4 Weeks Backpacking China Itinerary - Realistic?
Replies: 16 - Last Post: Jun 28, 2012 2:52 PM Last Post By: kremjo
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4 Weeks Backpacking China Itinerary - Realistic?
Hi ,I'm a 20 year old Australian male planning a trip to China,I will have,god willing,a 90 day tourist visa beginning on the 7th of September.I will be staying in Shanghai for 2 months at first on personal matters,visiting tourist sights nearby such as SuZhou,West Lake,HuZhou etc.Then i am planning to travel,for the remainder of my visa, in a counter clockwise circle from Shanghai to Guilin,where i will hopefully get a 30 day visa extension to continue my travels.This will be my first time travelling alone abroad! Here is a draft of that itinerary, comments and suggestions would be appreciated:
*Thur 01/11:*Overnight sleeper train from Shanghai to Beijing
*Fri 02/11:*Beijing;TianAnMen Square,Forbidden City,Temple of Heaven,Bird's Nest
*Sat 03/11:*Beijing Capital Museum,Beihai Park,Lama Temple
*Sun 04/11:*Summer Palace,Hutongs
*Mon 05/11:*Ming Tombs,Great Wall(BaDaLing),Night train to Pingyao
*Tue 06/11:*Pingyao city wall
*Wed 07/11:*Sightsee Pingyao,Night train to Xi'An
*Thur 08/11:*Terracotta Warriors,City Wall
*Fri 09/11:*Bus or taxi to Huashan Village,Hike to HuaShan North Summit for the night
*Sat 10/11:*Watch sunrise,Descend,Return to Xi'An
*Sun 11/11:*Fly Xi'An to Chengdu,Pandas in Chengdu
*Mon 12/11:*Begin hiking EMeiShan
*Tue 13/11:*Hiking EMeiShan (Reach summit?)
*Wed 14/11:*See sunrise,Descend,Leshan,Return to Chengdu
*Thur 15/11:*Day in Chengdu,Night train to LanZhou,Bus to XiaHe
*Fri 16/11:*XiaHe
*Sat 17/11:*XiaHe
*Sun 18/11:*Return to Chengdu,Fly to LiJiang
*Mon 19/11-Sun 20/11:*LiJiang,ShangRiLa,DaLi,Night train from DaLi to KunMing
*Mon 26/11-Wed 28/11:*Kunming,Night train to GuiLin
Also,I am semi-fluent in Mandarin.
My visa expires on the 5th of December,therefore i would like to be in Guilin on Friday the 30th or Monday the 1st at the latest.
Few Questions:
1)Is this too much crammed into the limited timeframe?
2)Enough time in Beijing?
3)XiaHe worth the travelling out there?
4)Will they grant a 30 day extension on top of a 90 day tourist visa?
Happy Travels!
1
Wow a lot to talk about here. The main problem is that you've loaded things up too tightly. Friday the second is too packed, unless this is more about checking off sights and not seeing much. You wont spend too much time at Tiananmen Square but you should plan on half the day at the Forbidden City. (5-6 hours), it's epic and really big. I would remove the Temple of Heaven and Bird's Nest from this day and add Lama Temple as it doesn't take as long to see it. The next day start early and go to the Temple of Heaven and then take the subway over to the Bird's Nest and Water Cube. I would seriously consider dropping the Ming Tombs as a destination, there isn't much to see compared to other sites in the city.Xiahe doesn't fit in very well with this trip unfortunately. It's better saved for a future endeavor.
*Mon 19/11-Sun 20/11:*LiJiang,ShangRiLa,DaLi,Night train from DaLi to KunMing
You're going to see Lijiang, Shangrila, Dali and then get to Kunming in two days?? You really need to look into the logistics of your travel. Check out the bus times in between Lijiang-Shangrila, Shangrila-Dali, Dali-Kunming...then add in the time it takes to find and get to the bus stations and then add your sleeping time=no time to see Yunnan!!
To Answer your questions:
1.Yes. Of course you can sit on these buses all month if you really want to, but is it worth it, of course not.
2. I think 1-2 more days would be really enjoyable and you could definitely see more attractions and more importantly spend more time at the really interesting ones (which ever you choose those to be).
3. I don't think it's a good idea for this trip. It's way out of the way. Add the two days to Yunnan and then your Lijiang, Shangrila, Dali, Kunming marathon becomes more manageable.
4. They very well might.
2
Yeah I have to agree with 1. I was trying to jam pack a province per weekend in between work e.g. I did datong- grottoes, hanging monastery, pingyao and wutai shan in a 3 day weekend. At some point, you're just ticking off the sites rather than enjoying the experience. I would ensure you get that visa by perhaps going to HK and plan your trip in two parts. Or cut a few things out of Beijing- it's not that great a city, especially if you're spending so long in Shanghai.3
That is a rather large itinerary, but we went last year for 3 weeks and crammed a lot in as well - so it can be done! One thing I would say though is try not get too caught up with having such a rigorous timetable. We got caught in the same trap after arriving in Beijing only to find trains to the destinations we were planning on visiting next were impossible to book onto. Ended up spending an extra day in Beijing (think 4 altogether at the start of the trip) before jumping an express train to Shanghai even though we didn't plan to go there...it was the only way we could get out of the city!But this is all part of the fun, surely?!
On our 3 week trip we did:
Beijing
Shanghai
Changsha
Dehang
Fenghuang
Guilin
Yangshuo
Beijing
That was a fair amount of time on trains & buses but we pretty much chilled out once we got to Guilin and Yangshuo.
So I would say if you want to cram as much as possible in, then go for it, but be prepared to be flexible and don't plan so hard!!
China is amazing - you'll love it. Just booked some more flights for this year too...whooop!!
4
Chinatraveling wrote:
Xiahe doesn't fit in very well with this trip unfortunately. It's better saved for a future endeavour.
Xiahe doesn't fit in very well with this trip unfortunately. It's better saved for a future endeavour.
Agreed. Returning to Chengdu from Xiahe can take anything from a day and a half (if you go back the way you came) to 3 days (if you work your way directly south via Ruo'ergai and Songpan.
You could always swap Xiahe for a trip to Kangding or Danba, out west of Chengdu. Or, as suggested, give yourself more time in Yunnan.
You could probably cut a day from Emei.
6
Thanks for the feedback!After some more research i have added a day to Beijing and taken out the Ming Tombs.Also,seeing as i will be in Beijing over a weekend,are there some attractions that will be really busy and worth doing on week days because of crowds?I have taken out XiaHe as well,figuring that ShangRiLa(ZhongDian) will give me enough taste of Tibetan Culture.
Here's my revised itinerary;suggestions and comments would once again be appreciated:
Thur 01/11: Overnight sleeper train from Shanghai to Beijing
Fri 02/11: Beijing;TianAnMen Square,Forbidden City,Lama Temple
Sat 03/11: Temple of Heaven,Bird's Nest Watercube
Sun 04/11: Summer Palace,Beijing Capital Museum,Hutongs
Mon 05/11: Great Wall(BaDaLing),
Tue 06/11: BeiHai Park,Night train to Pingyao
Wed 07/11: Pingyao city wall
Thur 08/11: Sightsee Pingyao
Fri 09/11: Night train to Xi'An,Terracotta Warriors,City Wall
Sat 10/11: Bus or taxi to Huashan Village,Hike to HuaShan North Summit for the night
Sun 11/11: Watch sunrise,Descend,Return to Xi'An
Mon 12/11: Fly Xi'An to Chengdu
Tue 13/11: Begin hiking EMeiShan
Wed 14/11: Hiking EMeiShan (Reach summit?)
Thur 15/11: See sunrise,Descend,Leshan,Return to Chengdu
Fri 16/11: Day in Chengdu,See pandas
Sat 17/11: Dujiangyan Irrigation System,QingCheng mountain (I do like my hiking)
Sun 18/11: Return from QingCheng to Chengdu
Mon 19/11: Fly Chengdu to LiJiang
Tue 20/11: LiJiang;Old Town,
Wed 21/11: Lijiang to ShangRiLa(ZhongDian)
Thur 22/11: ShangRiLa
Fri 23/11: ShangRiLa
Sat 24/11: Return to LiJiang,LiJiang to DaLi
Sun 25/11: Dali
*Mon 26/11:*Dali,Night train from DaLi to KunMing
Tue 27/11: Kunming,YuanTong Temple,Pagodas,Grand View Park
Wed 29/11: Stone Forest(ShiLin)
Thur 29/11: KunMing,Night train to GuiLin
Fri 30/11: Arrive GuiLin
Some more questions:
1) Would arriving in GuiLin after the weekend,on Monday the 1st(or Sunday night),with only 3 or 4 left on my visa be cutting it too fine?This would allow another 2 or 3 days of travelling?
2) On what elpeachos said, how hard is it to book train and overnight train tickets?
3) If i wanted to see Tiger Leaping Gorge,how many days would i need? Where would it fit into this itinerary?
4) Weather-wise will my trip to ShangRiLa be suitable?It will be mid-late November.
7
I can give you one more day of free time! The 18th you wrote "return from qingcheng to Chengdu. Actually that whole thing is an easy day trip believe it or not. (I've done it twice!) Get to the Train station early in the morning and then head to Dujiangyan spend about 3-4 hours there and then go back to the train station, Qingcheng is the next stop! Arrive and spend two hours getting to the top and an hour and a half down (spend more time if you wish). Arrive back in Chengdu around 7-8pm.Then you have the 18th as a free day. Let's call it hang out in Chengdu, catch your breath, eat Sichuan food, drink tea and people watch day.
1.That might be cutting it close.
2. It's tough to say because demand fluctuates day to day and you can't but them well in advance either. I wouldn't think November should be that difficult but maybe come up with some ideas for in case you can't get out of the big city till the next morning or afternoon, etc. It's a part of traveling man! That's why it's risky to have so many destinations, the travel time and logistics start eating into the trip and stressing you out.
3.You would want two days for Tiger Leaping Gorge (you can do a photo shoot or a grueling one day there but overnight is the option of most hikers as it's a beautiful place to spend time.
4. Lonely Planet says "Plan your trip for between March and October. During winter the city practically shuts down and transportation is often halted completely by snow storms." Does anyone have any expertise on this? Perhaps you can visit some of the many Tibetan area in Sichuan province!
9
Hi ,First thing, 2 Months in Shanghai Area, Hope you won't missed Huangshan. (3 hrs from Hangzhou)
Second thing, You can download the train Schedule App from App Store, or else, download a pdf file of the Train Schedule. If you need it i can send you.
*Fri 02/11:*Beijing;TianAnMen Square,Forbidden City,Temple of Heaven,Bird's Nest
+I'm afraid that you will stuck in front of Forbidden City. (Hope Friday is not holiday, the queue may be not much people) , Spend more time in Tiananmen and Forbidden City, cos The Temple of heaven will not take you more than 2 hrs. Suggest you to move temple of heaven to other day, cos you just arrive Beijing and you won't have a full day.
*Mon 05/11:*Night train to Pingyao
+Please search for Datong - Hanging Temple. In my opinion, more exciting than some place in Beijing.
+You can wake up at Datong and visit this place then take a bus 3 hrs to Pingyao
*Tue 06-10/11:*Pingyao-Xian
Sun 11-14/11:Chengdu-Emeishan-Leshan
*Thur 15-17/11:*Day in Chengdu,Night train to LanZhou,Bus to XiaHe and Back
*Sun 18/11:*Return to Chengdu,Fly to LiJiang
+after Emeishan,Leshan, Take 2 day to Jiuzhaigo and back to Chengdy, go to Deqin , Zhongdian from Chengdu By Bus is worth to visit. and you can take a bus from Zhongdian to Lijiang.
+I'm not sure maybe Xiahe your favorite, in my opinion I will spend my time to Jiuzhaigo and Deqin. This place is the most memorable place.
*Mon 19/11-Sun 20/11:*LiJiang,ShangRiLa,DaLi,Night train from DaLi to KunMing
+You may need 1 more day for Lijiang and reduce your time in Kunming. then change the flight from Chengdu-Lijiang to Kunming-Guilin instead.
*Mon 26/11-Wed 28/11:*Kunming,Night train to GuiLin
Few Questions:
1)Is this too much crammed into the limited timeframe?
You're still young! Add more!
2)Enough time in Beijing?
Yes, Enough!
3)XiaHe worth the travelling out there?
My answer is replace Jiuzhaigo, Deqin, Zhongdian instead.
4)Will they grant a 30 day extension on top of a 90 day tourist visa?
Sorry, I don't know.
Have a nice trip!.
12
i would cut out the trip to the stone forest, which may be the most boring site known (IMO, of course) and add another day hanging out wherever you happen to feel like at the time. i know you want to fit in as much as you can, but i still think you are travelling a lot and not leaving time to just look, watch, appreciate, chill. enjoy!13
I think you should do Tiananmen, Forbidden City, Behai Park and Hutongs on the same day. There are really nice Hutongs in this area and the other places are all close to each other. Personally, I got really bored with the Forbidden City and much preferred wandering around Behai and Houhai generally. You get a really good idea of the scale of the Forbidden City from the top of Jingshan Park which is across the road from the back of the Forbidden City. I can't agree with #2 - Beijing is very different from Shanghai and I think you are spending the minimum amount of time there.I loved the Tibetan areas of Sichuan that I visited but in the time you have allocated, it will be a bit of a rush.
Any other comments I might have about your itinerary are dependant on where you are planning to go for the next 30 days should you get an extension to your visa. Can you afford to do any internal flights?
Being able to speak Mandarin will help to get about more efficiently, but you still need to be prepared for delays.
14
Thanks for all the comments everyone,chinatravelling, good idea about a day of relaxing in Chengdu after Qingcheng
krejmo, i like your idea of flying from Chengdu to Shangrila,could save me some time. From there i could make my way down to tiger leaping gorge and then Lijiang.
kunmingirl,is the stone forest really that bad? it looks pretty spectacular.
Here are some weekend trips i will be planning from Shanghai as well:
Huzhou, Suzhou, Huangshan, West Lake and maybe Beijing. Anything i have missed? Would it be worthwhile making a weekend trip to Beijing from Shanghai? This would free up a couple of days in the itinerary.
As for the 30 days after(if) i get my visa extended in Guilin, i would like to see Yangshuo, Zhangjiajie,Maybe Hainan, Guangzhou and eventually onto Hong Kong where i would fly out from.
Any estimates on the cost of this itinerary? I will have about $10,000 AUD or so (having paid for my flight there and after my 2 months in Shanghai).
