China Travel Forum

[Jason]

I will be visiting Shanghai on business for two or three days in April. To make the most of the trip, my colleague and myself will stay for another ten full days. Apart from Shanghai and Suzhou, we would like to visit Beijing by overnight train (ideally also see Xian's terracotta soldiers and the Great Wall) and fly to Hong Kong (or Shenzhen+bus) from there. Afterwards we would take the train back to Shanghai for our flight home.

Is such an itinerary practical, i e can it be squeezed into the limited time? Domestic flights do not seem to be very cheap in China, hence I think some train travel (in addition to the obligatory Shanghai-Beijing experience) would be needed.

Of course we'd really love to visit also some neighbouring country/territory such as Japan, Macao, or Taiwan, but how far-fetched would that be? How long does the Shanghai-Osaka ferry take and cost?

Any comments and suggestions of route/price alternatives would be appreciated.

[Rick]

Let's see -

Overnight train to Beijing

3 Days Beijing (Great Wall, Tien'an'men, Summer Palace, Forbidden City, Temple of Heaven)

overnight train to Xi'An

2 Days in Xi'an - Terracotta Warriors, Muslim Quarters, Bell Tower

Flight to Shenzhen, bus to Hong KOng

3/4 Days in Hong KOng (if you have a fourth, then Macau is possible, otherwise, I think there's plenty to see in 3 days in Hong Kong).

Flight back to Shanghai from Shenzhen

It's certainly doable - it may seem kind of rushed though. Depending on what you'd like to see, I might cut Xi'an or Hong Kong out. I wouldn't know which to recommend though - both Xi'an and Hong Kong are two of my favorite parts of China. Although since you'll have been in Shanghai, I think you could miss Hong Kong more easily than missing Xi'an - with the extra time, I'd spend a little more time in Beijing and one more day in Xi'an.