Yesterday when we arrived in Beijing, I was beyond impressed. Complete 180 from our time in Japan.
Okay... So since we're out of Japan, I feel like I can speak more freely about the experience there.
I used viator to find tour guides of the cities. (I used viator before to book a one day tour to Paris and it was fine)
The guides we got in Japan were okay, but not great. I feel like every 5 minutes it was another ___yen to get on the train or go to this attraction or this or that... Seemed to really add up! They got us around, they told us stuff, they did their job... But they weren't good at having conversations. It was awkward and uncomfortable a lot of times because of the language barrier.
A lot of the sites were temples and shrines... Which were nice, but once I saw 3 or 4, I was good.
I think the overall flow of our time there was exhausting and very difficult -even with the guides. It might just be my experience or because of the guides, but I was always worried about offending people. (Which I don't think is necessarily bad because we do need to be aware of our surroundings and cultural differences) There was just an overwhelming sense of uncomfortableness and awkwardness.
So on one hand, the guides did get us from place to place, they did show us things we probably wouldn't have seen ourselves, they did their job, but there was something so greatly missing from the experience there.
China, on the other hand, is blowing me away.
I booked through China Highlights and the guide who came and got us was as sweet as could be and very chatty. Right away I felt much more at ease and welcome here in China. Definitely not what I was expecting! I had preconceived ideas and worries about China and it has been the exact opposite!! I was expecting to feel better and more comfortable in Japan, but I'm actually feeling more happy and comfortable in China.
Enough blab... Here are some pics from today!!
Tiananmen Square
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