China Travel Forum

[danny]

can anybody tell me of a nice clean hostel close to all the sights in Beijing,also should I take the overnight train to xi'an or fly ,if I book soft sleeper will this be comfortable.after Tibet and Chengdu where do you think I should head next .....thank danny

[kamal]

Hi TIA!

I would recommend to you the BEIJING FAR EAST YH.
TIESHUXIEJIE No. 90.
Phone: 630188113118 or 3119
They charged 45 Kuai in a 3-bed-room. They offer a complete kitchen, washing machine, drier and western style showers and toilets. Everything is just clean and fine! But the best thing is the location. Outside there is a market street full of street kitchens, restaurants, supermarkets...only 5 minutes walk from TianAnMen and the ForbiddenCity!

On our difficult way to find a nice place we passed:
1. BEIJING YH, JianGuoMenNeiDaJie No.9 close to Beijing Railwaystation which was said to be brand new...in fact they were still building it in 2003
2. SAGA YH in some bad alleys 700m behind the Beijing YH, with 60 Kuai in a shabby 4-bed-room too expensive for the run down state.
3. ORIENTAL YH, Dondang-third-lane at Donfang Plaza No.8 - good location close to the TianAnMen and fair prices....but booked out! Ah, keep on walking;-)
4. Another place in the middle of nowhere: DIAO YUAN HOSTEL, somewhere next to the channel on YouAnMenDongBinheLu No.135...which is closer to the Temple of Heaven. But skip it, like I said its in the middle of nowhere, we only stayed here for one night.
BUT they have the best guy for organizing trips to the Great Wall!
It is Mr. John:
TieShuXieJie No. 66, XuanWu District. Phone: 83151553, 13901123938, 138012211089 or 13611326769.
Email jian_min@hotmail.com
His place is called ManGuoXiangHuoGuoDian.
A great trip to Simatai for two persons (60 kuai each) for a driver (Mr. John himself) in a jeep. to Simatai it is a 3h drive each way.

If you want to go to the city of Xi'an from Beijing take a Hard Seat to Datong, its worth a two day stop. (6h 46 Kuai) From There a Hard sleeper to Xi'an is just fine and costs 130 Kuai.
Hard Seat or sleeper is not as bad as the name sugests, but much much cheaper.

Where do you start from?
Actually Beijing, Shanghai or HK are the entry ports. Tibet should be in the middle of you trip.