First Impressions of America - 2025 Winter Break Travel Notes

📍 Washington D.C. · 👁 1611 reads

The plan to travel to the United States was actually made long ago. After visiting Canada in 2017, I wondered when I would go to the US. It was originally scheduled for 2020, but for well-known reasons it was delayed until 2024, and then two elderly friends joined the group, turning it into a five-person trip spanning the old, middle-aged, and young. The itinerary had to be revised repeatedly, and the places I was personally interested in became almost none, and even then it could only be a quick glance. In April 2024, the travel itinerary was finalized, flights were booked, hotels were reserved, and a car was rented. But then one of the elderly companions fell ill. Should we cancel or postpone? That became the most pressing issue. However, to avoid disappointing the two seniors, everyone decided to postpone the trip to the 2025 winter break, which meant spending the Chinese New Year in the US. So the new dates were set from January 19 to February 12, 2025, for a total of 25 days.

As mentioned earlier, the main purpose of this trip was a “quick tour to check off places,” so the direction was simple: in the Western US, we visited three cities—San Francisco, Los Angeles, and San Diego—and in the Eastern US, we chose four cities: New York, Boston, Philadelphia, and Washington DC. The Western US portion totaled eight days: three days in San Francisco, three in Los Angeles, and two in San Diego. In the Eastern US, we spent a total of eight days in New York, and three days in each of the other three cities. Also as mentioned earlier, the summer trip turned into a winter trip, and the main change in the itinerary was shifting from the original plan of “Eastern US first, then Western US” to “Western US first, then Eastern US,” because we needed to celebrate the Chinese New Year with relatives and friends in New York. Additionally, the planned self-driving trip along Highway 1 was canceled; it was not suitable in winter (and later we heard that Highway 1 had not been fully repaired, requiring detours).

Finally, the detailed itinerary followed the group’s ideas and covered four aspects: visiting relatives and friends, outlet shopping, checking off landmarks, and touring universities. The following are attractions we personally tested and recommend. You can also refer to other travel notes and a treasure trove website, Meilvtong (US Travel Guide).

You must take a ride on the city’s cable cars, which take you directly to Fisherman’s Wharf. If you’re a walker, you can buy a day pass and use the cable car to visit all the attractions along the route. Fisherman’s Wharf in winter is very pleasant, perfect for watching sea lions. You can pick a restaurant, sit by the window, enjoy seasonal seafood, and take in the bay view. Afterward, we took a bus directly to the southern end of the Golden Gate Bridge. Although you can’t overlook it from a high vantage point like at the northern end, looking at the bridge from a flat or upward angle is also great. If you have energy, you can even walk across the Golden Gate Bridge round trip. Skip Chinatown—shops are closed during the New Year. We also visited the Golden State Warriors’ home arena, and bought something we liked at the official store. On the way to Los Angeles, we passed by Stanford University, the first university we visited on the trip.

Overall impression: Public transportation is very developed; subways, buses, and trains are all good, with convenient and diverse transfer options. We stayed near Union Square, so safety was high. The weather was dry in winter, with strong ultraviolet rays, so sun protection and moisturizing are essential. San Francisco should be the most technologically advanced city in the US.

The Getty Center was temporarily closed due to wildfires, so we had to change plans and visit the Huntington Gardens. The best part was its library, which houses the most famous Western books from ancient to modern times, such as incunabula, Shakespeare’s First Folio, the American Declaration of Independence, and first editions of famous authors—too many to list. Griffith Observatory is worth visiting if you want to overlook the entire city of Los Angeles from a height, and you can also check off the Hollywood sign along the way. Downtown includes Hollywood Boulevard and Madame Tussauds—if you haven’t been, they’re worth a look. UCLA, which claims to be the number one public university in the US, had us watching students train and play games—exciting and very professional. Unfortunately, we didn’t go to Universal Studios; we’ll have to save it for next time. But we did go outlet shopping for an entire day, and we couldn’t be dragged away.

Overall impression: Driving is the only viable means of transportation here; otherwise, it’s too tiring. We stayed in a neighborhood not far from UCLA, which was quite nice, and it was convenient to go out for dinner at night. To be honest, visiting Los Angeles once is enough; as for living and working, it’s not as good as San Francisco.

We went just to check off the USS Midway aircraft carrier—it was spectacular. Inside, it was like a maze; without the guide lines, you wouldn’t know how to get out of the ship. Retired elderly couples were everywhere, making it feel like a vacation paradise. We also visited an outlet on the US-Mexico border, making us feel more and more like a shopping group.

The first day we arrived in Boston, it snowed heavily. The white Boston had a different charm. Harvard and MIT were must-sees. The campus in winter was quiet and solemn. If it weren’t the weekend, we might have had the place to ourselves. At Harvard’s Art Museums, there were artifacts stolen from the Mogao Caves in Dunhuang. I didn’t feel much at the time, but when I visited the Mogao Caves in June and saw the incomplete murals, it stung my heart. Quincy Market is essentially an indoor street food market, with frighteningly expensive prices—a lobster roll cost over $40, so we just looked. Boston Common is worth a stroll, especially the ice skating rink. In summer, it’s a rippling lake; in winter, it becomes everyone’s ice stage. Unfortunately, we missed the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; we’ll have to save it for next time.

Overall impression: Boston is the city in the Eastern US that I think is best for travel and living. It has four distinct seasons and well-developed public facilities. Perhaps because of the Chinese-American mayor, it felt the most friendly to Chinese people. We stayed downtown, so walking to everywhere was easy, and the subway station was right below our hotel.

The main reason for visiting Philadelphia was to tour the University of Pennsylvania. UPenn is huge, like a small city. We checked off several popular spots and saw two of the Six Steeds of Zhao Mausoleum. Then we visited City Hall and Independence Hall. Honestly, if you’re not familiar with US history, it’s hard to feel much—similar to Boston’s Freedom Trail.

Overall impression: It doesn’t take long for a capital to fall into a slum. This is something countries still undergoing urbanization, like ours, should be wary of.

Washington DC:

As the capital, it’s grand and high-end. The individual buildings are majestic and solemn, and the city’s layout is orderly and rectangular. There are so many museums and landmarks that three days are not enough. We mainly visited the Natural History Museum, the Air and Space Museum, the National Museum, the White House, the Capitol, the Washington Monument, and the Lincoln Memorial, and took a distant look at the Pentagon. What struck me is that when America introduces its own history, the main thread is war—haha, think what you will. But China’s is about maps and territorial size.

Princeton University in New Jersey:

We dropped by. The museum was under renovation, so we couldn’t go inside; we could only stroll around campus. Personally, I recommend it—a quiet and leisurely small town. After all, it’s a cradle for many social science scholars.

We spent a full week in New York, with two days for myself—I visited bookstores and MoMA. Another two or three days we went out with relatives and friends in New York, mainly to check off popular spots. The Metropolitan Museum of Art and Central Park can be visited together. We took a free ferry to get a distant view of the Statue of Liberty. Not because we didn’t want to spend money to go to the island, but because we wanted to experience the feeling that immigrants in movies had when they first saw the Statue of Liberty.

Overall impression: As a Shanghainese, there wasn’t much novelty. We stayed near the New York Public Library in Manhattan, with many subway lines, so going anywhere was convenient. The smell in the subway stations was unbearable, but it was much better once on the train. My impression of New York had always been from movies and books, but actually being there still stirred something inexplicable.

After posting the photos, I suddenly remembered we also visited the 9/11 Memorial. I didn’t take photos, but I’ll note it here: a moment of silence for the victims.

The three of us spent about 120,000 RMB in total. The biggest expense was flights. In fact, the flight cost could have been lower because we originally bought tickets for the summer vacation period and then changed the dates; otherwise, we could have saved nearly 20,000 RMB. Another major expense was accommodation—we chose hotels, basically about $300 per room per night. These costs are unavoidable, given that inflation in the US is quite noticeable. What Chinese people find hard to accept are sales tax and tips. In China, prices are typically tax-inclusive, while in the US they are almost always tax-exclusive; you only add the tax when paying. The minimum tip rate option is 15%, with 18% and 20% also available. For example, if you eat a bowl of noodles in downtown New York for $25, with a sales tax rate of, say, 11%, that adds up to $27.75. Then the tip, calculated on $25, would be at least $3.75, bringing the total to $31.50. That $6.50 is the “sound effect” you hear as soon as you sit down, and it also marks the dividing line between rich and poor. All fast-food restaurants are tax-inclusive and have no tipping.

Alright, I’ve written a lot of nonsense. Look at the photos in the article—I think they’re decent. Thank you, dear readers! Salute!

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