Its been more than a month since I came back from my 10D trip to China. I visited Changsha, the capital of Hunan where the places of interests include the Phoenix Ancient Town ( picture above ), ZhangJiajie , Yuan Jiajie, Tianzi Mountain Nature Reserve among others as well as taken a Yangtze river cruise to visit the Three Gorges and finally the last stop at Chong Qing.
I have not been to China much, other than Shenzhen and Hainan Island so this 10D trip was an eye-opener for me. They always say its best to visit China when you are young and its easy to understand why, because you walk a lot, in general.
However, this trip came at a bad time for me. I sprained my ankle a week before and fell sick 3 days before embarking on the trip. It was pretty tough for me, since you have to walk a lot and I coughed and sniffed pretty much, under the winter weather.
During the trip, several members fell sick, either from exhaustion from all the walking or due to poor knee condition as well as diarrhea and vomiting, perhaps from the oily and salty food.
I experienced snow on Tianzi Mountain Nature Reserve ( picture above ) in Zhangjiajie which wasn't expected even by the locals so we were lucky to catch it then.
This trip was largely made up of family groups, which was something I had anticipated. Travelling often places you alongside people from very different backgrounds, and each journey becomes a quiet lesson in human behaviour and social norms.
During the trip, several members fell sick, either from exhaustion from all the walking or due to poor knee condition as well as diarrhea and vomiting, perhaps from the oily and salty food.
I experienced snow on Tianzi Mountain Nature Reserve ( picture above ) in Zhangjiajie which wasn't expected even by the locals so we were lucky to catch it then.
This trip was largely made up of family groups, which was something I had anticipated. Travelling often places you alongside people from very different backgrounds, and each journey becomes a quiet lesson in human behaviour and social norms.
During one meal, I shared a table with a large family. They were well-presented and pleasant in appearance, but their dining habits were grossly disappointing. They "stirred" the ingredients on the shared dish with their own chopsticks and then dipped the ingredients into the shared bowl of soup on the table while drinking the only 2 bottles of coke on the table, without any regard for others.
While such behaviour may feel completely natural within one’s own family, being in a shared setting with others reminded me how small gestures of consideration can make communal experiences more comfortable for everyone.
Public facilities were another aspect I found challenging during the trip. Some restrooms I encountered were basic and lacked privacy features. I used toilets without without doors, without locks, low partitions and without lights. Locals left their "shit" in them or spit around the cubicle and even spit on the floors in supermarkets.
These moments highlighted how deeply habits around hygiene and public spaces are shaped by upbringing, environment, and long-standing social norms.
Being a skincare fanatic, I am always most concerned about skincare when I travel because you can't predict how your skin will react to the overseas weather condition and if you bring the wrong skincare, that's it. Flaking skin with make-up is such a terrible combination. And hence, I brought along my trusted brands and it works so well for me. No flaking skin at all throughout the trip.
Pairing The Body Shop round cotton pads with Bioderma Sensibio H20 Micelle Solution to remove face and eye make-up. Skin Origin Cleansing milk as cleanser. Biotherm Life Plankton essence with Biotherm Aquasource Deep Serum and Biotherm Aquasource Replenishing Gel for combination skin for day and night use. A daily sheet mask to keep skin hydrated in the winter condition. Eye masks to use either in the day or night, depending if I wear contact lenses as I prefer to don an eye mask in the morning to reduce puffiness and keep my eyes refreshed if I decided to wear lenses that day.
A mini beauty haul when I visited Watsons in Chong Qing and picked up mainly masks for myself.
