Off the Beaten Path: Alternatives to the Tourist Traps

Off the Beaten Path: Alternatives to the Tourist Traps
Aug 11, 2012 By Jill Levine , eChinacities.com

Millions of Chinese and foreign tourists flock to China's most famous spots every year, which can lead to giant crowds at every turn. If you hate crowds and overpriced venues, or like to go off the beaten path, check out one of these travel alternatives to some of China's most famous spots.

1) Shanghai – avoid the Yu Garden; go to the parks and Tianzifang instead
Shanghai tourist sites are often problematic as the city has so many tourists and really only a handful of tourist spots. If it had fewer people and was less expensive, the Yu Garden (豫园) would be a wonderful place of Zen. However the massive crowds mean that it is anything but peaceful. The small paths and bridges are just not meant to hold that many people, which makes trying to walk around very frustrating. Many tourists flock to the area for its periphery shopping district, which is crowded and overpriced. If you aren't sure about Chinese prices and don't speak the language you will get ripped off, big time. Yes, traditional-looking Chinese gifts are kind of cool, but that pair of ornate and expensive chopsticks is just going to gather dust on your grandmother's shelves. You can find cheaper, more original gifts elsewhere!

Skip this extremely touristy garden and market and check out one of the local parks for a real glimpse of Shanghai city life instead. Parks can be found all over the city, the most central being Renmin Park (by People's Square). Zhongshan Park is a little less busy and worth a look as well. A majority of the parks in Shanghai are naturally beautiful, large and have many of the same features as a place like Yu Garden. Parks are also a great place to strike up a conversation with local residents or just people-watch to your heart's content.

For a unique souvenirs shopping experience, avoid the shopping district by the Yu Garden and head over to Tianzifang off the Dapuqiao Metro Station instead. Here you'll find kitschy gifts ranging from Mao-era propaganda posters to hand-made jewelry to chubby stuffed pandas for the kids. This little district is fairly crowded as well, but has an artsy back-alley feel and has many hip hole-in-the-wall places to eat, drink and even smoke hookah if you're so inclined.

2) Beijing: avoid the Great Wall at Badaling; go to the Great Wall at Mutianyu instead
Beijing tourist attractions are usually fairly well run, and interesting. The Beijing National Stadium and Water Cube are very well done (ask for a student discount to get half-off) and I personally love the Forbidden City (watch The Last Emperor beforehand, and climb the hill behind it), Tiananmen and the Ming Tombs. The one place that always feels a bit too touristy and crowded though is the Badaling section of the Great Wall. Climbing the Great Wall is a challenge as it is, and it is even more challenging with a hundred other tourists blocking your path and a hundred vendors trying to sell you everything from "I Climbed the Great Wall" T-shirts to photos with "Mongolians".

Skip Badaling and opt for one of the more remote sections of the wall where you can see parts of the wall in its original state and enjoy the cool mountain area without getting pushed around by tourists and grabbed by vendors. The Mutianyu (慕田峪长城) section of the Great Wall is a little further out, but worth it for the relatively emptiness. There are caves below the wall and then it is a long hike up to the actual Great Wall area. I'd honestly recommend taking the chairlift so that you can spend all your hiking energy on the actual wall and not in the woods below. Visitors can take a bus (No. 936 leaving from Dongzhimen every hour), train or hire a taxi to get there. If you've already been to Mutianyu and are looking for a different location, the Simatai and Jinshanling sections of the Wall are quite good as well. Simatai is notoriously steep but has some beautifully preserved ruins and original wall sections, while Jinshanling is known for its original wall sections and small crowds.

3) Avoid Terracotta Warriors in Xi'an; go to Western Han Dynasty Terracotta Warriors in Xuzhou instead
No doubt this one will be contested, but avoid the Terracotta Warriors. The entry cost changes according to the time of year but generally hovers around 100 RMB, the queues are massive, there's nothing else around that area and, most importantly, the warriors themselves are a letdown. Pictures and postcards, if taken from the proper angle, have the power to enhance reality. Such is the case with the Terracotta Warriors.

For those with a warrior craving, there is a better alternative site in Xuzhou (Jiangsu Province) that's closer to Beijing and Shanghai and is only a three-hour drive from Nanjing. The Western Han Dynasty Terracotta Soldier Warriors are located in a park (entrance is 80 RMB) rich with historical sites including ancient tombs and temples. These soldiers are known as the "mini" version of the Terracotta Warriors as they are more doll-sized than the lifelike Xi'an based warriors. Xuzhou has tons of tourism to offer with other destinations like the beautiful Binhu Park and Yulong Lake as well as many other Han tombs and treasures.

4) Avoid "Factory" Tours at all costs
If you choose to hire a tour guide in China you will most likely be taken to a silk, pearl, tea or jade "factory," and then be taken through a small museum and shown some craftsmen working on pieces. After the factory tour, the guide will take you to a giant store selling said merchandise. These factories are by no means real factories and the stores are almost always massively overpriced. The tour guide makes money by bringing tourists to the store and gets a cut of the visitor's purchases. These ventures are a huge waste of time in China, and if you are traveling with a tour guide be clear prior to departure that you will not buy anything and do not want to go on these factory tours.

The only kind of "factory" tours I've found worth the trouble are tours like the Tsingtao Beer Museum in Qingdao and the Yantai Chengyu Wine Museum, that both have unique, expansive museums to go along with the expansive stores.
 

Related links
Top 5 Destinations for Quiet(er) National Holidays in China
Top 10 Most Expensive Tourist Attractions in China
Is China a Good Tourist Destination?

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Keywords: tourist destinations China overrated tourist spots in China overcrowded scenic spots in China where not to go in China tourist destinations to avoid in China

2 Comments

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keiranjones

I'm surprised no one has mentioned ban po which is closer than the Terracotta Army to the xi'an city centre but also feels like you're far away and indeed off the beaten track. There is a museum there and the remains of a lovely little Neolithic village, that is if you like Neolithic villages. There was barely a soul in sight during my visit which was rather nice as it occurred straight after an incredibly people mountain people sea visit to the Terracotta Army.

Jun 26, 2013 20:15 Report Abuse

WhiteBear

ANY side street can give more interresting sightseeing than any "official, guided tour".

If You have some time - take a bus, and go to the place in the city that looks interresting from the bus window. Go around, find another interresting places, and then take another bus of the same line, and continue...

This is cheapest (obout 2RMB per ride) and most convinient (buses are frequent, and many of them air-conitioned) way to see the city in all it's asspects.

If You are affraid of agression of any kind - go only to the places where are many people, specially then You see families with kids. It's good probe for overall safety of the place.

Don't be affraid of language. Using one bus line You can either make a circle, or go back the same way from the end of the line. And without ANY word spoken.

If bus is air-conditioned, and seems to be to hot - get rear row, it is hotter from downside (engine), but much cooler from upside (You are closer to aircondition outlet), and in extreme hot - when air condition seems not work at all - there is always small window there.

Comparing to taxi:
taxi would cost You 10-30 RMB for the same drive that You can go by the bus for 2RMB (for the same money You can have 5 or 10 rides by the bus, then one by the taxi). In taxi if You don't know right words - You have to show adress written on the card, or picture of the place (and You not always have it in the city that You don't know).
From the bus You can go out in every place, and bus stops are easy to spot. Taxis are easy to find in crowded places, but not as easy in small side-streets in far regions of the town.

So, if You prefere more "real" experience, then comfort in "western style"... get the Bus ;)

Aug 13, 2012 22:07 Report Abuse