I am in information overload. I plan on a 3 week trip to China this fall. It will be my first time in mainland China. I have been to HK twice before, and do not plan to include it this time.<BR>Anyway, besides Beijing, Xian, Shanghai with a side trip to Suchow, what do you all recommend? I do not want to do the Yangtse cruise - it doesn't seem all that interesting to me. Is Guilin worthwhile?<BR>I am interested in Yunnan, maybe Lhasa too.<BR>I like visiting cities and I am considering Chungking and Chengdu. Are they worthwhile? Chungking, while chaotic, seems like a snapshot of China now.<BR>I know it may not be possible to fit all these locations in one trip. Feel free to cancel some out. I probably will make more trips. Help!!! Also, how many days would you recommend in each? Thanks in advance.

I agree with Beijing, Shanghai and Xian. Beijing I would spend 4-5 days if you can, because you will want to see the Great wall, the summer palace, and the forbidden city. Shanghai I would have at least 3 days, and don't miss the new museum. Both cities are wonderful for just walking around. Make sure you wander away from tourist areas and through the back streets to see the way people really live. <BR>We were just in Tibet last spring, and Lhasa is fascinating. The only way to fly there is through Chengdu, so you could see that also. (We didn't sightsee there, because of the tour timing.) If you decide to go to Lhasa, just remember the altitude. You may have trouble climbing through the Potala palace without some time to acclimate. If you can take the time, it is well worth it! FYI, there is a drug called diamox which can aid with altitude, if you can take sulfa drugs. Obviously this is a question for your doctor, but consider it if you decide on Lhasa.

I agree with Beijing, Shanghai and Xian. Beijing I would spend 4-5 days if you can, because you will want to see the Great wall, the summer palace, and the forbidden city. Shanghai I would have at least 3 days, and don't miss the new museum. Both cities are wonderful for just walking around. Make sure you wander away from tourist areas and through the back streets to see the way people really live. Guilin is pretty, but I didn't find it as wonderful as others seem to. The river trip is beautiful, but I prefer more people watching rather than scenery watching.<BR>We were just in Tibet last spring, and Lhasa is fascinating. The only way to fly there is through Chengdu, so you could see that also. (We didn't sightsee there, because of the tour timing.) If you decide to go to Lhasa, just remember the altitude. You may have trouble climbing through the Potala palace without some time to acclimate. If you can take the time, it is well worth it! FYI, there is a drug called diamox which can aid with altitude, if you can take sulfa drugs. Obviously this is a question for your doctor, but consider it if you decide on Lhasa.

Sorry, I seem to have hiccuped and double-posted.

Definitely spend at least 5 days in Beijing as there're a lot to see. Maybe you should also consider Hangzhou when visiting Shanghai/Suzhou?<BR><BR>Chongqing itself is not very exciting and is very polluted, but Dazu (with the buddhist rock carvings) is about 2-3 hours away by car and is quite an interesting place to visit.<BR><BR>Guilin & the Li River have got beautiful scenary, and is probably a good idea to spend one day sightseeing in Guilin itself and one day cruising down the Li River.

yea i just trekked through tibet/china/nepal and stopped in china<BR><BR>tibet is definately awesome its a neat trip, however the chinese dont allow you to enter Tibet as a free traveler u need to make reservations in advance(also try to do it here) i tried over there and they wouldnt take credit cards so i had to pay cash as far as other sights in china <BR><BR>do Beijing, Shanghai from Beijing you can take a train to the terra cotta soldiers, and also from Beijing you can take a train to Shanhaiguan, which is where the great wall meets the ocean (spectacular) <BR><BR>from Shanghai you can take a train to Nanjing which is the Southern capital of china and thats a neat city <BR><BR>also what you could do is go to Dalian which is at the northern most part of the Yellow Sea its a beach resort spot<BR><BR>also you might want to think twice about the Three gorges Yanghtse River trip reason being they are going to be shutting down the gorges and making that off limits to tourism so..........<BR><BR>anyway if you have any questions about Asia or China email me

p.s. think about how long your gonna spend there...........ive been all over china and asia and to be honest besides doing the major cities going to say Changsha, China is going to be the experience as going to Shenyang, China so keep that in mind