Need basic travel advice for China

Need basic travel advice for China
Apr 1, 2008 11:49
guest03129	My wife and I are very excited to be embarking on a 20 day self-directed tour of China, beginning this upcoming Sunday. We are planning Shanghai (3-4 days), Huangshan (2 days), Hangzhou (2 days), followed by Xi'an, Luoyang, and Beijing (and possibly Chengde). Leaving Shanghai, we plan an early D-train to Hangzhou, arriving around 9am, then a bus to Tangkou. Does anyone know the departure times out of Hangzhou for the buses to Tangkou, and whether they might be full or not (on Wed, April9)? I'm trying to decide whether there will be time to hike Huangshan that same day and stay at the top, or to stay in Tangkou and start hiking on Thursday. Can anyone tell me if there is a convenient and safe place to store most of our luggage in Tangkou so that we can lighten our load for the hike to Xihai Hotel? Or is there a service to get our bags up to the hotel? We prefer to avoid the cable cars ourselves. Around Wed. April 16th, we plan to catch a sleeper train from Luoyang to Beijing. Can we buy the ticket ahead of time from another city, for example in Xi'an, and do you think this would be necessary? We know very little Mandarin, and I am wondering about hiring guides and/or interpreters along the way. Is this something I need to plan well in advance, or do a lot of the 4 and 5 star hotels have the ability to line up personal interpreters if we get there and feel we are in over our heads? I have read most can arrange local tours for us. Thanks to anyone who can offer us some advice!

Apr 1, 2008 11:49

guest03129

My wife and I are very excited to be embarking on a 20 day self-directed tour of China, beginning this upcoming Sunday. We are planning Shanghai (3-4 days), Huangshan (2 days), Hangzhou (2 days), followed by Xi'an, Luoyang, and Beijing (and possibly Chengde).

Leaving Shanghai, we plan an early D-train to Hangzhou, arriving around 9am, then a bus to Tangkou. Does anyone know the departure times out of Hangzhou for the buses to Tangkou, and whether they might be full or not (on Wed, April9)? I'm trying to decide whether there will be time to hike Huangshan that same day and stay at the top, or to stay in Tangkou and start hiking on Thursday.

Can anyone tell me if there is a convenient and safe place to store most of our luggage in Tangkou so that we can lighten our load for the hike to Xihai Hotel? Or is there a service to get our bags up to the hotel? We prefer to avoid the cable cars ourselves.

Around Wed. April 16th, we plan to catch a sleeper train from Luoyang to Beijing. Can we buy the ticket ahead of time from another city, for example in Xi'an, and do you think this would be necessary?

We know very little Mandarin, and I am wondering about hiring guides and/or interpreters along the way. Is this something I need to plan well in advance, or do a lot of the 4 and 5 star hotels have the ability to line up personal interpreters if we get there and feel we are in over our heads? I have read most can arrange local tours for us.

Thanks to anyone who can offer us some advice!

Apr 1, 2008 21:27

ELLYSE
Points:
Join Date: Oct 30, 2005
Status: Offline

Why are you going to Hangzhou seemingly only to transit to Huangshan? Why not a direct overnight train from Shanghai to Huangshan (Tunxi)?
I would suggest that you try to get the Luoyang -- Beijing West sleeper tickets in advance if possible. I think the only train that this would be possible for would be K270 (2020--0557, 9h37min).
Bring along patience, smiles and a good Mandarin phrasebook eg Lonely Planet, Rough Guide, Berlitz.
I'm pretty familiar with where you're going to (especially Huangshan, living in Shanghai and we just came back from Luoyang yesterday) so email me at yahoo.com|ellyse99 if you want to ask questions on email or meet up in Shanghai -- please put "TravelChinaGuide" in the subject line, thanks.

Apr 2, 2008 11:54

APAULT
Points:
Join Date: Mar 11, 2006
Status: Offline

Bus times are always a problem: they are hard to find. They are seldom on the Net and often buses go from more than one bus station (and similarly arrive at different bus stations). Unfortunately, people at one bus station often cannot (rather than will not) tell you where there are other buses, or any bus at all! Trains are much more certain if you can book the tickets in advance. Buses are normally easier easier to get tickets for, once you have worked out the details. I handle this problem by having no time constraint, so each day I find out a bit more. Oh do remember to ask 2 or more people the same question - until you get a consistent answer, keep asking :)

Apr 2, 2008 22:48	#3
GUEST29195	Hi,I am very glad that I stay in Huangshan city,I do not know the accurate time you arrive the Mt. Huangshan .If you need some help such as found a safe hotle to stay or store your baggage,ect.you can e-mail me :hotmail.com\|hurongfeng0559, i will try my best to help you!

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