Second stab at an itinerary

aug 10: arrive shanghai afternoon
11: shanghai
12: shanghai - overnight train - kaifing
13: kaifing
14: kaifin - zhengzhou - xi'an
15: xi'an
16: xi'an
17: xi'an - pingyao
18: pingyao
19: pingyao - taiyan
20: taiyan - wutai shan
21: wutai shan
22: wutai shan
23: wutai shan - datong
24: datong/caves
25: datong - beijing
26-30: beijing

is this still too rushed? have i missed anything better than i can substitute instead? as long as we've got one visit to an area of outstanding natural beauty. i'm not sold on wutai shan yet. is there somewhere near xi'an as an alternative? i'd like the opportunity to sleep in a monastary/temple, but had to change difficult plans to travel through annui.

sorry about all the qeustions, but i'm struggling to fit a decent trip into three weeks.

any help would be great.

thanks

sorry, i take it back, wutai shan looks amazing! can i fit it in with time to relax?

No offence, but note that it's spelt Kaifeng, not Kaifing nor Kaifin. And it's Taiyuan not Taiyan.
Your itinerary sounds ok otherwise.
Cheers!

This does look much more reasonable. Does the Xi'an - Pingyao train arrive in the morning? If so you get to spend the whole day there the day you arrive. If you are getting an afternoon train to Taiyuan the next day I think one night in Pingyao is enough if you want to create a bit more time.

Do you have somewhere to stay in Pingyao? I really liked the place I stayed in, traditional courtyard style place. They picked me up from the train station and had arranged onwards tickets for me (for a commission of course). If you want their details pm me and I will find them when I am at home. I recently recommended the place to a friend, her and her boyfriend stayed there and they liked it too.

Also in Datong I enjoyed the hanging monastery (or is it monastry) more than the caves.

wow....exactly what I am looking at in the next few days! Here in Huangshan now for a few days, then off to Kaifeng, Xian, Pingyao and Taiyuan (ellyse: thanks for the spellings...my LP book is not nearby!!). I will try and post my travel experiences at a later time.

Currently working on getting from here to Kaifeng...not an easy task!

You got "monastery" right the first time round, #3. :)
There're 5 trains at the moment (including 1 temporary train) going Xi'an -- Pingyao. Only 1 of these (train 2536) is an overnight timing (2007--0632) but it doesn't originate in Xi'an, it originates in Baoji. There's only 1 that originates in Xi'an and it's the fastest one of the lot though the timing is crap: train 1673/1676 (1432--2318).
#4, if it's not too much trouble, could you please help me check out what the conditions of the dorms with ensuite are like for Baiyuan Binguan and Tianhai Shanzhuang? Eg cleanliness, and how many beds in each dorm room? Both should be close (if not next to) to each other and no more than 500 metres from Guangmingding (Bright Summit). We're stuck with these 2 choices (we have 24 people!) and need to decide really soon!
Cheers!

I'd say less time at Wutai Shan. Not a bad place to visit once, but not worth spending too much time when there's so much else to see in China. I'd say spend an extra day in Beijing instead.

thanks 6

Quick update on Kaifeng. Not sure it is worth the trip. We spent 2 nights there and was not impressed. Hard to get to. Had an interesting "old street", but it basically a long tourist mall. The night market was OK, but not great. It is a huge city, about 6 million people now. So not quaint at all...traffic in the old city is a mess.

I would recommend Luoyang. Longmen Grottoes were fantastic....

Wow, maybe you missed something in the night market. I really loved it there, I think it was almost the only reason why I stayed so long in Kaifeng!
Cheers!