8.5 days in China
 

Hi,

I will arrive in Beijing on 5 Septmeber and have 8.5 days to spend.

My plan is to spend at least 3.5 of those days in and around the sites of Beijing. After that does anyone have suggestions of must see places that I can get to in the time remaining. I am quite adventurous and love beautiful sites more than museums etc.

I am female and travelling alone.

I do have a friend offering to put me up in Hong Kong for 2 days, but I am wondering if HK is really worth it.

Any suggestions would be very much appreciated.

Hi

My wife and I did Beijing, Xi'an and Hong Kong last year in March. Beijing was a positive surprise while HK was not as great as expected. Well, we did get there just when SARS hit town so that did effect our mood. Anyway, I have posted a trip report and lots of pictures from our trip on my homepage gardkarlsen.com :-) I hope that you can find some useful information there. Get in touch if you have questions or comments.

Regards
Gard
Stavanger, Norway

You are going at a fairly good time. 3.5 days to see the Great Wall, Summer Palace, Tian An Men Square/Forbidden City, Tian Tan (Temple of Heaven), Beihai Park, several other worthwhile sites, parks, etc. is pushing it in my opinion. Have seen most of Beijing over several trips, however I feel that one needs at least 5-6 furious days to really see the highlights.

There are many places to see around Beijing. One is Chengde which can be reached by train. It's a lovely mountain city with lots of history and lots to see. You could go there early, overnight, and return to Beijing the next day. Another is Beidaihe, a seaside resort east of Beijing, also easily accessible by train. It is where the Chinese leaders hold "meetings" by the seashore!

Bottom line, I would say to do 5 days in Beijing, two outside of Beijing, and close with a whirlwind day in Hong with your friend. Of course that all depends on your flights/travel arrangements.

Hope you have a great trip. If you would like more info/have more questions please feel free to e-mail me at [email protected].

Michael

Keep in mind that PEK-HKG airfare is relatively expensive, and you'll also need another Chinese visa for returning to Beijing (i.e. a single-entry Chinese visa will not do).

gard/Mthomp77

would you recommend doing a side trip (maybe stay overnight) to Xian? Do it by flight/train?

Hi

As you can see in my trip report you can take an overnight train to Xi'an to take a look at the terracotta warriors. We took the route Beijing, Xi'an and from there we took a flight to Schezen to get to Hong Kong. Maybe this could also be an option for you :-)

Regards
Gard
www.gardkarlsen.com

I love HK, but would recommend you spend a day/night seeing the sights and then take a ferry to one of the outlying Islands, my favorite is Cheng Chau, a 2000 year old fishing community. It;s one hour by ferry from HK, and another world. I'd also recommend Lantau for great hiking.