As someone who has never visited
China before, I just wanted to ask whether or not the expectations I have for seeing this vast country over a period of just less than 4 weeks are realistic
I suspect I may be spreading myself a bit thin!
I will be flying out to
Shanghai this Saturday (7 November 2009) and will be returning to the UK from
Hong Kong on Friday 4 December. From what I gather, China’s rail network is vast and efficient and my plans are to travel overnight using the Hard Sleeper ticket class
Shanghai 3 nights (Overnight train)
to Tai’an (Tai Shan ascent) 2 nights (Overnight train)
to Beijing 5 nights (Overnight train)
to Xi’an 3 nights (Flight / Overnight train)
to Guilin / Yangshou 5 nights (Overnight train)
to Hong Kong 2 nights
From what I have read, all train tickets seem to have to be booked in advance at the train stations so I assume that you cannot simply roll up to the station and jump on the next train
Whilst happy to give Mandarin a go, I am slightly nervous of the prospect of holding up a long queue in Beijing station completely
lost in translation. Will the hostels book tickets for you for a small commission
Also, any advice on the best way of getting from Guilin / Yangshou to Hong Kong would be gratefully received - there does not seem to be much in the way of direct train services
Reply to this As someone who has never visited
China before, I just wanted to ask whether or not the expectations I have for seeing this vast country over a period of just less than 4 weeks are realistic
I suspect I may be spreading myself a bit thin!
I will be flying out to
Shanghai this Saturday (7 November 2009) and will be returning to the UK from
Hong Kong on Friday 4 December. From what I gather, China’s rail network is vast and efficient and my plans are to travel overnight using the Hard Sleeper ticket class
Shanghai 3 nights (Overnight train)
to Tai’an (Tai Shan ascent) 2 nights (Overnight train)
to Beijing 5 nights (Overnight train)
to Xi’an 3 nights (Flight / Overnight train)
to Guilin / Yangshou 5 nights (Overnight train)
to Hong Kong 2 nights
From what I have read, all train tickets seem to have to be booked in advance at the train stations so I assume that you cannot simply roll up to the station and jump on the next train
Whilst happy to give Mandarin a go, I am slightly nervous of the prospect of holding up a long queue in Beijing station completely
lost in translation. Will the hostels book tickets for you for a small commission
Also, any advice on the best way of getting from Guilin / Yangshou to Hong Kong would be gratefully received - there does not seem to be much in the way of direct train services
Reply to this Hi, yes China is a vast country but 4 weeks should give you an overview. I would suggest getting train tickets from your hostel or an agency, not only because of the language but also because the cities are HUGE and only to get to the train station will take valuable time, not talking about queuing time. My suggestions to your schedule is to spend less time in Guilin and Yangshuo. Yes, the scenery is lovely but there isn't much else unless you love tourist shops. You could spend a day or two in Suzhou instead, wonderful city with famous gardens and temples, it is on the way to Tai'an. Maybe Shanghai isn't worth three whole days. Love the dynamic of the place (and do visit the museum which is probably one of the best in China) but it is mostly about commerce. Xian is in my opinion much more interesting as a city, with a blend of muslim and Chinese and there are lot's of historical places in and around Xian. You could go to Hong Kong via Guangzhou, their is a rapid train connection between the two cities (around 2 hours frequent departures), and there may be more connections to Guangzhou, which in itself is worth a day, as a showcase for modern China.
China is a wonderful country and people are in general friendly and helpful but do have destinations, addresses of hostels etc. written down in Chinese, that way you can always jump into a cab to get you to the right place (cabs are very cheap and in general the drivers are honest).
Enjoy your trip.
Reply to this Thanks very much. This is really useful! Much appreciated...
Will certanly bear in mind your advice on my schedule. I but wanted to give myself a couple of days to acclimatise a bit in Shanghai so will spend two or three days there before moving on but will certainly look at Suzhou on my way to Tai'an...
The hostel I have just booked in Shanghai were kind enough to send me details and directions from the airport in English and Mandarin to make it easy to get a taxi so will make a point of having all the destinations, addresses and hostels in Chinese down on paper.
Ta.
Reply to this its pretty easy and super cheap to take a bus from guilin to anywhere in the pearl river delta area, guangzhou, shenzhen, whatever. I dont know if you can get a direct bus from guilin to hong kong. However if go to guangzhou or shenzhen the bus ticket will cost 50 RMB tops to get into hongkong.
Guilin is pretty and full or foriegners, or at least relative to a lot of other places. You should have no trouble finding people to help you with the bus situation there.
5 days sounds like a long time to me... but it will give you a chance to relax a bit from your hectic schedule.
oh and ps. Most trains in china are NEVER full... you can always buy a standing only ticket, which is really miserable. You can just walk up and buy a yourself ticket anytime but you might not be able to buy a seat if its busy and thus be forced to buy a cheaper but crappy standing only ticket.
If you have any questions feel free to send me a message, I live in zhongshan just across the bay from hongkong in mainland china
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