Thorn Tree travel forum

1

Both areas of the country are lovely so either way you can't lose. In three weeks you can't see it all anyway, so you might want to just stick with your original plan. However, consider the following as a possible alternative plan......

Have you seen any pictures of the karst scenery around Yangshuo? If not, find some on the internet. If this scenery appeals to you (it is spectacular that's for sure!) maybe you should rearrange your itinerary to see it.

You could see Chengdu, fly to Lijiang (not sure if this is possible direct) see Lijiang and hike Tiger Leaping Gorge. Dali is a few hours south of Lijiang and I would skip it - again, you can't see everything and if I had to choose between Lijiang and Dali I would pick Lijiang because it's so beautiful (although others may disagree because Lijiang is quite touristed). You could then fly from Lijiang to Guilin (might have to fly through Kunming?) and take the short bus trip to Yangshuo and spend some time around Yangshuo. I would stay just outside of Yangshuo instead of right in town - there are a couple of hotels that are set amongst some lovely scenery. You could also spend time at the Dragonback rice terraces outside of Longsheng (close to Guilin) as an alternative to Yuanyang, before flying from Guilin to Beijing. Personally I would skip Kunming completely - time in the countryside would be much more interesting than another ordinary, polluted Chinese city.

If you think you may be back to China in the future you might want to do your original itinerary and save the rest for another time.

2

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We have already committed to spending 4 days in Chengdu

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Is there a particular reason for this commitment? If there weren't, you could certainly shave off a day or so and use that time somewhere else.

3

Definitely Yunnan instead of Yangshuo.

4

Wow.. thanks for the advice, we are visiting some friends who are moving to Chengdu that is why the time there is pretty hard to change..

However now we are now thinking we may be able to change our itinerary to something more like this with the advice of Sataraman ...

Fly direct to Chengdu -4 days in Chengdu ( would like to see Emei Shan & Jiuzhai Gou while we are there )

Lijiang - 3 days

Tiger Leaping Gorge - 3 days

Fly from lijiang to guilin

Yangshuo/Longsheng - 6 days

Lijiang fly to beijing - 6 days

This would seem to leave us with a more flexible schedule..... .... although im not sure how long it will take to see Emei Shan & Jiuzhai Gou while in Chengdu...

5

We visited both places in Dec/Jan,though we were lucky enough to have 6 weeks.Yunnan province was unforgettable,Tiger leaping Gorge,one of the most amazing travel experiences we have done,I think you could certainly do both,use the overnight trains if you can,to save on time and hotel rooms.Yangshou/Guilin is also magical though we saw the karst in winter so very hazy and foggy.Happy travels,China is simply wonderful though it may take you a day or two to fall in love with it.

6

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Fly direct to Chengdu -4 days in Chengdu (would like to see Emei Shan & Jiuzhai Gou while we are there )

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To visit friends and see Emei & Jiuzhaigou, you'll need a week. To do much of anything, you really need 2 days for Emei and 3 days for Jiuzhaigou.

7

#3 has got to be joking.

some of the most beautiful scenery you will find are in the Longsheng-Guilin-Yangshuo triangle.

have a look here: Yangshuo and surrounds.

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8

I would opt for Lijiang and TLG. Yangshuo is a bit of a backpacker haven, that's OK if you are into that sort of thing of course and there is some very nice scenery. Lijiang is also quite touristy but to a lesser degree. I think you have time to do both. I assume you want to see the Dragon's Backbone Rice Terrace from Longsheng, you can stay in the village at Ping An or at Longsheng. I would also reccomend checking out the Dong Bridge at Chengyang (again accomodation is available in the village.) Have a good one!

WeiLong in China

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9

I think it's a pity to miss Yuanyang, one of the most beautiful place in Yunnan.(photos on my blog if interested)
You could spend 3 days there, and 3 days in Yangshuo.
The rest of your itinerary makes sense. You'll have a wonderful trip.

Photos, travel stories, travel tips for various countries in Asia, Africa, Middle East, Latin America and Europe in Around the World

10

I would also very much opt for Yunnan province.
BTW, you need about 2-3 days to do Jiuzhaigou from Chengdu, assuming you're flying. If you're going by bus, add 1 day on each end for travelling time. I estimate about 2 days for Emeishan as well, again from Chengdu. We opted out of Emeishan since our motley crew were interested neither in Buddhist temple/kungfu nor getting molested by monkeys.
Cheers!

11

Lijiang to me was like Disney does China, imagine a quaint old Chinese town with every last building converted into a souveneir shop, utterly drained of all authenticity, UNESCO should be told. Use as a base to visit TLG, which shouldn't be missed. Dali was ok for a day. You could shave a day off Chengdu and Kunming each. If that gives you time for a few days to fly over to Yangshuo I'd recommend it, beautiful scenery.

12

In your new itinerary, you plan to spend 3 days in Tiger Leaping Gorge. Well, I recommend that you can shorten it by taking a one-day or two-day trip, which might save you a bit time. For one-day trip, you take the bus to the Middle Rapids, enjoying the most exciting part of the Tiger Leaping Gorge, which would need 3-4 hours of hiking. For two-day trip, hiking the whole Gorge would need 5-6 hours in the first day and 4-5 hours in the second day.

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