First Time TRAVELING TO CHINA ALONE | First Impressions of China
Good morning from Bangkok airport. Yes, it's time to leave Thailand, but it's exciting because we're going somewhere new. We're going to China for 2 weeks, traveling across the country. And today, I'm going to bring you with me and see what it's really like to travel to China solo in 2025. Let's get going. I've got a little bit of time. The traffic wasn't as bad as what I thought it was going to be actually, which is good. I did take a bike though.
I like to take the bike because you can skip through the traffic even on the highway or the tollway. Sometimes it can take a little long. So, we're off to Changdu. Off to see the pandas, which I can't wait for. New country. A very,
very exciting food. Very exciting cuisine. I cannot wait. Where are we? We need to check in.
10:05 Changdu cap. Where are you going? Uh, Changu. All right, checked in. So, that's kind of the easy bit. I'll tell you a little bit more about the trip once I get through security and a few little tips and also the questions I have to see if it'll be as smooth as what it can be or if it's going to be difficult. All right, I'm thrown to the other side.
Security was easy. Security is always fast in this airport. And now they have e-gates on the passport control. Very, very quick. Well, you'd think I've done this before. What an error. 10:05 Changdu S108. I've just walked all the
way to 10:05 Cafe a Pacific Alati E5. So, having got to the airport early with plenty of time, I'm now running late. 21 minutes away and a shuttle. So, uh, better get moving. Anyway, gives me time whilst we're going to tell you about China. So, two weeks in China. First time exploring the country. We're
going into Changdu. Going to spend 4 days in Changdu. Then I'm going to go to Chongqin on the highspeed route. 4 days in the cyberpunk capital, the one you might have seen it on Tik Tok. It's been all over Tik Tok where the train goes through the building. So, that's well,
that's how I'm explaining it to you. But, it looks nice. You know, there's more than just that. Those two places
for food look amazing. I mean, Changdu was in Sichuan, which is amazing cuisine, really spicy. And same with Chongqing, very spicy, which I like spice, so that would be fun. Hot pot, very famous there. Then we're going to go just for two nights. We're going to go to Wuhan. You might have heard of
that place. I'm not really sure, but I think it would just be well considering the significance and the impact that place has had on all of our lives, I thought it would be interesting to say that I've been there and go and check out what it's really like because obviously it doesn't have great PR. Let's say if someone says Wuhan, what do you think of? So, it'll be interesting to go and see what it's really like and what it's like on the ground, let's say. And then highspeed rail, another one, seven hours to Shanghai on the coast. Huge city, foodie city. I mean, all of these are foodie
spots. It's going to be great. It's going to be food and travel. Cannot wait for that. And then that'll be that. Two weeks in China. S101, S218. [Music] [Music] some things, some questions that I have for China. Interesting to see today what works. Firstly, can I get in on my
Italian passport visa-free like it claims online? I'm always skeptical of these things. So, can I do it? Because I haven't applied for anything. I couldn't work out. Well, I could work out that
because it's visa free, visa exempt, they've got a whole list of countries. So, do check. I don't need to do anything. I just turn up and they check my passport. I'm sure I need to fill a form in on the plane. So, let's see. Let's see about that. Secondly, will the apps work? Because China is not like other places. You have the great
firewall. All of the apps don't work. However, I have an eim and that claims that apps like WhatsApp and Instagram and Facebook and all of these things will work. So, will that work? I need to set my eim up. Actually, there's a tip.
You definitely need an eim if you want to travel China and get those apps. I have the VPN. Will that allow it? The other thing is, will the Chinese apps work? Because you don't really carry cash around there anymore. You use Alip Pay and WeChat Pay. So, I've set them up. I've set them up with international cards. Will they work? And hopefully
they'll work because that's how I get my taxi. That's how I get well that's how I pay for everything. Everything comes through those apps. So that'll be interesting. Also, I don't speak any
Mandarin. How is that going to be? Are people going to understand me? Am I going to be able to understand what's happening? There are lots of questions. Just how difficult is it to travel China with zero experience and zero language? I guess we're about to find all of that out today. Fingers crossed.
Cupcording time. 3 hours. Well, 2 hours 55 minutes to Changdu. [Music] Thank you.
All right, this is it. I'm not going to bore you with this. This is not a plane review video. It's about traveling to
China. So, I'll pick up with you guys when we land. I'm going to do a little bit of editing. Enjoy the flight. I've got myself an aisle seat. I prefer the
aisle seat. I can get out and around. It looks like it's a full flight. So, yeah. I'll see you guys on
the other side when we land in Changdu. All right, I made it to a wet and cold Changdu, a gray China. I've left the 40, well 35° and I'm now in 7° and raining. Not
ideal. The Eim works step one complete. The flight was also very easy, very nice. Just 2 and 1/2 hours, really quick, but Eim works, which is a really good thing. Next up is security on visa. They did give a landing card. So I
filled out my landing card and there was a visa-free option on there and I put my Italian passport details down. So fingers crossed I'm in 30 days stamp visa free. That might have been and I'm not just saying this. I know a lot of people do say things like this when they come here, but that might have been the easiest immigration experience I think I've had. No cues. I mean I'm in Changdu. Not in Beijing or
Shanghai. No cues. Very clean airport. Just need to grab my bag and then we need to find a taxi. This is quite cool. Like the baggage claim. Not only can you see a camera of your bags being delivered so you know when they're coming, but also up here you have all of the transport information and it runs through the metro lines, the buses, everything and says exactly where they stop in Chinese and in English. Super helpful actually. All the different
metro lines very very helpful. Got it. My trusty little tag never fails me. Right, let's go work out a taxi. So, my hotel's in there. Panda Sleep Hotel.
Loads of different options. Like I said, just like Bolt or Uber or whatever. Let's just go for the cheapest. Why not? It's 5 minutes away. Please read and agree. Full trip. Jesus. All right.
Authorize. Is it going to work? Pay. It worked. Welcome to China. Already had the first person sneakily taking a photo of me. Just was looking at my phone, looked up, and there's someone beaming taking a photo of me. Am I the only
Western person? Yeah, I think I'm the only Western person down here. But come on, it's 2025. I find that quite funny. Next time I start posing. Is that going to be a theme of this trip or is that a one-off? But straight away in the airport whilst waiting for the taxi. All right, guys. We're
in. Let's try and do this with some dignity. She [Music] here she welcome to the city. Is it as you expected? Is it as I expected? Although he didn't drop me right next to the hotel, so I need to find out exactly where that is. The
first thing I notice is how quiet this is compared to Bangkok. How quiet this is. I mean, you can still hear some. Not every car is electric,
but overall pretty pretty quiet. Anyway, hold on. Let me sort myself out and we'll go find this hotel. The other first impression once I got out of the car and out of the airport. Oh my, it's
chilly. 7° is chilly when you've been in 35° and humidity. Panda Sleep Hotel. I am in the right place. Who would have
thought? Residential Changdu. And then the hotel appears. And look at that. More pandas. Pandas everywhere. If you're going to be in Changdu, the home of pandas in China in terms of tourist and research, you may as well stay in a place like this, haven't you? All right. I like this.
It does look like the photos. I was a bit worried for a second, but I think we're good. Oh, yes. Hello. Anyhow, here here are here.
Here. I have um a reservation for four nights. They gave me a free room upgrade, which is nice. Check in. Very smooth. Hotel. Well, initial
impressions. It's Chinese New Year celebration still. Obviously, you've got the orchid. Real orchid. Yeah, real orchid with all the pandas on the inside. Pandas everywhere here. Even the little suites with little pandas there. Very cool. Light wood. Very nice. Ah,
more. This really is a panda hotel. Look at Look at it. Good first impressions. She gave me the choice of the first floor, third floor, or the fifth floor. So, I asked for the most quiet one, obviously. But, um, yeah, very easy. Very easy check-in and more confusion about Italy being vis. She got a bit confused by that, but
we were all good in the end. Let's go check out the room. There we go. 83 05. Got another panda and the key card if you're into cute things. That's nice, actually. I mean,
other than Wait, it's just the kids' room. Look at it. There pandas everywhere. This does feel look I said it's good for families. I think kids and
families will love this place with the uh the pandas everywhere everywhere or even cute couples as a solo traveler in his 30s. It's uh interesting to say the least. Anyway, let me show you it. We have of course the big double bed. How is the big double bed? Oh, it's comfy. Yes, yes, yes, yes, it is comfy. We also have Well, hold on. Let's put
the Let's get the electricity in there. There we Jeez. There we go. So, the room is actually quite big. I guess it's been
upgraded from a normal double room to a deluxe double room. Big TV. What's the view? I'm probably sure it's not that much. Oh, it's Oh, I'm not saying the view is nice, but is that cherry blossom already on the tree? That's quite cool. A lovely artwork of pandas are What would you call this? Room spacer.
Panda room spacer. Have water. Tea, kettle, tissues from a panda dispenser. I mean, they've gone to town on it, haven't they? Stickers everywhere. It is pand everything. Towels embosed with pandas. Toothbrush
with pandas. Oh, what is going on here? TV's turning on. I don't Now that's cool. Light on the
mirror. I like that. That makes things look better. Wash basin. That all looks nice. And then the bathroom. I don't know where the light is for it, though. Oh, this makes sense,
doesn't it? That's all right. Smart toilet. And then shower. Nice shower. I tell you what, I paid £25 per night from trip.com. I think that's not too bad. And it's well located. It's not far from
metro station, close to the bustling area that we just came into, and then not far from the center from the main square either. Probably can walk it, but you can also take the metro. All right, quick nap. I definitely need it. And then we'll head out. We'll find some Sichuan food for the first time. I
cannot wait. I cannot wait. And we'll just get some evening vibes of Changdu. Oh man, if things could not get any better at this hotel. I just came to go out for dinner and the receptionist called me over and said, "Hey, we have a we have a gift for you. Red panda. How cool is that?" Oh, that a little plush panda toy. Huge. I don't I don't know if she saw
that. I have just a backpack, but it will go in. It will squash down. So, I'm going to drop that off at the room and then we're going to go for dinner. Go for a little walk. It is raining, unfortunately. We can make do. At least I'm dressed for it a bit better now.
Actually, Red Panda with my orange coat kind of goes, doesn't it? I still can't believe that. Very cool. I think it's because they saw me filming and they found my YouTube channel and they gave me a gift. But regardless, that's still super nice. I would just want to say on the reviews of this place, it said that the metro station was a little far. It's literally a 30-second walk. So, whoever
considers that far, I'm not sure. I think that's pretty reasonable. 30-cond walk if you ask me. Anyway, I'm going to head over to one of the main areas that well that I was recommended to stay nearby. main shopping district,
main busy district, main evening district. Let's go see what it's like over there in the evening. But I've got to be honest, everywhere I go, well, people Oh, hello. I thought that was a pavement, but all of the where all of the scooters are coming across. Oh, this is a this is messing my head. I need to try and get across there. Anyway, as I was saying, whenever
I go places, people say, "Oh, how how do you find food? How do you find good food?" Google Maps and then you start to use your senses. You can see from the photos. I mainly use the photos with Google Maps and take reviews as a guide, but I kind of look at it and and kind of judge from that. It's very easy to do that. Google Maps doesn't exist here. I mean, with the VPN, it kind of works, but trying to find, you know, sit there and go through the food map or the map for food places, you can't do it. So, I'm not sure how I'm going to
get around that other than just use my visual senses. But, I'd like to know if a place is good or not good with some reviews. I'm sure there's an app for it, but not in English. Anyway, finally, we make it make it across the road.
Crossing our first road in China. How exciting is that? All right, I'm just on my way and I've come across this place. I have to show you. You have the cartoon street art on the building. Very nice. But this, look at that. That's going to look so good later.
Lanterns and things hanging in the trees as you would expect in Asia. These cute characters. But how pretty is that? Obviously, I have no idea what it says. Maybe it's for New Year, maybe it's not. Who knows? But it's stunning. And I was just thinking, I told you that it's a bit more difficult here. You don't realize how much you
take that for granted. How much you take what you're accustomed to for granted. you see a restaurant or you see something that looks decent and you open Google Maps and you check the reviews and you see all the photos and everything, you do that without thinking. When it's gone, you don't
realize how difficult it is. And I know there'll be people who say, "Oh, like the old days or use the local apps or I don't read Mandarin for a start." And obviously you're accustomed to what you're accustomed to. Oh man, I keep
coming across these places. To be honest, my expectations for coming here were pretty well, I didn't really have any, but already I didn't expect it to be so pretty. Whoa. Hello. That just lit up. Super bright. This little Well, it must be the river. It's not a canal, is
it? And there's another one of those trees with everything covered over there. But that's quite nice. You have the boats on the river. I'm sure you can take a nice river cruise. And then restaurants, of course. Looks like a
little market over there. But it's the reflections on the water. Look at the reflections on the water from the lights and the lanterns and then the boats themselves. Stunning. Oh, we found some food. Steam coming off the steam baskets. Not entirely sure what they're
serving actually, but looks good. Oh, they also look good. Music blasting in here. I'm sure that's copyright, so we'll move past that quickly. I like the
atmosphere. The atmosphere is friendly already. People are coming up to me and saying, "Hello, welcome to China." And asking me what I'm doing, which is quite nice. Oh, more food, more steam rising
up. So, table for one, I guess. Just one. I can sit. Oh, yeah. Thank you. Maybe a bit. Oh, no. This is a cool atmosphere. I was thinking further in
because it'll be warmer, but this is a cool atmosphere. You can see everything steaming away in here. Everything's out prepped and ready. All right. Menu. You have a set menu which
actually comes with dessert and a side of pickled vegetable. Then you have just a burning noodles in small or large. I think I'm going to go for the set because why not? It's nice to round it out and have a set as well. The noodles get cooked fresh. They're in the pot on
the side and get cooked fresh and then mixed together with everything here. We are super central. Not normally the type of place I come to as I say, but when the hunger strikes, you've got to just eat sometimes, don't you? That was quick. Thank you, Shashir. Served by
Auntie Shashir. Thank you. Oh, wow. That looks spicy. I have no idea what that is. That looks like chilies
pounded with a little bit of meat. That's going to be fun. And then the noodles. Let me show you. One second. Move it into light so you can see. Just
look at that. You've got peanuts, spring onions, sesame seeds, little bit of that meat and chili paste, and crispy chili oil under underneath. Looks amazing. This one, as I said, my hands are so cold I can barely even hold these things. Just absolutely full of dried
chilies. You can see all of the seeds in there, the dried chili and bits of I guess pork. Could be beef, but I guess pork. Who knows? Let's see. And then you have that rice curd with the brown sugar. That looks good. I'm probably going to need it after this if they're called burning noodles. And we've gone for the burning
noodle set. I'm probably going to need something to cool me down afterwards. This could be the best meal I've ever had entering Changu or could be my biggest regret. I've just realized I'm
going to look like an absolute amateur. Because trying to use chopsticks when your hands are so cold and numb. I mean, when I lifted the plate up to show you guys, I nearly dropped the plate cuz I was holding it like this and my hands just gave in. They're so cold. You can see how red they are and cold. So, I'm going to look like an amateur. But, I think what we've got to do is mix it all up and get that all mixed in and mixed through. It's a decent portion as
well. I want to try those. But this this intrigues me. So, let's go in with this. Let's see what it is for a start. M. It is It is spicy, but it's fragrant as well. Wow. I mean, that is a serious amount of spice, but you also have those Sichuan peppercorns in there giving that numbing flavor.
Oh yes, that is delicious. It's cold. Which I didn't expect, but I love that flavor. But it does have a kick. And what about these noodles? I cannot pick these noodles up. The flavor of the sesame, the flavor of the peanut, the savoriness that comes from that sesame, that is good. I don't think it's going to be the best I'm going to eat on this trip. Of course, to be
honest, after a long journey, a long day, walking around in the cold, it doesn't really matter. I'm not looking for the best food. I'm not looking for the best recommendation for you guys. I'm just looking for something tasty to fill my stomach. You're not going to go wrong with that.
€28. Big bowl of noodles, plate of this, and a dessert. Who can complain? Noodles done. Let's try this dessert. Oh, look at that. Look at the consistency. It is like a [Music] custard. All right, that I can get used
to. I mean, the predominant flavor is the brown sugar, which is not exactly a bad flavor. Love brown sugar. It's actually a nice dessert. It's light. It It's like a cross between a
jelly and a custard, I guess. Yeah. Very good. Damn. Paying was too easy. Literally, you just open the code, they type in how much it is, and you scan it, and it's done. Just like that. Very, very easy. How sure.
Thank you. Well, that could have gone a lot worse, I must admit. I mean, standard, as you would expect, service. A few barks of whatever she's saying to me, but not much more than that. Bit of
shouting in the background, but that's all part of it, isn't it? Anyway, I'm gonna have a little walk around and then probably head back and warm myself up. I will say this area at night now the sun has properly gone down and it's dark and the neon lights are out and you get a full sense for them. It is quite cool. I do I do like it, but maybe a touch too commercialized for me. But as far as first impressions of China and first impressions of Changdu, I like it. I mean, China is I
didn't come with huge expectations, but already just things are so simple. I can't believe it. It's clean. It's friendly. So, let's see if this continues in the next video where we'll explore more of Changdu and we'll really get under the skin of this city. See you in the next one.
2025-05-08 18:04
