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By FWtravel, August 16, 2009 8:46 am

Ironically, A and I both visited the same region of China but on separate trips/years/etc. Of course I like to believe that my visit was what motivated hers, because naturally I ragged about the area and naturally she decided to go from my descriptions, but one may never know. I’ll leave it to A to post about her adventures… if she ever gets around to it. Chop Chop A!!

Many people are concerned with traveling in a region such as China where the language is not one of those usually offered in their high school curriculum and one cannot depend upon third year Spanish skills to get through to people like one could attempt in Europe (though unless your waiter is from Spain in Paris, Spanish doesn’t really help one in France necessarily…).  Europe is considered so easy because of the trains, the planes, the language, the proximity of countries, the old world charm, the typical “I just graduated from high school/college/grad school/got laid off/got divorced/got married and now want to run around with a backpack for a month!” location.

But China should be on your list… Backpacking in China is easier than you think. The country is relatively easy to get around via train and plane. You’ll see scenery and cities hidden in hills that no one in your home town has probably seen. No two locations are alike, and no two mountains are alike. The above is a photograph from a region of unique geology that exists only in a few places in the entire world.  And the language barrier? Not a difficulty, and I traveled both with my own food allergy concerns and those of another friend… we learned how to say our allergy, we had it written down for non-rural areas, and we made due. If we can travel with food allergies without language concerns, there’s no reason anyone else can’t get around via train and plane and picture menu either….

It’s really quite simple to get into backpacking in China:

Continue reading 'Southern China – Mel’s View'»