China in a month - The necessary stops

[andrewreis]

Hello Everyone,

I will be in arriving in Shanghai 13th January and need your advice on where to go. I will be traveling for almost 3 weeks in China and have to eventually make my way down to Macau / HK on the 2nd February, making it 20 days.

Can anyone suggest a nice travel route/mock intinerary, please. I am travelling with two friends and they have since suggested ...Shanghai to Bejing via Xian. Then Bejng to Guandong via Shiijazhaung. Then Guangdong to Macau. ... But to be honest we are not really sure if this is the best route considering we'd like to go North to Beijing but end up south. We are also not sure how many days is necessary to stay in each place.

Our mode of transport will most likely be buses or trains, whichever you guys suggest is most cost/time efficient.

Thankyou in advance

[roddy]

Assuming this is everyone's first time in China, the normal route would probably be Shanghai - Beijing - Xi'an - Chengdu - Yunnan/Kunming - Guilin/Yangshuo - Macau / HK. Nearby / on the way places - Suzhou, Hangzhou, Huangshan from Shanghai; Kaifeng on the way to Beijing, Datong on the way to Xi'an, etc - could be added interest and time permitting. This time of year a trip from Beijing up to Harbin for the Ice Festival could be considered.

Your friend's itinerary I'm not sure of - Shijiazhuang and Guangdong might be nice enough cities (although I suspect Shijiazhuang isn't) but I can't see any reason to spend any time there if you want to see China's major attractions.

[andrewreis]

Thanks for the swift reply and thorough answer! And yes it is all of our first times to China. I will be returning to Shanghai to commence my University Exchange Programme.

Do you know the most common and/or affordable mode of transport between cities. Also when is the prime date to arrive in Harbin for the Ice Festival? I assume we would have to go early on in the trip as it one of the northern most cities.

[gougou]

I like Guangzhou a lot, and wouldn't think it a mistake to make a stop there on your first trip (especially because it's on the way to HK anyway), but I don't see any reason to include Shijiazhuang (unless you want to get a more poignant picture of the "other China").

roddy's itinerary might be quite tight depending on what kind of traveler you are, but covers pretty much everything you need to have seen.

[roddy]

The best value for money option is often an overnight hard sleeper train ride - saves you a night accommodation costs and is good fun to boot - certainly take at least one. However ticket availability can be a problem, and if you end up having to get a 7am, 12 hour train ride, then bang, there's a day of your holiday gone (although you'll end up with some train stories to tell). Planes can be surprisingly cheap, especially if you are able to fly at less popular times and / or book in advance. Long distance bus travel isn't often used by tourists, but can be a good option between Shanghai and surrounding cities.

Hard to say when the best time to get to Harbin is - it'll depend on when Spring Festival falls, and how cold it is.

As Gougou points out, I have perhaps been a bit overenthusiastic with my itinerary. But they're all places worth at least considering.

Bear in mind you'll be traveling over the Chinese New Year period - could be busy . . .

[andrewreis]

Thanks guys for your generous help. I have just one or two more question which will really get us on our way.

In regards to booking transport, can we book from overseas or can we book all the tickets and one single place such as a travel place or at each destination must be book our next leg of the trip at the station/terminal we would be departing from? As you mentioned roddy, we will be going during the new year celebrations and we want to be getting some nice 硬卧's and so booking in advance may prove advantageous.

[roddy]

Booking flights from overseas is possible, but may be more expensive - try elong and ctrip and see if they take overseas cards, I'm not sure. Or maybe you have a friend in China who could help. Train tickets I doubt you can book in advance from overseas, except perhaps via an expensive agent, and tickets only become available X days (10 currently?) before the date of travel anyway.

Once you're in China you should be able to book any plane tickets you want over the counter at a travel agents, or order them online for delivery to your hotel, COD. I don't think you can buy C to D train tickets from city A, but may be possible for some tourist lines - I suspect not though.

[anonymoose]

I did a similar thing a few years ago, going from Hong Kong to Shanghai, also in about 3 weeks. My itinerary was HK-Shenzhen-Guangzhou-Shantou-Quanzhou-Xiamen-Fuzhou-(fly to)Hangzhou-Nanjing-Suzhou-Shanghai.

Your itinerary will depend on how long you wish to stay in each place, but, from my experience, I would say you can probably fit in a lot less than you imagine in that time. Of course it partly depends on how you travel, and if you can do some journeys overnight it will save you time. But if you want to go from Shanghai up towards Beijing, and then down again to Macao, I think you'll be wasting a lot of time on the road.

My advice would be, forget going north of Shanghai. It will be cold and uncomfortable at that time of year. Instead go towards the south. You can look at a map and work out an itinerary for yourself, but a few good places I recommend are Suzhou, Hangzhou, Nanjing, Xiamen, Guilin, and if you have time to venture into Yunnan, then Lijiang and Dali (although they are also quite cold in the winter) and Xishuangbanna (if you like to see something a little different from the 'typical' China).

[roddy]

Ah, it's just a bit of cold up here in the north. Nice and dry, the air is better than in summer we don't have the Shanghai damp. That said if you're from a warm climate it could be quite a shock to the system. Anonymoose's route is a perfectly good one - I was kind of thinking of a once-in-a-lifetime, or at least once-for-the-foreseeable-future trip to China where you'd want to see as many of the major sites as possible. If you're going to be studying in Shanghai afterwards you'll have more time - I'd certainly consider missing off Suzhou etc around Shanghai, as that can all be done easily over weekends while you're studying - and could leave the north for warmer times . . .

[renzhe]

When I did a one-month tour, it went roughly like this:

Hong Kong (day trip Macau)

Shanghai (day trip Zhouzhuang)

Wuxi

Luoyang (day trips to Longmen caves, Baima temple and the Shaolin Temple)

Xi'an (day trips to Terracota army & Hua Shan)

Beijing

We flew from HK to Shanghai, and it was hard sleeper trains and regular trains from there, we flew then from Beijing.

You could drop Wuxi and Luoyang (if you don't want to see the Shaolin Temple, which is great, but there are also many better things to see in China), and should definitely add Yunnan and at least one other scenic spot like Huang Shan, Hua Shan or similar.

Still, it will be tight. You can read a couple of my thoughts here.

[imron]

You could spend that entire month in Yunnan alone, and that would be my recommendation. Spend some time in and around Lijiang, making sure to visit Tiger-Leaping Gorge, then a few of the smaller cities (personally I think if you've been to Lijiang, it's fine to give Dali a miss), then head down to Xishuangbanna for some sub-tropical weather. Yunnan is great this time of year.

[Lugubert]

If you’re not well above average fitness and still decide to do Huang Shan, I’d recommend two hotel/dorm nights in the mountain, and be prepared for very heavy raining, even if it’s dry and clear when/where you start.

Hua Shan has been suggested. From the pictures I’ve seen, official and from a friend who survived) it looks lethally dangerous if you follow the trails. Shortcuts may be available.

That friend who knows me well and accompanied me up and down Huang Shan thought that jungle life like in Xishuangbanna, however interesting, wouldn’t agree with me.

My month was

Shanghai

Suzhou (gardens)

Hangzhou (West Lake is a must; I'm not overwhelmed by Long Jing tea, so I didn't visit the plantations)

Huang Shan (scenic, but see above)

Xi’an (warriors (found the not too excavated parts more interesting), Great Mosque (rather a disappointment), Banpo Neolithic Village Museum …)

Chengdu (Mostly skipping the tourist bit to get a feeling of life in a Chinese city. Liked it.)

Then train to Lhasa (Double-check timing if you depend on breakfast before serious efforts like climbing the Potala Palace. I had to skip it this (first) time, because our guide (compulsory, as is group traveling) had set the tour at 8 AM, and nobody managed to find me a breakfast place early enough.)

I had expected the train to be more spectacular, but it was just (soft sleeper) clean and convenient. I could imagine future night trains in China (also did Nanjing (just passing through) - Xi’an). For comparison, I’ll be avoiding Indian night trains.

Nice views and all, but not really overwhelming if you’re not concentrating on the engineering accomplishments. I was awake when the oxygen adapters were distributed, but I overslept the highest pass. No altitude problems in Lhasa either. I could do with several more days next time just to get the feeling of that clean, orderly, relaxed city and some tours in the vicinity.

And then returning to Sweden by air to save time via Chengdu - Beijing.

[renzhe]

Great Mosque (rather a disappointment)

That's interesting.

I found it really impressive, especially considering that it's 1250 years old (parts of it, at least).

It's a kind of mosque you don't get to see in Turkey or the Arab world.

[Lugubert]

I found it really impressive' date=' especially considering that it's 1250 years old (parts of it, at least).

It's a kind of mosque you don't get to see in Turkey or the Arab world. [/quote']

Well, sufficiently old and cozy, but in my book yet didn't live up to the hype. I had expected more available info. And the guy there couldn't explain anything about the things he tried to sell. I had to read inscriptions to him, and he couldn't discuss them.

Moreover, the most interesting parts (to me, at least) were closed to non-believers.

I was much more awed by the Jama Masjid of Delhi.

[cui ruide]

If you're gonna take a night-train, be sure to pack some snacks as the food available can be disappointing.

I've been to Shijiazhuang--not a big recommendation. It's pretty crowded and pretty polluted. I didn't explore the city itself too much, though. The 6th ed. Lonely Planet put it in the editor's itinerary--there's a small town, Zheng Ding, outside with lots of pagodas and temples. The temple where the final scene of Crouching Tiger was shot is also in the vicinity, though I didn't make it there--got too sick of the place and headed back to Beijing early, but I honestly wouldn't recommend any of it as a must-see.

[renzhe]

Yeah, bring some instant noodles (the type in the bucket) for the sleeper train. The trains all have hot drinking water, and instant noodles are the food of choice. You can get some really good ones over there too, not like the instant noodles I'm used to in Europe.

[LaoZhang]

check elong

elong usually has pretty good competitive rates for air tickets.

i was in beijing last week: they do take foreign credit cards, but you have to go through a few hoops to get what you want, namely going to their office and giving them a photocopy of your credit card. i found it easier to pay in RMB (and they'll deliver to your apartment/hotel/school for a small fee (60RMB or so). Your credit card company will charge you a forex conversion fee. Some charge up to 3%.

[andrewreis]

Thanks a lot everyone for your help we're still finalizing our itinerary but this thread has been very helpful for all of us.

Does anyone have any further information re: trains and/or how much the going rate is (around Chinese New Year) for:

Shanghai>Beijing

Beijing>Xi'an

?

Thanks

[gougou]

The information on this site seems to correspond to what I can find on the Chinese websites, so it should be reliable.

Rates don't change by date, but tickets will be much harder to come by in the Chinese New Year week.