China and Japan help
 

Hello everyone (:
I am in desperate need of help. I was wanting to spend a few days in both China and Japan. Obviously a few days wont be enough to enjoy everything both China and Japan have to offer! The only issue I have is that idk exactly how much money I would need. I was planning on spending about two or three days in China and about one or two days in Japan! See I know I won't be enough time but I'm hopeful I'll see all I need to see in that amount of time! So the question here is roughly speaking how much money should I need just for these two places!? I am interested in doing some tourist things like shopping, fish markets, obviously eating lol, cheapest and best air flights, and cheapest hotels (don't have to be 5 stars to me) tours, tea/coffee areas with cats, and for example how much does the Great Wall of china charges.. Simple things like that. Or would I skip somewhere and go somewhere else for example hongkong instead of Japan... Would $1,000-$2,000 (US) be enough for two people? Please let me know and thank you

You are the person asking for Thailand help too. Look, two or three days in China and one day in Japan is crazy. You'll be spending far too much of your honeymoon in transit. Depending on where you are flying from, you might be able to arrange a stop-over on your way to or from Thailand. Tell us what city you are flying from and we can be more helpful.

Both countries offer options at a range of price points. Your best bet, IMO, would be to (a) consult some good guidebooks on China, which should help you identify price ranges, and (b) consult the section of japan-guide on budget travel for info on Japan:
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2028.html

Do NOT take tours in China -- they are basically ALL time-consuming rip-offs with guides who do not have access to information that is routinely available in guidebooks, but is NOT routinely available to residents of the country.

You can easily get to the Great Wall for just a few yuan using public transportation, or you can spend up to 100 USD (or more) to hire a car.

Will you need a visa for China? If so, that will add to the cost.

Good luck!

If you are from the US, the cost of the Visa for China ($140.00) is high for only a few days visit.Hong Kong does not require a Visa for US residents.

"I was planning on spending about two or three days in China and about one or two days in Japan! See I know I won't be enough time but I'm hopeful I'll see all I need to see in that amount of time!"

Unless all you want to see is planes, trains, subways and taxis, I really can't see how this makes any sense at all.

If I were going somewhere for work and had the option to add an extra night or two on for personal time, yes, there would be logic in a one or two night mini-vacation but otherwise? It makes no sense to me.

I can't even begin to think what of Japan you could see in one day. Not really even much of an overview of Tokyo, let alone anything else.

I've never been to China but. Two days, or three at a stretch?

I don't wish to be rude, I truly don't, but I'm sitting slack-jawed here.

I think you'll end up spending your entire budget just on getting from place to place!

How can I cancel this form? The reason I asked is because I thought I would have enough money and time to visit China only for three days of how honeymoon. I know it sucks to think that I could possibly do everything in three days obviously I can't but I was trying to be hopeful!

Wow, YessiCaridad -- if you don't like what we say, ignore us. I'm not sure what you gain by criticizing all of us, when some of us actually tried to give you information that might be helpful. But its your trip, your honeymoon, and your on-line reputation ... so by all means, do and saw whatever you like. Best wishes!

"do and saY..."

Yessi
No one is posting here with an intention to rain on your parade or to upset you. All I hope for when posting here is to help people make the most of their holidays, whatever their time, budget or interests.
The responses are here are intended only to help, and if you don't find them useful, you are welcome to ignore.
I know I'm not alone in wanting nothing more than for you to have a wonderful honeymoon, and hence it felt appropriate to make a gentle (and it was meant to be gentle) recommendation to try and visit less places in the time you have, in order to really enjoy each place you visit.
Best wishes

I didn't mean to sound rude or anything probably did since it is text, but I meant it as in you guys are right and honestly I felt stupid to post a dumb thing because when one of you said what's the point of going for two or three days it won't lead me to see anything which you are right! It sucks because I was hopeful I was going to see more than expected in three days, but no because it is a big city so I should plan it accordingly! If I did offend you guys I didn't mean too. I know you guys are here to help and you have no idea how much I appreciate it but please know that I basically felt like an idiot knowing that China and Japan in three days was pointless there is so much to do. So I wanted to delete it because I felt dumb for underestimating how much there was to do in China and Japan I was going to write a new post of what I came up with plan wise but now I feel worse because you guys think I meant to be rude I am truly sorry

I'm sure we've all made our share of mistakes. Not everyone is brave enough to come back afterwards or gracious enough to admit to it. So I, for one, am happy to welcome you back to Fodor's.

As noted above, you might be able to visit just a few highlights of Beijing affordably if your nationality and circumstances permit a very short term (e.g., 48-hour) visa. You would only be able to see a very few things, but with some research, you could see and experience some of its highlights. And even if you have to pay for a visa, there is a lot you can see and do in Beijing quite affordably.

I encourage you to do some research on your own -- perhaps using the sources to which I have already directed you, and when you have narrowed down your options, give us the information that would let us help you (e.g., where are you coming from, what are the visa constraints within which you are working, etc.).

Good luck!

Yeah again I am sorry I didn't mean to be mean and that's the thing i didn't even know that we needed a visa for China and ect. So I don't know where to get one here in Nebraska. I'm wondering do you think a week in China and Japan would be okay? Or should I just stick to China and then go to Japan just for the "gambling" lol idk I guess I'm just confused and sad cause I'm wanting to really do everything but I can't :/ please help me figure it out what do I do if you want you can personally email me so I can explain what I was wanting to do all together (:

Kudos on coming back! However, it really sounds as if you have done very little research. I strongly urge you to read some guidebooks - Insight, Eyewitness, Fodors, Lonely Planet, Rough Guide etc. if you have a Barnes and Noble near by you can usually read them in the bookstore with a cup of coffee. If your public library doesn't have rhem, do they have an Interlibrary Loan program? Worst case you can buy them used, try Amazon, Barnes and Noble and abebooks. You don't need the most recent editions at this stage.

For visa information visit the embassy website of the country concerned and look for visa or consular information.

For China:
http://www.china-embassy.org/eng/visas/

Sorry again and thank you I might go to Barnes and Nobel tomorrow since I have a doctors appointment where they have one available and yeah I'll research more on it! The reason is that I want to go to Thailand for two weeks and maybe then surprise my fiancé by going to China because that's where he's always wanted to go so hopefully one week will be enough (:

China is a very big country, with a lot of variety. What is about China that attracts him? Maybe split your time more evenly between Thailand and China.

He loves the culture and has always wanted to go see the Great Wall of china, terracota army, the temples there.. He wants to see a lot of culture and then he wanted to go to Japan just to see the gambling part what's it called pachinko but that's all he really told me

Yessi
From those lists, it seems that your husband is more drawn to China, in a cultural / tourism sense and has listed more attractions there.
Pachinko is such a tiny tiny element of visiting Japan, of course I know you know there is plenty more to see, but if it's really just pachinko that is coming to his mind, I would say to leave Japan for another time, you have many years of travel together ahead of you so you will make it there.
Also, don't forget to think about what sights you want to see as well, to create a shortlist that works for both of you.

Thank you guys again we are trying to learn and do more research on traveling to China. Again thanks and I know that I can count on you guys with any future questions (: