| 18 days China trip on our own: many doubts! | |
|---|---|
| Jun 7, 2007 19:01 | #11   |
 | there are many kinds of churches in Shanghai |
| Jun 8, 2007 09:39 | #12 |
| wow,i am going to xian in August 8,too.probably we can meet there,heh! most foreigners here don't know Chinese,but they can travel throught China,because so many chinese can speak english,although not very good.i am a college student in Guangzhou and i major in English.and i am looking for someone to go to xian with me.i will go there with my college friends in August. my email address is 163.com|alieencn |
| Jun 9, 2007 00:21 | #13 |
| Sounds like a very energetic and dynamic tour you have planned !! You are both young, so your energy level with be commensurate with your schedule. Please be aware, after 18 days on the other side of the planet, there will be a great amount of ‘jet-lag’ after your return to Spain. You will need at least 48 hours to recover (me 72 hours) :) :) Also, looks like most of your trip will be from Shanghai north and return. Keep in mind, there is also a lot to be said about Southern China which I so love, close to that warm Tropic of Cancer, line of latitude. Yes, it will be very warm/hot in many locations in China in August; however, you are coming from a warm climate zone, similar to southern California, so it will not be as much of an adjustment, as for tourists say from GB, or the Nordic countries. The only thing I might suggest and to echo members Christine and California; it may be of great comfort to try and hire a young college student who has majored in English, (not too many Spanish speakers in the PRC) for at least a few of your days in China. I know on my first two week trip, I hired a young, recent college grad, who had majored in English, I paid her $15.00 (200 RMB) per day and provided her lunch and supper, and taxi fare to and from her parents home. This made all the difference in the world on my first trip to China. Later, I had the comfort level to travel on my own and now I have my 100% genuine Chinese Lao Po 'guide' to go everywhere with me !! LOL Best wishes to you both and enjoy your visit as much as I always enjoy mine !!! Last, China is very safe !! Don't believe [all] that some negative personalities may say to the contrary. As I have said before in this forum, having been a police officer in California now for over 30 years, I only wish the American cities of L.A. or S.F. were as safe as most cities in beautiful China !! :) Have a great time !! |
| Jun 9, 2007 17:20 | #14 |
| Good idea about the hostels. There are some in Xi'An, notably the Bell Tower Hostel that I would recommend. Great location, newly renovated, and friendly staff. Also, for Xi'An, no need to take a tour bus to the Terra Cotta Warriors. Regular buses depart from the train station to the Warriors and back every 10 or 15 minutes for about 15 rmb return. And guides are available at the site; you can negotiate the price. You can also rent bicycles to go around the top of the city wall. Highly recommended. Xi'An in August will be very hot, as in high 30's and maybe 40C. I hope you enjoy Xi'An. I know that you will enjoy the food. Xi'An is the noodle capital of the world. |
| Jun 9, 2007 21:14 | #15 |
| You have been given good advice on this forum. Learning a few phrases and words in Chinese would be of great benefit:-) Think about how you would be impressed with foreigners trying to speak Spanish in your country :-) I think you would try to help them. Your itinerary will take you to many places where English is spoken. I presume you speak fair English. You will do okay. Also, the younger people are not afraid to approach you and and strike up a basic conversation, perhaps in English or maybe your native tongue. Try to reciprocate even though it may be difficult. The important thing is to appreciate not only the culture but the people you meet. China is a beautiful country. Happy travels! 李察 Rick |
| Jun 12, 2007 09:41 | #16 |
| Well, thank you all for your wise advices! :-P I would have answered before, but just spent some days in Switzcherland ^_^ Yeah, it's a quite dynamic trip we planned... and you can bet we want to enjoy it, so if we need to miss something in order to take some neccesary rest... we will do, no problem. We are trying to plan our trip including some scenery if possible... do you suggest any other place easily accessible from the cities we are going to visit? We still have doubts with Nanjing, Hangzhou, scenery... etc. However, Nanjing is on the way between Xi'an and Suzhou and is a little more comfortable for us to get there. That's why we selected it at first. Anyway, if there's any other place or interesting countryside in our way... let us know, please!! (We are making our plans supported by the touristic information we find at guides and internet, and there are so many things to see, so we have to choose!! :-S) Of course, we both speak English... and I'll try to learn some words in chineese before we leave, like I did with my trip to Japan (which I'll try to write about when I have some time). I will look for some website with downloadable mp3 sentences in order to learn the pronunciation :-P About guides... well, I can see that, if not indispensable, they can help to understand better chineese culture. Where do you find information about those "hireable" college students who work as guide? It might be interesting, although we want to make our trip as cheap as possible ^_^ We can get some info, anyway. One more question... when I did my trip to Japan (with some friends), we decided to spend one night in a Ryokan in Kyoto (we stayed at Hiiragiya Ryokan... wonderful!). Is there any kind of typical accomodation or hotel in China, like Ryokan in Japan? I'm lookking for the time to answer properly to some comments (and make some more questions, jeje) as soon as possible. Meanwhile, thank you again! We receive EVERY advice gratefully! Xie xie! ^_^ PD: we are not wife and husband, just boyfriends ;-) |
| Jun 18, 2007 08:50 | #17 |
| Maybe I can be your guide when you traveling Suzhou. You can contact me via Email: hotmail.com|jason.su.zhou or MSN: houmail.com|jason.su.zhou |
| Jun 19, 2007 00:45 | #18 |
| You could try Lushan for scenery. It's in Jiangxi Province near the Yangze River (Read my review and photos) I've been there twice. Great place to take a rest from the heat and travel too. Take the bus from Nanjing and then from Jiujiang at the foot of the mountains you can take the train via Zhengzhou or Wuhan to Xian |
| Jun 19, 2007 00:54 | #19 |
| Sorry, You'll be going the other way. After Xian this might be a nice spot to take a break before going on to Nanjing ans Suzhou. Two nights and one day is comfortable amount to see the obvious although there is a lot to see but again without a vehicle and guide it takes too long. There is a direct bus from Lushan to Nanjing just check at the bus ticket office in the main street the day before so you don't miss it. It will be early in the morning as it's about 5 hours otherwise go down to Jiujiang (50 mins) and take the bus from there. |
| Jun 19, 2007 05:57 | #20 |
| I am not convinced about the value of having guides at the the tourist spots.. I have listened to other people's and feel they spew out millions of facts that you will never remember. At the Terracotta Warriors, from Xi'an take bus 306, 65 minutes, when you get off, walk towards a very large Tcotta Warrior in the car park area...a bit to the right of where the busess stop andd keep going to the entrance...there are no signs - do NOT go straight ahead to the left from the bus...it is a LONG walk to the exit and you have to come back again. When you enter the first gates u are only in the park... choose any path to get to the main entrance. I recommend that you fo to the 'cinema first' so that you can watch the film about the history. There is a superb new hostel by the South gate in Xi'an. There is one hostel just a hundred metres from the gate and this new one a further 100 metres (the back door). Cost 40 RMB. The Seven Sages hostel near the north gate is at least 1km away from gate, not the 500m they claim (and twice, well apart you see signs saying 200m!!). |
Post a Reply to: 18 days China trip on our own: many doubts!
Copyright © 1998-2024 All rights reserved.