Help with Itinerary Beijing to Shanghai March 17 - April 2

Replies: 17 - Last Post: 17-Mar-2007 02:04 Last Post By: amblin

jump to

ccity

07-Mar-2007 08:53
Posts: 6

Help with Itinerary Beijing to Shanghai March 17 - April 2

My girlfriend and I will be traveling from Washington DC to Beijing in March. Hoping for some help with the trip. Here is our current itinerary (with only minor research) any pointers would be helpful.

1.) 18 Mar 2007 - 21 Mar 2007 Beijing, Arrive 3PM
2.) 21 Mar 2007 - 23 Mar 2007 Datong
3.) 23 Mar 2007 - 24 Mar 2007 Tianjin
4.) 24 Mar 2007 - 25 Mar 2007 Jinan
5.) 25 Mar 2007 - 27 Mar 2007 Nanjing
6.) 27 Mar 2007 - 29 Mar 2007 Suzhou
7.) 29 Mar 2007 - 02 Apr 2007 Shanghai, Depart 6PM

Its really just a rough stab at it. I know we want to see the following: 1.) Beijing 2.) Hanging Monastery 3.) Yungang Grottoes 4.) Climb Tai Shan 5.) Shanghai

Other than that we have a lot of blanks to fill in between Beijing and Shanghai. As for background, My girlfriend speaks Mandarin pretty well (she is Chinese American), we are both in our early 30s and pretty adventurous/fit. We would enjoy some less touristy attractions or enjoying some beautiful scenery. Neither of us has been to China before.

I have the following questions:

1.) Any recommended stop offs/things to see between Beijing and Shanghai not listed above (we are purposely skipping the Terra Cotta warriors)
2.) Recommended means of travel to the cities above (We have money for travel/accommodations, but prefer to to the backpack/train route to meet others,etc.)
3.) Anything not on the itinerary we should consider? We are not against hopping on a plane and changing this all around if there is something in SW China to see that is better, etc. We really only picked most of these cities because they are on the route to Shanghai. To be honest the guide book didn't make any of them sound all that interesting.

Thanks in advance for any help.

ellyse

07-Mar-2007 09:14
Posts: 8,932

Ok, that sounds like a mess, poor both of you. :P Do you REALLY need to see Taishan and the grottoes? That really limits your possibilities somewhat. If you're not too picky about which one to see, I would pick Longmen Grottoes at Luoyang instead. It's a pity you're arriving too early for peony festival in Luoyang.
You have 16 days to travel. Right?
Cheers!

nir_valach

07-Mar-2007 10:28
Posts: 4

hey,

it is sounds like a mess, and i really think you should give some second thoughts to some of the places...
IMHO the "2.) Hanging Monastery" is definitely not a must in a 16 day trip to china... (and it's a bit of a pain to get there)

for Yungang Grottoes in dataong, you can take a night train, visit the site and take another night train back to Biejing, than head south toward Tai-shan.
a nice two-days trip from shanghai is huang shan, the yellow mt., if you have time

if you insist on visitin' the Hanging Monastery, you can check out Wu-Tai shan, which is one of the the four sacred Buddhist mt. but it's a mess transportation-wise...

best of luck !

ccity

07-Mar-2007 11:16
Posts: 6

Hmm, well that appears to be two votes for a "mess", If we do skip the grottoes, what would you guys recommend? I looked at Qingdao and some other areas, but there didnt appear to be much more to do. So from the experts, how would you adjust the itinerary?

jiejie

07-Mar-2007 16:02
Posts: 1,148

3 votes for a mess, at least with 16 days and doing ground travel. It's not as much time as you might think. And none of this has what I'd call "beautiful scenery." Alternate idea: If grottoes/Hanging Monastery are a priority for you, leave it in the itinerary. I've done all this as a round trip from Beijing in 48 hours, it's possible. Then from Beijing, take fast overnight train to Hangzhou, skipping Tianjin, Jinan/Tai Shan, Nanjing entirely. After a quick look around Hangzhou, head to Huangshan Mountains--which is bit of work to get to but rumored to be worth it. (Other TT'ers can chime in with likelihood of visibility in late March.) Then connect back through Hangzhou and head north by bus to see a water town like Tongli, Luzhi, etc. (en route to Suzhou) for a day or partial day. You should have time to spend a night/couple days in Suzhou then on to Shanghai. If you have an extra day in there somewhere, I'd stick it on Beijing--lots to see and do.

ZHET

07-Mar-2007 20:38
Posts: 1,328

A few comments to add:

No one has commented on the plan to visit Tianjin. AFAIK there is no reason to visit Tianjin unless your girlfriend has family there.

IMO the Hanging Monastery is worth a visit. Plan your train ride so that you get to Datong early in the morning, then you can take the CITS tour that goes to both the Grottoes and the Hanging Monastery. As you get off the train, CITS men should find you. I can't remember if the tour starts at 8 or 9 am.

You have no time to visit Xi'an? Many people find the Terracotta Warriors stunning.

!! Be warned that "students" who want to practice English with you may actually be scammers. In Shanghai they try the Tea Ceremony Scam. In Beijing it's the Art Student Scam. Be very wary if a stranger wants to speak English with you, especially if you are in a tourist area. !!

woolf135

07-Mar-2007 20:56
Posts: 1,610

I would do Xi'an like zhet suggests and if you want to do Tianjin, do it as a day trip. Tianjin is interesting because it was planned to be a city on the scale of Shanghai until the earthquake came and killed everyone. The definition of a washed up place. But great food and shopping, especially for those gifts you see at every tourist site in China but dont want to buy until the end of the trip-- they're all in Tianjin.

By the end of March, this whole corridor from Beijing to Xi'an get pretty dusty and sandstormy, might want to avoid the area, except for Xi'an and Beijing themselves due to mustseeness.

ellyse

07-Mar-2007 21:07
Posts: 8,932

You have 16 days to travel.
OP, I would redo your entire itinerary totally for you, if you can answer the following questions.
1) Which of these, if any, are must-sees for you? Hanging Monastery, Yungang Grottoes (must it be these particular grottoes, or will something else be fine?) and Taishan. Doesn't mean that it's a must-see if it looks like it's geographically "on the route", please.
2) Why no Xi'an? Please explain.
3) What's your budget like?
4) Apart from "less touristy attractions" and "beautiful scenery", anything else that you can elaborate on for your sightseeing interests and preferences?
Cheers!

ccity

08-Mar-2007 11:51
Posts: 6

Thanks again for the info. In light of the information (travel woes/sandstorms) we were thinking of abandoning some of the things between Beijing and Shanghai and maybe going someplace in southern China. Maybe you could help with suggestions. Here is what we are thinkign

1.) Beijing (3 days)
1a) Datong area (2-3 days)
or
1b) Tai Shan (2-3 days)
2.) Someplace in southern China with good weather (Haikou?) (3 days?)
3.) Shanghai (4 days)

Responses

1.) Nothing is a "must see" although Tai Shan sounded like a good challenge
2.) We are not thinking Xi'an because nothing there really appealed to us, is this a "must see" I have already seen about 30 of the terra cotta warriors in Japan and my girlfriend doesn't really care about seeing them.
3.) Consider a pretty good budget, Maybe $500 ish for travel.
4.) We have no preferences, we are open to all suggestions. Things that typical adventurous 30 year old couple would like to do, more "lets go" and "lonely planet" than say "frommers" if that helps.

Thanks!

ellyse

08-Mar-2007 11:59
Posts: 8,932

1) Datong is worth 2 days at the very most.
2) If you're after beaches, Chinese beaches aren't really worth the effort. Are you perhaps trying to say "warm" weather?

2) I (and many other posters, I bet) would beg to disagree, but the travel and itinerary are yours, so it's your loss if anything.
3) What currency is that in? And what does your $500 (in whatever currency) cover?
4) Please narrow down your scope. "Anything and everything" isn't a very helpful answer.
4a) Outdoorsy/hiking/trekking?
4b) Scenery (desert/water/mountains/karst/what else)?
4c) Historical (prehistoric/ancient/post-1911/Communist/modern)?
4d) Architecture (temples/ancient/modern/skyscrapers)?
4e) Culture and the arts (minorities/festivals/music/art/dance/local life/villages)?

Cheers!

ellyse

08-Mar-2007 11:59
Posts: 8,932

P.S. Kudos to you for not picking Fodor's. :P
Cheers!

ccity

08-Mar-2007 12:32
Posts: 6

Thanks again, more answers:

1.) Noted on datong.
2.) We will read about Xi'an, and will possibly add it.
3.) Lets say US$125 day for budget, including travel. We have money saved, and our budget ultimately is fairly unlimited, but we want to be reasonable.
4.) Outdoorsy/Trekking would be great, we prefer warm weather, maybe something Unique to China. Culture is secondary as I think anywhere we go in China we will encounter the culture. Not too interested in Historical sites or architecture.

Thanks for the heads, I did a search for Karst and China, that looks beautiful. Any recommendations on where to do some trekking/exploring of those areas?

Thanks

Rich

woolf135

08-Mar-2007 17:45
Posts: 1,610

because it's late march, you don't need to go too far south for some great weather. anywhere from shanghai to xiamen should have nice weather and blooming parks

i suggest xiamen/gulangyu/quanzhou/chongwu/meizhou island all in fujian province. google has lots on them all
and/or huangshan if you want to climb a mountain
and/or a more detailed shanghai area trip-- nanjing/shanghai/water town/hangzhou/suzhou

pratyeka

08-Mar-2007 19:39
Posts: 205

Luoyang is more interesting and closer to Taishan than Datong/Yungang.

Wutaishan sux compared to Taishan.

My recommendations for places not to miss, in order of interest:

0. Beijing -> Tiananmen (just go there, you dont need to do the Mao thing, the unremarkable museum, forbidden city or anything else in the area), Temple of heaven. Summer palace is good if you have time. Forbidden city is overrated I think.

1. Tai'an Area -> Taishan morning climb (or cablecar), MUST SEE Lingshan Temple just out of town, if you have time also do the major ancient palace thinggy in town (touristy but worth a poke). Nearby town of Qufu is the home of Confucius - the Confucian Forest (kong lin) is also OK if you have time, but I wouldn't go totally out of your way for it.

2. Luoyang (Longmen Grottoes, the Luoyang museum, stroll through botanical gardens if you want a green-break)

3. Nanjing (dunno never been)

4. Suzhou (at least one garden, one pagoda. One silk shop if you feel like spending but do yourself a favour and dont buy anywhere overtly touristy.)

5. Shanghai (DEFINITELY Shanghai museum, also the bund, Nanjing Lu)

ellyse

09-Mar-2007 01:39
Posts: 8,932

It sounds like you need to go somewhere NOT geographically directly between Beijing and Shanghai. :P
I think if those are what you're after, you might want to bite the bullet and head for Yunnan province -- either spend long days on trains, or the money on flights. I can't think of anywhere else that would be more suitable to your sightseeing and weather preferences. You might be able to fit in Yangshuo as well if you're going to fly all the legs, eg Beijing -- Yunnan -- Guilin -- Shanghai.
Cheers!

Subscribe to the latest messages in this branch.

Your Recent Threads

Announcements

Avatars!
Posted By: VenessaP -- 28-Jan-2010 15:01
How would you improve Thorn...
Posted By: VenessaP -- 09-Dec-2009 17:01

Latest Community News

	Speaking in Tongues Messages: 68,823 Last message posted at: 10-Feb-2010 03:17
	On Your Bike Messages: 30,512 Last message posted at: 10-Feb-2010 02:59
	Travel Tech Messages: 28,997 Last message posted at: 10-Feb-2010 03:06
	Kids To Go Messages: 26,289 Last message posted at: 10-Feb-2010 01:42
	Like a Sore Thumb Messages: 22,649 Last message posted at: 10-Feb-2010 00:02
	Trekking & Mountaineering Messages: 22,263 Last message posted at: 10-Feb-2010 02:03
	Travel on a shoestring Messages: 21,527 Last message posted at: 10-Feb-2010 01:00

Destinations

Asia: Destination information

Asia is a spectacular assault on the senses, whether you're riding the trans-Siberian railway, gazing up at the temples of Angkor, struggling with the immense tide of humanity in India, or trying to s... more »

Shop Online