Mom & Daughter Traveling in July
Jan 15th, 2007, 03:09 PM
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Mom & Daughter Traveling in July
I am planning a trip to Shanghai, Beijing, Yangtze River Cruise & Xian for the month of July 2007 - does anyone have suggestions for hotels, restaurants, personal travel guides, etc.? Also, what about going to Bangkok? I've heard we shouldn't miss it. Anything else we shouldn't miss?
Jan 15th, 2007, 05:24 PM
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How long is the trip? What cities are your international flights in and out of, and can these be changed at this point (i.e. could you fly into Shanghai and out of Bangkok). What types of activities are you interested in. HOw old is your daughter. Have you been elsewhere in Asia before. These would all help focus responses better.
If I could make one initial recco, it would be that you consider postpoing your trip for a year and go in 2008 and attend the Olympics in China, I think that would be a great experience for you and your daughter. If you have never been to an Olympics, they are great fun and a great way to see a country when they are putting on their best show.
Also, another suggestion would be to skip the Yangtze Cruise. Since the completion of the dam, I don't think they are nearly as spectacular as they used to be, and I think you would find the pollution along the banks to be quite disappointing. There are many other more interesting areas of the PRC, IMO.
If I could make one initial recco, it would be that you consider postpoing your trip for a year and go in 2008 and attend the Olympics in China, I think that would be a great experience for you and your daughter. If you have never been to an Olympics, they are great fun and a great way to see a country when they are putting on their best show.
Also, another suggestion would be to skip the Yangtze Cruise. Since the completion of the dam, I don't think they are nearly as spectacular as they used to be, and I think you would find the pollution along the banks to be quite disappointing. There are many other more interesting areas of the PRC, IMO.
Jan 15th, 2007, 05:27 PM
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How fun! I was in China (Hong Kong, Shanghai, Beijing, Xian, Yangshou) for three weeks last year on a grad school trip and we did a pre-trip to Bangkok and Ko Samui. Search on my screen name for my Thai trip report.
Bangkok was easy to add on, especially if you fly from Thailand into Hong Kong. I wish we would've included Chang Mai in our Thai trip.
I unfortunately didn't get around to writing a trip report for China, but we also traveled mostly through a tour that our school set up.
We did do Xian on our own (sortof)- we booked through travelchinaguide.com and we could not have been more impressed. Our guide's name was Echo, she spoke great English and was incredibly informative about all aspects of China. She also ran the entire tour on our schedule and did a good job of tailoring it to our requests on the fly.
Have you looked at Yangshou/Guilan? That was a great side trip that gave us a better feel for China outside the big cities. The topography is like nothing else and a great place to take a bike tour for a few hours.
Some of our other memorable experiences were the Beijing Opera (it's terrible! but fascinating that they consider it music), the Shanghai acrobats, a day trip to Cheng Chau Island from Hong Kong, the Great Wall, Forbidden City and the warriors. Oh and having cocktails at night at the top of the Shanghai Hyatt Hotel!
All hotels were pretty good, I'm sure there's better, but I'm sure there's worse! The thing they all had in common (besides good breakfasts) were excellent locations for walking/shopping/eating and catching public transport to head further out.
Hong Kong-Holiday Inn Golden Mile
Shanghai-Sofitel Hyland
Beijing-Beijing Hotel
Xian- Hyatt
Yangshuo-Paradise (A fairly basic hotel, but i think that's about what you get out here. The trade-off's worth if though for the sights!)
Hope that helps! Enjoy your trip.
Bangkok was easy to add on, especially if you fly from Thailand into Hong Kong. I wish we would've included Chang Mai in our Thai trip.
I unfortunately didn't get around to writing a trip report for China, but we also traveled mostly through a tour that our school set up.
We did do Xian on our own (sortof)- we booked through travelchinaguide.com and we could not have been more impressed. Our guide's name was Echo, she spoke great English and was incredibly informative about all aspects of China. She also ran the entire tour on our schedule and did a good job of tailoring it to our requests on the fly.
Have you looked at Yangshou/Guilan? That was a great side trip that gave us a better feel for China outside the big cities. The topography is like nothing else and a great place to take a bike tour for a few hours.
Some of our other memorable experiences were the Beijing Opera (it's terrible! but fascinating that they consider it music), the Shanghai acrobats, a day trip to Cheng Chau Island from Hong Kong, the Great Wall, Forbidden City and the warriors. Oh and having cocktails at night at the top of the Shanghai Hyatt Hotel!
All hotels were pretty good, I'm sure there's better, but I'm sure there's worse! The thing they all had in common (besides good breakfasts) were excellent locations for walking/shopping/eating and catching public transport to head further out.
Hong Kong-Holiday Inn Golden Mile
Shanghai-Sofitel Hyland
Beijing-Beijing Hotel
Xian- Hyatt
Yangshuo-Paradise (A fairly basic hotel, but i think that's about what you get out here. The trade-off's worth if though for the sights!)
Hope that helps! Enjoy your trip.
Jan 15th, 2007, 06:05 PM
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Thank you all for answering...my dtr will be 17. We went to China on a whirlwind trip last April for 8 days & it felt like we were at a fabulous banquet but only got to taste the mini hot dogs! So, the timing is deliberate as we took the soft sleeper from Nanjing to Beijing & I loved looking @ the countryside. I am tentatively planning to go from about 7/19-8/20. We could go as early as 7/12 if we need to. It's been recommended that we try to go to Bangkok, as a fabulous add-on, but I'm not sure. We will definitely go to Shanghai (staying with friends there), Xian & Beijing. I thought the cruise would be interesting since the dam is going to do so much to the area...thanks for any & all help!
