Weekend trip to Wuzhen International Camping by motor-home

First time rented RV in China and heading for Wuzhen and a big surprise was waiting for us open arrival late in the evening

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Petri 大P

Writing about our travels in the vast land of China by RV with passion to do the difficult way

Our first time renting an RV in China

This is the first trip we head for a Weekend trip to Wuzhen International Camping with a motor home. Challenges not only in renting the RV but also in driving the RV on the road in China for the first time. Now afterward, thinking it was not bad at all, we had no issues. Highway traffic in China is relatively safe during the daytime, but I avoid driving at night. Especially avoid heavy trucks. Why don’t the slower ones keep on the right side? That’s one of the biggest questions and making the takeovers dangerous.

Negotiating the price at Tiande RV. This company you need to be careful with.

Tiande RV rental, Shanghai, engine oil — Checking the engine oil before leaving. Luckily we did it as it was close to a low level

Unfortunately, this company is untrustworthy, and we paid a “membership” fee of 5000CNY, including five days of rental. I only used it for three days and was thinking of using it later. Some changes since then are that this particular Tiande does not exist anymore, and we lost two days of rental.

First rental RV; let us see how it goes. Heading for the Weekend trip to Wuzhen International camping. Never driven this size of a car in China and need to be extra cautious about the height limit, which is 3.2m

The journey begins with the Weekend trip to Wuzhen International Camping

As the start of the Weekend trip to Wuzhen International Camping was late, and the traffic on the highway was more or less dangerous in the rainy weather, we decided to stop overnight at the service station.

First, stop at the gasoline station for some snacks. It is a standard local gas station on the highway. Colossal place but quite empty because of the time. This is the insufficiency of highway service. The Western-style stations are usually packed with many snacks, coffee, etc.
But our next trip to Nanjing will take you to experience China’s best highway service centers.

Snacks and some Zongi (also known as a rice dumpling)

Wuzhen International Camping | bed arrangement — Kids are fast to find their place on top bunks in front. There is easy space for two children there, and we could share the “queen” size in the rear

Arrival at the empty and dark camping area

We were very late when we arrived at the campsite. The camp administrator left the gate open for us to enter freely on the date 2020/08/18

No Green health code
No passport
No nucleic test
Nobody at camping 🙂

My wife is at the gate trying to open it. This is our first trip and the first campsite visited in China, and we did not get a good impression of it. No lights, no one inside or outside. I can see thru the gate also very muddy, and I am afraid of getting stuck there. Think about that first time, gates locked, not a soul at camping, total darkness, and having no clue what was happening. It is locked, but we were told how to open it. No staff at all was available to assist. Only our car headlights and my flashlight is showing some light. Total darkness

Wuzhen internatioanl camping | Gates of hell, — It is locked, but we were told how to open it. No staff at all available to assist

The gate was locked, and the campsite was in total darkness. Almost scary as it was pitch black. Looking thru the gates, I could see some very muddy tracks and immediately worried about getting stuck.

My wife is at the gate trying to open it. This was our first trip, and the first campsite visited in China, and we did not get a good impression of it.

After some consideration, we found a concrete pad to park on. There were available electricity and water, but our cable only had 10A, which doe not fit the 16A on the electrical pole. This is also a reminder that many things in China are not following specific regulations. I noticed there was also another type of 16A socket. Also, for example, the towing hook in China, I have seen so many different versions, different ball sizes, or it can be some mooring hooks.

Keeping the teeth clean even traveling by RV

Waking up my wife after the lovely welcome with nobody available at the camping. We are the only ones in the whole place

The gas cooker quickly made breakfast, and this RV had no internal electrical or gas cooking facilities. Anyway, it was nice weather, even with a shower here and there. We always take our camping table and chairs with us, as sometimes they are not included in the rental list. Breakfast was simple but tasty.

Wuzhen International Camping map — The map of the surroundings. Camping, RV park, and fixed caravans for rental. Some big hotels are at the top of the map. The outside area was tranquil, with no shops or other places to purchase necessities.

What activities are available?

Few construction works are going on in the area. it looks like adventure activities for the kids. We found very narrow railroad tracks in the area. Later on, we knew it was a mini train track. The administrator offers us a free ride to compensate for the poor experience of the previous night beside a bucket of clean water and biscuits 🙂 they are very friendly and nice, coping well with our curiosity. Close by is an area where you can rent a fixed camper van as a hotel room.

Mud racing would have been fun, but it was unavailable outside the holiday season. So we could only test the small train this time. if someone visits the place later, let me hear about the experience if the equipment were available.