Slow travel in China for retired couples: three weeks, three bases and no 6 am starts
A guide for Australians in their sixties and seventies who have the time and want a civilised pace: why three bases beat eight hotels, the walkable neighbourhoods to settle into, a daily rhythm that includes a nap, the sights that are worth the effort and the ones that are not, stairs and distances at each sight, accessibility realities, health and insurance, the pleasures of a long stay (the tea house, the park, the market, the tailor), and a three-week slow route.
Our most contented guests are often a couple in their late sixties with three weeks and no interest in doing China the way their children did it. They want a good room they can unpack in, a neighbourhood to learn, one proper thing a day, a long lunch, and a trip that ends with them wanting to come back. China rewards this way of travelling more than almost anywhere, because its best pleasures are daily ones: the park at eight, the tea house at three, the market, the noodle shop, the lane. This guide is the slow version of the route, which the elderly parents guide complements for families travelling with older relatives.
Three bases, not eight hotels
The standard fortnight moves every two or three nights. A slow three weeks has three bases of about a week each: Shanghai, Hangzhou or Suzhou, and Beijing, with the day trips radiating out and the suitcase unpacked. Fewer check-ins, fewer early trains, no packing day, and the compounding pleasure of a neighbourhood that starts to recognise you: the café that knows your coffee, the fruit shop, the park regulars who wave. The luggage guide matters less when the bags move three times.
Where to settle
Shanghai: a serviced apartment or a boutique hotel in the former French Concession or Jing’an, flat, tree-lined, with cafés, a metro and the lanes to wander, as the where to stay guide sets out. Hangzhou: a lakeside hotel on the quieter west or south shores with the causeways at the door. Suzhou, the alternative: a hotel on the Pingjiang Road canals. Beijing: a courtyard hotel for charm, or for a week’s comfort a serviced apartment near Dongsi with a lift, a kitchen and the hutongs in walking distance, as the where to stay in Beijing guide discusses. Ask for a lift, a walk-in shower and a quiet side; Chinese hotels are good at all three if asked.
A daily rhythm
Up without an alarm; the park at eight with the tai chi and the dancers and breakfast from the stalls outside (the parks guide); one real sight from nine to twelve with a car and a guide if it is a big one; a long lunch; a rest at the hotel in the heat or the cold; a tea house, a museum, a tailor’s fitting or a market at four; dinner at seven in the neighbourhood; the Bund or the lanes lit at night once or twice a week. Two full-day excursions a week, not five. Guests who keep this rhythm arrive home rested.
The sights: effort versus reward
| Sight | Walking and stairs | Verdict |
|---|---|---|
| The Bund | Flat, 1.5 km promenade, benches | Every evening |
| Yu Garden and the old town | Flat, crowded, uneven paving | Early, once |
| Suzhou gardens | Flat, short, some stepping stones | Yes, two or three |
| West Lake | Flat causeways, boats, 3 km if you walk one | Yes, over several days |
| Forbidden City | 2 to 3 km, flat, a few steps, no shade | Yes, early, with a wheelchair available at the gate if wanted |
| Temple of Heaven | Flat park, the altar has steps | Yes, the park is the point |
| Summer Palace | Lake walk flat, the hill steep | Lake and boat yes, hill no |
| Great Wall at Mutianyu | Cable car up, then steep stairs on the wall | Cable car and one tower; the view is at the top of the car |
| Terracotta Warriors | Flat halls, 2 km, ramps | Yes |
| Huangshan | Cable car, then stairs everywhere | Only for the fit; the Huangshan guide is honest |
| Zhangjiajie | Lifts and cable cars, long stairs | Skip, or the far destinations guide has the gentle Li River instead |
The Beijing itinerary and the Shanghai itinerary can each be spread over a week at this pace.
Accessibility, honestly
Modern China is better than its reputation and worse than Australia: the metro has lifts at most stations, the new museums and the airports are fully accessible, taxis and cars are everywhere, and the big sights have ramps and chair hire. The old towns, the hutongs, the water towns and the gardens have steps, thresholds and uneven stone, and the Wall is the Wall. Mobility aids travel fine; a folding stool for queues is the single most useful item; and a car and guide remove most of the problem by delivering you to the door. The elderly parents guide has the detail by sight.
Health and insurance
Travel insurance with no age exclusion for your bracket and medical evacuation, bought early; medications in original packaging with a letter; the international clinics in each city on the phone, as the healthcare guide lists. Air quality in Beijing in winter and spring is the one environmental issue; a guide keeps an indoor day in reserve. The toilets guide says where the seated toilets are, which matters more at seventy than at thirty.
The pleasures of a long stay
A tailor who makes a jacket in a week (the experiences guide); a tea house you return to (the tea guide); the wet market and the fruit shop (the supermarkets guide); a massage twice a week for $25; a calligraphy class; the Shanghai Museum in three visits rather than one; the bridge club and the ping-pong table in the park, where a visitor of seventy is treated as a peer; and a Chinese New Year or Mid-Autumn if the dates fall right (the festivals guide). The budget guide will tell you that three slow weeks cost about what two fast ones do, because the hotels are the cost and the days are cheap.
A three-week slow route
| Week | Base | The rhythm |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Shanghai, Concession apartment | The Bund, the old town, the museum in parts, a Suzhou day, a tailor, a cooking class, the parks each morning |
| 2 | Hangzhou, lakeside | West Lake in pieces, a tea village, a water-town night at Wuzhen, the hills by car, long lunches |
| 3 | Beijing, courtyard or apartment | The Forbidden City early, the Temple of Heaven mornings, the Wall by cable car on a clear day, the Summer Palace by boat, duck, the hutongs |
Shanghai to Hangzhou is an hour by train; Hangzhou to Beijing four and a half in a business-class seat, the one splurge on the trains we always recommend at this pace. This is the Shanghai to Beijing tour stretched to three weeks with the guide on the big days and your own feet on the rest, the pattern the day guide page prices. Tell us on the contact page how you like to travel; “slowly” is an answer we are glad to hear.
