Guizhou for May holiday week!

Guizhou for May holiday week!
Apr 11, 2006 05:45
ELLYSE Points: Join Date: Oct 30, 2005 Status: offline	Me and my friends will be heading to Guizhou for the May holiday week. Our tentative plans are to depart Shanghai (plane/train) on 29/4 (Sat) and be back in Shanghai by 7/5 (Sun) night, or at the very latest, early morning 8/5 (Mon). 1) What are your best recommendations for sightseeing in Guizhou? 1a) Ideally, we'd like to visit a Miao village, a Buyi village, a Shui village and a Dong village, without any repetition. I don't mind missing out Buyi and Shui villages due to time constraints, especially if they're not very photogenic... any opinions? 1b) We'd also like to see 1 waterfall, 1 group of caves and enjoy 1 rafting experience. I've thought about going for Huangguoshu Waterfall, Zhijin Caves (instead of Longgong Caves) and the rafting at Maling River Gorge... any opinions? I've heard that the Zhijin Caves are not very well-run... If visiting Huangguoshu Waterfall, I'd ideally leave it till the end of the holiday week when there should be less tourists there. 1c) It seems that northern Guizhou isn't very interesting, so I'm skipping that. Any other recommendations for the rest of Guizhou will be welcome! 2) Apart from me, there should be about at least 4 other friends coming along. The number of people coming along could increase by quite a lot, but I'm not keen on having such a big group, due to logistics problems! It's pretty hard to satisfy everyone in a big group, and also less freedom for everyone. If I had my way, I'd take only a maximum of 3 other friends, and that's it. Any ideas on how to manage this? Especially since I don't want to offend anyone by being rude... 3) Should we fly both ways, train both ways, or train and fly once each? I'm getting worried about the budget and time constraints! Train is cheaper, of course, but takes 33 hours each way; flying would be about 1500 RMB each way! 4) Any recommendations on where to hire a vehicle for 5-10 people? Driver recommendations will also be very welcome. Minivans seem to take a maximum of 9 people... :( 5) Any festivals during this period that'll be worth seeing? As far as my research shows, there're a number of festivals on 5/5 (Fri) as it's the 4th day of the 4th lunar month. I'm going to email the Miao girl who regularly posts on this branch and ask for her opinions too. 6) Any recommendations for where to stay will also be very welcome! :) Thanks in advance to all for any advice offered. Happy travelling!

Apr 11, 2006 05:45

ELLYSE
Points:
Join Date: Oct 30, 2005
Status: offline

Me and my friends will be heading to Guizhou for the May holiday week. Our tentative plans are to depart Shanghai (plane/train) on 29/4 (Sat) and be back in Shanghai by 7/5 (Sun) night, or at the very latest, early morning 8/5 (Mon).

1) What are your best recommendations for sightseeing in Guizhou?
1a) Ideally, we'd like to visit a Miao village, a Buyi village, a Shui village and a Dong village, without any repetition. I don't mind missing out Buyi and Shui villages due to time constraints, especially if they're not very photogenic... any opinions?
1b) We'd also like to see 1 waterfall, 1 group of caves and enjoy 1 rafting experience. I've thought about going for Huangguoshu Waterfall, Zhijin Caves (instead of Longgong Caves) and the rafting at Maling River Gorge... any opinions? I've heard that the Zhijin Caves are not very well-run... If visiting Huangguoshu Waterfall, I'd ideally leave it till the end of the holiday week when there should be less tourists there.
1c) It seems that northern Guizhou isn't very interesting, so I'm skipping that. Any other recommendations for the rest of Guizhou will be welcome!

2) Apart from me, there should be about at least 4 other friends coming along. The number of people coming along could increase by quite a lot, but I'm not keen on having such a big group, due to logistics problems! It's pretty hard to satisfy everyone in a big group, and also less freedom for everyone. If I had my way, I'd take only a maximum of 3 other friends, and that's it. Any ideas on how to manage this? Especially since I don't want to offend anyone by being rude...

3) Should we fly both ways, train both ways, or train and fly once each? I'm getting worried about the budget and time constraints! Train is cheaper, of course, but takes 33 hours each way; flying would be about 1500 RMB each way!

4) Any recommendations on where to hire a vehicle for 5-10 people? Driver recommendations will also be very welcome. Minivans seem to take a maximum of 9 people... :(

5) Any festivals during this period that'll be worth seeing? As far as my research shows, there're a number of festivals on 5/5 (Fri) as it's the 4th day of the 4th lunar month. I'm going to email the Miao girl who regularly posts on this branch and ask for her opinions too.

6) Any recommendations for where to stay will also be very welcome! :)

Thanks in advance to all for any advice offered. Happy travelling!

Apr 11, 2006 07:42

JABAROOTOO
Points:
Join Date: Jul 4, 2005
Status: Offline

Hi ELLYSE,
Can I suggest you read all the reviews on Guizhou and Kaili. Firstly I highly recommend you contact Louisa, a TCG member in Kaili. she may be able to help with festivals etc

Then I recommend
Drifting in Shanmu stream near Shibing (absolutely beautiful)then onto Zhenyuan and the surrounding area. There is a lot to see here and it's pretty uncrowded. Huongguoshu is great but good choice to wait until later in the week avoid the weekend if you can help it or just visit Maling which has many waterfalls but of a different nature and you can also visit minority villages around Xingyi which I think would be less crowded than around Kaili and just as interesting.

Area near Congjiang, Zhoaxing

We travelled from Xingyi to Zhaoxing in 7 days visiting Maling, overnight in Guiyang via Kaili to Leishan visiting Xijiang (Miao Village) and overnight in Congjiang and two nights in Zhaoxing. YOu could hire a van in each of the major cities and I would recommend you fly into one place and out of another city depending on your itinerary. We gad a great time and saw a lot bu we did travel a bit fast through some places and did not get to appreciate all there is to see. Better to concentrate on a smaller area and really enjoy it.

Have a great holiday

Apr 11, 2006 08:35	#2
KYLE Points: Join Date: Apr 7, 2005 Status: Offline	HI Jabarootoo, I have just been travelling in Northern Yunnan and I notice there is NO water. Do you think that May is the best season to visit Guizhou? Do you think there will be much water in the rivers, waterfalls, ect..... Thanks Kyle

Apr 11, 2006 21:13

ELLYSE
Points:
Join Date: Oct 30, 2005
Status: Offline

Jaba, I've been reading pretty extensively and getting confused because of the variety of options available! I now actually need less information, not more. :P However, yes, I'll get around to reading the rest of the Guizhou reviews that I haven't finished yet. :) I've also emailed Louisa already, and I'm currently waiting for her reply. Would you have any contacts of minivan drivers in Guizhou? Am I mad to be thinking that we can get 1 driver and 1 vehicle to take us everywhere in Guizhou, or would it make more sense to find separate ones for each region?

Jun 25, 2009 14:17	#4
PIKADIREN Points: 104 Join Date: Jun 18, 2009 Status: Offline	[What are your best recommendations for sightseeing in Guizhou?1a) Ideally, we'd like to visit a Miao village, a Buyi village, a Shui village and a Dong village, without any repetition. I don't mind missing out Buyi and Shui] I have spent already several months in two stays and will certainly go back there next winter (2009-2010)

Jun 25, 2009 14:23	#5
PIKADIREN Points: 104 Join Date: Jun 18, 2009 Status: Offline	Women dancing at gaopai

Jun 25, 2009 14:26	#6
PIKADIREN Points: 104 Join Date: Jun 18, 2009 Status: Offline	Musicians in Gaopai (Qiandongnan, Guizhou)

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