| Travelling for the first time - Package tour v/s Backpacking? | |
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| Jan 18, 2007 00:52 |   |
 | I am planning to travel to China in the first week of March this year. However, I have not been able to make a good decision on what would work - a package tour or a pure backpacking experience. From what I read here, backpacking requires time to be spent and I have just about 15 days. These are the places that I plan to visit: SHANGHAI Shanghai Museum, Jade Buddha Temple, Yu Garden , the Bund , Xiangyang Road shopping. Acrobatic show Oriental TV Tower SUZHOU UNESCO garden Fish Net Garden Silk Factory Fashion show Tiger Hill water village- Luzhi Pan Man Gate Lion Forest Garden Grand Canal XI'AN Very Near to Xi'an Airport - Chinese Pyramids Zhenru Pagoda Visit to the Terra-cotta Army, Huaqing Hot Spring, Big Wild Goose Pagoda. Shaanxi History Muesuem Royal Gardens ( Huanjia Juayuan) Old wall of Ming Dynasty Great Mosque (Muslim Street, Huiminjie, North of Terracotta Warriors) Drum Tower Xing Qing Palace Park Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor(Near Xi'an Airbase) BEIJING Beijing Western Train station Tian'anmen Square, Forbidden City Summer Palace Great Wall, Lama Temple Ming Tombs Temple of Heaven Silk Alley, Wangfujing area Can anyone of you all who are currently in China / planning to visit China advice me on: 1. Is it feasible to see all these places if I were to backpack? 2. Would a package tour be a better option? 3. Would the cost differ greatly? Which is the costlier option? Would appreciate any advice... |
| Jan 18, 2007 06:42 | #1 |
| You should be fine doing those cities in 15 days. Shanghai (3 days) -- Suzhou (2 days) -- Xi'an (3 days) -- Beijing (6 days) and this is still quite relaxed. Personally I think there're some things which you could omit from your itinerary like the Ming Tombs, Beijing West train station (erm why is this even in the itinerary?), Huaqing Pool, Oriental Pearl TV Tower etc. Doing a free-and-easy tour with plane/train tickets and accommodation booked would be my recommendation. This way you're at least not wasting time looking around for suitable places to stay and etc. Email me at yahoo.com|ellyse99 if you want accommodation recommendations/bookings, plane/train ticket assistance or if you just want to discuss itinerary. |
| Jan 18, 2007 12:29 | #2 |
| That itinerary looks like WORK to me. I counted 4 days of hard sightseeing based on my trip to Beijing last summer...and I eliminated a number of stops from your list. How many days will you really have on the ground? How hard will your first day be because of the travel to China. To accomplish 4 cities in two weeks is hurried for me; traveling by air between cities - absolutely necessary - except perhaps for the Shanghai-Suzhou leg of the trip. I'd suggest traveling light in the backpacker's style, building a list of locations in Chinese characters, and using taxis for transporation. Taxis are more expensive, but save your time for things you want to see. I've always felt that the wonder of traveling in China is mingling with the people off the beaten path. |
| Jan 18, 2007 18:54 | #3 |
| Hi, These are the places that I plan to visit: SHANGHAI Shanghai Museum, Jade Buddha Temple, Yu Garden , the Bund , Xiangyang Road shopping---Is it survival??? Acrobatic show Oriental TV Tower SUZHOU UNESCO garden Fish Net Garden Silk Factory Fashion show Tiger Hill water village- Luzhi Pan Man Gate Lion Forest Garden Grand Canal XI'AN Very Near to Xi'an Airport - Chinese Pyramids Zhenru Pagoda Visit to the Terra-cotta Army, Huaqing Hot Spring, Big Wild Goose Pagoda. Shaanxi History Muesuem Royal Gardens ( Huanjia Juayuan) Old wall of Ming Dynasty Great Mosque (Muslim Street, Huiminjie, North of Terracotta Warriors) Drum Tower Xing Qing Palace Park Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor(Near Xi'an Airbase)---Nothing in it now:-( BEIJING Beijing Western Train station Tian'anmen Square, Forbidden City+Jingshan Park+Bei Hai Park Summer Palace Great Wall, Lama Temple Ming Tombs Temple of Heaven Silk Alley, Wangfujing area Can anyone of you all who are currently in China / planning to visit China advice me on: 1. Is it feasible to see all these places if I were to backpack? Yes,I think your time is enough! 2. Would a package tour be a better option? Maybe!!! 3. Would the cost differ greatly? Which is the costlier option? It depends your habits:-) Good luck! |
| Jan 19, 2007 00:13 | #4 |
| I don't see the need to fly Suzhou -- Xi'an (there's no airport at Suzhou anyway, would have to go all the way to Shanghai Pudong airport to fly to Xi'an, what a waste of time and money) nor Xi'an -- Beijing. Both are easily manageable on overnight trains, especially the latter. In fact, overnight trains are more time and cost-efficient than flying, especially when you factor in the time and cost of travelling between airports and cities. Airports are typically located far from downtown whereas train stations are in town. |
| Jan 19, 2007 06:24 | #5 |
| If you simply backpack and then try to see all those things, I think you will find it too difficult. To pack so much in much of your trip should be planned ahead. I backpack and I know it takes me time to find things, cool for me because time was never an issue. |
| Jan 19, 2007 15:33 | #6 |
| It is interesting to see the difference of opinions between: * dedicated sightseers * casual explorers/backpackers I can tell you that while I "saw" a lot sightseeing like crazy last summer; the precious memories are few. My trip later this year will be at my old wanderer's pace. :) |
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