Bangkok, Gateway to China with Seven DestinationsPrepared by Harold Stephens
Travel Correspondent for Thai Airways International
For almost forty years, since 1949, China had closed her doors to the world. For forty years foreign travellers could not set foot on the Chinese mainland. If we were to judge China by history, it could be several centuries more before she again opened her doors.
China’s doors closed back in the 15th century, after Admiral Zheng He returned home from his seventh voyage of trade and exploration. Fearing that foreign influences might destroy the country, the emperor adopted a closed-door policy and closed China to the world. For three centuries, until the Opium Wars of the mid 1850s when Britain forced China to open her ports to trade, China remained sealed off from the world.
China today is wide open for both business and travel. For the traveller, and the tourist looking for new places, China is without doubt one of the great travel destinations of the world. But being the big country that she is, where should one, who has never been to China before, go? There is so much to see and there are so many places to visit that it’s a most difficult decision to make.
In the past, before air travel, the only way to get to China was by ship and that was by travelling to Shanghai. To reach other destinations, travel was by river steamer and coastal ferry and slow, uncomfortable coal-burning trains. Schedules were difficult to keep.
Our modern jet age has changed all that. Thanks to Thai Airways International, an airline that inaugurated one of the very first international flights to Beijing, Bangkok has become The Gateway to China. THAI now flies to seven destinations on the mainland––Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu, Xiamen, Kunming, Guangzhou and Hong Kong. Also, seeing the need to assist travellers where such help is so important, THAI’s Royal Orchid Holidays has made travel to China much easier by establishing travel programmes in many key cities.
For my introduction to China, let me begin in Beijing by starting at Tiananmen Square. There can be no better introduction to China.
When you stand at Tiananmen Square and look out over the vast expanse of open parade field, you can feel the power and might of China. Tiananmen radiates China’s strength and you feel it in every pore of your body, down to the very tips of your fingers. Stand there and let your imagination run, picturing this marvelous city that has survived the ages, the centuries of great art and culture, the centuries of wars and tyranny.
Picture Genghis Khan with 100,000 fierce, mounted horsemen sweeping down on the city in the 12th century, laying waste to the city and slaughtering everything that lived. He then made it the capital of the Tartar world, which he called Peiping, the Northern Capital. There were, of course, other khans and emperors and warlords who followed, each grand and magnanimous in his own style and manner, and each who left his mark.
The second city that’s a farvorute of many travllers is Shanghai. What can one say about Shanghai that hasn’t already been said? I mentioned that, to understand Beijing better, one should stand at Tiananmen Square to get a feeling for the city. In Shanghai, it’s the Bund. Stand there and look all about you. As far as you will be able to see, up and down river, there is a wall of magnificent colonial buildings: banking institutions, a custom house, hotels, private clubs, government offices; foreign consulates––buildings with clock towers, columns and domes, powerful and elegant, and so un-Chinese. The Bund, part quay, part thoroughfare and part promenade, was once the most famous street in Asia.
The Shanghai I knew in my youth was a city beyond any law; a city that defied human dignity and lived up to the many names people gave it––"Paris of the East," "Whore of Asia," "Capital of the Tycoon," "Paradise of Adventurers," and more. Whatever name one used, Shanghai was the most exciting city in the East. And when I returned after forty years, it was just as great. There are endless things to do in Shanghai. Knowing where to look is the key, and that’s where ROHS24 comes in.
They say Shanghai is modern, but they can also say that in Shanghai time has stopped. Old Victorian buildings still stand and bits of Paris and London appear at every corner. Peeling plaster and crumbling stonework are commonplace but through the neglect you find the authentic, the real Shanghai. Gone are places like Blood Alley, the street that got its name from the bloody barroom brawls that were nightly affairs, and one that I remember so well as a young Marine, and also gone is the sign NO DOGS OR CHINESE ALLOWED. But the longest shopping street in the world, Nanjing Road, is thriving, and maybe even doing better than it was before.
Chengdu is another favourite for travellers. Anyone who loves pandas will agree, as Chengdu is home to the loveable panda bears. The city is world known for its panda research centre. Other than for pandas and a reputation as a business centre, what is there for visitors to see and do? Plenty. Chengdu has some unforgettable discoveries. People have lived in Chengdu for more than 3,700 years and it was the starting point of the "Silk Road." It’s a city of many firsts, from irrigation systems and paper money making to tea culture and relief printing. And who hasn’t heard of Sichuan cooking? The Old Town has theatre right out of old China and the best mask dancers in China.
The attractions of Chengdu go beyond the city limits. What I found most remarkable was the Lehsna Giant Buddha, the world largest, at 71 meters high. It's as tall as a 20-storey building, and was carved out of the mountain in 300 AD. In addition, the first dinosaurs were discovered nearby in the Gobi Desert, and here at the Sanxingdui Museum you can see some of their remains, including dinosaur eggs. And, you can touch a stone that is 800 million years old.
Xiamen was founded around the mid-14th century, in the early years of the Ming Dynasty. The Ming built the city walls and established Xiamen as a major seaport and commercial centre. In the 17th century it became a place of refuge for the Ming rulers fleeing the Manchu invaders. From here Ming armies fought their way north again under the command of the pirate-general Koxinga.
Things changed dramatically with the Opium wars of the 19th century. In August 1841 a British naval force of 38 ships carrying artillery and soldiers sailed into Xiamen harbour, forcing the port to open. Xiamen then came under the control of an assortment of foreigners, mainly the British and the Japanese. By the early part of the century the Belgians, Danes, French, Germans, Dutch and Americans all had consulates here.
Today, Xiamen is a bustling place. It was opened to tourists in 1980. The town of Xiamen is on the island of the same name, which lies just off the mainland and is connected to the mainland by a long causeway which carries a railway, road and footpath. The interesting part of Xiamen is the western (waterfront) district directly opposite the small island of Gulangyu. This is the old area of town, known for its quaint architecture, parks and winding streets. The central district includes the railway station. Everything about one km east of the railway station is regarded as the eastern district.
And there’s more, Kunming and Guangzhou, but I will save these destinations for later. I mentioned the foreign concessions in Xiamen but the ones that were most known outside of China were the Shanghai Concessions. Next week we will take a deep look at these concessions. They are great to explore. QUESTIONS & ANSWERSQ. Dear Mr. Stephens, I want to thank your for mentioning the Sail Thailand Rally which helped with the promotion. For the record, it was largest fleet of private yachts to sail in Asia, with its final stop in Phuket. The Sail Thailand Rally Sailors were given an all island tour to Phuket's four marinas. The Meet and Greet the Fleet Day provided an opportunity for local marine contractors to have buyers brought to their doorstep in want of refit, repairs and supplies. Business was brisk. The one-day event generated 3.25 million baht in marine sales. I want to thank you again for mentioning the rally in ROH’s Travel Weekly Feature,
––Bianca Hein, Organizer of the Sail Thailand Rally.
A. Dear Ms Hein. I am pleased that the Sail Thailand Rally was a success and I will certainly make mention of it.
Harold Stephens
Bangkok
E-mail: ROH Weekly Travel (booking@inet.co.th)
Note: The article is the personal view of the writer and does not necessarily reflect the view of Thai Airways International Public Company Limited. | 
