolled along the various paths around Ping Jiang Road (平江路) to take photos, and finally tried a local delicacy, plum blossom cake (梅花糕). It tasted good and not too sweet.
Plum Blossom Cake (梅花糕)The Scenery At Ping Jiang Lu (平江路)
After walking around for a while, we found that the streets were quite repetitive and highly commercialized, with many shops offering Chinese costume, the Hanfu (汉服) and photography services, and "ancient people" were wondering around the streets everywhere. So we left and went back to the hotel to rest!
Day 6
On the second day in Suzhou (苏州), we had breakfast at the hotel in the morning. Unfortunately, the hotel has few varieties but the taste was fine. After breakfast, we went to the first stop of the day, the Lingering Garden (留园). In Suzhou (苏州), the Humble Administrator's Garden (拙政园) is the top representative works of Suzhou's classical gardens. Together with Cang Lang Pavilion (沧浪亭), Lion Grove (狮子林), and Lingering Garden (留园), they are known as the "Four Famous Gardens of Suzhou". With the experience in Japan, I think it is better to visit only one of the gardens, otherwise it will be too repetitive and my mother may be bored. In addition, the visits to these gardens require lots of walking, so it is better to be selective to just visit one. In order to save money, I decided to go to the relatively cheap Lingering Garden (留园). One thing to note is that China's policy is very friendly to the elderly, because entry is free of charge for every tourist attraction for elderly aged 70 or above, so my mum gets to enter almost all of them for free.
The scenery in the Lingering Garden (留园) is beautiful, with green trees, bonsai and miniature rocks and mountains that look like the sceneries we see in Chinese paintings.
Beautiful Landscape In Lingering Garden (留园)Beautiful Bonsai In Lingering Garden (留园)
Beautiful Garden In Lingering Garden (留园)
After walking around for a while, we went to Xin Zhen Yuan (鑫震源) for lunch. I finally tried the pan-fried buns (生煎包) and the crab roe noodles (蟹黄面). We thought the pan-fried buns (生煎包) were good, but the crab roe noodles (蟹黄面) were not worth the cost. It taste alright, but frankly speaking when it comes to noodles, all the noodles in China taste quite good, even the regular ones. What was interesting is that the shao mai (烧卖) here are like glutinous rice wrapped in wonton skin, and the meat is chopped very finely till you can only smell and taste the meat but definitely cannot see or chew any meat.
After lunch, we went to the Egret Garden (白鹭园). We did not see any egrets, which made us feel cheated. In addition, the lake was covered with fog and we could not see any clear views on the lake. Therefore we did not go to the nearby Golden Rooster Lake (金鸡湖), which was well-known for its sunset views across the lake, since it would be pointless when we cannot see anything clearly across the lake.
Since it was still early, we went to another garden near our hotel, called Yi Yuan (怡园), as the last itinerary of the day. The garden is also beautiful, but definitely not as impressive as Lingering Garden (留园).
Entrance of Yi Yuan (怡园)For dinner, we went to the restaurant Da Jiang You Guo Min Fan Tang (打酱油国民饭堂) near our hotel. The food portions here were unexpectedly large, and I regretted ordering so much, but thankfully the taste was really good. Fortunately due to their superb taste, we kept eating all the way so we did not waste too much food.
Day 7
This was the coldest day since we started our trip. The temperature dropped from between 18 to 20 degree Celsius in the last few days to only between 13 to 15 degree Celsius. After finishing the breakfast, we took Didi (滴滴) to Suzhou Station (苏州站). We were going to take the bullet train to Wuxi Station (无锡站) for a day trip in Wuxi (无锡). The journey only took 15 minutes for us to arrive in Wuxi (无锡).
The Decoration At Wuxi Station (无锡站)Without further ado, we immediately took Didi (滴滴) to the Three Kingdoms City (三国城). I was most excited about this itinerary because since childhood, the first novel I was really interested in was the Romance of the Three Kingdoms 《三国演义》. So today I was able to be there in person as I wished, and this feeling was absolutely surreal. We went to many settings where the 90s version of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms were filmed, including the Three Visits to the Thatched Cottage (三顾茅庐), the Peach Garden Oath of Brotherhood (桃园结义), the Battle of Red Cliffs (赤壁之战), and the scenes of Lu Bu fighting Liu, Guan and Zhang (吕布大战刘关张). These all reminded me of the TV series back then.
Three Kingdoms City (三国城)Three Visits to the Thatched Cottage (三顾茅庐)
Peach Garden Oath of Brotherhood (桃园结义)
Battle of Red Cliffs (赤壁之战)
Commander Cao Cao (曹操)After leaving the Three Kingdoms City (三国城), we went to Yuan Tou Zhu (鼋头渚). However because my mother did not own a local ID card, the staff would not let her enter the park for free. Thinking that the scenery in many parks was actually similar, we decided not to enter the park and give it a miss. Instead, we only took some photos outside to prove that we had been here. Later, our judgment was proved to be correct, because some elders who had just walked out of the park said that there were no flowers or red maple leaves inside, just mainly greenery, and the entrance fee was so expensive (free for those aged 70 or above, half price for those aged 60-69).
After leaving Yuan Tou Zhu (鼋头渚), we took Didi (滴滴) to Huishan Ancient Town (惠山古镇), where we had a simple lunch of beef noodles and steamed dumplings. More importantly, we could avoid the cold here.
After lunch, it was already 4pm. We walked around and enjoy the beautiful scenery, small bridges and flowing water, and the architecture of the ancient town blended with the modern atmosphere.
Scenery at Huishan Ancient Town (惠山古镇)After a long stroll, we felt that the wind was too strong and too cold, so we took Didi (滴滴) to Wuxi Station (无锡站) and drank hot coffee in a cafe while waiting for the time to enter the station. When the time comes, we took the train back to Suzhou (苏州) and then went back to the hotel to rest.
Day 8
This was another cold day, with the temperature dropping to around 12 degree Celsius. With yesterday's experience, we were more prepared today and wore more layers of clothes. After the breakfast in the hotel, we took Didi (滴滴) to Suzhou Station (苏州站) again to take the bullet train to Shanghai (上海) for a day trip. Personally, I am not that fascinated by Shanghai (上海), partly because it is a metropolis like Singapore (although much larger than the little red dot). Nonetheless, since neither my mum nor I have been to Shanghai (上海), and since we have one day, I decided to bring my mum to see and experience Shanghai (上海), which is only a short 30-minute bullet train ride from Suzhou (苏州).
Our first stop in Shanghai (上海) was to Yu Garden (豫园). The first place we entered was the Yu Garden shopping district (豫园商圈). The buildings there looked magnificent, with the atmosphere of ancient palaces and mansions.
The Buildings In Yu Garden shopping district (豫园商圈)I tried to find the entrance to Yu Garden (豫园), but was shocked to find that I had been passing by its entrance, but Yu Garden (豫园) is closed on Mondays!
I thought it was wise to avoid the crowds on Sundays, but it turned out to be a mistake, so we would have to skip this attraction. Since we had loads of time, we just stop to have a simple meal at the food court in the shopping district, which turned out to be the worst decision of this trip. The food was bland and cold, which ruined our first impression of the food in Shanghai (上海).
Since we couldn't visit Yu Garden (豫园), we had to make do with another itinerary and walk to the nearby Ancient City Park (古城公园). It is a small garden, but still looks nice, with more bamboo!
View of Ancient City Park (古城公园)From there, we continued walking to The Bund (外滩). The view was beautiful, but frankly, that was it. I guess it would only be magical when the lights at The Bund (外滩) were turned on, especially the Oriental Pearl Tower (东方明珠), but the strong wind at 12 degree Celsius did not allow us to stay and wait for another hour or more for the lights to turn on.
The View of The Bund (外滩)
A surprise was that we saw a replica of the Wall Street Bull at the Bund (外滩)! Got to take a photo and wish myself good luck in investing!
The Wall Street BullThen we strolled to Nanjing Road Pedestrian Street (南京路步行街). Once again, nothing special, as it could be just like Orchard Road or Bugis Street. We were really bored all the way, but luckily we found some delicious scallion pancakes on the street, and decided to go back to Shanghai Station (上海站) for dinner to avoid the cold wind and wait for the bullet train back to Suzhou (苏州).
Nanjing Road Pedestrian Street (南京路步行街)
Personally, I think Shanghai (上海) is the most boring place for this trip. Maybe I need a tour guide to show me around. I still prefer Wuxi (无锡) , Hangzhou (杭州) and Suzhou (苏州).
Day 9
Time flies, and in a blink of an eye, this trip has come to an end. After breakfast at the hotel in the morning, We took Didi (滴滴) from our hotel in Suzhou (苏州) to Wuxi Sunan Shuofang International Airport (无锡苏南硕放国际机场). Time to fly back to home!
Post-Trip Thoughts:
This is the second time that my mum and I have travelled together outside of Southeast Asia for more than 7 days (the first of this kind was our Japan trip in May). This time, I chose a region where my mother would not have any problems communicating. To be honest, this trip was smoother than the last trip to Osaka and Kyoto, Japan. Firstly, my mum was very tolerant of all the itineraries I arranged for this trip. She did not say any negative comments like "look at these again", but just tried to cooperate, accommodate and did her best to enjoy the scenery. I am really thankful for the changes in my mum's perspective and attitude for the trip this time, so that enable me to remain my composure throughout this trip and not "go crazy" during the trip. Secondly, I tried my best to arrange a more diverse itineraries this time, instead of looking at trees and gardens every day. I believe I could do a better job, but I really hope my mum had enjoyed this trip.
In addition, I think it was easy to overspend when traveling around China, because we have to use Alipay to pay for everything during the entire trip, including food, accommodation, transportation, and entertainment. Furthermore, Didi (滴滴) is so cheap in China! Usually each trip costs no more than SGD 5, so for convenience, we did not take public transport there, and rode Didi (滴滴) everywhere for the whole trip. I was also too lazy to check how much I spent on Alipay every night (travel, spend what you should spend), and I did not check my credit card bill until I returned to Singapore. Thankfully, this trip cost slightly less than 900 SGD for two people (excluding flights and hotels), which should be a reasonable amount.
Finally, I still want to thank the Chinese for their kindness towards Malaysians! They were all surprised by our fluent Mandarin and kept talking to us (after all, I used to be a higher Chinese student). This is especially so from the Didi (滴滴) drivers, where a couple of them initially did not help us to load the luggage when getting on the car, but after the ride, they were very enthusiastic to help with unloading our luggage when getting off the car.
Just some numbers for the trip!
Flights (via Scoot) for 2 from Singapore to Hangzhou: SGD 440.00
Flights (via Jetstar) for 2 from Wuxi to Singapore: SGD 430.48
Accommodation (5 Nights in Hangzhou & 4 Nights in Suzhou) for 2: SGD 610.63
Insurance for 2: SGD 153.20
Transport + Meals + Shopping + Souvenirs: SGD 866.33 (Via Credit Card tied to Alipay)
Total Damage: SGD 2,500.64
Bye bye China, you are definitely a place worth visiting. Maybe it would be better to go during Spring season next time. Barista FIRE, here I come...!
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