My plan is to start my trip in Beijing and work my way through China, Tibet and finally into Nepal. Catching as many scenic highlights on the way as possible. My gut feeling is that this type of travel itinerary is far too big to be feasible or even enjoyable!
Has anyone out there tried to cover a similar amount of ground in a similar time frame? Starting in Beijing (Great Wall) and seeing Tibet is a must for me. I've also got Xi'an, Hubei, Cheng Du and Lijiany earmarked. Any ideas on how to bulk out/trim the trip would be greatly appreciated.
krishen86
1
ellyse
Can you afford to fly, or are you limited to overland transport? What's your daily budget like?
What time of year would you be travelling in?
Why Hubei?
My scenery picks would be Yangshuo, Huangshan, Jiuzhaigou, Tiger Leaping Gorge and Tibet (in general).
Cheers!
2
krishen86
I think overland travel is better suited to my budget (about £1000 or 15,280 Renminbi). I'm planning on spending £15 -20 per day (229 - 305 Renminbi). Travelling from July to August, with a couple of friends. Hubei (i'm probably showing my ignorance here!) is on the itinerary for Wudang Mountain and the Three Gorges Dam.
Yangshou seems highly recommend, but is does take the trip pretty far south, is it worth diverting the trip and losing a few days travel to see it?
3
ellyse
The provinces most well-known for scenery would be Yunnan, Sichuan, Guangxi and Guizhou. All these are in southern China. Like it or not if you're going to look for scenery then you would have to detour somewhat.
Does the total budget you named have to include your travel into and out of China? If not, there seems to be something wrong with the math...
Cheers!
4
krishen86
No, flights aren't included in that budget, although it certainly would be interesting to try! I guess I'll have to rethink my itinerary somewhat...
5
ellyse
Nono, I meant that, your arithmetic in #2 doesn't seem to match up correctly.
If your total budget is 15280 RMB, and you're travelling for 4 weeks (make it 30 days, easier to count), then your max daily budget should be 510 RMB. Not 229-305 RMB.
Or, do you mean that you can spend up to a total of 15280 RMB, but would like to keep it under 300 RMB/day, thus 9000 RMB for 30 days?
Cheers!
7
ellyse
Here's a suggestion.
Beijing (4 days) -- overnight train -- Huangshan (3 days including Hui-style villages of Xidi/Hongcun/Nanping) -- bus -- Hangzhou (1 day) -- flight -- Guilin (transit only) -- bus -- Yangshuo (3 days) -- bus -- Guilin (transit only) -- overnight train -- Kunming (1 day) -- overnight train -- Dali (1.5 days) -- bus -- Lijiang (2 days) -- bus -- hike Tiger Leaping Gorge (2 days) -- trek to Haba (1 day) -- bus (perhaps via Baishuitai) -- Zhongdian (1.5 days) -- flight -- Xi'an (2 days) -- flight -- Jiuzhaigou (3 days including Huanglong) -- flight -- Chengdu (1.5 days) -- train (2 days) -- Lhasa
Cheers!
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