In May 2025 Wendy and I returned to China. Our past visits have been self-organised (Wendy-organised) but this time it was a TripADeal - almost all inclusive, except for some meals and extras, at a price we couldn't resist, as it also included a cruise to Japan and back, out of Shanghai. 

We spent a week travelling in China before the cruise. This was a budget affair so, we spent most of the time on the margins of the mega-cities of Beijing and Shanghai and in growing cities like Wuxi, huge in themselves. Yet, the accommodation was four star or above.

My first trip to China was in 1986 when the countryside was still countryside and the main mode of transport in town and country was the pushbike. Twenty years ago, Wendy and I visited again and the difference astounded me. We have been back several times since. This was our third time in Beijing and Shanghai and we also had a third, unscheduled, visit to Guangzhou.

In 2009 our itinerary took us to Beijing and to Xi'an, in Shaanxi province, to see the 'Terracotta Warriors' before returning to Beijing. Then in June 2018 we had a few days in Ürümqi, (China - Ürümqi), the capital of the, infamous, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, on our way to Tajikistan.  But, over the years, we have more often spent time in Shenzhen, due to its proximity to Hong Kong and its superior accommodation at a more modest price. Yet, every time, the experience has differed because China is a county where the rate of development is so rapid that nothing stays the same for very long.

This time, it was again extraordinary, travelling on a high-speed train between Beijing and Shanghai at up to 350km/h and on buses travelling a network of expressways, often jammed with modern local (many electric) and high-end German (brand) cars.

At present, the Chinese government is on a 'charm offensive' when it comes to Australians. The previous, bureaucratic, and intrusive, visa application has been eliminated for short trips. Tourists are now more than welcome with more than 20,000 Australians visiting in the first five months of 2025, on a TripADeal. In addition, several other companies are offering similar packages. I imagine that the total in 2025 will be well over 50,000.

China is Australia's principal trading partner and our Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, was there last week, with US tariffs a mutual issue, having several meetings with President Xi Jinping. Earlier in the year US President Trump cancelled a meeting with him, despite being our principal defence ally, with a submarine deal in the balance.  No doubt sensing the tension, China put on a military parade, numerous dinners, and a visit to the pandas - the previously withdrawn animals to be replaced at Adelaide Zoo.

The PM returned glowing with pleasure, the Sydney Morning Herald reporting:

 

Thousands of Australians in China. Tourists welcome. No need for a visa. Look out the bus window! What do you see? A first world country? Any homeless? Unhappy people? Private enterprise everywhere? Yes, no, no, yes. Go home and tell everyone. 

 

 

 

A couple of things remain the same in Beijing, like the Forbidden City, that just gets more crowded, and

 

Inside the Forbidden City

 

Tiananmen Square, that just gets better guarded - and we tourists are no longer able to enter Mao's mausoleum.

On previous visits to Tiananmen Square we have been advised not to talk about the 'Tiananmen Square Incident' that took place on the night of June 3–4 1989.  This time, I heard it being openly discussed by a tour group leader. The Square's history has become one of its attractions.

 

 

 

 

As mentioned earlier, our accommodations were not within the city centre, requiring a bus trip of up to an hour, to and from. This had the advantage that we got to see quite a bit more of the outer suburbs and road systems than on previous trips.

The highways are typically flanked by pristine parkland (no trash) before a wall of high-rise dwellings and businesses, housing most of the country's 1.4 billion people. On the outskirts of Beijing, median strips housed beds of roses, all in bloom, and we were told that the plants are changed regularly, depending on what is in bloom at any time.

 

Roses in bloom along the highway - for tens of kilometres

 

Any thought that China is in recession is contradicted by looking out the bus window. New infrastructure construction is largely in the government sector, encompassing new roads; railways; spectacular bridges; water; sewage; and electricity transmission. Dwelling construction; communications and manufacturing are mostly in the private sector. New housing developments abound with forests of construction cranes over new developments. Some people are making lots of money.

 

New infrastructure and construction everywhere

 

Across the country, average dwelling size is now around 60m². Typical new dwellings, for a family of 2.98 residents per household (national average) is 80m² - similar to several European countries. According to the South China Morning Post, with the adoption of the three child policy, the average size of flats offered by developers may increase to 120 square metres, with three to four bedrooms, to accommodate new larger families.

At the upper-end of the market, as everywhere in the world, the sky is the limit. See: the movie: Crazy Rich Asians - set in Singapore.  Yet, a lot of Shanghai is reminiscent of Singapore - some are very rich indeed.

Most Chinese own their dwelling. There are also rental properties, typically owned the Local Government or wealthy landlords. According to Google AI: "China boasts a very high homeownership rate, with over 80% of households owning their homes, significantly higher than many Western nations. This is a relatively recent development, as public rental housing was dominant in the 1980s, but a large-scale privatization of housing in the late 1990s led to a dramatic increase in homeownership. While the majority of households own a single home, a substantial percentage also own multiple properties, indicating a complex interplay of factors driving this trend, including social norms and financial strategies."

Despite the growing gap between rich and poor, there are very few homeless. We have seen one or two beggars on previous trips (in Guangzhou and Beijing) but none outside the major cities. I have often heard it alleged that Chinese people have only their families for support. This is not true. China has an elaborate social security system that includes free health services and a range of pensions. Indeed, early retirement is compulsory for government workers and many older people continue to work for little or no additional income.

 

The Great Wall

 

No trip to China is complete without a visit to the Great Wall. This was at a different place to the last time we visited it - organised by ourselves. But just as steep.

 

At the Great Wall. The guard were tall people - many step risers are about half a metre.
Bottom Left: Going back down.

 

We went to a show.

 

The 'Golden Mask Dynasty Show' was a Beijing package 'extra'. I was sceptical but we had recently enjoyed a show in Las Vegas that sounded similar. So, 'in for a penny in for a pound'. This show has been evolving for over a decade and features spectacular water effects, pouring all around the theatre. We were in the middle, in row 6. We didn't get wet but might have had we been further forward, the first three rows were empty. But it was noisy. The performance would best be described as a ballet: Bird Princess loves fish Prince; Evil fish uncle demurrers and floods the world; The Queen is sacrificed for the common good; Good prevails, thanks to a golden mask that calls the sun; a new golden dawn arrives. The costumes were amazing, including half a dozen live white peacocks. Some of the staging is an illusion thanks to very cleaver use of big LED screens, allowing pre-recorded components including 'live' action, complementing a huge, actual, cast.

 

Amazing costumes, including live white peacocks and
tonnes of water pouring all around the theatre - including the side walls.

 

Hutongs

 

On our first visit to Beijing in 2009, together with our friends Craig and Sonia, we stayed in a hotel, in an historic hutong area, that was internally modernised with ensuites and quite comfortable.

Since then, a rickshaw ride around an historic hutong area has become an essential tourist experience, like ascending the Eiffel tower when in Paris.

As we were pulled around, it quickly became evident, from the very expensive cars sitting around in here, that this area, beside the Houhai lake, is a desirable place to have a pied-à-terre, evidently owned by rich Chinese, who want to be in their own semi-detached house close to the city centre.

On average hutongs in Xicheng District are 4.1 meters wide and 240 meters long (984 m2).

To preserve the hutong cultural heritage, traditional working families here are protected tenants, still sharing a communal toilet, until age has its say.

If you think that you may visit Beijing in future, this website provides some interesting information about the hutongs; and more: (Follow here)

 

 

 

Back in 2009 the area heading south from Tiananmen, along Qianmen St, was still being reconstructed as an historic retail walking street with traditional trams - now battery powered. 

 

Top: Qianmen St in 2009 (my photos)
Middle: 2018 (my photos)
Bottom: 2025 (thanks to Google Street view).
The time of year and the air pollution back then are partly to blame for the colour changes
my old Kodak (digital) camera didn't usually make everything brown.

 

Now it looks as good as old.

 

 

To get from Beijing to Shanghai we took the train. It's 1,200 km. 

China has by far the most extensive high-speed-rail network in the world. It's larger than the entire European high-speed network and very much cheaper, per kilometre travelled. The trains are the fastest in the world.

The single-class coaches are comfortable but not particularly flash, compared to some European trains we've been on. Coaches have both types of toilets and a small kitchenette area.

To quote form Google: "China's high-speed rail (HSR) network is the world's largest and most extensive, currently spanning over 45,000 km and connecting over 550 cities. These high-speed trains, known as bullet trains, can reach speeds of up to 350 km/h (217 mph), significantly reducing travel times between major cities. China aims to further expand its HSR network, projecting 70,000 km of high-speed rail by 2035."

After taking into account travelling to an airport, with the usual airport delays, four hours on a train is both more comfortable than 'Cattle-class' and faster than flying.

 

The all-stops train from Beijing to Shanghai - 1,200 km - takes four-and-a-half hours (with 8 stops).
Sydney to Brisbane by car - 972 km (inland route) -  takes 11 hours with good traffic
or one-and-a-half hours plus, plus, plus by air.

 

We didn't go all the way to Shanghai on the train. We got off 35 minutes earlier at Wuxi (pronounced wooshy). The stop was extremely brief and caused some consternation among our group, some of whom had several large bags to get off, resulting in a problem for at least one Chinese passenger when their bag got caught up in the Australian exodus and was still on the platform when the train doors closed. Bloody Australians!

 

 

The Wuxi local government provided their own guide who did an excellent job of promoting the city. Wuxi has a population of seven and a half million ranking it China's 30th largest conurbation (actually three city centres). By comparison, that's about the same as Sydney together with Wollongong and Newcastle. But there the comparison ends. Wuxi was established during Shang dynasty (1600–1046 BCE) and this area was initially rich in tin, important during the bronze age.  When this was mined out, cotton, rice and silk production took over. After the opening of the Grand Canal in 609 CE, during the Tang Dynasty, it became a major transportation hub and one of the biggest rice markets in China. In many ways, Chinese civilisation was well in advance of those contemporary advances being made in the Middle East and the Mediterranean.

In recent years, Wuxi and Changzhou are said to be the birthplaces of modern industrialization in China. In July 1993, Taiji Industry, in Jiangsu Province, was the first private enterprise company listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange. Since then, Jiangsu Province has become home to 380,400 private enterprises, in addition to hosting to 7,000 foreign-invested enterprises, and 36,000 state-owned and collective holding companies. No wonder the regional population has grown.

Our guide was also happy to address the now abandoned 'One Child Policy' saying that the central government had kept in place for too long and it is now replaced by the Three Child Policy. Yet, it had successfully abolished extreme poverty and set China on its road to economic expansion.

Our itinerary took us to a local park where we could board a little train, as it was very long way to walk to the points of interest, from which we could then walk. Among these was a structure over the water in which some locals were amusing themselves with Karaoke while children played and nearby some older citizens practiced Tai Chi. It was all very pleasant.

 

Wuxi Park and city centre across the water - Lake Tai

Perhaps, as a result, we were very impressed by Wuxi.

 

 

After Wuxi, we boarded our new bus to head to Suzhou, our next overnight, passing a coal fired power station on the way.  Another, in the distance, prompted the obvious question: "how well is China doing in combating air pollution?"

 

Coal fired power station Suzhou, Jiangsu province.

Our guide's response was generic, not to say evasive, so I looked it up.

China is currently the world's biggest emitter, accounting for some 30 per cent of global carbon emissions, but a report by the Center for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) found that in the year to May 2025, China's CO2 emissions dropped 1.6 per cent and may have peaked due to a massive increase in renewables. China now has by far the world's largest wind turbine and PV solar capacity. The principal driver is not climate change but the urgent need to clean up the air in major Chinese cities (see Beijing above).

The electricity grid in China is also in the process of a massive expansion. Back in 2019 they completed the world’s longest, 3,293 km (2,046 miles), and most powerful ultrahigh-voltage (UHV) power line. The Xinjiang-Anhui UHV power line is a 1,100 kilovolt direct-current (DC) line, carrying energy from solar and wind collectors in the far northwest to the populous southeast, near Shanghai.  

According to the NY Times: "China already consumes twice as much electricity as the United States... The most recent public Chinese data, from the end of 2024, showed 19 lines transmitting power at 800 kilovolts. Another 22 lines operated at 1,000 kilovolts... By 2050, China plans to triple its count of ultrahigh-voltage routes."

 

In Suzhou we would go for a boat-ride on the afore mentioned ancient Grand Canal (that actually runs all the way from Beijing to Hangzhou: 1,776 km). 

 

Top: The Grand Canal in Suzhou
Bottom: Our hotel room in Suzhou and the view from the balcony
there was also a large and well-appointed bathroom - as was the case throughout this trip

 

We would also be taken to see the Ancient Lingering Garden. 

The Lingering Garden is a classical Chinese garden and because it was pre-1949, was almost destroyed during the Cultural Revolution. But modern China now celebrates its long and illustrious history. Originally built in 1593 during the Ming Dynasty and later renamed in the Qing Dynasty, this UNESCO World Heritage Site is considered one of the four most famous gardens of China. There used to be several more in Suzhou, built by wealthy families in competition with each other. This garden is celebrated for: "its superb handling of architectural space and spatial relations, offering a rich and complex viewing experience through its various sections and features like courtyards, halls, and natural elements and is famous for its artistic use of natural stones from Taihu Lake in its design." I was particularly taken with the Penjing area, learning that although Bonsai is the Japanese word we would use, the art of growing these miniature trees originates in ancient China, where it is called Penjing. 

 

Not Japan - China. The Lingering Garden (Liú Yuán) in Suzhou
and an intricately carved wooden panel with a detailed depiction of Garden
The garden is now one of the top things to see in Suzhou - according to Trip Adviser

 

As the following image, from Google Maps, demonstrates, China has a vast network of expressways (typically 8 lanes 120 km/h limit) but traffic congestion is a problem on some routes, so our bus driver often chose a less direct route, particularly in the suburbs or when taking us to a point of interest, like the silk factory or tea plantation.

 

Map of the region - 300 km around Shanghai.
Wuxi (top centre) is 150 km from Shanghai and around 2 hours away by road

 

 

Above: The silk factory- memories of childhood and growing silk worms - all those cocoons and miles of silk thread.
Below: Highway service centre Chinese style. Huge toilets with equal numbers of western and squat cubicles.
Banks of charging stations in the car park (many more than in the photo).

 

As I have previously mentioned, the hotels on this trip were generally four star but they were well out of the larger cities. This meant that we spent a considerable time travelling through the suburbs in our bus.
 

 

Tea Plantation

 

Now we were off to Shanghai but on the way, we would be taken, on a wide diversion, to a tea plantation, near Hangzhou, where we would be exhorted to purchase some very expensive tea. Tea is native to China and has been drunk here for thousands of years and from here it made its way to Japan and India. Unlike the hand-picked tea plantations we visited in Sri Lanka, this tea is machine harvested, as we have also seen in Japan. But its popularity worldwide is largely due to the British East India Company. I was a bit cautious about the price, so during the presentation, that involved a bit of chemistry to demonstrate the efficacy of tea in combating noxious elements, I checked the price of both green and black tea in Australia. This dried leaf (fermented or not) was ten times the market price.

 

Top and centre-left: The tea stop
Centre-right and bottom: Many hours spent on the bus
Note the ubiquitous parks; construction cranes; and rail viaducts

 

 

Shanghai keeps growing horizontally and vertically. The first time we were here in 2004 the Jin Mao Tower was the tallest building, having briefly been the tallest building in the world. It was a bit lonely back then. It was still the tallest building in shanghai in 2014 and this year, 2025, our tour included an optional visit to the viewing platform at the top. But now that's a bit of an anticlimax because the giant Shanghai Tower, next door, puts it into the shade, quietly literally.

 

Top: The Jin Mao Tower and the iconic Oriental Pearl Tower in 2004
Middle: Again in 2006
Bottom: The Jin Mao Tower - now dwarfed by the Shanghai Tower, next door, 2025
(my photos)

 

Museum Visit

 

The History Museum in Shanghai is housed in what was once the Shanghai Race Club. It's a large building built by the British in the days of Empire.

A notice board describes the museums scope - 6,000 years ago 'til 1949 with prominence given to early civilisations, ceramics and metallurgy, the opium wars and industrialisation. There's also a gallery documenting (somewhat abridged) events leading to the establishment of the Communist Government in 1949.

I was surprised to find that a roll of honour, recording those (British) club members who were killed during the Great War (1914-18), remains in the building. Also surprising was that while most of the 28 members who gave their lives, listed alphabetically by name, where officers, there were also 2 privates and a lance corporal, presumably staff.

More recently, we learn of the Japanese invasion of Manchuria in 1931 and of this region in 1937 and of the atrocities that they carried out, most infamously: the 'Rape of Nanjing', in Jiangsu Province (see Wuxi above).

So, for the Chinese the Second World War started in 1931 and ended with the Japanese surrender in August 1945. Of course, for part of this period civil war occupied the Chinese, until the Nationalists and Communists briefly united against the common enemy.

The Chinese do not let this go. On television there is a dedicated channel to all things military. The fight against the Japanese is a consistent theme in what appear to be numerous cheaply made military dramas. The channel also runs recruitment commercials for the armed forces.

 

 

Shanghai Historical Museum

 

More photographs of Shanghai

 

 

The Bund; China town and night-time river trip

 

 

 

 

Most Chinese love their central Government.

What do you say, "they can possibly like a totalitarian government that suppresses their normal freedoms!?" Yet, a 2016 study from Harvard University's Ash Center took a long-term view of how Chinese citizens view their government at the national, regional and local levels It was the longest academic survey of Chinese public opinion conducted by a research institution outside of China.

95.5 percent of respondents were either “relatively satisfied” or “highly satisfied” with the central government in Beijing. In contrast to these findings, Gallup reported in January 2020 that only 38 percent of U.S. citizen satisfaction with the American federal government. Yet, the numbers were reversed in respect of local government

At the township level, the lowest level of government surveyed, only 11.3 percent of Chinese respondents reported that they were “very satisfied” - whereas a 2017 Gallup poll found that 70 percent of U.S. respondents had a “great” or “fair” amount of trust in local government.

The Harvard survey team suggested several possible explanations for Chinese respondents viewing the central government in Beijing so favourably including: the proximity of central government from rural citizens and highly positive news proliferated throughout the country. Whereas, as we have observed, town planning and local government ordinances are the principal aspects of government interacting Chinese citizens day-to-day. China typically has three levels of government but there can be up to five. Local government is locally elected. As elsewhere in the world, representatives and officials are frequently accused of corrupt or self-serving practises and Beijing is relied on to sort these out.

Other Harvard related papers make interesting reading about China.  Those interested should read What the West Gets Wrong About China in the Harvard Business Review that, among other things, suggests that despite Capitalist and free-market economic elements, Marx and Lenin remain strong influences in China; and that many Chinese people view Communist authoritarianism as advantageous.  

Yet, work like this has had a downside for the University.

According to The New York Times:

 

 

 

Meanwhile, China has a couple of serious Public Relations hurdles to overcome in the West.

According to the BBC:

 

 

This is seen as symptomatic of a general lack of concern for civil rights and freedoms. The list of examples is too long to include here. Several involve policies anathema to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

While China has ratified several Human Rights Treaties, there are several it has not. Among these are Protocols against: torture; enforced disappearance; capital punishment; or the 'International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families'. Maybe they will ratify these when the US does?

Another issue is State surveillance. China, unapologetically, monitors its citizens for signs of troublemaking; actions against the State; or antipathetic media.  On previous trips we've been unable to use Google Maps or US based search engines.  It was called the 'Great Firewall of China'. This time it was all there. But I did note that one of my Facebook posts failed to see the light of day. It commented on the compulsory acquisition of some traditional housing to make way for further development in Shanghai (not particularly controversial I would have thought - a common practice worldwide).

Further, China is not a Democracy. It's most often described, and self-described, as a one-party dictatorship.

Yet, that doesn't mean that they don't elect representatives and officials at each level of government.  Constitutionally, any citizen can stand in the elections for any level of Government. To quote from the official website:

 

The National People’s Congress is one such elected body, with about 3,000 delegates (not all of them are Communist Party members), is the top governing body of the Chinese government. Its main job is to write laws and supervise the government.

But the Communist Party of China (CPC) totally dominates the elected assemblies. The CPC has a pyramid structure, with Xi Jinping at the top and over 4 million grassroots branches at the bottom, with a collective total of some 89 million members, by far, the largest political party in the world. To reach the Politburo party members must ascend through the ranks, through ability and/or guile. It's rather like the Roman Catholic Church.

In practice, it is the CPC's Politburo, that appoints the President and controls every government department, military force, court, and parliamentary meeting in China. The Politburo consists of 25 members, including seven on the Politburo Standing Committee (the seven most powerful men in China) who's decisions affect every facet of life. Many of them are close to Xi Jinping and his allies. Some hold other high roles in the government, party, or military.

Thus, Xi Jinping, is President, not because he was democratically elected by the people, but because he is General Secretary of the CPC. For a more detailed explanation: Click Here...

So, it's not a free country and it's not a Democracy.

 

 

 

 

The cruise to Japan was on Royal Caribbean's 'Spectrum of the Seas'. I gave it the benefit of my doubt. The cabin was standard 'Ocean View'. OK. But the ship is too big, the decor is 'shopping mall' and the meals 'leagues club'. She's not Cunard nor Celebrity nor Holland America. On the other hand, the cruise was inexpensive and included in the TripADeal package. Yet, a little disappointing. Have our standards been set too high?

 There were a few hundred Australians sharing a boat with close to 5,000 Chinese. It was not generally a problem except on the Lido (self-service dining) deck at peak times when, lining up or sharing a table, cultural differences became more apparent (did you really need to take all 50 passionfruit for youself?).

 

Water slides and play equipment - not a good sign
A deep internal lift-well with glass-sided lifts, she's a big ship
Entertainment and dining

 

The first stop in Japan was Yatsushiro, Kumamoto Prefecture, where there was a ship excursion to go for a short ride on a Shinkansen (bullet train). Having just spent over three hours on a faster train and having been on a similar Japanese train some years earlier, that option was unappealing and the local town centre sufficed for some self-guided shopping.

 

Yatsushiro port - Kumamoto Prefecture

 

Our next port, Kagoshima, was more interesting but unfortunately the weather was not on our side. We took a ferry across to the Sakurajima Island Volcano and a bus up to the viewing place but, apart from a lot of cloud, I have no clear images of the actual crater, that in August 2013, the erupted and produced its highest recorded plume of ash since 2006, rising 5,000 metres high and causing darkness and significant ash falls on the central part of Kagoshima city.  Coming back-down we could then, if we wished, wade in hot mineral water from a volcanic spring, in the pouring rain or amuse ourselves looking at seismograph readings monitoring the angry giant.

  

Sakurajima island and the Volcano
Those who needed warming up could take advantage of a hot spring fed foot bath

 

Later, we visited the local history museum that had a puppet/robot 'interactive' show that explained the Meiji Restoration, with audio in English, and the involvement of Kagoshima during the 19th century. We learned of Samurai internal struggles for power and Japan's burgeoning military culture - at which point we learned no more. I wonder why?  Manchuria, China, Pearl Harbour, Darwin, Burma, The Dutch East Indies, New Guinea - perhaps?

Actually, Kagoshima is quite close to Nagasaki, that on August 9 1945, took active delivery of Fat Man, a plutonium A-bomb, the development of which is described in the movie 'Oppenheimer'. The deaths that day of some 80,000 Japanese in Nagasaki, could well be viewed as a direct consequence of the self-serving machinations of those characters depicted in the museum.  

 

Kagoshima - along the Kotsuki River
After China, Kagoshima felt low-rise and provincial.
Two flags that are seldom seen together - let's let bygones be bygones?

 

 

From Japan we returned to Shanghai where we would fly to Guangzhou then to Sydney.

 

 

 Return to Shanghai
There was an amazing show on board on our last night.
Hundreds of drones in the theatre creating patterns. Hard to photograph.

 

But due to a delay departing we missed the connection and were put-up overnight in a hotel - our third time in Guangzhou.

 

Suburban Guangzhou - not as flash as Shanghai

 

 

  

 

To see the full China and Japan 2025 Photograph Album - click on the picture above