help with independant tour please
 

I am planning a trip to China in September next , and am hoping to book our hotels myself from home , and our day tours as we go,with free days along the way too.We will have twenty three days in all.
My main concern is in relation to our internal flights. I have looked at WACTS.com and other booking sites suggested here ,and have found many of the flights that I could use, but wonder if I would be safer booking with one of the Chinese agents? Flights seem to change all the time , fly , not fly and that is one of my concerns.
I have also read the suggestions that I could book flights on arrival, but would that be time enough for the Yunnan part of the trip, where there may not so many daily or very frequent flights around that area? We are going to spend most of our time between Kunming, Dali ,Lijiang and finally Zhongdian , before flying to Guilin, Hangshuo and maybe on to Longsheng and the rice terraces before a few days in Sanghai and Suzhou.
I would be grateful for all suggestions and help with my trip plan , especially with the Yunnan part of the trip.
Is a day spent at Longsheng worth while or instead have an extre free day in Yangshou? Sorry if i seem a little all over the place ,and thanks in advance for your replies.
marymai

A couple of years ago I flew from Kunming to Dali but then hired a car and driver to Lijiang and then up to Zhongdian. It was a wonderful trip. I then flew back from Zhongdian to Kunming but then picked up another car/driver and drove down to the Vietnamese border (where a Vietnamese car/driver met me). Fascinating hotels - mostly not 4 star but wonderful experience. My driver recommended excellent local restaurants. With a little pre-planning you will have a great trip. I went in November and it was really cold but September seems an excellent choice. Pat

pat: When you say really cold in Nov, is it like the lakes freeze over?

Wacts.com is a Chinese outfil with an office in Chicago. They kept up with all of the flight changes and gave us tickets in China that reflected reality. I liked having all of the internal flights arranged in advance and didn't mind paying more for not having to deal with tickets in China.

You can find more details about our dealings with wacts.com here:
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34682619

thank you all for the helpful replies, especially Marija the positive comments om WACTS.com . i would be way too nervous to wait till i was in China to book flights . I am planning and booking this trip for myself and two friends and want it to be as smooth as possible , but still organise it myself.