China Travel Forum

[dfhg]

Next week I'll be in China for 15 days for the first time. I've ben reading the posts about China but still have many questions.

First of all, how far is Tsinghua Unisplendour Hotel (Tsinghua University area) to the centre since I need to stay there for a conference. Is it a nice area? Should I rather stay in another area and commute for the conference?

Since it's only 2 weeks I plan to travel around Beijing area. So my itinerary will be (rougly)

Beijing (4-5 days)

Pioyang (1 day)
Xian (3 days)
Luoyang (1 day)
Kaifeng (1 day)
return to Beijing

I'm planning to take trains. I like cities as much as I like rural areas. So, in order to see the land around I'm planning to take day trains rather than night trains. Any comment or experiences???.
Or do you suggest any other place to visit around? It doesn't need to be a real highlight but someplace with a character. I really don't wanna so involved with places where there are nobody but tourists. But, unfortunately I don't know any Chineese and I don't know how obstructive it can be in less visited places.

Quite excited about the trip!!!

Thanks:))

[kamal]

I don't know the hotel, but if it's close to Qinghua University it's not terribly far from the city center. Since you've got meetings there anyway, you might as well stay there.

As for the itenerary (can anyone spell that word?!), it looks good! Check Travel China Guide for train ideas. I know there's a train from Beijing to Pingyao that gets there about 7 am and also a night train to Xi'an. I don't know about daytime trains for these places. However, the ride from Xi'an to Luoyang is nice and during the daytime. From Luoyang to Kaifeng (good choice!) you can take either a train or a bus. IIRC, the bus took four hours. If you take night trains BJ-PY-XA, you could add a day in Louyang and go to the Shaolin Temple.

Have a good trip!