China in the last months before the Covid-19 pandemic

In the fall of 2019, we traveled to China, in that time we didn't think that global history would be fundamentally changed and China will be the first location of the pandemic. We didn't know that the world may never be the same again, travel conditions will change, the digitization will accelerate, the home office will become the primary form of work and the social distancing will be the most used word in the news. In China, wearing of mask on the subway or the street, there was a normal thing, but in Hungary if we tried to get on the subway in mask, the people would have thought we are littlebit weird.

Although many countries have relaxed entry conditions since the epidemic outbreak, China is one of the few countries who try to block the spread of the virus with maximum control, so entry is only possible in exceptional cases, which is stricter than European entry rules. The number of flights between Europe and China has reduced drastically, so traveling to China is not too easy now.

But back to the fall of 2019, when the dark clouds of the ominous future had not yet overshadowed our path. As the area of China is really huge (twice bigger than the European Union), but we have limited time (3 weeks), we decided to visit just a "small" part of China: traveling from Beijing to Shanghai, and drifting from the east coast to the south then with a circuit, we visit a coastal town on the north than we return to the base, to Beijing.

So this is a photo report with nostalgia for pre-covid times, and trusting that once everything is back to normal and China will be easy to visit again.

First of all what we can say about about China's cities: there is amazing cleanliness, no rubbish on the streets, the subways and trains are constantly being cleaned. I felt so safe during the travel, I didn' afraid of stealing or any other incident, at all. Obviously, this contributes to the fact that every little offense is punished, so here people think carefully about the every little offences. The food is very different from the "Hungarian Chinese buffet". The On the Chineese menu they prefer a larger selection of meat dishes, but we can also find vegetarian dishes, also, but whether we are vegans or not, we will not starve to death. :)

The first stop on our trip is the iconic capital of the country, Beijing. 21 million people live here, which is an amazing number from a European perspective. Beijing is often contrasted with Shanghai, the other major Chinese city, but the two cities could not be so different. Shanghai is so modern and multicultural, while Beijing is more tradicional city. There are an amazing number of attractions in Beijing, whether it’s just walking on the streets or visiting the Great Wall, Tiananmen Square or the Forbidden City.

Photos from Beijing:

Beijing subway, everybody is without mask and pushing their phone

In the first restaurant: the spirit is really strong, we couldn't drink it :)

On the streets: (Beijing)

The Great Wall of China

Shanghai is one of the largest seaports in the world and the most populous city in China. It is vibrantly modern, with the world’s tallest buildings and companies.

Shanghai Tower (632m, 128 floors) from below and from the top of the tower

Xiamen - Gulangyu island

Part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site, with the beautiful natural landscapes, colonial-style buildings (no car traffic) it immediately captivates everybody, whether we are walking in the zigzag streets or on the paths between the gorgeous villas. (I didn't notice that the phone's watermark is on the photos here) :)

Hangzhou: One of the most famous sights is the West Lake, which can be reached by boat. The lake and the botanical garden had a great impact on the country’s poets and philosophers since the beginning of Chinese history and several famous Chinese writers have chosen this place to retreat from the world. View from our hotel: not very imposing, but very typical China, I can see the beauty in this too: :)