China Travel Forum

[lancy77]

My rough plan is :

Wednesday and Thursday: Shanghai
Friday: Water towns and sleep in Suzhou
Saturday: Head to Mt Huangshan, sleep at the bottom
Sunday: Climb and sleep at the top
Monday: More walking and then head down

I noticed that posts said that overnight trains are best from Suzhou or Shanghai to Tunxi. And that weekends are busy and often beds are booked up.

Is going on the weekend a bad idea?

[Funk]

Yes, going to Huangshan on the weekend is definitely a bad idea if you could do otherwise.
I would suggest that you take the Beijing -- Huangshan overnight train, it's longer but at least you still get there in the end without spending that much money, and on a non-weekend too.
Then continue on Huangshan -- overnight train -- Suzhou -- bus -- water village (I usually recommend Tongli) -- bus -- Shanghai -- train -- Hangzhou.
This is what I would recommend.
Tue 6/5: overnight train Beijing -- Huangshan K45 (1145--0733)
Wed 7/5: arrive Huangshan 0733, bus to Taiping cable car (need to change buses in Taiping town), go up by Taiping cable car, hike West Sea Canyon, stay overnight in summit area
Thu 8/5: sunrise, sightsee around the summit area, walk down by Western steps, bus to Tunxi (Huangshan city, need to change buses in Tangkou), Tunxi old street, overnight train Huangshan -- Suzhou N420 (2144--0900)
Fri 9/5: Suzhou sightseeing
Sat 10/5: bus Suzhou -- Tongli, Tongli sightseeing, stay overnight in Tongli
Sun 11/5: morning bus Tongli -- Shanghai, Shanghai sightseeing
Mon 12/5: Shanghai sightseeing
Tue 13/5: morning train Shanghai -- Hangzhou, Hangzhou sightseeing
Wed 14/5: Hangzhou sightseeing, evening flight departure .Have fun!