Malaysian spirit in China
I WAS surprised when The Star sent me a lucky draw prize for a 5-day/4-night tour to China, courtesy of Hwa jing Travel Sdn Bhd. The tour included visits to Hangzhou, Suzhou, Shanghai and Wuzhen.
My neighbour and I enjoyed the trip tremendously. It was a short, hectic trip but within the five days, we covered a lot of places, saw a fantastic Shanghai oriental fairyland acrobatics show, cruised along the Suzhou grand canal, saw the scenic Hangzhou West Lake Xihu Tiandi, and visited a part of Shanghai whose night life could easily be mistaken for Paris, with its cafes, western food and booze. Truly it was an eye-opener.
The only drawback was the intense heat, when temperatures soared to
40°C at times.
The good part was the food. We tasted local delicacies like the 100th Year Mee and Bun, and a variety of food at the night markets.
There were two busloads of Malaysians, totalling 100 tourists, but the tour leaders were unfazed by the number. Congratulafor tions to the organisers the smooth tour with no untoward incidents.
My group comprised 50 of us, including two Indian couples and four Malays. There was so much camaraderie in the group. The tour guide spoke only Mandarin but that was not a problem because those who could speak Mandarin rose to the occasion and interpreted it for the rest of us. Half the travellers were aged 60 and above, but that did not matter because the other half comprised young adults who were ever ready to lend a hand. It was truly Malaysian and, at the end of the tour, the non-Mandarin speakers (including yours truly) were so thankful that the tour was not marred by language problems as there were newfound friends who helped them throughout the journey.
There were two university students, of Chinese-Malay parentage, who also did their part in the interpreting. Their mother, a Chinese, had sent them to a Chinese school so they were fluent in the language. It was a delight getting them to bargain for us when the need arose and, as I could only speak a dialect, they were ever ready to help us. So the group was like one large family, with the young helping the old, the ones who could speak Mandarin explaining things to those who could not understand Mandarin. It was truly Malaysian.