"China Week" on Travel Channel
 

"China Week" on Travel Channel started with hours of "Wild China and "Seven Wonders of China" last night, Samantha Brown's "Passport to China" tonight at 8 pm PST for 3-4 nights, and other specials. For those who missed the 7 Wonders, it comes back Wed at 10 pm PST, includes the Great Wall, the Forbidden City, the Leshan Buddha, the Hanging Monastry, the Wudang Temple ...

Thanks! I've been watching all the shows except I missed the 7 Wonders. Will catch it tomorrow night.

I enjoys Samantha Brown's show. I like the idea of boating to the Summer Palace.

Monica ((F))

We always enjoy watching shows about China, after our trip there in 2006 aroused our interest in China. However we had to chuckle when Samantha Brown talked about the crowds. We were there the week of the May Day holidays, and we literally had wall-to-wall people everywhere we went. You could hardly move. What an experience!

I LOVED the Samantha Brown Beijing episode!!!

I could totally relate to her "pinch me I'm actually here" reaction to being in China. In fact, watching her arriving so excited at the Great Wall was the next best thing to having home movies of myself there! :)

She's on tonight in Sichuan.

Monica ((F))

Bizarre foods with Andrew Zimmerman followed Samantha Brown's show. Great to watch, I now know what I don't need to try, and what I am curious about.

The whole week is dedicated to China very fascinating programs.

Thank you Shanghainese for the introduction. I would never have discovered this by myself

Worth going to Sichuan just to hold the Pandas!

You are very welcome, Nywoman, try the bizzare foods and then you can pinch yourself.

BillT -- You can only hold a panda for a few minutes after you make a nice donation. Samantha is special and can do anything she wants, I think her guides should have let her bargain more for those so-called antiques.

I have so much enjoyed the shows this week on China. I just finished watching Samantha in Xian. Now Anthony Bourdain is in Shangahi - where did he have those fabulous soup dumplings?

Oh, and that $17 90-minute foot/body massage is a must!

Lastly, Clarence Guo was with Samantha enjoying the dumplings.

Monica ((F))

PS: I want to hug a panda!!!!!

PS:

No kidding Shanghainese! Samantha's tea cups were too much!$30!!

We paid a 1,000 rmb "donation" to hug and get pictures with the pandas....worth every penny

Aloha!

Samantha does not need to bargain to hard- after all its not her money the show pays for everything!

What happened to Nutella's 2nd reply?!

That was of my own doing. Tried to edit/delete and was only partially successful. Sorry :)

Nutella -- Could you re-post? I liked your comments.

Monica -- I wasn't watching Anthony when he was eating xiaolongbao in Shanghai, DH did recognize Yangchen Lake where Anthony was cracking hairy crabs.

AB ate at NanXiang. But Jia Jia Tang Bao is better! :)

I noticed they had guides almost everywhere they went. Is that necessary especially if you find that you are in walking distance to the forbidden city. How about eating in restaurants, I noticed they had many guides helping order. Did people who went to China find it hard to order in restaurants without knowing the language? I would hate to miss out on things but also would like to avoid some of the food they were willing to try on some of the shows

I didn't have any guides. It might have been nice to be shown around the Forbidden City and given commentary, but I managed fine on my own.

As far as the restaurants, I never went hungry! The only time I had trouble was in Beijing when I went to a hot pot place that required very complicated ordering. I was clueless and thought I'd have to go hungry. But a fellow customer who spoke English came to my rescue, helped me order, and I ended up sitting with her and her friend and having a nice meal! In Shanghai I accidentally ordered double the amount of dumplings than I should have, but I guess that's not so horrible LOL. In other cases I did a lot of pointing and pantomiming, referred to my dictionary, and when in doubt, ordered tofu :)

beth555, you're not in much danger of mistakenly ordering a plate of fried scorpion in a Beijing restaurant. Don't forget to go to a Beijing Duck restaurant - the popular ones attract plenty of tourists and expats and you'll have no problem. We went to the Li Qun (pronounced something like "lee choon"), SW of Tian'an Men Square. I hope it hasn't been demolished in the Great Hutong Purge.

At the Forbidden City you can hire an audio guide at one end and return it at the other, and buy a guidebook too. They might well be more reliable than a personal guide.

No personal guide is necessary. It might make it a bit easier to have a translator, but unnecessary. If you do hire a guide, you must be vigilant for any reference to tourist traps/scams such as jade factories, silk factories, art galleries, and tea ceremonies. At the Forbidden City, be aware that the audio tour does not allow you to repeat, and starts automatically, sometimes before you are at the site being mentioned. I found this difficult and did not get much out of it, preferring my written tour book.

Did anyone catch the name of the restaurant that Anthony Bourdain went to in Beijing for the 22 meter long Noodles?

Noodle Loft.

Noodle Loft: I definitely want to go there!

Monica ((F))