Aelfgifu Travels

Hi Aelf Crew,

Today I want to share with you my time in Wuhan and the lessons I learnt from this experience.

My tried and tested visit to the ‘Hostel World’ website did not bear any fruit. In Wuhan there were no hostels that accepted non-Chinese guests. Top Tip from Aelfgifu: be careful when booking accommodation in China. Some hotels and hostels only accept Chinese nationals so it is wise to check the small print and look for signs like this – I insert a picture below of the only hostel in Wuhan to appear on HostelWorld:

I stayed in a hotel, which at this point in my trip was a welcomed experience – those who have done long stretches of hosteling or backpacking in the past I’m sure can understand that some space, a non-bunk bed or even a private toilet sometimes can give you the refresh you need.

That said, like so many stories with Aelfgifu, it wasn’t smooth sailing. Firstly, on arrival the hotel tried to claim I hadn’t booked or paid, despite me having both my invoice and booking details printed out and on my phone. These were all in English granted, so it did take a lot of back and forth to prove that these were genuine documents.

I had booked via ‘booking.com’ which is a well renowned site enough that I began to worry that the hotel was counterfeit or operating fraudulently. However, I contacted booking.com, translated their response into Mandarin and we did get there eventually.

Secondly, there were boxes of rat poison everywhere, including in my wardrobe – but by this point in my travels I was completely unfazed. 

To top if off, the washing machine didn’t work so I had the delightfully fun task of calling maintenance (which was incredibly difficult due to the language barrier). With the help of the housekeeper, the groundsman, a phone translator and a lot of miming – eventually the three of us did manage to get it to work. Great success!

Wuhan was very rainy during my visit. As is a staple with an Aelfgifu story, it wouldn’t be complete without some poor planning or lack of research. Wuhan experiences its rainy season from April to August and I was visiting in May.

After reflection (and some research), I would recommend this website which details the different areas of China and includes weather conditions, temperatures and rainfall. You can also choose the month so that you can plan according to your trip: https://weather-and-climate.com/averages-China-May/temperatures

As I very quickly learnt, China is such a huge land mass that different cities experience different seasons – something I foolishly had not anticipated!

After researching the sites to see in Wuhan, I booked a 4 hour walking tour via Viator of the Yellow Crane Tower and Donghu Lake, including a boat trip with an English-speaking guide.

To get inside the Yellow Crane Tower, there were huge queues in the pouring rain. This didn’t dampen my spirits though, as I had brought a raincoat – whilst I may not have researched the weather in Wuhan explicitly, I am always prepared for any weather! 

Top Tip from Aelfgifu: regarding accessibility and anyone with mobility issues – there is a large amount of stairs to climb and I have since researched that there is a lift (albeit this was not clearly signposted whilst I was there) and the lift is only available to those over 70 years of age, so make sure you have sensible shoes on! When I went it was so crowded that going up the stairs was more of a shuffle than a climb, so for those worried about the speed, there is no pace that is required here! 

The Yellow Crane Tower offers a musical show featuring the ancient Chinese musical instrument, the Chimes Bell. These performances are about 15 minutes long and are held four times daily in the Fallen-wintersweet Pavilion.

This was a highlight of my trip – traditional costumes, singing, dancing and hearing the Chimes Bell, was a real privilege that I recommend going to.

Tips to Learn from Aelfgifu:

• Always check your accommodation accepts non-Chinese nationals – not something I had ever considered until this trip!
• Weather is not consistent across the vast landmass that is China – check by month and region what weather to expect!
• Bring translations with you – especially for emergencies. Even basic ones (booking details, address of hotel, key phrases) can make a huge difference when language barriers are high.
• Stay calm when things go wrong! Rat poison in your wardrobe? Broken washing machine? You’ll either solve it or get a great story!

Have you ever encountered rodents in your hotel room? Let me know the story below!

On my last nerve,

Aelfgifu