China Travel Forum

[mp998]

Hey folks
1) My girlfriend and I are taking a roundtrip in China for a month, I was wondering if you could give me some feedback on our intiniary:
(I would really like to hear of some atypical sights, if you´ve got any ideas.....maybe some overlooked place that you´ve stumbled upon)

Beijing (4 days)
Tai´an (3 days) - do we only need to climb the mountain?
Qufu (3 days) - what is there to see?
Suzhou (3 days)
Shanghai (5 days)
Hangzhou (4 days)
Guilin (1 day)
Yangshuo (4 days)
Beijing (2 days)

2) Are there any national parks worth seeing nearby any of these cities (preferably not too crowded with tourists....

3) When reading previous comments I get the impression that we will be wasting too much time in Shanghai - would I be spending my time better on a few days in Nanjing instead.....or maybe Quingdao?

4) Do you think I will be able to book my train tickets through the staff at the hostels??

I hope to hear from you.....have a great summer!

Kanzeli
Posted: 25 Jun 2005
3:02pm

[kamal]

urm, 5days in Shanghai is really waste time. Shanghai is worth to visit, even for a month, but if you want to touch the real China, special China and beautiful China, Shanghai is far from enough.

Shanghai is the most internationl city in China, people there live in a lifestyle smilar with westerners, especiall for the youth. And with the economic growing so fast, many old buildings are pulled down, superseded by concrete boxes. Some old blocks and building are kept well, but the spirit of the city is gone. Some thing happended in most of the cities in the east.

So I suggest if you want to touch the original China, go the west, (especilly in west Sichuan Province and Yunnan Province)It's amazing there, but for the well kept cities, it's a bit different.Many ethnic groups lives there and many interesting customs can also attract you.

In the west, Lijing City in Yunnan Province, it has got three world heritage(world cultural heritage, world natural heritage and world memory heritage)�. The old town is kept well, and the natural sencery is also wonderful. Then is Dali and Shangri-La. In west Sichuan, there is Jiuzhaigou (world natural heritage) famous for it's natural sencery, and also many towns in west Sichuan worth visiting, people kept their original lifestyle there and the snow moutain and grassland is really beautiful.

If you go to west, the only thing I worry about is the time. Hee, you only have a month.So if you want to keep your plan(your plan also sounds good for it save your time and will not cost so much money in the air ticket), I suggest you spend some time in Najing. It has a long history, was the capital of the Acient China and during the repbulican period. The cemetery of the King in Ming Dynasty ,the cemetery of Dr. Sun Yat-sen,(both r especially beautiful in autumn) the museums Najing(There you can konw much about Chinese History) and some other places worth visiting. 5days in Shanghai, why not pay some attention to Najing?

In your plan, you are going to Guilin and Yangshuo. That's good, you will have a great time there. You can rent bicycles and enjoy your time in the country.

And finally, the last suggestion is that you'd better visit there cities (especially Beijing Shanghai Suzhou Hangzhou)in autumn, it's really hot there in the summer. I visited Shanghai in August 2003, it reached 40 degree at noon!!!!. And in the first week in October, it's the holiday of National Day, people are crowed everywhere, so avoid travelling at that time.

Any information, just email me solomon86@hotmail.com. It good to share the information.
Have a good trip.

__________________________________________________________
china tour

[Guest]

To me, the one thing I noticed about your itinerary tour is 2 days in Beijing and 5 days Shanghai. Are you sure? You might want to rethink and do 5 day tour in Beijing and 2 day tour in Shanghai. Beijing is a swinging, active and interesting place, or at least extend your stay in Beijing that's all. Check out Beijing in other areas, get others opinions. Are yuou walking the great wsall? That will take a day. Don't forget this is the Chinese historical city/location. Shanghai was built and run by British. Hope it helps. Have fun.

[kandy]

4 days in Hangzhou is too much 2 is fine. There are some cool day trips by bus you can do if you stay in Shanghai. so if you put a couple of 1 day bus trips in your Shanghia stay 5 days is fine. Also I would go to Huangshan from ShanghaI and stay a night there It is a one hour flight. They were the highlite of China for me. Get to Yangshuo from Guilin by boat that was cool. have fun....
5.
You are doing it smart and giving youself lots of time in a few places, instead of the exhausting little time in a ton of places that tour operators offer. Still , as someone living in Hangzhou right now, I would revise this to:
Beijing (4 days)
Tai´an (2 days) - do we only need to climb the mountain?
Qufu (1-2 days) - what is there to see?
[Basically you can travel between Beijing and Suzhou in 5 days including these 2 areas.]
Suzhou (3 days) - include a stop at a nearby water town. touristy yes, but so if everywhere you're going.
Shanghai (3-4 days)- I am biased against Shanghai, but except for the museum, the French concession, and the bund at night, it really is just like any other city. The museum is fascinating though.
Hangzhou (3 days) - email me at kwoolford at gmail.com if you want any help, restuaurant recommendations, etc. here
Guilin (1 day) -
Yangshuo (5 days) - play this by ear. If the weather is bad for 3 days and good for 2, you may want to stay that extra day.
Beijing (2 days)
So I have cut 4 days off your trip-- where to go? I would suggest somewhere close to one of your current destinations. Maybe after Hangzhou you want to head to Ningbo by train, then do Putuo shan (island off Ningbo). I had a great time at Putuo Shan when I was there last october, slept on the beach, talked to a monk for awhile, great views and weather. If it is an island like this you like, you could also consider going through Xiamen in Fujian province on the way from Guilin to Beijing-- it also has a nice island off the city (35 minutes ferry) and Xiamen (aka Amoy) itself is a pretty nice city. If you happen to be in Tai'an/Shandong area during the August Qingdao Beer Festival, a trip to Qingdao (which is a nice city in itself) is highly worth it.
Another place near Hangzhou is Huangshan - 4 hours by bus. I was able to catch an early bus out of Hangzhou, arrived at the mountain at 2pm, climbed to the top the main easy route, slept in the bushes near the top (there are hotels too), watched the sunrise (fantastic, and a good idea if you're with your gf), then went down the western steps (hard way), getting a bus back to Hangzhou that afternoon. It was a perfect 2 day excursion.
My only other recommendation is that they say "you haven't seen China if you haven't seen Xi'an" so maybe you want to blow your whole extra 4 days there between Beijing and Shandong. I've never been myself though.
Or just leave it as you have it and do stuff that normal tourists don't do-- go to the back alleys, small sites (the new Beijing City Planning Museum with its huge map of Beijing you can walk on is really cool and a good introduction to the city. Camping along the great wall is cool too..) Ride random buses, hang out, allow extra time for bad weather. I like the comfortable itinerary you set-- China is big.
Anyway, good luck, safe travels, and again, let me know if you have any specific questions about Hangzhou..