Vietnamese woman points out 7 misconceptions when visiting Jiuzhaigou

Visiting Jiuzhaigou is costly, Chinese people are rude, and dirty toilets are misconceptions debunked after Huyen's trip to Sichuan.

Vietnamese woman points out 7 misconceptions when visiting Jiuzhaigou

Her 6-day solo trip to Chengdu – Jiuzhaigou – Leshan changed many misconceptions about China for Tran Thanh Huyen (from Hanoi) after she saw, heard, and experienced it firsthand. Here's Huyen's sharing:

Visiting Jiuzhaigou costs at least 15 million dong

Many people think when going to China, not knowing their language will lead to overcharging, paying 2-3 times more, etc. However, I went to China from Friday to Wednesday next week, spending 6 million dong on food, transportation, gifts... (not including airfare).

To keep expenses low, I opted for budget dormitories priced at around 150,000 dong. Food was also quite cheap, ranging from 15,000 dong. The bus fare is 3,000 dong per trip, taxi fare for a 5 km ride is 30,000 dong, sometimes even 18,000 dong. If it weren't for my greed in trying out all the food in Cam Ly street and accidentally buying tickets to Chengdu twice, the amount would be even less.

Toilets in China are truly horrendous

Hotels, large restaurants all have clean and shiny restrooms.

Public restrooms at Jiuzhaigou use new technology, no need to flush and very clean. They wrap plastic bags inside the toilet bowl, when you step up, the bag automatically rolls down, taking waste with it, reducing odor, saving water, and avoiding the risk of disease transmission from restrooms.

Even restrooms where buses stop are decent, priced at 3,000 dong per use.

China is not for those who don't speak Chinese

At first, this statement seems true, as when I arrived here, I always had to speak Chinese (or rather broken Chinese), and taxi drivers, elderly people didn't speak English. However, children and young people speak English quite well. I met a primary school student asking for directions in English and receiving a perfect response, to the point where I was amazed for a while.

Everywhere I went, street signs, directions, explanations in tourist areas, announcements on buses, metros all have bilingual Chinese - English. Hotels for tourists have locals who speak English very well. Thanks to that, my travels were very convenient.

The scamming of tourists and fraud is rampant everywhere

During my days in Sichuan, not a single day passed without contact with Chinese people working in the service industry, customer care, sales, but absolutely no signs of scams or tourist traps.

The service here is excellent, and they truly treat customers like gods. The evidence is that I only took photos, going from one shop to another, and they didn't complain at all. I just asked for directions without buying anything and didn't get any dirty looks. When I got lost looking for the guesthouse, the host even came out to pick me up. Even the motorcycle taxis agreed on a fair price before leaving, and they were even willing to lend me their phone to make a call. Bus stations also don't have rampant touts, you have to buy a ticket to travel. Near many eateries, no one blocks the road to lead customers and everyone is fair. Everywhere sells at the right price.

Chinese people are rude and behave terribly

I've heard many unpleasant stories about Chinese tourists. I've had my own troubles with them in Angkor, Cambodia. However, when I went to China, I found they behaved just like normal people. There were a few rude ones, but I only encountered them once, and they even apologized.

At Jiuzhaigou, the crowd was large but there was no pushing or shoving to get ahead; everyone lined up and patiently waited. Perhaps because of their good service, the buses were always sufficient.

Participants in traffic have a sense of compliance with the law. Pedestrians walk within the white lines, cyclists cross the road in their designated lanes, and cars drive at moderate speeds.

Environmental pollution, densely populated areas

Sichuan is a mountainous province in China, not as crowded and bustling as Beijing, Shanghai, or Shenzhen... Chengdu - the capital of Sichuan, where I went, is not crowded at all, Jiuzhaigou is busier. Leshan city is even quieter, with fewer people, even in tourist areas. Generally, there are fewer people here, wide open streets.

The air in Chengdu is very clean, the streets are clean, not a speck of litter, green parks everywhere. The streets are lined with beautiful, uniform trees. There are many maple trees planted and in two months, they promise to turn yellow and red, giving the whole city a new look.

Here, electric bicycles are the main mode of transportation, followed by walking. Public transportation such as buses and metro make the city less noisy.

Sichuan only offers hotpot and pandas

For people like my parents, Sichuan is synonymous with painfully spicy food, a hotpot that everyone enjoys (except me), and the protected pandas. However, for young people, they see Sichuan as a western region of China, with Tibetan people and scenic spots like Jiuzhaigou.

After researching and experiencing it, I find Sichuan very fascinating. Here, there are towering mountains reaching 5,000 meters, blanketed with pure white clouds, along with fields of vibrant lavender flowers. Sichuan also boasts numerous other scenic areas besides Jiuzhaigou, such as Huanglong, Truc Nam Sea, Lac Son, and Nga Mi Mountain...

Sichuan has a rich cultural heritage no less than Beijing, Shanghai, or Tokyo... Here, there are many ancient towns like Hoang Long Khe, Thuong Ly, Lieu Duong... Even Thanh Do itself is an ancient city with many streets, houses, shops, and relics from the Qing and Ming dynasties that remain beautiful to this day.

Sichuan is also a Buddhist land because it has a record-breaking Buddha statue carved into the mountain wall and known worldwide (Lac Son Great Buddha).

As per insights from Huyen Chen/Vnexpress

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Reference: Travel guide by Mytour