Sue molitor

We are going to Taiwan in February,2000 for a second wedding celebration of my son and his Taiwanese wife. We then plan on going to Hong Kong, Guilin, Xian and Bejing. What's the weather like in February in Bejing? Would it be too cold and icy to see everything? Could we do a cruise of the Yantze river? Our son and daughter in law, (who speaks Mandarin,) may or may not be with us for the whole trip due to work committements

Emily

Beijing will be COLD in February, but not so bad that you can't get out and still have a good time. Xian should be worse, but I don't know that from personal experience. We had a wonderful cruise up the Yangtze with the Victoria Cruise line last month (check their website at www.victoriacruises.com). However, I've heard that you can't cruise up the river until spring because the water level is too low until March or April. You'd better check on this before you leave.

Lincoln

You should also watch out for the timing of your trip. February 5th, 2000 is also the Chinese New Year. Basically, all the Chinese cities are shut down for at least 4 days. I think your Taiwanese daughter-in-law should know about it.

Lincoln

You should also watch out for the timing of your trip. February 5th, 2000 is also the Chinese New Year. Basically, all the Chinese cities are shut down for at least 4 days.

Michael Thompson

Hi Sue, <BR> <BR>I've been traveling to China for years. Met and married my wife there 3+ years ago.Chinese New Year (Spring Festival) may be a great time to visit. First of all the sites like the Great Wall, Summer Palace, Temple of Heaven, Beihai Park, Forbidden City, Lama Temple, etc. will not be crowded. How do I know this? I did a video for my mother on new years eve in February 1997. It was cold, however my driver took me to places that day that would have taken at least two days to do any other time. We went to the Great Wall at Badaling. THen the Summer Palace, Temple of Heaven, Beihai Park and I finally had him drop me off at Tian An Men Sqare so he could get home and have dinner with his family! Yes, I had been to all of those places before and didn't need to spend a lot of time figuring out where I wanted to go or how to get there. However, the traffic was non-existent and it was a great day. The city doesn't completely shut down. Also, there is Miao Hui, which I'm sure your daughter-in-law can enlighten you on. It's a fair that is held in all of the big parks in Beijing with great eats, fun things for the kids to do and interesting sites. I went to Long Tan Park in southern Beijing and took a video of at least 60 smiling tykes. What a wonderful time. <BR> <BR>Hope this helps. <BR> <BR>Michael