kc3305

My wife and I will be in China for the first time May 19 - June 10. Below is our current itinerary
May 19 - May 23 (5 days) Shanghai
May 24 - May 28 (5 days including travel) Yangshuo
May 29 - June 2 (???)
June 3 - June 9 (7 days) Beijing
June 10 - Depart China

Anyone have suggestions for the May 29 - June 2 5 day gap? I realize that Xian is usually on the first timers itinerary but we would like to stay out of big cities seeing as we are spending time in Shanghai and Beijing. Other than that we don't have any specific interests beyond seeing something else/different. Any suggestions welcome. Thanks in advance.

rkkwan

Well, when you go to Xian, you'll looking at the historical sites including the terracotta warriors. It's not like you're only looking at new buildings in a big city. I think you shouldn't count Xian out.

kja

My very long trip report includes information about a few places I visited that weren't big cities:

http://www.fodors.com/community/asia...na-amazing.cfm

Iowa_Redhead

I know you said that you want something other than a big city, but Xian really didn't have the same "big city feel" that Shanghai did. I stayed in the center of town and spent time at the TerraCotta Warriors, the city wall and the drum and bell towers.

You could always combine a 2-3 days in Xi'an and 2-3 days in a small town. I don't know about your travel style, but I'd go NUTS if I had 5 days in most small towns. 2-3 days gives you time to settle in a bit and relax but not enough time to get bored.


You might also want to ask on the Trip Advisor forum. There's a lot more activity on that board than there is here.

tower

KC:
From Yangshuo, we thoroughly enjoyed driving (with car and driver I can highly recommend) to visit the rustic Longshen/
Longji Dong/Yao area..very colorful, village atmosphere. The dramatic terraced rice fields are eye-popping, photo-op'ing. You can visit for a day or two while staying in Yangshuo (or Guilin).
These are my pics of the region: From #103 onward describes the Longshen/Longji portion..#113 was just featured in the Los Angeles Times Sunday Travel Section). Have a great vsit to intriguing China.

http://picasaweb.google.com/stuartto...erAndVicinity# (If you wish to see Beijing, Xian and Shanghai, I will be happy to send them)

Stu Tower
[email protected]

Cicerone

I agree that you should consider including Xian, most of all because I think it fits your interests. You won’t see armies of clay soldiers anywhere else in the PRC (or the world). I agree it does not feel like a large city. It also offers a largely intact city wall and a charming old town area. It also has an excellent museum.

I could not spend 5 days in Shanghai. Not enough to see which interests me. Esp as you don’t want a big city. (Shanghai, with a population of 20 million is of course large than some countries.) The bad air pollution alone would drive me out after about 3 days. I love Beijing and there is a lot to see and do there (also bad pollution), but I wonder if you are sacrificing the ability to see other places by spending that much time there. Perhaps 5 days would be enough.

Off the top of my head, some other thoughts for places to go, in no particular order, are:

1-2 nights at silk “water towns” outside Shanghai like Zhujiajiao or Zhouzhuang
Lijiang – Tiger Leaping Gorge and the charming city itself
Dali
Chengde
Guilin
Ningbo
Durhuang and Hotan and silk road area (could be hot in June)
Tibet
Xiamen and countryside environs of Fujian Province
Hainan Island – the “Hawaii” of China
Hong Kong

There are so many places in the PRC. It more a matter of what to cut out than what to include,IMO.

JazzDrew

We added Tibet to our itinerary for a break of the big cities and to experience their unique culture for our upcoming holiday. I know we only have a few days, but we a willing to deal with the long flights and travel time for the opportunity to see Lhasa. I am also aware that we only have time to see Lhasa and the surrounding site, but at least we will be out of the mainstream large cities.

mostinterestingman

Xian must be seen. Can't believe you would miss this once in a lifetime chance to see the TerraCotta soldiers. And, you can walk the city wall, which is stunning. And in the old city, climb the bell towers, and eat at the oldest restaurant in the world. Small towns? I had to laugh. When we visited Suzhou (a wonderful city with amazing gardens and canals), we asked our guide what the population was. She said Suzhou was very 'small', only 2 million!!

tower

KC..I have to agree with "mostinterestingman"..Xian can be seen in just a day or two...at least the terracotta warriors. I first saw them in 1984,,and made a return visit a few years ago. Here are some pix that hopefully will get you to reconsider:

http://picasaweb.google.com/stuarttower/ChinaXian2007#

stu

kc3305

Sorry it took so long to reply back but thanks everyone for your advice. We arrive in the late afternoon to Shanghai so we really only have 4 full days in which we plan to incorporate 1 day at a water town (not sure which one). Anyone have suggestions/experiences for a watertown? We were really on the fence about Xian but after reading your responses we have decided to go. That should fill 2 to 3 days of the gap I spoke of earlier. I will do some research on the Longshen/Longli area. From the little I know I believe its about 3 hours drive from Guilin. We plan to take the train from Xian to Beijing. Are there any suggestions for a 2 to 3 day stopover enroute? I have heard Pingyao is a nice old town along the route from Xian to Beijing. I would welcome any suggestions about stopovers from Xian to Beijing or Guilin to Xian. Thanks again.

wasleys

While reading the posts before your last I was thinking of suggesting Pingyao for a couple of nights.

This may be of interest: http://tinyurl.com/clo2k9

rkkwan

Just want to make clear that even though if you look at a map, Pingyao sits right between Xian and Beijing, when it comes to logistics, it's not really a stopover point in the sense that New York is a stopover point when taking the train from Washington to Boston.

From Xian to Beijing, there are about 10 overnight trains (at least 7 with good timings, 4 with deluxe softsleepers, and two of them non-stops) taking about 11-14 hours. But these trains do not take the route going through Pingyao.

In contrast, Xian to Pingyao, only about 4 direct trains a day, and only one is air-conditioned - taking 9 hours overnight. Pingyao to Beijing is a bit better, with 3 A/C trains a day, but that trips take 12-14 hours, and one of those trains arrive Beijing at 4a.

Yes, Pingyao is interesting is worth visiting, but you are adding a lot of time to the journey, doubling the time on the train, and two nights on the train. It's not a simple "stopover enroute".

AmandaY

Agree with rkkwan, Pingyao is an ancient town for you to experience the Chinese culture when visiting Pingyao attractions with tranditional Chinese architecture.

Another suggested destination is Luoyang in Henan Province. Longmen Grottoes and Shaolin Temple (in Dengfeng City) are wonderful sites for you.