A day in Suzhou

bristolianbackpacker0 Comments

Mitch and I have realised that this semester at school in China is going to fly by. As such, we need to make the most out of being here. It’s safe to say we’ve explored Hangzhou a lot (there is still more to see as it’s a big city), but we’ve enjoyed all the main attractions and delights the city has to offer. For our weekend adventures, we now turn to those places we can reach easily on the train or bus, and spend a day and a half or so there on a weekend. Suzhou is one of those …

Continue Reading

Hong Kong Highlights

bristolianbackpacker0 Comments

Hong Kong is a busy, dizzying city. We stayed in Kowloon, which was both crazy and brilliant. Coming from mainland China, one of the first differences we noticed is how expensive the city is. You realise this when you are forced to pay £20 for the smallest room possible in a hostel (and if you’re lucky you’ll get a window!). Aside from that, alcohol is expensive in bars and you may need to wander a bit to find some cheap eats. Getting around is fairly cheap if you get yourself an Octopus card, and a lot of the things to see …

Continue Reading

Tranquiltiy and Adventure in Xingping

bristolianbackpacker1 Comment

If you’ve ever had a 20 RMB note, you’ll have seen the gorgeous karst mountains and the Li river that roams in the South West of China. The location on the note is in a small village called Xingping. On most days, the small village is home to lots of tourists, taking lots of photos with their 20 RMB note and enjoying boat rides down the river, looking in awe at the surroundings. It really is a spectacular sight. However, my favourite part of Xingping wasn’t the place where we match up our note with the river and mountains. There are parts …

Continue Reading

Kowloon, Hong Kong: Busy, Bustling, and Burning my Money

bristolianbackpacker0 Comments

Stepping off the plane to 18 degrees after leaving Hangzhou and its bitter winter chill was blissful. My flight was delayed so it was getting late but I managed to swiftly get through boarder control, pick up my bag, and get on the City bus before midnight.  As the bus rocked up at my stop near Mong Kok station, I was amazed looking outside. It didn’t look like 12:30am. It seemed more like the middle of the afternoon: restaurants full, people chatting, and people walking down the street. I met Mitch, who had arrived earlier, and it was then that …

Continue Reading

How to survive a cold spell in Hangzhou

bristolianbackpacker0 Comments

This weekend Hangzhou reached some of the coldest temperatures the city has seen in many years. My school got closed due to the weather, and Mitch had buggered off to Cambodia as he’s already broken up, which meant I was left alone in our very cold flat (no central heating or double glazing) . However, despite sub zero temperatures and water cut outs – I’m still here, alive and well. Here’s how I survived. If you find yourself in a cold city, these tips may work for you too.  Buy yourself some proper pyjamas. If you’ve ever been to some non …

Continue Reading

Welcome to Helen The Bristolian Backpacker

bristolianbackpacker0 Comments

Hello! Thank you so much for visiting Helen The Bristolian Backpacker. The site use be a wordpress blog but I’ve now transformed it to give you, my wonderful readers, a better experience as I share more of my backpacking stories. The site is still very new but is always developing as I add new content and lots more great stuff. As a budget backpacker, I want to share information about places with you, and some tales along the way too! Please let me know your thoughts and comments below – What do you like? What would you like to see more of? …

Continue Reading