Shanghai, Nanjing, beijing

Hi guys....im planning a 12 days July trip to Shanghai from singapore, and returning from Beijing.....was contemplating whether should i pop by nanjing cause alot of reviews are saying nanjing's too hot to tour around during july....I was planning maybe a day trip to suzhou and tongli, and if nanjing is worth my time( and if its not as hot as most people are complaining about)then most prob i will stay about 2 days. Is there a direct train from Nanjing to beijing?

Yeah Nanjing is hot, but as that old chestnut goes: it's not the heat, it's the humidity. You certainly won't be escaping it by staying further to the south/east, but there's a reason Nanjing is one of China's furnaces and not Suzhou or wherever. I'd probably spend the time touring out of Shanghai; see some water towns, Suzhou, etc., but that's just me. Better trains to Beijing, too: a whole bunch of Z express trains and a couple of fast T trains; from Nanjing there's only one Z, a couple of T's, and a bunch of butt-breakers. For better/faster trains, hard sleeper tickets (if that's an issue) out of NJ are frequently hard to get through normal channels, so don't waste your time at the train station.

Yes, there is.
Shanghai (2.5 days) -- bus -- Tongli (1 day STAY OVERNIGHT!) -- bus -- Suzhou (1 day) -- train/bus -- Nanjing (2 days) -- overnight Z train -- Beijing (5 days)
If I were you, I would probably drop Suzhou or Nanjing and go to Hangzhou instead.
Cheers!

#1, if OP is from Singapore then s/he won't really have much problems with humidity and heat -- that's Singapore weather for you all year round.
Cheers!

Hmmm....ive read alot of reviews saying Nanjing is kinda under rated, so thats why decided to take a look myself, but guess that arent possible....Hangzhou...issit possible to tackle hangzhou under 1 day? Guess ive got to work out another itinerary....

Suzhou will be just as hot as Nanjing (within 1-2 degrees celcius), and just as humid.

Nanjing is worth a day or two if you can afford the time. Try Lu hao (a vegetable of the lower Yangtze) when in the area as it is one of my favourite vegetables...and wish we could get it back in Australia.

Hangzhou in a day would be quite rushed. I would prefer to do it as an overnight.
Cheers!

Alright....any good yet affordable hotels to intro in Shanghai, Nanjing , Beijing during july for 2pax? Preferably those with free internet access/wireless...coz bringing a lappy over most prob...having a hard time hunting as most of them charge accordingly...

#7, did you get my reply to your PM, or did it disappear into thin air?
If you didn't, please send an email to ellyse99@yahoo.com with "ThornTree Indignation" in the subject line, thanks.
Cheers!

actually i did( in fact 2x), but i didnt get any reply from you...hah
u wana check again? If not then ive gotta email u again

Uh, sorry #9. :( Could you please email me again with "ThornTree Indignation" in the subject line? I think my email might've been overzealous and booted you out.
Cheers!

anyway ellyse ive sent an email again....u can try to check again

Back to topic..most prob i will be planning to go nanjing for one day...but issit advisable?
I mean i can take the heat and humidity, but if it reaches somewhere like 43degrees then its something i may have to reconsider..

Ok have received. I checked and I did get your email earlier but didn't know it was you since you didn't say so in the subject line. :P Will try to reply ASAP since I just came back from a weekend trip to Huangshan (much better than my last trip, BTW) and have lots of email and forum backlog to catch up on.
Cheers!

You're from Singapore and worried about the heat?

Sheesh.

You should be fine.

Well..singapore doesnt have a record of 43 degrees or any beyond( and they say nanjing's a furnace)...im just being cautious dats all... ....
Anyway most prob i will spend a day trip to tongli, but was contemplating whether should i bypass suzhou, or maybe should i just pop by for like 1 or 2 hrs( coz i only plan one daytrip to a water villageo during my 4 days in shanghai dats all)
Do u guys happen to know any work out places( like outdoor pool, gym etc) ard Shanghai and beijing?most prob i cant afford those 5 stars hotels with such amenities( unless u guys have some very cheap one to intro haahaa), so gotta stick with the public ones....so anyone out there care to share?

I don't think Nanjing is actually all that different that Shanghai, Suzhou, and Beijing. They are all hot and humid that time of year. If you want to get away from the heat, go to Yunnan. Or Tibet.

Physical Gym in Shanghai, plenty of locations around town eg Raffles City (at People's Square), Hong Kong Plaza (on Huaihai Zhonglu). Not sure what's the rate for daily though.
Cheers!

Issit advisable to take a train from nanjing to beijing, or rather domestic flights instead? will it be alot more expensive to take flights?

Overnight Z train for Nanjing -- Beijing would still be the best choice.
Cheers!

icic..issit advisable to book the train tixs in advance while im still in singapore? Or issit a better choice to book once i reach shanghai? Contemplating whether which is better coz i dunwana go there and no train tixs available. Just in case there arent any train tixs, generally how much does it cost from nanjing to fly to beijing?

Huh, from Singapore? You must be joking.
Let me know if you want help with pre-buying the tickets, I'm studying in Shanghai.
Cheers!

oh okok...but how much does the soft seater( hmm not too sure bout the terms)costs? The Z trains dat's supposedly to be the most comfy ones eh

Soft seat? For what, Nanjing -- Beijing? You'd want a hard sleeper for that, if not a soft sleeper.
BTW, would appreciate if you could refrain from writing in "SMS language", thank you.
Cheers!

If you're going on the Shanghai -- Beijing Z trains, those only have soft seat and soft sleeper. I would advise you to take soft sleeper. Price is 478/499 RMB for upper/lower bunk.
Cheers!

Oh alright...thanks....but still contemplating whether taking a domestic flight from Nanking to beijing will be better chyoice or should i stick with trains....ive heard mixed reviews from both sides....guess taking a flight will be an option if i decided to make my stay in nanking slightly longer...anyway, how many hours beforehand do i need to be at the station b4 my train departs?

Well, who has been telling you to fly and who has been telling you to take the train? Think carefully about who is more similar to you as far as being a traveller goes. I personally would definitely take the train, much more time-efficient and cost-efficient.
BTW, in case you haven't noticed, I was offering to help you buy the train tickets. It's up to you to trust me or not.
Being at the train station 30-40 mins before time of departure is usually sufficient.
Cheers!

okok thanks for your offer...once i've confirmed with my travel buddy, i will contact you :)

Anyway this is my current itinerary...a tentatively one:

2nd july -6july in shanghai( most likely on 5july a daytrip to tongli)
6july morning taking a train ride to nanjing, explore around and spend a night there.
7july another day to explore, and taking a night train around 9plus overnight to Beijing
8july morning reach Beijing and stay till 13july noon
From there i will stopover at Bangkok and stay a couple of days before proceeding back to Singapore

I dont know is it enough to have just like 3 days in shanghai and 1 day in nanjing...and advices?

Too many days in Shanghai. I would suggest that you do an overnight trip to Hangzhou within those days.
The rest of your itinerary looks fine.
Cheers!

Oh...but im reaching shanghai 2july pretty late...say around 5ish pm or so...if an overnight trip to hangzhou, should i head to nanjing from there or back to shanghai again?

You should in that case go on the direct bus from Pudong airport to Hangzhou on 2/7. Then train Hangzhou -- Shanghai early morning 3/7. You then have 3/7 and 4/7 to spend in Shanghai, since you said you want a Tongli daytrip on 5/7.
Cheers!

Icic...btw ellyse...i need to book tixs for 2pax from shanghai to nanjing on the 7thjuly early morning, as well as another pair of tixs from nanjing to Beijing overnight train rite...preferably the most comfortable and fastest ones....how much will that cost in total? Is it too early to book now?

Yes, way too early. Tickets only go on sale 11 days in advance.
Cheers!