18 days China trip on our own: many doubts!

18 days China trip on our own: many doubts!
Jun 5, 2007 02:33
FREEMANBILBO Points: Join Date: May 29, 2007 Status: offline	Hi everyone! We are a couple from Spain, who is planning to spend 18 days in China this next August, and we are going to travel on our own. Obviously, we have many doubts which are trying to solve before departure (as many as possible) in order to see a lot and enjoy the trip! (we speak no chineese...) First of all, let me tell you our travel plan, so you can give us some advice about what we can't miss (and not mentioned here), suggest other cities to visit, etc. (city connections by train; we plan to buy train tickets for next connection on arrival to the train stations) - July 29th: Arrival to China (Shanghai) at 10:10 am. - July 29th to 31st: Shanghai. Visit Yu Garden, Bund, Pudong, Nanjing Rd, etc. - July 31st: Take night train to Beijing. - August 1st to August 5th: Visit Tian'an Men Sq, Forbidden City, Great Wall, Ming Tombs, Summer Palace, Temple of Heaven, etc, etc... - August 5th: Take night train to Luoyang - August 6th to 7th: Luoyang. Visit Longmen Grottoes, Shaolin Temple and White Horse Temple if possible. - August 8th: take morning train to Xian. - August 8th to 10th: Xian. Visit Terracotta Warriors, Xian Wall, Towers, Temples, etc. - August 10th: take night train to Nanjing. - August 10th to 12th: Nanjing. Visit Nanjing Wall, Zongshua Gate, Mochou Lake, Temples, etc. - August 13th: Take early morning train to Suzhou. - August 13th to 14th: Suzhou. Visit gardens, temples, etc. Will miss some things... :-( - August 15th: morning train to Shanghai. Shopping in Shanghai! - August 16th: Departure to Spain (12:20pm) We have booked hostels for Shanghai, Beijing and Luoyang... (little change would be possible) ...but have some doubts about the rest of the trip, because we are not sure about the time to spend in each place. We are conscious that we will miss many things, but we also know that it's impossible to visit everything in the limited time we have. What do you think? Any advice about the trip plan? Are we missing any "must"? Should we visit Hangzhou instead of Nanjing? (considering that we are visiting Suzhou) Another big doubt is about tours and guides... Do you think its possible to enjoy places like Great Wall, Ming Tombs, Longmen Grottoes, Shaolin Temple, Terracotta Warriors, etc, with no guide or planned tour? (our idea is to make the trip as cheap as possible, and maybe taking a tourist bus is a better idea if cheaper than booking a tour) So... do you think that some places do need a guide in order to enjoy properly the visit? In this case, which? One last thing: Do you think it's apropiate to try to say something in chineese, considering that our pronunciation won't be surely correct, and that there might be misunderstandings? Is the chineese people comprehensive with tourists about this? Or it's a bad idea? Thank you very much in advance for your advice and comments!! Xie xie! ^_^ PD: is there any good and safe place for tourists to have some "fiesta"? :-)

Jun 5, 2007 02:33

FREEMANBILBO
Points:
Join Date: May 29, 2007
Status: offline

Hi everyone!

We are a couple from Spain, who is planning to spend 18 days in China this next August, and we are going to travel on our own. Obviously, we have many doubts which are trying to solve before departure (as many as possible) in order to see a lot and enjoy the trip!
(we speak no chineese...)

First of all, let me tell you our travel plan, so you can give us some advice about what we can't miss (and not mentioned here), suggest other cities to visit, etc. (city connections by train; we plan to buy train tickets for next connection on arrival to the train stations)

- July 29th: Arrival to China (Shanghai) at 10:10 am.
- July 29th to 31st: Shanghai. Visit Yu Garden, Bund, Pudong, Nanjing Rd, etc.
- July 31st: Take night train to Beijing.
- August 1st to August 5th: Visit Tian'an Men Sq, Forbidden City, Great Wall, Ming Tombs, Summer Palace, Temple of Heaven, etc, etc...
- August 5th: Take night train to Luoyang
- August 6th to 7th: Luoyang. Visit Longmen Grottoes, Shaolin Temple and White Horse Temple if possible.
- August 8th: take morning train to Xian.
- August 8th to 10th: Xian. Visit Terracotta Warriors, Xian Wall, Towers, Temples, etc.
- August 10th: take night train to Nanjing.
- August 10th to 12th: Nanjing. Visit Nanjing Wall, Zongshua Gate, Mochou Lake, Temples, etc.
- August 13th: Take early morning train to Suzhou.
- August 13th to 14th: Suzhou. Visit gardens, temples, etc. Will miss some things... :-(
- August 15th: morning train to Shanghai. Shopping in Shanghai!
- August 16th: Departure to Spain (12:20pm)

We have booked hostels for Shanghai, Beijing and Luoyang... (little change would be possible) ...but have some doubts about the rest of the trip, because we are not sure about the time to spend in each place.
We are conscious that we will miss many things, but we also know that it's impossible to visit everything in the limited time we have.

What do you think? Any advice about the trip plan? Are we missing any "must"?
Should we visit Hangzhou instead of Nanjing? (considering that we are visiting Suzhou)

Another big doubt is about tours and guides... Do you think its possible to enjoy places like Great Wall, Ming Tombs, Longmen Grottoes, Shaolin Temple, Terracotta Warriors, etc, with no guide or planned tour?
(our idea is to make the trip as cheap as possible, and maybe taking a tourist bus is a better idea if cheaper than booking a tour)

So... do you think that some places do need a guide in order to enjoy properly the visit? In this case, which?

One last thing: Do you think it's apropiate to try to say something in chineese, considering that our pronunciation won't be surely correct, and that there might be misunderstandings? Is the chineese people comprehensive with tourists about this? Or it's a bad idea?

Thank you very much in advance for your advice and comments!!

Xie xie!
^_^

PD: is there any good and safe place for tourists to have some "fiesta"? :-)

Jun 5, 2007 06:40

JABAROOTOO
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Join Date: Jul 4, 2005
Status: Offline

Welcome to the forum.
That'a a pretty good itinerary. Well planned. You look to be covering a lot of historic stuff like the walls temples etc and while they are all very facinating, Hanjing included you can sometimes get 'too much of something' in a short time and not always appreciate it so much. Be sure to get some contryside/scenery in there too.

Definately learn a few simple phrases, This is always appreciated and learn to say Spanish in Mandarin because they love to know where you come from.

You won't need guides in many places if you have a good map and details from a good source about the things you want to see. Keep in mind that some tour operators spend more time showing you what you don't want to see and not what you have come to see. You may wish to engage the services of a guide at places like the "warriors' . Splash out but again check thier English comprehension first.

I.e ask a few questions and see what answers you get. while many can speakwell and rattle off all the necessary information they cannot always understand as much. Very frustrating.

and yes you will miss loads but we all do. Even with the best laid plans and good local assistance.

Enjoy your trip

Jun 5, 2007 09:06

GRIZ326
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Join Date: Jun 12, 2006
Status: Offline

Do you speak English? I would suppose so from your post, but you did not say? There are probably more English speaking Chinese than Spanish speaking Chinese...but that's just a guess.

You will probably fly east to China. In my experience, flying east produces more jetlag than flying west. You arrive at 10am China time and would just be entering REM sleep in Spain. Take it easy on your first day. Over doing it on your first day can ruin your trip so make time for bed rest. You and your wife look young and healthy, but do not run yourself to death, enjoy China.

My only other suggestion is to put the Chinese characters for the places you want to visit into a spreadsheet with a translation next to them. Print it out and carry it with you. ...and always take your hotel/hostel's business card with you when you leave. It has the hotel location in Chinese characters. You might also want to copy the menu items posted in this form into the spreadsheet as well.

Have fun.

Jun 5, 2007 20:26

CALIFORNIA
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Join Date: Jul 22, 2005
Status: Offline

Hi,Man,

Your plan is reasonable,or wonderful.

For some adivce,I think you should take care of the hot weather!So hoooooot in summer!I don't think you need a tour guide in some place,but if you want to get more and deeper chinese culture,a guide is "MUST"!

Anyways,Nanjing and Suzhou are different,but if you visit Suzhou,tt's better to visit Hangzhou,in China,we said:"Heaven in the sky,and Suzhou and Hangzhou on the earth",but Nanning is also a nice city!

Good luck!

Cali

Jun 5, 2007 22:24	#4
CAPTAIN Points: Join Date: Jun 5, 2007 Status: Offline	hi, welcome to china. your plan is good, but as a local xi'an people, i suggest you stay longer in xi'an for so many historic sites here. i think you should visit hanyangling museme, which was visited by french prisedent Jacques Chirac in last year. good luck captain

Jun 6, 2007 00:11	#5
BENY999 Points: 222 Join Date: Sep 22, 2006 Status: Offline	welcome to Guang Zhou.

Jun 6, 2007 00:21

CHRISWAUGHBJ
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Join Date: Feb 26, 2007
Status: Offline

"Another big doubt is about tours and guides... Do you think its possible to enjoy places like Great Wall, Ming Tombs, Longmen Grottoes, Shaolin Temple, Terracotta Warriors, etc, with no guide or planned tour?"

I would ask if it's possible to enjoy such places, or any trip, with a guide or planned tour. No, avoid tour guides like the plague, or at least, avoid them as much as possible.

And definitely try speaking Chinese, simply making an honest attempt brings you many advantages.

Jun 6, 2007 01:27	#7
CHRISTINE Points: Join Date: Sep 30, 2005 Status: Offline Community Moderator	I think it's important to have a guide or introducer to tell you the Chinese culture in some historical places, such as Warriors and Longmen, Shaolin, etc. Find a good guide and you can understand more about the culture. Otherwise, it might be less interesting to visit those tombs, temples and residences.

Jun 6, 2007 08:12

APAULT
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Join Date: Mar 11, 2006
Status: Offline

I dont know what happened to my last post but I will try again. Some of your schedule seems tight to me, but if you are prepared to pay for taxis etc I guess you can do it.

Today I went to Shaolin Temple (entrance 100rmb) and met a lady who had come from Luoyang by taxi, arranged by her hotel. It is about an hour and a half trip and I guess you can spend quite a while at the temple. She was charged 400 rmb all up. I think you could get it for a bit less if you try.

Is there a Spannish connection with this temple? At the entrance, one of the 4 languages explaining the 'rules' is Spannish.

Jun 6, 2007 08:20	#9
APAULT Points: Join Date: Mar 11, 2006 Status: Offline	Forgot to say, there is a very frequent bus service from Luoyang to Dengfeng if you want to reduce costs a bit.

Jun 6, 2007 23:01

#10

GERALDINE
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Join Date: Jun 6, 2004
Status: Offline

Sounds great- I would buy a Lonely Planet Guide of China- it gives you great overall information on places and tips on costs and transport- like which bus to catch and where from. If all else fails when trying to get people to understand where you want to go you can show them the LP guide as the words are written there for them. We found it invaluable on our travels.
Have a great holiday and I agree take time to see some of the countryside or you will get templed out! Dragon's Backbone is a great place to see real country life and relax for a couple of days in an interesting environment.

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