It’s been a heck of a lot of fun sharing with you my entire journey through China all the way from Shanghai up to the monks of Shaolin and onwards to the Terracotta Warriors in Xi’an. With so much footage I took along the way, it’d be a shame to let it go to waste so I decided to put together an extended cut if you will of my original journey to the terracotta warriors.
Read more about China
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Introducing the Extended Cut
I may have been influenced by Peter Jackson here. I essentially took the core of what I had and filled it in with all the other clips that I wish I could’ve included the first time around but couldn’t because I wanted to keep the whole video under 3 minutes.
The now lengthier 4 minutes and 30 seconds paints, I hope, a much fuller video of what my trip was like over the course of 14 days and gives YOU a good reason to travel to China.
The Making Of
The Idea
I knew going into my China trip that I needed to have a plan for what I wanted to do with video. From experience, I knew that just taking random videos with my GoPros (this was shot with the GoPro Hero 3+ Black and 4 Silver but we’ve since upgraded to the Hero 12 Black) wasn’t going to work. So literally after going through security at the airport, a lightbulb went off with this idea to take the same concept as Murad Osmann’s photos where he took the same photo of his girlfriend holding onto his hand all over the world except extend it into video.
Filming
So there I was on the movator at Toronto’s Pearson International Airport, having this incredible epiphany and I turn to my girlfriend and say “okay take the GoPro and I want you to walk behind me and frame me in the middle, half body…and walk with me!” At first I got the puzzled “Huh? This is crazy!” face but we soon got our first shot done which turned into that opening thumbs up clip.
After that, it was literally me asking to get shots of me walking along in all sorts of places. I know for a fact people thought I was a weirdo because even our guides asked “Why is she shooting him from behind all the time?”
The good thing was that I knew exactly what kind of shots I wanted and that meant I wasn’t shooting random b-roll and other things all the time.
Post-Processing
Post-processing the video after coming back was probably the hardest part. With so much footage and to select the good ones and then pick out 2 seconds from each one was a big pain in the behind. I literally had to go down to the lowest zoom level just because of how fast paced the music was and having to time it all perfectly.
Credit
I have to give a huge shout out to my wife, Chantelle, for shooting ALL of this footage. After 14 days, you can imagine that I felt pretty bad every time I had to turn around and say, “I need another GoPro shot of me right now”. She mastered the art of synchro walking while holding onto the GoPro on a pole to perfection. She even started doing all these pan shots even when I didn’t ask. I spy a new videographer in the making! No seriously, thank you.
So with that, I hope you enjoy the closing post for this amazing trip. There’s so much to explore in China and this is only the tip of the iceberg.
For all the details behind the trip, just head back to the trip page where you’ll find each live-blogging episode.
Travel Resources For Your Next Trip
If you’re in the process of planning your trip and putting together your itinerary, these are genuinely the best resources that the Going Awesome Places team stands by 100%.
Credit Cards
Don’t get burned by hidden fees on top of terrible exchange rates. When we travel now, we use the Wise Card. Simply load it with the currency you need before you go and use it as a regular VISA or their digital wallet card. Use their free app to track how much you have and top up when you need to.
Flights
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Car Rental
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Wifi Hotspot
We’ve been a huge fan of wifi hotspot devices such as PokeFi (use code GAP24300) because their rates are are hard to beat and it works globally. Solis is another that we recommend. Pros are that you can share the wifi with your whole group but cons are that you have to invest in a device and you have to charge it every night.
Hotels
Our go-to is Booking.com because they have the best inventory of properties including hotels and B&Bs plus they have their Genius tier discounts. Expedia is also worth using especially with their One Key rewards program which is basically like cash. The exception is Asia where Agoda always has the best prices. Always do a quick check on TripAdvisor as well.
Tours and Activities
When planning our trips, we always check both Viator and GetYourGuide to at least see what’s out there in the destination that we’re going to. They often have different offerings and prices so check both.
Travel Insurance
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Check Out Our Toolbox
If you need more help planning your trip, make sure to check out our Travel Toolbox where we highlight all of the gear, resources, and tools we use when traveling.
