Trip to China

hi
we were in china in sept. for three weeks.
we were told that Beidaihe was the best place to stop on the wall - but who knows? we really enjoyed walking up the "non tourist steep route"
xian (we went by train from beijing) definilty worth seeing but instead of staying two days at the excavation site we went to mount hua shan which was just an amazing experience . it is a two hour drive from xian, we went with a private guide (i can give you his details- he is amazing!!!)and it really added to our experience.
we booked all hotels before we arrived and by internet we got some great deals.
here is my blog site.
http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/brenda46/
by the way dont forget to bring with you an english chinese dictionary and sanitary liquid soap- its a must.. Reply to this

Hi Jan,

Looks like you are gonna have a great time in China! Been based there for the past six years and love every second of it!

With regards to your itinerary as you would be spending two weeks in China, you could actually add one more area, the South part (Guilin/Yangshuo or Yunnan) instead of visiting Hangzhou/ Nanjing & water towns around Shanghai. All those are nice (been myself there many time as it is really near by Shanghai - perfect week end gateway!) but are not close from the idea you might have of the small/quiet town and somehow sceneries are more breathtaking in the South part of China.

You could spend only a few days in Shanghai/ Suzhou and then head South to either Guilin or Yunnan (check ctrip china for discounted airplane tickets)

With regards to currency, all the above are fine (although Euro/Dollars may be best) and can easily be changed (you will need to show your passport to do so). For Shanghai/Beijing/Suzhou, I would not recommend to take too much cash as you can easily find ATM machines and withdraw cash on site (watch out for the pickpocket when traveling around)

For hotel, you might want to book the first night so that you have a bed when you arrive but then it is easy to find accomodation on site without pre-booking (would actually never pre-book room in China as the rate you got when you walk in is most of the time lower than the rate on the website especially now...)

Finally, for the great wall, if you are looking for the less touristic part, definetely want to avoid Badeline/ Mu Tian Yu and head to Simatai.

Have a great trip!

Laetitia


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Thank You ALL VERY Much for advice!!!

I have one more question: is it worth to go to TAI SHAN ? If YES where is the most convenient place to stay nearby?
Thx a lot 4 ANY sugestions 😉 Reply to this

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Hi there Jan
I've just got back from China last Friday where i spend 2 weeks with a group, so my infos are fresh.
The people are REALLY very friendly, and the language problem don't stop them from trying to communicate with Europeans or Americans.Nice people truly.

1.You will not find easy some Chinese that can speak good and understandable English.The accent is terrible.

2. Avoid Shanghai.Its a huge city with crazy drivers and nothing special to see if you're looking for something original.DO NOT DRIVE THERE.The situation at Bund that worth a visit is terrible cause of the works for World Trade Exhibition next year or something.The famous gardens are just rubbish for not well informed tourists.Avoid them and save your time for better things.

3.Beijing is a treasure.You need 4-5+++ days to explore the surrounding area with the Summer Palace, the Great Wall and the Forbidden City.Choose your shoes wisely.We visit Bandaling, and as Travelingislife said above the place is full of tourists, but near to Beijing and with good connections with it.

4.Pay a visit to Hong Kong.The city is the most westernized (drivers too) of all but still got plenty to see.Mao Mo temple is a must here along with the Ferries and the Lamma Island..Try to explore the south islands.
Also Canton got some extraordinary dishes if you're interesting (i got sick just watching the scorpions and the snakes waiting to be bought/eaten).

5.Guillin its a must.Lee Yiang (Lee river) is fantastic.Take the tour that last 4+ hours at the river.You will enjoy every second of it.

6.Xi'an got the Terracotta Warriors and the Bell/Drum towers within the Old City Walls.Worth a visit for max 2-3 days.Don't forget to visit the old Muslim quarter and the musk.Its a different China from that we all know over there.

7.Xijang and Soutzou (City of Tzou ppl) worth a visit if you're looking for some old but not very clean vision of the old China.I wouldn't go for second time.If you're interesting about real China go west, near the desert and away from sea and the traditionally trading areas.


Finally, i was planning to go solo, but the communication problems with the natives that i discover at the web stop me for doing so.If you're sure about your decision the best months for visiting are late April, May and June but not later.The humidity at the south is about 70-80 %!w(MISSING)ith 30-35 C. So maybe you should go there next year.


Good luck and i hope that helped a little.
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Thank again you all for useful tips!

I am back and happy to share my experience about our 'China in 15 days' trip.
The trip in details:
31.05 - 01.06.2009 London - Munich - Beijing
02.06.2009 Xi'an - on the way to Wuhu
03.06.2009 Wuhu - Tongkou
04.06.2009 Tangkou - Huangshan - Hangzhou
05.06.2009 Hangzhou - Suzhou
06.06.2009 Suzhou - Tongli - Suzhou - Shanghai
07.06.2009 Shanghai
08.06.2009 Shanghai - Ningbo - Shinjanmen
09.06.2009 Shinjianmen - Putuo Shan
10.06.2009 Putuo Shan - Shanghai
11.06.2009 Beijing
12.06.2009 Beijing- Great Wall (Jinshanling & Simatai)
13.06.2009 Beijing
14.06.2009 Beijing
15.06.2009 Beijing- Monachium - London

Please see some info below:

ACCOMMODATION -
I didn't book in advance and it was the right thing to do. I wanted to visit as many places and possible and wasn't sure when I reach them. It was quite easy & cheap as I used Chinese agency CTRIP
for booking:
http://hotels.english.ctrip.com/Domestic/SearchHotel.aspx
I called on my way to the particular place. They spoke good English and were really helpful. Their prices were cheap, usually 2-3 times cheaper than the hotels stated. If you need details (names and prices) of the hotels I stayed in, let me know. Don't be surprised that at check in you need to pay deposit as well (sometimes up to 100% of the value of the night). If you keep receipt you will get it back when check out.

FOOD - I loved everything and had no stomach problems whatsoever. I tried to visit Chinese bars & restaurants, full of Chinese people. They had good food. No one spoke English in these places, but dictionary, body language and sometimes picture menu was more than enough. It is useful if you have a few key words in Chinese, e.g 'not spicy'..I paid from 15-40 Yuans for a meal. It was really cheap. I usually ordered much more than could actually eat, but wanted to try everything and they were happy to pack take away for me. Beer is quite popular and cheap from 5-10 y in the restaurants, mineral water 1-3 Y. They also have interesting fruit, worth trying, e.g. apple-pear thing - really tasty. Anything you buy, you should haggle.

TRANSPORT -
As I moved a lot during my 2week trip, I pretty much used all possible means of transport:train, bus, plane, boat, bike, tube, taxi, riksha...

Train - very comfy to travel over night. I used hard sleepers (6 beds, no doors in a compartment). Soft sleepers were much more expensive (4 beds in a closed compartment). Hard seaters were the cheapest option to travel, however I never used them, too crowded....See useful website:
http://www.travelchinaguide.com/china-trains/
The trains are quite good but hardly ever arrive on time (usually 30min to 2 hours late). They are always on time when depart. You also need to be at least 30 min. before the departure, as your luggage must go through the X-ray (a bit like at the airport).
Domestic flights are really good, last minute - very cheap, with meal on board (2hour flight Bejing - Xian)

Bus - hated it! The drivers are crazy there. Long distance is must be a terrifying experience. I only used them for up to 3hour journey and had enough. They horn all the time, sometimes shout and go from right to left, overtaking other cars with no common sense....The road are quite bumpy as well so forget about sleeping, you need to hold tight if you want to stay in your seat. Local / city buses are good (very short ride) and cheap 1Y for a ride.

Tube - couldn't find any 1-3 day travel cards, so used singles. Beijing - 2Y, Shanghai 2-4Y (depending on distance).
Taxi - the best to use in the cities and of course cheap - Xian 6Y, Beijing 10Y, Shanghai 12Y to start with and then 1,6-2Y per kilometre. Never agree any price before getting in - they have the meters, so make sure they use them.
Riksha - what an experience! You need to agree the price so might be pricey, but worth.. We paid 10Y in Xian for a 15minute ride.

OTHER INFO:
1. I'd recommend to have a dictionary, as the phrasebook in the guidebook is very limited.
2. Dates on products are not expiry dates, but manufacture dates, so don't be surprised.
3. It's safe in China. We had no problems even walking at night. Chinese were really helpful, even without English tried to help us.
4. If you meet anyone speaking English ask them to write down in Chinese the places you want to go to. It's easier to show it to anyone later on and find the place.
5. Young people most likely speak English, although they are shy to talk.
6. There are entry fees to everything, museums, churches, gardens, parks, pagodas, towns, bridges etc...Some of them are quite high. Toilets are usually free and easy to find, but rarely western style and not nice. Make sure you have a paper roll and gel-soap with you.
7. Haggle, haggle, haggle everywhere, in the shops, as well as in the markets. They cut the prices down up to 70%
8. The drawback of China for me - all tourist attractions are closed at 5pm, including transport to them. The life there starts at about 5-6am and finishes at 10pm. We couldn't find a restaurant to serve us in Beijing at 11.00pm. All closed, including Night Market (the name doesn't correspond with reality😊)
9. It's good to carry wet tissues and antibacterial gel-soap everywhere. Useful to have a pocket knife, with cork screw etc... and a fork if you feel like you might struggle with the chop sticks. I actually hurt my hand and was unable to use chop sticks any more, so fork came in handy...

If you want to see some pictures from the trip, just click on:
http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/wojbiesz/ChinyW15Dni#

I hope you find it useful!
Cheers,
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Hi!
Glad you liked it.
We went to Wuhu accidentally - just on the way to Huangshan..I thought it would be a good idea to change there, but it wasn't. There is nothing to see there and not many trains or buses going our direction (not same day anyway - I thought we stuck). It was also quite difficult to communicate as no one could speak English, but they were extremely helpful. Finally we managed to get out, thanks to 2 helpful Chinese guys, who took us by taxi outside the town (for a moment thought they want to rob us) and put on the bus there (charged extra for it, but we were most grateful). On the bus we met a great Chinese couple. We couldn't believe our luck, as they spoke good English and were heading same direction - Tangkou. They had the accommodation booked, but since we spent 3 hour ride on a crazy bus together, they offered to book a room for us in the same hotel. It was the cheapest hotel (during our stay in China)- 80Y per double room, with bathroom. Tangkou itself is very small, full of tourist village. It's the best place to go to Huangshan, closest and easy to get to especially early in the morning. We left the hotel at 5am.
Putuo Shan - it's a lovely island not far from Shanghai. The easiest and quickest way to get there - by fast boat from Shanghai appx 2,5 hours, price: 255Y per person. It's a saint island of Lady Budda. We spent there 2 days, but unfortunately it was a bit rainy. Shame, as there are a few sandy beaches. There is an entry fee to the island - 160Y per person. Apart from this you need to pay to get to all beautiful temples, etc, as everywhere. It's easy to get around the island, as there are mini buses from one attraction to another (very useful when raining), price 2-8Y, depending on the distance. There are lots of temples and monks wandering around. The best one was Fayu Temple (most colourful😊). The mount Foding is worth seeing as well. You can take cable car 30Y one way pperson, 50Y return pperson. The amazing place is the mount with the statue of Lady Budda - Nanhai Guanyin (33m high). On the way up you can see the purple bamboo trees. We stayed at a nice hotel, overlooking the ocean - quite pricey though (340Y per nigh, but price at the desk was 1888Y - booked through CTrip -they are the best! 'Zhuxiangju' - they don't have an English sign though, just Chinese sings). The cheapest option in this hotel was 216Y (when booked through CTrip).
The drawback of the island was that there were no restaurants at all. We found one recommended by Lonely Planet, (simple and cheap, full of locals, but I wouldn't call it a restaurant 'Axiang Kuaican' - had there a good lunch). The life on the island finished at 8.00pm. It was dark everywhere and we couldn't find anywhere to eat. The best place for dinner turned out to be restaurants in the hotels (again hardly anyone spoke English - in one of the hotels they didn't even understand word 'restaurant' - we forgot the dictionary - what a mistake!), but also closed around 8-8.30pm.

Hope you find it useful. Are you going to China again?
Cheers! Reply to this