Beaten path?

it's all a bit overwhelming this China thing! I need help for basic itinery to start with. Starting with shianghai, with three weeks to get to biejing via xi'an, is there a beaten path on this route, sticking with mainly trains and the odd bus? i don't want to follow everyone else round the route, but i don't want to miss out on the good stuff either. help! where would you go?

I made 3 stops between shanghai and xi'an: kaifeng (12h overnight train), luoyang (2-4h bus) and huashan (4h train and 15 min taxi from luoyang, 3h bus to xi'an). All 3 places had some (western) tourists, but not many. It does need to be said that I was traveling there in mid december, so it was low season.
A possible stop between shanghai and kaifeng is Nanjing, which is about 4h from shanghai and 8h from kaifeng.

So do you need information on China or what makes sense like places to visit? You can check out my blog at Working, Living and Travel in China

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<hr>is there a beaten path on this route<hr></blockquote><blockquote>Quote
<hr>i don't want to follow everyone else round the route<hr></blockquote>Aren't you paradoxical?!
Answer the following questions and I'll help you with itinerary ideas.
1) When will you be travelling in China?
2) What are your sightseeing interests and preferences? "Anything and everything" is NOT a valid answer.
3) What's your budget like?
I presume this is your 1st trip to China.
Cheers!

Aye, sorry for being a pain. i wanted to know what the general beaten path. was then adapt it or are needs. we're not off till august so expect more of these vaugue posts!

we'll be travelling for three weeks in august (the last three). hot and sticky i know but my wife's a school teacher so our hands are tied.
i'm looking for somewhere to see china's natural beauty. sacred mountain of some kind? big lake? jungle? because of my wife's back problem, any mountain would need a cable car option. sleep in a temple of some kind? bonus! either between shaingahi and xi'an or xi'an and biejing.
on top of that (not asking much eh?) if we could find some smaller chinese town/villages along the way. i know small in china is probably the sixe of london, but dammit it's my trip and i want small!

our budget's alright. we'll try and get by on as little as possible as we always do. rats and peepholes being the order of the day, but we can stretch to $160 a day between the two of us.

thanks for the help

ollie

Tropical jungle might be a little hard to find in China. :P
I think you might consider doing the Silk Road the major 3 cities, or the major 3 cities whatever smaller destinations along this route. I think the former option would involve a lot of flying though, because of the distances involved.

a) Beijing (4 days) -- flight -- Urumqi (transit only) -- flight -- Kashgar (1.5 days) -- overnight train -- Kuche (1.5 days) -- overnight train -- Urumqi (3 days including Heavenly Lake) -- bus -- Turpan (2 days) -- bus -- Dunhuang (1.5 days) -- bus/train -- Jiayuguan (1 day) -- train (1 day) -- Xi'an (1.5 days) -- overnight train -- Shanghai (2 days)

b) Beijing (5 days) -- overnight train -- Datong (1 day) -- overnight train -- Pingyao (1 day) -- overnight train -- Xi'an (2.5 days) -- flight -- Jiuzhaigou (3 days) -- bus (1 day) -- Chengdu (2 days) -- train (1.5 days) -- Shanghai (3 days)

c) Beijing (4 days) -- overnight train -- Pingyao (1 day) -- overnight train -- Xi'an (2 days) -- bus/train -- Luoyang (1.5 days) -- bus -- Shaolin Temple (1 day) -- bus -- Zhengzhou (transit only) -- train (1 day) -- Hangzhou (2.5 days including Xitang) -- bus -- Huangshan (3 days including Xidi/Hongcun/Nanping) -- overnight train -- Nanjing (2 days) -- train -- Shanghai (2 days)

Cheers!