China Travel Forum

[John]

I am considering two tours at the moment: one spends 2 nights in Guilin with a cruise down the Lijiang river and the following day a visit to the flute cave, the other spends 2 nights in Shanghai with a tour of the Nanjing road, Yu yuan gardens, temple of the Jade Buddha and a walk down the bund.
Can anyone please advise which one I should go for? we are later going to Hongkong and so I am swaying towards the Guilin tour as Shainghai is a bustling modern city and would be similar to Hongkong. We do prefer to experience the smaller towns and villages rather than the big bustling cities.

[William]

If you are really fed up with the modern city's hurly-burly, you'd better choose Guilin. With lush mountaina, limpid river water, and magic stone, Guilin really deserves your visit, and will make out of the tiredness about the hustle and bustle, and give you a full relaxation. You will be drunk by the natural wonder absolutely!
If you like the small villages go to the Guillin area and travel from there to Yangshuo (backpak-village) and from there travel to small villages which are situates near the river..........here you will see the real nature of China......large butterflies, a lot of bamboo forest, nice river with kingfishers, of course the moonhill and lots of lots of other green entertainment.
You go to Guillin in winter time consider that it can get very cold and wet and you will not enyoy it at all as you need to tour around by bike or explore the countryside. So it is better to go to Shanghai, one of the most espectacular cities in Asia especially for its arcitecture and the new high rising buildings.It also gets cold during winter but being in a city it makes it more bearable.