alley

I have an opportunity to go to China for the 2nd half of February and would like to visit these cities. Will it be horribly cold then? I could trade Hong Kong for Shanghai if necessary, but really want to see Xian and Guilin. What are your opinions on this please?

Nancy

If you have not already been to Hong Kong, then I would definitely recommend you switch if for Shanghai. Shanghai will be cold in the first place, and in the second I don't think it is culturally a very interesting city. It has some fantastic modern architecture in the form of skyscrapers and it has the Bund which looks like Europe, but it is a huge, sprawling and quite polluted city. I think every believes it is still like the 1930's, but it really isn't any more. I personally think Hong Kong has more to offer the visitor, but I am prejudiced as I lived there for 5 years.<BR><BR>Hong Kong will have nice weather at the end of February, although you may get a little rain. The winter months are the best weather in Hong Kong. It is too bad you can't go at the beginning of the month for Chinese New Year. <BR><BR>I believe Xian will be very cold, as it is out on the plains (check a website for average and historical temps). However, I would so encourage you to go, not only for the clay soldiers which are fantastic, but for the city itself. Xian is one of the few Chinese cities that has its entire city wall intact. There are so many interesting neighborhoods around the wall, especially the area near the main Moslem temple. They have a good museum as well (to get warm...) The clay soldiers in a covered building protected from the wind so that should not be a problem. <BR><BR>I think Guilin will be more temperate, but I have not been there in the winter. Check the website. If it looks very cold or rainy, you might consider another city, as so much of the beauty is being outdoors and on the water. <BR><BR>If you haven't been to Beijing, you might want to do that instead. I don't want to rearrange your whole itinerary, but you should consider including Beijing in any event. It will be cold, but it is beautiful in the winter and very uncrowded.<BR><BR>Hope this is helpful. Enjoy the trip!<BR>

alley

Thanks, Nancy. We've been to Beijing. Is it fairly easy to fly from Hong Kong to Xian and Guilin?

Nancy

Since I was last taking these flights, the have added a lot more direct flights from Hong Kong to each city as well as flights between Xian and Guilin. A good site to check is flychina.com. You put in your itinerary and it even gives prices. <BR><BR>I took a quick look myself and would recommend that you take Dragon Air whenever possible. That is a very good Hong Kong based airline. Some of the more local Chinese airlines are not that reputable. There does not seem to be a Dragon Air flight between Xian and Guilin, you would have to choose one of the local ones. I will check with my former assistant in Hong Kong as to what she would recommend as far as the airlines offering services between these cities. (She is a Chinese woman with very definite opinions about this subject, there were certain airlines she would not allow me to fly!)<BR><BR>I will be back on this thread later this week with recommendations for airlines between Xian and Guilin. Hope this is helpful.<BR>

alley

Thanks!

Nancy

Dear –<BR><BR>OK, my assistant's recommendations for airlines between Xian and Guilin are (i) Air China and (ii) China Northwest. She had not heard of Xianhua Airlines, so it may be very new or very local. <BR><BR>For hotels in Xian, I would suggest you stay near the city walls if possible because they are quiet picturesque and there are interesting neighborhoods around them. I have stayed at the Grand New World hotel near the West Gate. This is operated by Marriott, so you may be able to use Marriott Reward points if you have them. I liked the hotel, and it has an indoor pool which is nice for the winter. I think an even better choice would be the ANA Grand Castle, as is just across from the South Gate, which is the portion of the city wall where you can get up onto the wall and walk it (or take a golf cart tour). There is also a good shopping street near the South Gate. You could walk to all these, and even to the Bell Tower and Drum Tower from the hotel. I have not been in the hotel, but it is run by a Japanese chain, and I think it has 5 stars, so it should be nice. There is a Hyatt, Sheraton and a Shangri-La, all nice hotels, but their locations are not as good, especially the Sheraton which is quite a way outside the city walls.<BR><BR>The neighborhoods near the Great Mosque are very interesting and also have some great &quot;antiques&quot; and souvenirs and much better prices than Beijing. My favorite are the red leather hat boxes for the mandarin's hats, I bought two (yes they fit in the overhead compartment....)<BR><BR>More on hotels and Guilin in the following message...<BR>

Nancy

To continue....We had a very good guide when we went to see the clay soldiers. Her name was Ms. Jang (full name Jang Zhang Lin, last name comes first as you know). I was last in Xian about 3 years ago, so I am not sure she is there, but I would highly recommend her. She works for China International Travel Service, the state-run tourism agency. The phone fax and e-mail for the Xian branch are below, you might contact them:<BR><BR>tel: 86-029-539-9999 (you may not need the 0)<BR>fax: 86-029-526-1558<BR>e:mail: [email protected]<BR>website: type in Xian China International China Service in your browser, and click on what appears; if you use their website address (citsxa.com), you will get a site in Chinese<BR><BR>If Ms. Jang is not available, I am sure they can provide a good guide. I like the private guides rather than bus tours, the fee is reasonable (I think we paid $40 per person) and I get more out of a personal tour. You can also arrange guides or tours through your hotel as well. One of the options for the tour is to also see the Banpo &quot;ancient man&quot; site, I actually did not think this was exciting, but if you are interested in archeology, you would enjoy it.<BR><BR>As for Guilin, there is a Sheraton on the river which is nice. There is also a hotel called the Royal Garden also on the river, which may have slightly better views. I don't know anything about the hotel, it looks nice from the outside and it is 5 stars so I would think it is OK. I don't have any recommendation for a guide in Guilin.<BR><BR>A good website for hotels in china is Hoteltravel.com, as they have a map of each city showing the location of hotels. As you are traveling in Feb, you should be able to get very good prices.<BR><BR>I looked at an average temp website and see that the average temps for Feb are as follows:<BR><BR> Guilin 46 degrees F<BR> Xian 32 degrees F <BR><BR>Hope this is helpful. Have a great trip!<BR><BR>