China Travel Forum

[Nicholas]

My girlfriend and I are going to be in China in March for one week... We'd
like to do the following,

Catch the train from Hong Kong to Beijing (Any suggestions on the best way
to do this, reservations etc... Also what is the sleeper like? We are not
really on a tight budget so we'd would like the best (most comfortable)
option if possible (private/own bathroom etc).

After Beijing (Great Wall, Forbidden City etc) we'd like to travel to see
the Terracotta warriors in Xian, What's the best way to get there?

We'd like to visit Shanghai also... (maybe fly Beijing / Shanghai / Hong
Kong) - All information or tips would be much appreciated as we are leaving
soon.

[Bert]

Can you possibly extend that to two weeks or by a few more days? If
not, reduce your ambitions on where to go on this trip (more below).
I'm guessing that it's still the case that you can't do that directly,
but have to go through a border check into Shenzhen and may well still
have to change trains in Guangzhou. But I don't have current
information on that.
You might check the Oriental List for current advice.
Then you want a Soft Sleeper.
Best? Do you want to travel more by train? You can. Quickest is by
plane, of course. Do you realize what distances you're dealing with?
You're trying to do too much in a week. If you're not really
interested in Hong Kong, fly into Beijing or Shanghai. You may be able
to work out a flight from wherever you are to Beijing and then back
from Shanghai, and purchase a flight from Beijing to Shanghai
separately while in China (or take the train, if it's interesting
enough to you to spend precious hours that way). I can't see any
reasonable way for you to visit Hong Kong, Shanghai, Beijing, and Xian
and take the train all the way from Hong Kong to Beijing (a day and a
half on the train) and see anything. You'd come back from your
"vacation" exhausted.