pat12

We are traveling with our young adult children who like outdoor activities, e.g., rafting, hiking, as weel as big cities. We have 3-4 days to fill in our tentative itinerary for 2 weeks in early June: start with 3 days/4 nights in Shanghai (which includes a day trip to Suzhou) as one child is finishing up a study abroad program in Shanghai, 1-2 days/1 night in Xi'an, ending with 4 days in Beijing. We'd originally hoped to go to Yunnan, but the flight connections would mean losing almost 2 days in transit, so we need other non-urban ideas for a more activity and outdoor oriented experience/less traditional sightseeing for 3-4 days. Also, our child studying in China has already visited Guilin area (e.g., Yangshuo), Huang Shan, and Chengdu. Thank you very much.

thursdaysd

cntours - no advertising is allowed on this site - did you not read that when you signed up?

pat12 - you need a good guidebook a lot more than you need this spammer. This is probably not the best site to ask about outdoor activities, you might do better on Lonely Planet's thorntree, which draws a younger crowd. I'm not sure how much rafting you're likely to find in China, but walking up sacred mountains is popular with the locals (Emei Shan, for instance, and see Palmer's "Travels through Sacred China"). Of course, Tiger Leaping Gorge would be a fabulous hike, but that's Yunnan (did you look at a combination of night trains and planes?). For another city you could look at Nanjing, which sounds interesting - although I haven't been there myself....

pat12

Frommers recommends Yandangshan, which is north of Wenzhou)
in Zhejiang Province--anyone know anything about this area? May be too off the beaten track for us, but we'd like to know more.

PeterN_H

> e.g., rafting, hiking,

You've picked the wrong country for rafting (you really wouldn't want to get close to most of the river water even if rafting as you understand it were widely available), but as for hiking, there's plenty of hiking in easy reach of Beijing, such as along sections of Great Wall or between them, around rural villages reachable by bus, and so on. Add some Beijing time.

> hoped to go to Yunnan, but the flight connections would mean losing almost 2 days in transit,

Are you sure this conclusion isn't merely the result of checking on-line sites such as Expedia, that (along with travel agent systems overseas) know nothing of the majority of Chinese domestic flights (and absolutely nothing about real prices)?

Peter N-H

pat12

I checked for flights on elong, ctrip, and vayama, and it's particularly hard to get out of Yunnan without a long layover in Kunming. And even the best connection to Yunnan (Shanghai to Lijiang through Kunming) requires leaving our Shanghai hotel at 7am and not arriving Lijiang until mid afternoon, assuming no delays. I have no idea how to check express train schedules. Maybe we should skip Xi'an? But I'm still curious about Yandangshan, too.

thursdaysd

For info on riding trains in China, and links to English-language timetables, see http://www.seat61.com/China.htm.

thursdaysd

OK, forget the train. A little research shows it taking two overnights from Shanghai to Kunming.

RaysAdventures

If they like hiking, try visiting the Huangshan Mountain Range (Yellow Mountains). By way of Hangzhou (Western China) we got to Tangkou and stayed a night before hiking up the steep trails and stairs, up and down the peaks of the range. No switchbacks here because they have carved many steps into the rock and go directly up and over the mountain ridges. The hike is a work out but the beauty is well worth it. Here is one view along the trail: http://www.raysadventures.com/china/...ns8-China.html

Many locals make their trek to the top a religious experience, while a few others pay a local to carry them up in a chair. If you are not energetic enough to make the hike you can take the cable car to the top, but if you do, I think you will be missing out on amazing experience.