China Travel Forum

[DantesArtes]

hi guys.

1) If someone has already visited Xining (and around) and/or Xiahe, would it be alright to skip Zhongdian, due to time constraints? Or is Zhongdian something sooooooo unmissable? why?

2) How much time and money should we allow for a round-trip Zhongdian -- Feilai Si (the place to watch Meilixueshan sunrise) by vehicle hire? Or what if we do the round-trip from Deqin instead of Zhongdian? We only need to spend 1 night at Feilai Si. Driver and accommodation recommendations would be welcome.

[Harry Pu]

hello.

I have been to Xining. The city is not exciting unless you like "Eat-with-hand mutton" which is the local signature dish.

The monastery, Ta'er Si, is not very interesting to me as its surroundings are rather shabby. The Muslim Mansion Hotel is really a good deal. The rooms are in the class of Holiday Inn.

The lobby marquee price is 240 but you can bargain down to 100RMB. To get to it, walk straight out from the railway station a couple of blocks and then ask.

In some of the Tibetan villages to the south of Xining, you can sample the local culture. Most of QingHai Province was part of the old Tibet before 'liberation'. QingHai Lake is big and not very interesting to me. Even Bird Island left me flat -- 6 hours to it by bus, scenery is so-so.

The Tara Guest house is the best choice in XiaHe. Rooms are of several configurations and priced from 40-100 RMB. Beds are kang style. From the city bus station, walk toward LaBuLeng Si.

At the end of the Han area, on the left is a hardware-candy-whatever store. The sign above reveals it is also the not-so-direct entrance to Tara Guesthous

have a good trip.