Worst And Best Cities You've Visited.

acton28.blog said:
Most people there are welcoming but the sprawls, sparseness between old villages and the lack of the true historic buildings doesn't help. The stylistic rebuilds of old places, remained since the Cultural Revolution definitely is a blight on cities green from villages.

The countryside and the hidden or well wandered areas away from cities are a godsend. Shangri-la, Kunming, Lhasa, etc have been rebuilt following convenient fires... but retain character. Actually, found most northern remote regions truly fascinating.
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I am in Inner Mongolia province at the moment. (Dongshengmaio).
In some ways it's like going back in time about 60 years, to my childhood.
The people are so warm hearted, it's quite moving at times.
 
Grassland Blue said:
I am in Inner Mongolia province at the moment. (Dongshengmaio).
In some ways it's like going back in time about 60 years, to my childhood.
The people are so warm hearted, it's quite moving at times.
Click to expand...

I visited Manzhouli in deepest darkest winter so didn't see enough people. It felt like Oldham in summer.

Gansu is stunning. Ningxia, I didn't know until walking that way in 2021. There to the border of Inner Mongolia was a different world.
 
acton28.blog said:
Most people there are welcoming but the sprawls, sparseness between old villages and the lack of the true historic buildings doesn't help. The stylistic rebuilds of old places, remained since the Cultural Revolution definitely is a blight on cities green from villages.
Click to expand...
This is a problem in most of East Asia. I was surprised when I went to Kyoto. The stuff you see on pictures is only a small part of the city, but the rest is a complete mishmash of different building types. Very different to historical cities in Europe.
 
Yet Hamburg is such a popular destination for stags. There were three groups going last time I was there when I worked for Bauer.

Düsseldorf is much better as many Euro Away Blues know.
 
My favourites - Capetown, Helsinki, Windhoek, Savannah, ReykjavIk, Gaborone. Special mention for Pointe Noire because that’s where I was when I found out about the takeover.

The worst - Lome, Kinshasa and Bangui - all wildly unsafe, Chittagong in Bangladesh was the dirtiest, New York and Paris the least friendly.
 
Birmingham is a bit shite. The locals also appear to be the product of incest.
 
I stayed a fortnight in Istanbul in the mid 80s just as it was taking off economically. Fantastic City, very friendly and helpful locals. Excellent food. Some great monuments etc.: Topkapi, Pierre Lotti’s cafe and The Golden Horn, mosques, Sea of Marmara with its beautiful islands.
Pity Erdogan has wrecked it all.
 
Tainan in Taiwan is lovely, and very safe. The historic Anping area is nice, right by the seaside and some great little cafes and visitor attractions off the beaten track. The main city isn’t too busy or expensive and has some amazing restaurants and a good street food culture, particularly in the evenings.

Taipei is nice too though huge and needs a few days to see it all. The ‘Just Sleep’ hotel next to NTU campus is worth staying, good food and decent rooms. Easy transport in Taipei on its MRT underground trains, on time to the second and very clean, if a little crowded at peak times.
 
Best: Vancouver, Kyoto, Vienna, Porto.

Worst: Charlotte, Salt Lake City, Strasbourg, Leeds.

OT if any of you have good recommendations for Rome beside the normal well-known stuff, I’m headed there in October for a delayed 30th wedding anniversary trip. Been all over in Italy but never there oddly.
 
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