Help estimating time on first China visit

Help estimating time on first China visit
Jun 24, 2015 13:14
DONS Points: Join Date: Jun 21, 2015 Status: offline	My wife and I will be visiting China in October. We are in our 70's and don't move as fast as we would like. We do not speak Chinese and will be relying on our English speaking Chinese friends and our cell phones for translation. (I have a couple of VPNs. Are there free-standing translation apps for Android phones? I haven't found any yet.) We will visit friends in Beijing, Lvliang, Shanghai and Hangzhou. Lvliang may be a problem for us so we may pay to fly our friend to Beijing. We want to see the Great Wall, Tianamen Square, and any other suggested places. What hotels are best located for those areas? After the north, we will go to Shanghai and Hangzhou. Someone suggested we tour Sozhou too. Our Shanghai friend lives in the New Pudong area. Any hotel and sightseeing suggestions there? We plan on 7 or 8 days in Beijing, a week in the Shanghai area and a week in Hangzhou and travel between the cities. Does that time frame sound reasonable? I have read that the Great Wall is a 3 hour ride from Beijing and at least 3 or 4 hours to tour. That would be one long day in itself. I am having trouble visualizing the size of these cities. They are several times the size of NYC in population and cover more area than the Dallas/Ft. Worth area where we live. We drive everywhere we go. Are taxis the best way to get around or is it more cost effective to hire a car and driver for the day? We would like to stay in 4 or 5 star hotels that deserve the rating. 50 years ago, a hostel would be very nice but no longer. I appreciate any suggestions you may have. There seems to be a wealth of knowledge here. Thank you. DonS Dallas, TX USA

Jun 24, 2015 13:14

DONS
Points:
Join Date: Jun 21, 2015
Status: offline

My wife and I will be visiting China in October. We are in our 70's and don't move as fast as we would like. We do not speak Chinese and will be relying on our English speaking Chinese friends and our cell phones for translation. (I have a couple of VPNs. Are there free-standing translation apps for Android phones? I haven't found any yet.)

We will visit friends in Beijing, Lvliang, Shanghai and Hangzhou. Lvliang may be a problem for us so we may pay to fly our friend to Beijing.

We want to see the Great Wall, Tianamen Square, and any other suggested places. What hotels are best located for those areas?

After the north, we will go to Shanghai and Hangzhou. Someone suggested we tour Sozhou too. Our Shanghai friend lives in the New Pudong area. Any hotel and sightseeing suggestions there?

We plan on 7 or 8 days in Beijing, a week in the Shanghai area and a week in Hangzhou and travel between the cities.

Does that time frame sound reasonable? I have read that the Great Wall is a 3 hour ride from Beijing and at least 3 or 4 hours to tour. That would be one long day in itself.

I am having trouble visualizing the size of these cities. They are several times the size of NYC in population and cover more area than the Dallas/Ft. Worth area where we live. We drive everywhere we go. Are taxis the best way to get around or is it more cost effective to hire a car and driver for the day?

We would like to stay in 4 or 5 star hotels that deserve the rating. 50 years ago, a hostel would be very nice but no longer.

I appreciate any suggestions you may have. There seems to be a wealth of knowledge here.

Thank you.
DonS
Dallas, TX USA

Jun 24, 2015 22:41

GUEST5479

Dons, if you have VPN service, you should be able to use Google Translation Service. I used it before it was blocked in China. It worked fine.

In Beijing, you might consider staying at Raffles Beijing Hotel, Grand Hyatt Beijing, Grand Hotel Beijing or Beijing Hotel. You can walk around 10 minutes to reach the Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square. To visit the wall, you can walk to Wangfujing Subway Station, take subway line 1 to Fuxingmen and change subway line 2 to Jishuitan Station. Get out from Exit B and walk to Deshengmen. There you can take bus 877 to reach Badaling.

Well, a week is enough for you to visit almost all famous attractions in Beijing. It takes around 2 hours from the hotels I mentioned above to Badaling. And it’s worth to visit Suzhou. I think you may spend around a week to visit Suzhou and Hangzhou together. I think you will visit West Lake for sure. However, you shouldn’t miss the classical gardens in Suzhou. They are definitely worth a visit.

Personally, I don’t think you really need to hire a car. The public transportation is very convenient in these cities you plan to visit. If you are afraid of the crowdedness, then you might avoid the rush hours (07:00 to 09:00 and 17:00 to 19:00/20:00). Taxi is fine if you don’t make preparations in advance. They can take you to the tourist places as you require.

You might stay at Pudong Shangri-La, East Shanghai. You can walk to the Oriental Pearl TV Tower quickly.

Jun 25, 2015 19:13	#2
WANHU Points: Join Date: Feb 20, 2007 Status: Offline	October is a fine weather for travelling in China. Public transport is quite efficient especially Metro subway. Should you face any difficulty during your travel, you can always appoint a guide which is available in public attractions, but then you have to haggle for a price. Students are willing to do for free, just treat them lunch as an incentive; they'd like to practice their English. Wan

Jun 25, 2015 20:50	#3
DONS Points: Join Date: Jun 21, 2015 Status: Offline	Thanks for the encouragement on transportation. I'm not accustomed to good public transportation. I didn't think of students. I am a member of a few student English learning groups on QQ. I'll ask there when the time gets closer.

Jun 26, 2015 06:58	#4
EVASERVICE Points: Join Date: May 10, 2014 Status: Offline	From your name,you are a chinese ! ...I am wonder why you says you are foreigner in another post? Are you joking peoples here or it is a trick to ask more people contact you? as you left a phone number there to says it was a chinese girl's. Quote: Originally Posted by WANHU October is a fine weather for travelling in China. Public transport is quite efficient especially Metro subway. Should you face any difficulty during your travel, you can always appoint a guide which is available in public attractions, but then you have to haggle for a price. Students are willing to do for free, just treat them lunch as an incen...
EVASERVICE Points: Join Date: May 10, 2014 Status: Offline	Last edited by EVASERVICE: Jun 26, 2015 07:00

Jun 26, 2015 21:09

CHERRY07
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Join Date: Mar 23, 2008
Status: Offline

Quote:

Originally Posted by EVASERVICE

From your name,you are a chinese ! ...I am wonder why you says you are foreigner in another post? Are you joking peoples here or it is a trick to ask more people contact you? as you left a phone number there to says it was a chinese girl's.

It's rude to write these words especially when you know nothing about him. If you read his personal page, you should have seen that he is from Malaysia. If you ever read his threads and replies, you would have known that he is a foreigner.

I read your page and replies carefully. You actually are the one who post ads to find jobs, right?

I have been here for long time. Luckily, I talked to Wanhu sometimes. He is a Malaysia who visits China very often.

Jun 27, 2015 14:02

DONS
Points:
Join Date: Jun 21, 2015
Status: Offline

Let me add another question. We will finish our trip in Hangzhou but will fly home out of the Pudang airport (PVG). We will have to take a train from Hangzhou to Shanghai and some other transportation to the airport.

Do the trains run on a reliable schedule? How much time does it take for the trip?

I want to allow plenty of time between our train arrival and flight but don't know if I should stay overnight in Shanghai and go to the airport the next morning.

Jun 29, 2015 21:19

GUEST56889

Quote:

Originally Posted by DONS

Yes, you can take high speed trains from Hangzhou to Shanghai. It usually departs on time. Just takes around 1 hour and 15 minutes at most. If you take international flight, I think you should arrive at the airport at least 3 hours in advance. After getting off at Shanghai Hongqiao Railway Station, you need to follow the leading signs to reach the transportation center where you can take airport shuttle bus line 1 to reach Pudong airport. The walking needs around 15 minutes.

It's ok to take subway line 2 from Hongqiao Railway Station to Guanglan Road and then change extension line of subway line 2 to reach the airport. It needs around 1 hour and 40 minutes.

If possible, you can get to Shanghai first and then go to the airport.

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