| my travel itinerary | |
|---|---|
| Mar 20, 2008 08:34 |   |
| guestMichael | Got my tickets booked to china. Fly into Beijing on the 10th of May and out of Shanghai on the 22nd. So have 12 nights to play with inbetween. Was thinking 4 nights Beijing, 2 nights Xian, 2 nights Chengdu and then the last 4 in Shanghai. Dont want to be rushed but woudl anyone recommend adding any other stop to the planned itinerary? |
| Mar 20, 2008 19:59 | #1 |
 | You might consider doing an overnight trip out of the 4 days in Shanghai, go to Hangzhou or a water village. |
| Mar 21, 2008 08:30 | #2 |
| GUESTMICHAEL | I had been told to go see Tongli but was told it was close enough for just a day trip. Would you recommend an overnight instead? |
| Mar 21, 2008 09:36 | #3 |
| Ellyse always hits the spot. I agree that Hangzhou would be far preferable to 4 nights in Shanghai. I assume you are planning to fly between cities? No way you can do that on the train in such a short time. However, even if you fly, you will spend the best part of a day getting between each place, and Chengdu is a long way to go to spend 1 full day (which is all you will have after arriving from Xian, and then having to leave for SH less than 48 hours later. I would be tempted to only do only 1 of the middle two cities. I have never been to either, so hopefully Ellyse will come to the rescue now and tell you which one would be best.......? |
| Mar 21, 2008 22:43 | #4 |
| Sure a lot of places are close enough for a daytrip. But if you go to Tongli as only a daytrip you'll be sharing the experience with all the other tourists, which really isn't my idea of authenticity and tranquility. No comments for Chengdu or Xi'an either way since there's no indication of sightseeing interests and preferences, so no basis for me to make comparisons and recommendations. |
| Mar 21, 2008 23:11 | #5 |
| GUESTMICHAEL | well chengdu for me is a must as I really want to go see the pandas. I think 2 nights there is fine as it will give me an afternoon and a full day to go see them (plus the other sites). Xian I just picked because of the teracotta warriors. I know that the Wild Goose Pagoda and the city walls are supposed to interesting too but I would be willin to cut out Xian if my time could be spent better elsewhere. If I took out Xian I could spend those extra nights in Hangzhou or maybe Suzhou (I could then just bus it to Tongli very easily?). I dont mind being adventerous but I have to say I know no Chinese at all (though I am getting my neighbour to give me a crash course :P) so I have to be a little realistic in what I can accomplish on my own in such a short period of time :) |
| Mar 21, 2008 23:18 | #6 |
| Both Xi'an and Chengdu are worth visiting, IMHO. If you just want to see pandas, I've heard that there's somewhere near Xi'an where you could see them too. Don't bother trying to rush everywhere. Give yourself some time to breathe and "smell the flowers". A Mandarin phrasebook would be of much more use than you trying to remember how to parrot your neighbour's Chinese. |
| Mar 21, 2008 23:44 | #7 |
| If you don't know any Chinese, then your biggest problem will be eating in restaurants. Very few have menus in English, so it is basically like looking at a blank piece of paper! The best you can do is perfect your animal imitations noises, but as for how to describe you want vegetables, then I'm sorry to say that I don't have any good suggestions. |
| Mar 22, 2008 01:20 | #8 |
| LOL Baron. :) In any case I don't think an extended case of charades and/or "win, lose or draw" would be really that enjoyable if anyone had to go through the whole tirade anytime they want to eat, get somewhere or do something. |
| Mar 23, 2008 00:12 | #9 |
| Don't be intimidated by the Chinese menu. I'm sure you see many Chinese restaurants in your city, and your country. Just start to go there often, or order take-out and delivery. After a while, you will get many menus in Chinese and English. And get used to Chinese food as well. Be sure to take them to China when visit there. |
| Mar 23, 2008 01:04 | #10 |
| Chinatrav - you really have no idea what you are talking about! Chinese restaurants in western countries hardly bare any resemblance to ones here (in China). If anyone came armed with a menu from a London Chinese restaurant, and pointed to Sesame Prawn Toast, and Aromatic Crispy Duck, they would be met with very blank faces here! I suggest you try your method and see how far it gets you. You will soon be very hungry. |
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