Back from China - Beijing, Xi'an, Yangshuo, Yunnan
 

Hello all,
Just returned from 3 weeks in China, and had an amazing time. This board has always been so helpful, and now it's my turn to answer any questions you all have. I did keep a journal, however, I haven't (and probably won't have time) to type anything up and post it here. But I thought I would post a very brief description of our itinerary, and I can answer any specific questions you have.

Started in Beijing. Spent 4 nights at the Wangfujing Grand Hotel. Did the usual sights (Forbidden City, Summer Palace, etc.) Went to the great wall at Simatai. I went to Badaling 15 years ago, and Simatai was a much better experience.... far fewer tourists. However, the downside is that it was much farther away, and our 3 hour bus ride back to Beijing turned into 6 hours due to a car wreck (not us thankfully).

Overnight train to Xi'an. Terracotta Warriers and spent the night at the Hyatt.

Flew to Guilin. Spent 2 nights at the Golden Elephant.

Li River cruise to Yangshuo. Nice, but pricey. I think you can do it cheaper, on a local boat, but we never had time to look into that.

3 nights at the Paradise Yangshuo. We loved Yangshuo... much more than Guilin. Bike riding (and getting lost) in the countryside, bamboo rafting, Water Cave, Longjing River Driftage (this was so much fun!)

Taxi to Guilin, flight to Lijiang (with a stop in Kunming). We loved Lijiang. What was supposed to be just a few days, turned into 5 nights. Spent the first 3 nights at the Sanhe. What a great, charming hotel. We loved it. Had to move because the Sanhe was full, so spent the next 2 nights at the Grand Lijiang, which was miserable. I call it the "Grand that wasn't so Grand". The Sanhe was charming, had a cool breeze at night (there is no a/c, and I was cold at night), clean, quiet. The Grand Lijiang (which was close by) was HOT and loud. Our room overlooked the square in the old town and it was noisy all night long. Under any other circumstances the Grand would have been fine, but we already saw how great the Sanhe was and we were disappointed to move. And the Sanhe was cheaper!

Day trips to Tiger Leaping Gorge and Jade Dragon Snow Mountain. The gorge trip was fine, but the Mountain trip was miserable... we were stuck on a tour bus all day with many stops that we didn't care about. In hindsight, we should have just taken a bus by ourselves to the Mountain.

The outdoor food near the Grand Lijiang Hotel was incredible!

Bus to Dali. Spent 3 nights in Jim's Guesthouse. Horseback riding up Cangshan Mountain, rode bikes to Caicun, ferry across the lake, and rode to Wase.

Flew to Shanghai. 2 nights at the Peace Hotel.

Overall, we experienced great food, great people, great foot massages. Rented bikes in every city (some with no brakes, some with no gears) but it was all a part of the experience. After doing it in China (especially Beijing and Xi'an) riding in the States will never be the same again!

Let me know if you have any specific questions.

travelersusan:

Welcome home!

Can you tell us a little more of the overnite train ride to Xian. We are planning a similar trip in the spring.

What kind of accomodations did you get and is it what you expected?

How was the food in the train? I am assuming most of the ride was at nite?
How much did it cost?
Where did you purchase the train tickets and how much?

What did you think of the Wangfujing Grand? Would you return? Good location?

Thanks and Aloha!

I'll soon be spending some time in Lijiang and Yangshuo. As for Tiger Leaping Gorge, did you trek it or take a bus? How did you make arrangements for that? Also, in Yangshuo did you see the weekend performance/light show? If so, was it worth it? I also see there are some cooking classes available there. Did you do that? Any specifics that might be useful?

Thanks a lot! K.

We had a deluxe soft sleeper on the overnight train to Xi'an which was really nice. We had a private room to ourselves (2 beds) and a private bathroom. I walked through the regular soft sleeper cars, and they looked nice as well. 4 beds per room, and bathroom down the hall. I took this type of train several years ago in Vietnam and it was fine, we just opted for the deluxe. If the deluxe wasn't available, we would have no problems doing the regular soft sleeper.

We did book this train before we left for China, as I heard that sometimes the soft sleepers sell out. I don't know if this is true, but we didn't want to take any chances, especially since we knew what date we wanted to travel. I can't remember the website that we used (I unfortunately deleted those sites) but I would recognize it if I saw it, so I'll keep looking.

I didn't eat any food on the train. We grabbed dinner at the train station, and had our own snacks that we brought with us. yes, it was a night train.... so we left around 8:30 and arrived in Xi'an around 7:30 or 8:00. I can't remember exactly how much we paid... since we had to pay a deposit, and then the rest in cash once we arrived. I think a little over $100.

All of our other travel arrangements were not make until we go to China.

We liked the Wangfujing Grand.... walking distance to the Forbidden City. Beijing is a huge city though, and cabs are a must for most farther places. Clean, nice rooms. We had the deluxe double. The power did go out one morning, and they were so apologetic... it was almost amusing. Everyone we encountered there was extremely nice... they even let us have a late checkout. Would definitely stay there again.

Kudzu,
We didn't trek the gorge... we just took a bus to the upper gorge and walked around. We were told that it is too difficult to trek the gorge in July and Aug. because of the rain. I'm sure people have done it, we just didn't want to take the chance. We booked a tour in Lijiang which was easy... there are many little tour agencies in the Old Town. It was us, and 2 other Chinese families with a guide that we couldn't understand! But we basically just used the tour for transportation. It was easy, and worth it. I'm sure public bus can get you there just as easily.

Sorry... can't help you with Yangshuo... we didn't do the light show or cooking classes. I did hear the show was worth it, but we just never got around to it. We were so tired from biking in the countryside and rafting, that once we sat down for a Tsingtao (ok... several Tsingtaos) we never got up.

Lijiang and Yanshuo were 2 of our favorite places... have a great time!

My sister and I hope to do a similar trip next May. We'll also have about 3 weeks. The only difference is we'll subtract Dali and add Lhasa. Was Dali special? Did you enjoy Lijiang more?
Other questions...
did you book your hotels in advance? And if so, over the internet?
Did you use guides and, if so, did you arrange them in advance? How expensive were they?
For your trip to the Great Wall, you say you took a bus? Was it specifically a tour bus? A large group? How expensive?
For sightseeing in Beijing, did you just use taxis and go on your own?
Is Guilin even worth a stop? We had considered going straight to Yangshuo, but we might do a daytrip to the Longsheng rice terraces and I think it's easier from Guilin - is that right? Do you know?
I'll probably have tons of other questions but will give you a break at this point! :-)
Thanks in advance. I can't wait for our trip!
Karen

One more... I'm assuming you saw the terra cotta warriors while in Xian. How did you arrange it? By taxi? A group tour?

tks,
Karen

Thanks a lot for taking the time to reply!

K.

Comparing Lijiang and Dali is hard, because they are similar. I liked Lijiang a little more, but this didn't take anything away from Dali. It really is a give and take... I think the old town in Lijiang is much prettier, but it is also much more developed and touristy. There are more activities in Lijiang, which also means more tourists. If I had to choose one over the other, I would opt for Lijiang... even though it was more crowded, I got a better feel for the traditional Naxi culture... met amazing people, ate great food. I don't think you would miss too much if you skip Dali. The main thing I loved about Dali is that we could get away from it all... we went on a bike ride to Wase and didn't see another tourist for hours.

We booked the hotels in Beijing and Xi'an over the internet before we left, and just winged it for the others.

Most of the time we were alone, but we did have guides sometimes. We had guides to Tiger Leaping Gorge and Snow Mountain, however, they only spoke Chinese. We don't... and so we used the tour mainly for transportation. We did have a guide for the bike ride/bamboo raft in Yangshuo.. mainly because we only had a few days there, and didn't have the time to figure it out on our own, but I'm sure it would be very easy without a guide. The rest of the trip we were without a guide.

The bus to the great wall... still not sure exactly what it was... not exactly public bus, not private tour. The lonely planet guide mentioned that some busses leave for Simatai on the weekends from a certain bus station... so we just showed up and hopped on. It wasn't a tour in the sense that there was no real guide... it just mainly provided transportation. I think we paid about Y90, which also included the ticket to the wall.

Beijing we did completely on our own. We either took taxis, walked, or rode our bikes around.

This might not be a popular answer, but if you aren't going to do the Li River cruise, I would skip Guilin and go directly to Yangshuo. Guilin has beautiful scenery, but it is also extremely developed, touristy, crowded, etc. The growth and the number of buildings takes away from the charm. Yangshuo has the same scenery, with a much more laid back feel. We also found more to do in Yangshuo, and could have even stayed an extra day or so. Sorry... don't know about Longshen.

In Xi'an, we took a public bus to the warriors. Bus 306 leaves near the train station. Incredibly easy, and much cheaper than doing a tour. We didn't really have any interest in the other sights, so public bus was the best option for us.

Hi there
I have a few questions for you. I'm leaving for Beijing this Sunday and will be staying in the Haidian district. I will also be visiting Hangzhou, Suzhou and Shangai. What is the weather like there? Is it humid? Also, how safe and reliable are taxis there? I want to avoid getting ripped off by taxis. I know in Beijing, I'm staying kind of far from some main tourist attractions and will probably need to take a cab. Also, if I choose to board the MTR, is it pretty easy to find your way around using it? Are maps of Beijing and Shanghai easily accessible at the aiport? Also, I will be arriving in Beijing at 5:20am...can I even exchange money at that time?

What about shopping? Is it difficult to haggle with vendors there? Are there lots of malls in Beijing and Shanghai? I know I've had trouble haggling with some very stubborn vendors in Hong Kong and I felt that I really could have done much better.

Travelersusan: Glad you had such a great trip. How long was the bus from Lijiang to Dali? And was your flight from Dali to Shanghai non stop, or with a stop somewhere? Thanks!

Don.... yes, hot and humid! If I recall correctly, Shanghai was much more humid, but we had just come from the Yunnan province where it was much cooler, so it might have just seemed hotter to us.

Taxis were fine - no problems at all... we just made sure they used a meter, and coming out of the airport we made sure to use a taxi in the taxi line, as opposed to the other cars that were trying to get our business. One funny thing we learned is that in some places, taxis couldn't be flagged down on the street (like here in the States) but had to stop at a taxi stand.

I assume you are asking about the subway?? If so, we only rode it once, and we were in such a hurry to get to our destination (theater tickets) that we simply scanned the map, got a ticket, and hopped on. And we actually ended up in the right place! I didn't exchange money until I got to the hotel (my friend already had currency) but I'm sure there is an ATM at the airport to get money.

Sorry, can't help you with the shopping. I'm not a shopper at all, but there are plenty of mall in both Beijing and Shanghai.

The bus from Lijiang to Dali was 3 hours. If you are going to the Old Town, make sure your bus driver knows this, or you will be dropped off in Dali city, and have to take a taxi to the Old Town. Our bus driver dropped us off right outside of the Old Town.

We had to fly from Dali to Kunming and Kunming to Shanghai... no direct flights.

You mentioned that you made most of your travel arrangements once in China. How did you go about it? Local travel agents? And was it a problem getting the flights you wanted? I've heard it's cheaper to book them there, but I'm worried that the flights we want will be full and am wondering if it's worth the risk. We'll be on a fairly tight itinerary.

Topping.
Also, did you by any chance ever find the website that you used to book the overnight train from Beijing to Xian?

Was it this one:

http://www.china-train-ticket.com/#beijing

Or maybe this one?

http://www.chinatripadvisor.com/engl...FQidHgodnn0ICQ

(I'd really like to book through a site that I know worked for someone else! Once you booked, how did you get the tickets? At the station?)

thanks for the links. yes, it was the china trip advisor site. My friend booked the tickets, but I think it was fairly easy. She had to pay a deposit online, and then paid the rest in cash when they delivered the tickets to our Beijing hotel.

We booked the flights either through local travel agents or hotels. I've also heard it was cheaper to wait and book there, but I never compared prices so I don't know. We always found it easy to book there, and always got the flight we wanted. We might have just lucked out... sometimes we were told that there were only a few seats left. Make sure you have plenty of cash. The travel agent in Dali would only take cash for the plane tickets.

The markup from ChinaTripAdvisor.com isn't too bad. US$68 for Soft Sleeper Beijing-Xi'an is only about 30%, or about $15, over the actual price.

Thanks, I'll probably use China Trip Advisor. I noticed there's the option to splurge on the deluxe soft sleeper (with just two compartments). That's probably what we'll do. I appreciate all your help.