Essential China

It's been more than a week since my return home from China and I thought it was time I share a few of my thoughts. I'm still feeling the effects of jet-lag , but I've had some time to sort through my photos. I'm also a sucker for the Olympics and the TV coverage has provided plenty of opportunity to reminisce (Oh look, Bird's Nest Stadium...I was there! And the Temple of Heaven...I was there, too!).

China in July is, in a word, HOT. In two words, hot and humid. The conditions were punishing and they took they took a toll on my group with a few fellow travelers succumbing to heat exhaustion. Despite the heat and humidity we toured hard through many of the most well-known sights of mainland China and Hong Kong. China is a country of contrasts, modern marvels and ancient technologies; evidence of life unchanged in centuries next to some of the most advanced engineering on the planet.

China is also big. With a population of more than 1.3 Billion people, China has 100 cities with populations over 1 million that you and I have never heard of. It's also a vast country (4th largest in the world). Surprisingly, China has very little countryside in comparrison to North America, at least in the eastern third of the country where most of China's people reside. Every bit of land is used with rice paddies or crops growing in every nook and cranny.

I could go on with my impressions of China, but further topics such as state-run media, westernization in a communist country, overnight trains and squat toilets, deserve their own post. As a simple tourist, I was in China to experience the history, culture, sights, sounds and tastes of China. Here's my top 10 experiences in China:

10. Traveling 431 km/hour on the maglev train in Shanghai

9. Food, glorious food! Sichuan, Cantonese, hot pot, dim sum, Peking duck

8. The giant Leshan Buddha (pictured)

7. Forbidden City and Tienanmen Square

6. Shopping in Yangshou

5. Terra Cotta Warriors

4. Hiking on The Great Wall (pictured)

3. Drinks at the Hyatt Hotel on the 87th floor of the Jinmao Tower in Shanghai

2. Victoria Peak in Hong Kong (pictured)

1. Bike riding through the countryside along the Li River and views of the karst mountains from the top of Moon Hill (pictured)