| Best place to go for a week during late July | |
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| May 5, 2008 11:22 |   |
 | Intent to take my 17 years old son with me for a week tour in China during late July for father-and-son bonding. My wife complaints that the heat will be unbearable. Would love to hear your experienced feedbacks on places we should go. Don't mind spending the whole week in either one or two places. Due to limited time frame, willing to fly from one destination to the other. Nathaniel - my son - wants to visit Shaolin (as he had taken up wushu this year) while I was thinking of either HuanShan or Jiuzhaigou. |
| May 5, 2008 21:49 | #1 |
| yes it will be geneally very warm in late July and depending on where you go but would average generally 34C to 36C |
| May 5, 2008 21:59 | #2 |
| Which kind of wushu is he learning? Shaolin isn't the only place for that, and it would be appropriate to find the place where his school of wushu originated from. Where do you have to fly in and out of? Also, are you also aware of the recent visa problems? What's your passport nationality? |
| May 6, 2008 07:42 | #3 |
| Betweenus21, that is why my wife asking us to consider maybe Australia or New Zealand. But I wanted China as it will be a challenge to both of us as I know a bit of Chinese while Nathaniel is very limited in his Chinese. Ellyse, he just wants to visit Shaolin for the martial arts. His wushu's instructor is from Shijiachuan and was the former China youth champion. Myself is a Malaysian while my son is Bruneian. Visa wise I can enquire with the China High Commission in Brunei and shouldn't be a problem. My plan is to fly Brunei to Hong Kong, then ferry from airport to ShenZhen airport. Will try to catch a flight to Luoyang on the same day. From Luoyang fly to either Huang Shan or Jiuzhaigou. Will the temperature up on the mountains be as high as 32C to 36C? Intent to doing hiking by staying at a base or should I move around daily? Would appreciate your advise |
| May 7, 2008 00:24 | #4 |
| Everywhere in China is hot in the summer. In the valleys and up in the mountains although they are cooler in the evenings. Couple of points to consider. HuangShan is a premier tourist attraction and very accessible by bus, train and car. It's a BIG rock with millions of steps up and down and you could spend days climbing around but it gets seriously crowded on holidays and weekends. (I've never been but know other who have) Jiuzhaigou is also a premium tourist but far less accessible with buses and flights from major centres only. The Entrance is a little expensive but justifiable to keep numbers down and preserve the fragile ecosystem. All trails are well marked or board walks and going 'bush' is not encouraged. While there is a bus (extra fee)Y80/Y90 to service the park it is possible to walk everywhere if you have the energy. I visited in June and we spent two days taking the bus up the valleys and walking much of the way down to enjoy the serenity of the scenery and get away from the crowds, serious crowds in some spots. But if you are interested in some serious off road trekking then you may like to consider dropping into Songpan, very close to Jiuzhaigou and it's airport where you can hire a guide to take you trekking or take a horse trek where you'll get a chance to walk it out a bit too. See travel review on Sichuan and Songpan Jiuzhaigou for more information and what to expect. Emma's cafe in Songpan is a good source of info and there is accommodation from very basic and cheap to five star and anything in between either in Songpan or the other village closer to the Airport.. |
| May 7, 2008 01:02 | #5 |
| Jabarootoo, thanks for your information especially about the crowds. Can you recommend other places in China whereby we could do some hiking and trekking. My informations are from the internet and they tends to be the premier tourist attraction sites. |
| May 7, 2008 07:09 | #6 |
| on china visa wise, from 1st July 08 onwards Visas will be harder to get and Chine have set stricter rules for obtaining a visa - obstensibly bec of the Olympics and to weed out undesirable disruptions. The tougher visa requirements necessitates full documentation like flights tickets, confirmed hotel reservations and even a letter of "invitation". Visa-free countries like Singapore etc will also be required from 1st July to apply and have a visa. |
| May 7, 2008 08:22 | #7 |
| Hi Jat, Other areas far from the maddening crowds would be Yunnan province up around Lijiang and Tiger Leaping Gorge which will soon be much too easy to get too. and some areas of Guizhou and Guangxi although the trekking would be from village to village rather than. Check out the information on this website for some good and reasonably up to date information. I also came across a cycle china website out of Chengdu that offers some good routes and information as well as tours. http://www.chinabackpacker.com |
| May 7, 2008 09:28 | #8 |
| Betweenus21, understand about the visa conditions starting 1st July. Unfortunately my China multiple entries expires on 28th June 2008. While my son Brunei passport does not require visa. But will check with the China High Commission in Brunei. |
| May 7, 2008 09:41 | #9 |
| Hi Jabarootoo, Just being to Yunnan and Shangrila December 2007 for 13 days but in an organized tour originated from Brunei. Just our 4 families (my wife brother and sisters) with the children. Total 16 persons. A very leisure holidays for the adults to unwind and the children to bond. We did not visited Tiger Leaping Gorge. This trip is purely for both father and son to relax and to bond. Also, he will be going to UK University next year. Before doing so, want to expose him to a foreign country as well as the comfort of home. Will be his shadow on this trip as he will have to make all the decisions in term of transport and accommodation and meals. Can we stay in one hotel in Juizhaigou and make daily excursions to the surrounding valleys and villages? |
| May 7, 2008 10:07 | #10 |
| Shijiazhuang (in Hebei province, I presume you had a typo there) might've been where your son's instructor came from, but there're many different "schools" (ie types/forms) of martial arts that originated from different places. I doubt Shijiazhuang was one of them. Shaolin is only one of them. http://www.chinatrekking.com and http://www.chinabackpacker.com will have a lot of hiking/trekking information that would be of more use to you. Jiuzhaigou's admission ticket is usually valid for only 2 days, so unless you find some way to stay inside the park (getting more difficult now) then it would not be possible to do as you suggest. |
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