| 90 days in China starting in Beijing - Ideas please.... | |
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| Feb 3, 2010 12:52 |   |
 | Hi everyone! I am visiting China with my girlfriend at the end of November this year and we are hoping to get a 90 day visa. We both hold UK passports. We have been looking into where we want to go and have come up with a few areas where we want to travel to: Beijing, Shanghai, Xi'an, Guilin, Hong Kong, Three Gorges, Longmen Shiku, Dunhuang, Chengdu, Guangzhou, Kunming, Hangzhou. Basically, I love dramatic scenery and beautiful, old monuments and she likes culture, art and meeting people. Do you have any recommendations on extra places we shouldn't miss or ideas on a good route to include all these? We will be leaving via either vietnam or laos overland. We also hope to be in Hong Kong for Chinese new year in 2011. Does that sound like it will fit into our plans? Many thanks Jon & Sophie |
| Feb 4, 2010 01:43 | #1 |
| Northern China is freezing in the winter..and if next winter is anything lke this winter has been, pack a parka!Any outdoor activities will require warm clothes and limited exposure.Central China (Chengdu,Shanghai)is not too cold..but very damp and miserable in winter.Chengdu gets 1 day of sunshine a year.Hong Kong is more temperate, a lite jacket and trousers will suffice. Chinese New Year is very busy and very expensive.Book well in advance and that means everything...transport,hotels..etc. |
| Feb 5, 2010 06:33 | #2 |
| Thanks for the input :) We don't mind the cold so much, we just don't really want to be stuck in a monsoon and a friend told us that if we aim for the summer instead, that may happen. We've decided we're going to be starting in Beijing in November, we were hoping for some advice on a good route to include most or all of those places and if there are any events or sites that we have missed out that would be a good idea. With Chinese New Year, we know it's gonna be crazy but we really want to experience one. Are there any other places in the South West of China that have good celebrations or is Hong Kong the best idea? Thanks Jon and Sophie |
| Feb 5, 2010 20:42 | #3 |
| I will only say that 0c may feel much colder than you expect it to feel. The reason is that China does not heat spaces the way we do in the western world. The further south you go, the less they heat in the winter. When you go to China in the winter, think of your exposure to weather in the same way that you'd think about winter camping. |
| Feb 6, 2010 05:08 | #4 |
| Thanks again :) When would you recommmend to travel? The only reason we're doing it in november is because we are doing an 8 month tour of most of SE Asia, we'd be heading to Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia and we could either do China at the start or the end of the trip (either starting in singapore and ending in beijing or backwards) So we'll either be in China going North to South through Dec, Jan, Feb or doing it South to North through June, July August. We'd heard that the summers are very hot and wet so thought winter would be better. Any thoughts? Jon and Sophie |
| Feb 17, 2010 06:05 | #5 |
| I would actually prefer to endure the heat of summer. Jan-Feb would be Spring Festival transport period which makes getting overland transport (train and bus) tickets very difficult if not impossible. Plus there're always tons of people on trains and buses (and at the stations as well), it's stressful especially if it's your 1st time in the country without knowledge of the language. When you say Kunming, are you planning to visit the rest of Yunnan province as well? Otherwise it's a waste going all the way there. Similar goes for Chengdu and Sichuan province. If you're going to Hong Kong, are you also flying off to South-East Asia from there? If you're intending to take the overland route via Yunnan province, then you'll need a double-entry China visa. Hong Kong would be a good place for CNY I think. :) My top recommendation for scenery in China would be Jiuzhaigou. If you also like mountains, then add Huangshan, Huashan, Taishan and Meilixueshan (aka Kawa Karpo) to the list. Yangshuo near Guilin is also very popular. Beautiful old monuments? Most of the historical stuff is in northern China. There's an Imperial Palace in Shenyang which I think is MUCH more authentic and worth visiting than the Forbidden City in Beijing. Shenyang (then known as Mukden) was the capital of Qing dynasty before they broke through the Great Wall. If you're going up north then you could also consider visiting Ji'an in Jilin province -- this is an UNESCO World Heritage site for the Koguryo kingdom, on the border with North Korea, quite off-the-beaten-path. Plenty of destinations worth visiting around Shanghai. The most popular ones are Suzhou and Hangzhou, but you could also check out Nanjing, Yangzhou, Shaoxing, Tongli, Xitang and more. Drop the 3 Gorges cruise -- this is one of the most overrated, touristy things in China. Not worth my money or time. If you want my full trip report and candid photos, email me at yahoo.com|ellyse99 and put "TravelChinaGuide" and your own username (eg JonandSophie) in the subject line. Also recommend that you check out my VirtualTourist travel pages for more great information and photos: http://members.virtualtourist.com/ |
| Feb 19, 2010 22:57 | #6 |
| I have traveled around China in November and December, including as far north as Qinhuangdao. Some days were colder than others but it depends on what you are used to. Personally i preferred Nov/Dec over July in the same area as 40 degrees was so hot you didnt do anything other than sweat! Next year I want to do the Harbin Ice Festival in January. Temps can be as low as -30 as I understand. Horse trekking to remote parts of the wall was great. Normally we use travelchinaguide.com for all our guides and tours and they are brilliant. One place not on your list is Datong. They have the grottoes, hanging monastery and nearby at Taiyuan the old wooden pagoda. I really liked Datong. At night in a park there were locals gathered together learning folk songs and doing an impromptu concert for other locals. We were made welcome and the young girl and her dad who spoke a little english translated for us. It was a great night. Also a must see for me would be Dafo at Leshan (see pic). If you go here make sure you go down the steps at the side. We had a guide on this particular day who was useless. He insisted foreigners dont do this, so we ignored him and went anyway. BRILLIANT!! Also explore the temple and gardens behind too. A day here is easy. I only did 4 hours and it wasnt enough. hence its on my return to lost. Happy to offer other ideas if you are interested.  |
| Feb 20, 2010 07:23 | #7 |
| Thanks for both comments! Before you'd posted Crosis, we had decided that we are going to start in malasia and work our way up so it will be june/july/aug for china. this is based on the best times to visit the other countries too. I know it will be very hot in the south and central but we can always head further north or into the mountains to cool down. Loads of idea on trips and places too. We will take all of them into consideration. If you could only advise on one thing to see/do that was a must do, what would it be? Jon & Sophie |
| Feb 23, 2010 07:53 | #8 |
| - If you could only advise on one thing to see/do that was a must do, what would it be? I would suggest Xi'an. It's a combination of historical and modern. You could find both old monuments and culture there. Terro-cotta, temples, towers are wonderful in that city. There's very famous and nice hot-spring which is from Tang dynasty - a nice place to get some relax and enjoy some romantic moment... People there are nice and friendly. I feel they love their hometown and are proud of it so much that I was very impressive... The local snacks and food have a history of hundreds of years and enjoy the fame around the whole country. Around that city, there's some nice mountains like Mount. Hua, which is nice and romantic... Sichuan is not far away and if you are tired of ancient buildings and artifical stuff, you could always go to Jiuzhaigou and experience a fairyland on the world. If you are tired of those above, you could always go to Datong in Shanxi and Luoyang in Henan, which are not too far from there and could enjoy something already on your list... |
| Feb 23, 2010 18:35 | #9 |
| Based on the sightseeing interests/preferences of you both, I would probably suggest Lijiang. |
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