summercomfort (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
summercomfort) wrote2026-01-02 02:12 am
summercomfort) wrote2026-01-02 02:12 am
China trip reflection
After the disaster of the China trip last summer, we decided to stop going in the summer. So instead we went over winter break. It was pretty good! I think we had a good balance of visiting new places and visiting family. It was 2 days in Shanghai, followed by 2 days in Chengdu (well, actually overnight train + 1.5 days + overnight train), and then 2 days of the weekend with fam, followed by 1 day in Suzhou, 1 day as my bday, and 1 day of cleanup and travel home.
In Chengdu: Sanxingdui was amazing omg the bronzes were ones I hadn't seen in books before it was so good. Pandas turn out to just be bears who are kinda dumb and inexplicable, although their thumbs are legit pretty cool, and apparently their tails aren't black? Honestly artistic renditions of pandas are cuter than the real thing. Next time will need to spend more time in Chengdu city proper.
Takeaways:
- having 2-3 days to deal with jetlag was great. 3 days is better than 2, but 2 days was doable.
- seeing dad from 10am-noon was pretty successful. Don't expect him to do much walking or activities outside the house.
- it was good to clear out the weekend for seeing other fam, but next time maybe we can clarify which day (which would allow for more travel/tourism), and have them come to our place (less cleanup, bigger table, less obligation on family members to cook)
- the overnight train was a big success, Miss Rutabaga loved it.
- Could probably have spent an extra day in Chengdu for fuller experience
- Direct flights are so worth the extra cost. We had such a bad time flying back -- delay after delay of sitting on the tarmac, ugh. What should have been a 16 hour experience (door-to-door) became a 28 hour one (pfah!)
- maybe pre-order some winter clothes and have them delivered to dad's place. If this is going to be a regular experience, can even consider bringing some of my 2nd or 3rd tier shirts and pants and leaving them there
Oh, on the plane, I watched Superman (2025) and Free Guy. Free Guy was pretty fun and cute. Superman was better than I'd expected. I got to skip the part where he turns himself in (which is like, my emotional squick), but the rest of it was great. I was leery of having a Justice Gang of a bunch of b-listers, but it actually turned out really great! Mr. Terrific obviously stole the show, but also casting Nathan Fillion as Guy Gardner is perfect re: his blend of douchebaggery + still a good guy. I also loved that it wasn't a superhero origin story, and in fact jumps right in *after* a big fight re: Boravia, and *after* Lois and Clark got together. That was really refreshing. I like that Lex Luthor got to show off why exactly he's a formidable enemy: his smarts, his resources, his mania, his obsessiveness. Clark is so sweet and much-beleaguered. Such a soft boi who is just trying to dog-sit for the weekend. I love that Krypto's desire to chew on toys becomes plot-relevant. :). I ... really don't like Ma and Pa Kent tho? I don't know why, but I have such a different mental image of them. Probably from Unpretty's fics, tbh.
In Chengdu: Sanxingdui was amazing omg the bronzes were ones I hadn't seen in books before it was so good. Pandas turn out to just be bears who are kinda dumb and inexplicable, although their thumbs are legit pretty cool, and apparently their tails aren't black? Honestly artistic renditions of pandas are cuter than the real thing. Next time will need to spend more time in Chengdu city proper.
Takeaways:
- having 2-3 days to deal with jetlag was great. 3 days is better than 2, but 2 days was doable.
- seeing dad from 10am-noon was pretty successful. Don't expect him to do much walking or activities outside the house.
- it was good to clear out the weekend for seeing other fam, but next time maybe we can clarify which day (which would allow for more travel/tourism), and have them come to our place (less cleanup, bigger table, less obligation on family members to cook)
- the overnight train was a big success, Miss Rutabaga loved it.
- Could probably have spent an extra day in Chengdu for fuller experience
- Direct flights are so worth the extra cost. We had such a bad time flying back -- delay after delay of sitting on the tarmac, ugh. What should have been a 16 hour experience (door-to-door) became a 28 hour one (pfah!)
- maybe pre-order some winter clothes and have them delivered to dad's place. If this is going to be a regular experience, can even consider bringing some of my 2nd or 3rd tier shirts and pants and leaving them there
Oh, on the plane, I watched Superman (2025) and Free Guy. Free Guy was pretty fun and cute. Superman was better than I'd expected. I got to skip the part where he turns himself in (which is like, my emotional squick), but the rest of it was great. I was leery of having a Justice Gang of a bunch of b-listers, but it actually turned out really great! Mr. Terrific obviously stole the show, but also casting Nathan Fillion as Guy Gardner is perfect re: his blend of douchebaggery + still a good guy. I also loved that it wasn't a superhero origin story, and in fact jumps right in *after* a big fight re: Boravia, and *after* Lois and Clark got together. That was really refreshing. I like that Lex Luthor got to show off why exactly he's a formidable enemy: his smarts, his resources, his mania, his obsessiveness. Clark is so sweet and much-beleaguered. Such a soft boi who is just trying to dog-sit for the weekend. I love that Krypto's desire to chew on toys becomes plot-relevant. :). I ... really don't like Ma and Pa Kent tho? I don't know why, but I have such a different mental image of them. Probably from Unpretty's fics, tbh.