Revised China Trip

Hi All,

Before I start I apologise for posting this in the Beijing forum, I just feared it would go unnoticed in the China forum.

A month or so back I posted up a planned itinerary of my China trip, which I had a great response from TA members especially ellyse and drumbrake to name but two.

Anyway the trip itself, which will be my first, only consisted of Beijing, Xi%26#39;an, Shanghai and then onto Hong Kong. I thought this would be an ideal trip for my first trip to China (a DIY trip), however I鈥檓 now thinking that this could be a once in a lifetime experience so I want to add some more destinations, the idea is to stick to the beaten track so to speak, just so we feel more comfortable.

Length of stay in each destination has yet to be decided so opinions there would be greatly appreciated.

Anyway the planned itinerary is basically a coastal tour so far I鈥檓 thinking (we intend on catching trains between each area unless stated otherwise):

Beijing

Tianjin (day trip?)

Qingdao

Shanghai

Then Xi%26#39;an which is completely out of the way so I鈥檓 thinking a return plane trip might be the best idea for this.

Suzhou (day trip?)

Hangzhou

Someone I spoke to mentioned Xiamen which I must admit I know nothing about, what do you think?

Hong Kong and a day trip to Macau

I just wondered what others thought of the plan so far?

Also a breakdown of the best things to do/see in each city would be great!

Kind Regards

Richard

Revised China Trip

I wouldn%26#39;t bother with the likes of Tianjin and Qingdao--there are better ways to spend your time. Yangshuo/Guilin is way out of the way, but is one of the top places to go.

You could stop at Pingyao and Datong between Beijing and Xi%26#39;an.

Hangzhou is worthwhile, as is one of the water towns. Suzhou itself is not a place to spend a lot of time--just visit a couple of gardens and move on to Tongli.

Be careful not to try to cram too much into your trip, or you won%26#39;t be able to enjoy anything.

Revised China Trip

Will you be going on to Vietnam, or just doing China and Hong Kong?

I like Xiamen (Gulangu island), but it is not the most convenient place to get to. There are direct trains from Hangzhou but they take 20 hours to get there. From Xiamen, there are overnight trains to Guangzhou - then Hong Kong or Yangshuo.

Xi%26#39;an might be better as an overnight train from beijing, and then fly to next destination (Qingdao)?

I agree that Yangshuo would be worth a few days at the end.

Yes perhaps if you could fit it in then Yangshuo. Would mean long train trips tho.Or if you want to slip in anther major city close to Shanghai %26amp; not too far out of the way them Nanjing. None of the palaces I mentioned are on the coast tho so I probably haven%26#39;t helped.

How long are you planning for your trip?

Thanks all.

drumbrake: We are still considering the option of Vietnam, yes. Though if we do we may fly from Macau.

annieandhamish: Doing a coastal tour isn%26#39;t a must, it%26#39;s just I saw a rough itinereary in a Lonely Planet guide, read up on it and it seemed both interesting and quite easy to achieve.

I really am up for anything and I had originally dropped the idea of Yanshou as I thought it was a bit out of the way, but if it%26#39;s a possibility i%26#39;ll definately consider it.

As for time period, essentially as long as our Visa will allow us, which is a month I believe?!

Also bar the suggestions of places to visit in China, there was also one last thing I wanted top ask in regards to Beijing, that being how much do tickets to the Kung Fu show cost?

It%26#39;s at the Red Theatre. I think ours may have been about 300RMB (that%26#39;s a guess).You can get cheaper %26amp; dearer ones tho. Don%26#39;t get the most expensive as these are the rows at the front %26amp; there is no real advantage. Our seats were about 5 rows back. All the tour groups seem to sit at the back.

Lots of hotels sell tickets (no dearer than buying them from the Theatre) or just turn up for the performance %26amp; buy them at the ticket box.

annieandhamish: Thanks very much, I looked on Cycle China%26#39;s site just out of interest and they offer tickets and transportation for 180 RMB per person or 150 for the ticket only, which seems pretty cheap.

Also is there a forum I can post in, where I might get more of a response on my question about where to visit in China?

Regarding visa length, you could probably get a double entry 30 day visa without much of a problem - just make up a complicated itinerary when you apply, with a side trip to Hong Kong and then on to Yunnan for example. Once in China, you can extend the visa for another 30 days so you could have several months if you have the time and money!

Thanks again drumbrake, what places would you suggest are worthwhile seeing in China? Taking into consideration I only intend to spend a month there, though this could be extended by a couple of weeks max if we were to get a double entry Visa(exculding Hong Kong and Macau).

Richard, As for places to visit %26amp; if you have your guidebook handy have a look at Sichuan: Chendgu, EmeiShan, Jiuzhai Gou, Huanglong, Songpan or Yunnan: Dali, Lijiang, Tiger Leaping George, Shangri La.

If you look on the Virtual Tourist website people also post ongoing trip reports.