22 Days in China - Itinerary Help (Yangshou, Chengdu, Lhasa)

Replies: 8 - Last Post: 02-May-2007 18:40 Last Post By: TheNatureBoy

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TheNatureBoy

01-May-2007 20:38
Posts: 4

22 Days in China - Itinerary Help (Yangshou, Chengdu, Lhasa)

Need some help on my itinerary. My wife and I (we are both mid 20's) are going on a architecture/planning tour of Beijing and Shanghai (and some immediately surrounding areas) as part of a graduate studies trip. We elected to extend our trip for an extra 11 days so we could see more than just the cities. The itinerary below is my first shot based on reading on this forum, LP guide, DK, and other web resources. I am still open to going anywhere, so if you think there is something I have that is not necessary, or something I don't have that we should try to squeeze in, just let me know.

Primary Questions
1. Can we get the necessary Tibet permits during our short stay in Chengdu? If not, would it be possible to get them while in Beijing (at Leo's), but with tickets leaving from Chengdu?
2. Is Tibet worth it on a first, but hopefully not the last trip? If no, then what should replace it?
3. Can I travel from Chengdu - Lhasa and then Lhasa - Xi'an? And, can I get into Xi'an with enough time to see the Terra Cotta warriors in the afternoon?

Please keep in mind that I can't change anything during the first 12 days or change my arrival/departure into/out of Beijing.

Sorry for the question overload, I have tried to research as much as I can thus far and would appreciate some feedback.

Thanks for the help!

(1-2) Travel to Beijing
(3) Fri, May 18 Beijing
5:20am Arrive in Beijing
(4) Sat, May 19 Beijing
(5) Sun, May 20 Beijing
(6) Mon, May 21 Beijing
(7) Tue, May 22 Beijing – Shanghai
7:25am Depart Beijing on Air China (see flight itinerary)
9:40am Arrive in Shanghai
(8) Wed, May 23 Shanghai
(9) Thu, May 24 Shanghai
(10) Fri, May 25 Shanghai
(11) Sat, May 26 Shanghai
(12) Sun, May 27 Shanghai
(13) Mon, May 28 Shanghai – Guilin – Yangshou
(14) Tue, May 29 Yangshou
(15) Wed, May 30 Yangshou
(16) Thu, May 31 Yangshou – Longsheng
-Dazhai? Dragon’s Backbone rice terraces
-wenquan (hot springs)
(17) Fri, June 1 Longsheng – Chengdu
(18) Sat, June 2 Chengdu
-arrange trip to Lhasa
-Panda Sanctuary
(19) Sun, June 3 Chengdu – Lhasa
(20) Mon, June 4 Lhasa
-Jokhang Temple
-Barkhor Bazaar
(21) Tue, June 5 Lhasa
-Sera Monastery
(22) Wed, June 6 Lhasa
Potala Palace
(23) Thu, June 7 Lhasa – Xian
-Terra Cotta Warriors
(24) Fri, June 8 Xi’an – Beijing – Los Angeles – Chicago
8:30pm Depart Beijing

Horse121314

01-May-2007 22:14
Posts: 61

1 You have to ask a travel agency offer you a Tibet Tour Permit, otherwise you are not allow to visit Tibet. You can leave for Lhasa from Chengdu. It's more easy to get train ticket there. There are train schedule to Tibet and Tibet Tour Permission from chinatourmap.com
2 Tibet is worthy to visit. The architecture is totally from Beijing and Shanghai. I think a trip to Tibet can help for your study.
3 Chengdu-Lhasa-Xian is OK. You need at least 2 hours to visit Terra-Cotta. that's mean you have to arrive in Xian before 3:0O pm

alexsh

02-May-2007 00:53
Posts: 9

You should get train tickets in advance. The permit, which you often don't even possess, is usually provided by a lot of the guesthouses that will buy the tickets for you. I heard you can get Beijing->Lhasa tickets in Beijing, and it costs the same and takes the same time, 48 hours, from departure. Both trains will go up into Golmud in Qinghai and then spend another day going down to Lhasa.

Tibetan architecture is very different. I think a lot of it was designed by Newari architects from Nepal. I think there was one monastery with Chinese, Indian, and Tibetan architecture on different levels (Samye? or the one in Shigatse?). If you had time, it might be worth getting out of Lhasa, say to Shigatse or Gyantse, where the Chinese influence isn't as strong.

nodak83

02-May-2007 00:59
Posts: 79

I'm actually pretty curious about your first question myself. I'm planning a trip in the opposite direction of yours, but will only be in Xi'an for a couple of days. I wasn't sure if that would be enough time to arrange for the Tibet permit or not. So if anyone has any insight here, I'd really appreciate it as well.

As for your itinerary, I'll tell you what everyone told me. You might want to find an extra day or two somewhere and put them into Lhasa. Altitude sickness can apparently knock you flat on your back for a couple of days, so you might want to take it easy, not cram too much in during those first two days. Chengdu to Lhasa should be no problem since that's the main transit point into Lhasa, but in my research I've only managed to find one flight going from Xi'an to Lhasa, which I assume is the same going the opposite way. I don't have a clue what time it lands, but I looked it up on elong.net . There's an English website and a Chinese one, I think, so if that's not quite the right address, you can google elong and find it.

Let us treat men and women well; treat them as if they were real.
Perhaps they are.
--Ralph Waldo Emerson

TheNatureBoy

02-May-2007 07:41
Posts: 4

Thank you for the help thus far.

Quote
Both trains will go up into Golmud in Qinghai and then spend another day going down to Lhasa.

So does the train ride take longer than 24 hours? If so, this only adds to the logistical problems created by going to Lhasa and makes me question further whether it is worth it. Is it worth getting a flight to speed things up?

Quote
As for your itinerary, I'll tell you what everyone told me. You might want to find an extra day or two somewhere and put them into Lhasa.

If that is the case I may just scrap Xi'an altogether and go Chengdu - Lhasa - Beijing -> Home. This would add a couple days of fudge room.

Does anyone know anything about Dafo, Le Shan, the giant buddha?

nodak83

02-May-2007 09:04
Posts: 79

Yeah, I'm not sure why everyone is commenting about the train, because from what I've read you clearly didn't ask about it, nor did you budget the time for it. Right now the trains between Lhasa and anywhere are running around 48 hours.

To be honest, if I were going to cut something, I'd be more inclined to cut out Longsheng than Xian. I can't speak from experience, only from research, but if you're spending your time wisely in Yangshuo and bicycling/busing/rafting around the area, you'll see nearly what you'd see in Longsheng. But like I said, I can't speak from experience, only what I'd choose to do. Maybe someone else would like to chime in here...

Let us treat men and women well; treat them as if they were real.
Perhaps they are.
--Ralph Waldo Emerson

TheNatureBoy

02-May-2007 13:32
Posts: 4

So the train is definitely 48 hours each way? Whether I go from Chengdu or Beijing?

I guess I can look into flights which should be quite an altitude shock, or scrap Lhasa altogether.

Any thoughts?

willowly

02-May-2007 16:40
Posts: 1

I just looked up the fast speed train from Chengdu to Lhasa, the total time is 44 hours 45 minutes. The Beijing to Lhasa train is around 47 hours. When I went to Lhasa 2 years ago I took the direct flight from Chengdu and found absolutely not problem with altitude sickness. If you are reasonably healthy, you shouldn't find much physical discomfort in Lhasa.

TheNatureBoy

02-May-2007 18:40
Posts: 4

#7 Thanks...very helpful.

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