| Independent travel - avoiding obstacles | |
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| Jan 13, 2005 06:13 |   |
 | Hello My name is Jeffrey and me and my brother Erik are planning on visiting China for 3 weeks from the end of May until the middle of June. We have decided that we would like to travel independently of a travel agency, but we still want to make sure that we are safe in doing so. Our basic itinerary is this: -Arrive in Beijing and see the main tourist sites there (2 days) -Possibly explore Xian -Take the train from Beijing to Guilin Is there a train from Beijing to Guilin, does it operate regularly, and does anyone know how much it costs each way? Where can it be accessed from? Is it near the Beijing Airport? How do you get there from the airport? -Stay in Guilin for a large portion and see the many sites there -Explore the Yellow Mountains and take a hiking tour through them. -Perhaps travel to Hong Kong -Take the train back up, from Guilin to Beijing Are there many stops we can hop on to the train from? Besides this loose itinerary, we want to travel to less known places and explore (mainly) south China. Should I book all of our hotel stays ahead of time? Are there places where we cannot take a tour because we do not have a reservation? Are there places the train does not go to in China that you have to take a plane flight to? Also, I have no idea exactly what money form to bring and how much of it. I have read all of the information on this website, and it seems like Credit Cards are excepted in major cities, Traveler's Cheque's are recommend, but Cash is recommended in more remote areas - where we want to stay. But how much is enough for 3 weeks? At $30 a night in a hotel, 21 days would come to around US $640. Apart from this, I'm sure I have many more questions, but I will let this suffice and consult my travel guide for additional information. Thank you Jeffrey Leiser ( from the Unites States ) p.s. I know someone in Tibet. Are there independent travel options for people from want to take a train or fly to Tibet? |
| Jan 13, 2005 08:57 | #1 |
| your plan sounds exciting. In China, where there is no railway, there will be long-distance buses though it is not that safe for foreigners. It seems Guilin is quite a keypoint on your way.however, remember, Guilin is not a terminal but only a stop, which means train ticket would be very difficult to buy. Reservation in 3 days beforehand is absolutely necessary. Luckily, your plan avoids the peak season. As to tibet info, refer to www.tibettrip.com you will find some useful info there. by the way, do u know any chinese language? anywya, it is no big deal since people do speak English, especially in hot spots. and Chinese people are very friendly if you are polite. |
| Jan 13, 2005 09:18 | #2 |
| Credit cards are accepted in most of big and middle cities in China, you can draw RMB with it in any branches of Bnak of China. Traveller's check is also very convenient for you. Money will not be a problem in all your mentioned places. With $30 you can find a 2 or 3 star hotel in your destinations. Pre-reservation may be not very necessary but check the room availability beforehand will make your tour goes more smoothly. Air or train tickets can be booked with the help of your hotel. How about your transportation in each city? I presume you should prepare a lot before your departure:) |
| Jan 13, 2005 10:36 | #3 |
| Hi, Jeffrey !Great to see your plan, it seems like it covers most highlights of China. the time you choose to come is really a golden season in China. Surely you will have a good trip as long as you do well preparation for the long journey. You said you would like to travel independently, but i'm afraid if you do not have firends or any guide here, you will feel inconvenient especially for the communication. As for the itinerary, my suggestion is -3 days in Beijing (Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City , the Temple of Heaven, Badaling Great Wall, the Ming Tombs and Summer Palace are the must go places) -2 days in Xian ( Main sites: Terracotta Warriors, Forest of Stone Steles Museum , Big Wild Goose Pagoda. Provincial History Museum) -6 days in Kunming, Dali, Lijiang ( Everything there is amazing, definitely worth going) - in Guilin ( Li river cruise, Yangshuo, Longsheng, etc, for enjoying the rural life there) In China most cities and towns are connected by the railway and highway. The trains from Beijing to Guilin operate every day, K21 starts from 9am to the next day 12am, T5 starts from 16:16 to the netx day 14:30, the tickets charge is varying from RMB 400 to 650 due to the class of sleepers. |
| Jan 13, 2005 18:34 | #4 |
| Thank you all for respoding! I will try to address each of your responses and offer my own questions as well. PEPPER MINT SAID: "In China, where there is no railway, there will be long-distance buses though it is not that safe for foreigners." - I am interested in know how dangerous these long distance bus rides are. I have just been reading about the Silk Road and I was hoping to travel along it West. I wonder if independent travel in Western China is safe enough, even though I am very adventurous! PEPPER MINT SAID: "It seems Guilin is quite a keypoint on your way.however, remember, Guilin is not a terminal but only a stop, which means train ticket would be very difficult to buy." - DEE0228 mentioned the train times and I looked them up myself. Is it really true that I can not stop in Guilin? Thank you for the Tibet information, but I meant to say NEPAL. It was my error in saying Tibet, when the people I know live in Nepal. I do not know Mandarin. I can only speak English. Thank you fro Anthea for your help. You wrote: "How about your transportation in each city? I presume you should prepare a lot before your departure:)" - I assumed that I would take the train, or taxi/bus for short distances. The main reason why we want to do independent travel is so we can stay in one place for a long time. I would like to spend a week in Guilin. Lots of tours only spend a few days there. DEE0228 said: "You said you would like to travel independently, but i'm afraid if you do not have firends or any guide here, you will feel inconvenient especially for the communication." - What would you recommend, since the price of the tours is sort of expensive and we would like to live very inexpensively. Should I take a city tour, or obtain the whole package so that my trip is more convenient? In past trips, we have lived very cheaply and explored on our own. I understand, though, that China is very big and we need to be smart about our plans. DEE0228 - THANK YOU for your itinerary! In order for you to understand our trip more, we are interested in seeing mostly the countryside and natural beauty, not the populated place. We are filming a 16mm movie of the Chinese landscape and we are looking for the most visually interesting places in China. Is our itinerary already a travel package that we can book? It seems from your comments that it is best to plan a tour - providing that we can stay in selected place for longer periods of time. |
| Jan 13, 2005 18:34 | #5 |
| SIDE NOTE: Forgive my ignorance, but where are the Yellow Mountains? I thought they were in southern China. Is Guilin in the Yellow Mountains? I saw hiking tour pictures there and I would love to take that hiking tour and others. I am starting to make my itinerary, which is roughly this: #1 BEIJING Tiananmen Square Forbidden City (Imperial Place) Temple of Heaven Badaling Great Wall Sacred Way (in Longevity Mountain) Ming Tombs (in Longevity Mountain) Summer Palace Lama Temple #2 XIAN Terracotta Warriors and Horses Museum Big Wild Goose Pagoda and the mighty City Wall Provincial History Museum Great Mosque #3 GUILIN Reed Flute Cave Seven Star Park Fubo Hill Elephant Trunk Hill cruise down the Li River to Yangshuo Licun Village West Street Moon Hill Tall Banyon Duxiu Peak Yangtze River ---- KUNMING - go to Stone Forest! GUANGZHOU / CANTON ? Shanghai - possibly Chongqing/ Fengdu?? That's all for now! |
| Jan 13, 2005 18:49 | #6 |
| Yellow mountain is located in Anhui province in southeast China, not very far from Shanghai. I suggest you take overnight train from Shanghai to Huangshan city, the climb the mountain which is about one hours' drive from the city. Notice that Ynagtze river cruise is different from the Li River Cruise. It start from Chongqing and you can choose end in Yicchang or Wuhan. Bus travel along the silk road is toilsome, but not so dangerous. Many roads are just desert or the like. While if you can not speak Chinese, traveling in west China may be difficult due to the communication problems. English are not so diffusive there. So guide is necessary. |
| Jan 13, 2005 18:53 | #7 |
| Guided tour is somewhat expensive, so I suggest in those big cities like Beijing, Shanghai, Guilin, no need to book tours. While if traveling to some less developed places, guided tours may avoid many inconvenience, especially the silk road. |
| Jan 13, 2005 21:29 | #8 |
| hello,Jeffrey! If you really want to seek beautiful scenery of China, I think the Jiuzhaigou and Huanglong vally in north Sichuan province can never be missed. Both of them have gotten the fame for their magic landscapes. You can browse the webs for the detailed information, maybe you will revise your itinerary later. http://www.travelchinaguide.com/attraction/sichuan/jiuzhaigou/page1.htm http://www.travelchinaguide.com/attraction/sichuan/chengdu/yellowdragon.htm  |
| Jan 14, 2005 04:59 | #9 |
| Once again, I thank you all for your informative responses. I have a lot more to consider now. ANITA said: "Guided tour is somewhat expensive, so I suggest in those big cities like Beijing, Shanghai, Guilin, no need to book tours. While if traveling to some less developed places, guided tours may avoid many inconvenience, especially the silk road." - Great idea, but will it be difficult to book tours around my schedule? Would you recommend that I book all of my tours before or possibly after I explore the large cities? I know see that in less known places, I should book a tour. ?EE0228 said: "If you really want to seek beautiful scenery of China, I think the Jiuzhaigou and Huanglong vally in north Sichuan province can never be missed. Both of them have gotten the fame for their magic landscapes. You can browse the webs for the detailed information, maybe you will revise your itinerary later." - WOW! After seeing those pictures, I definitely want to go there also! Are these places that you would recommend a tour guide? Or are they places we can explore on our own? I will add Yellow Mountain and Jiuzhaigou and Huanglong into my itinerary. I just hope that I can find a balance for guided tours and independent travel, since I'm not sure if there is a tour that encompasses all of this (that I can afford). Is western China as visually interesting as my other destinations that I would want to plan a seperate trip with a tour guide? I hope I can visit as many places as possible! |
| Jan 14, 2005 18:23 | #10 |
| Book the tours before departure and book them after you finished those big cities, both has its pros and cons. Pre-reservation will let you not to worry about it during your sightseeings,you may have no time to think about after arrival. But also you can not change your schedule if tours have already been booked. I mean that if you plan to stay in Shanghai for 3 days, then after arrival you find you want to stay for more time, then it's hard to change your booked tour. Do you think so? |
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