Hiking in China – How I fell for the Middle Kingdom

A truly great travel experience is always a combination of fulfilled expectations and pleasant surprises. When you think of China, a thousand-year-old ink painting tends to appear before your inner eye. And it really is just as beautiful as you imagine and hope for when the morning mist sweeps between the sugarloaf mountains of Guangxi while the Li River winds below. Or when the sunset transforms every rice terrace in Longji into a mirror of gold. Or when a jungle-clad archipelago stretches toward the horizon of the South China Sea from a laboriously conquered summit in Hong Kong. As a scenic destination for hikers, China leaves nothing to be desired.

China is only 6-7 hours ahead of Sweden, and after the choppy sleep on the plane it was easy to go to bed at a normal time and sleep until the breakfast buffet opened. In other words, we were in great shape for the first hike. Good thing too, because in our study program we started with a proper full day along MacLehose's finest section, no. 2 (we've placed it last in your trip). The trails were in very good condition and well marked. The hike rolled up over peaks and down to chalk-white paradise beaches, where of course we took the opportunity to swim. The archetype of a fairly strenuous hike that's worth every step. The other tours were somewhat easier but equally spectacular. We ended up with the best sections of Hong Kong's four long trails. What many don't know about Hong Kong is that 75% of the territory consists of natural areas, much of it protected. And astonishingly beautiful.

After a few eventful days in HK, we wandered wide-eyed into West Kowloon to take the bullet train to Guilin. The station resembles a medium-sized airport, but it was easy enough to flow along between passport controls, security checks, and entry forms (our guide had sent us a link to it in advance, so we could walk past the confused Westerners gnawing on their pencils in the queue). Yes, because Hong Kong may belong to China but has its own border control and currency.

Upon arrival in Guilin we're met by the red star side by side with modern electric cars. The guide takes us to the favorite local spot for rice noodles: seven kronor for a lunch. Then Elephant Trunk Hill by the Li River, a Chinese spectacle in every delightful way, before checking in at our riverside hotel after nightfall had set in, unaware of the view.

The next day we pulled the curtains apart and were met with a postcard scene of the calm Li River and jagged karst peaks draped in intense greenery. Someone had even placed a tai chi-practicing lady on the lawn to make the picture perfect.

The following days were spent hiking through this fairy-tale-like landscape. Sugarloaf peaks and rice terraces satisfied every fantasy of how China should look, paired with artful old villages straight out of a movie. The trails became easier with less elevation change.

Somewhere along the way, a second journey began. The one into the culture. And here China is hard to beat for a curious Western traveler. Don't expect a complete understanding—there are too many layers. But be curious, ask questions, and try to understand without judging, and you'll get a pleasant Alice-in-Wonderland experience. And tell them about your own world too—many are curious.

The first aha moment was that we, who thought we had traveled halfway across the globe to discover something new, were ourselves the attraction. Along the trails, where it's always easier to meet people, many came up and wanted to have their picture taken with us. Charming, and a little incredible, like when we ran into the same young hikers in Guangxi that we had met in Hong Kong, in a giant country of 1.4 billion inhabitants.

China is definitely modern, but it arrived here via a completely different winding road than ours. That's why the cocktail of old and new has a different flavor than in Europe. I personally got a strangely peaceful feeling. The Chinese are generally calm and unpretentious. Not polite in our way, but secure in some way. Perhaps a culture becomes more balanced the older it gets, and China is undeniably ancient.

After a few cups of osmanthus tea, I decided to poke a little at the elephant in the room. I started, like the well-meaning Westerner, by asking my guide if they don't feel oppressed by their authoritarian regime. The answer, like much else in China, was on a completely different wavelength. She didn't share my view on the excellence of democracy, but felt absolutely free. Okay, but what about the surveillance, then, I tried. Well, that's just good, because it makes everyone feel safe (China actually feels extremely safe to travel in). The perspective on America, Europe, Tibet, and Taiwan naturally differs from ours as well.

But after one last cup of tea (they're small), I reached the same conclusion as after most real journeys: people are the same the world over. People are one thing and politics another, and the cultural veil we give so much weight to is in fact wafer-thin. And there we have travel's noblest manifesto.

There's so much more to tell: how to order any food on a train, conversations that flow without a single shared word, how the hair on your neck stands up just before the duck foot goes into your mouth (tastes like chicken). But we won't give you any more spoilers – instead, we'll give you the chance to experience for yourself all the wonderful, beautiful, quirky, and surprising things China has to offer. It's much easier than you think.