New Reply

Post a Reply

Thread: 90 days in China starting in Beijing - Ideas please....

Title: (100 characters at most)

Content: ( 3,000 characters at most, please )

You can add emoticons below to your post by clicking them.

[quote=ELLYSE,388828]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 ellyse99@yahoo.com 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/m/m/1d57/[/quote]

characters left

Name:

Get a new code