Evan_Miller

My wife and I are planning a trip (just 8 days) to Hong Kong/mainland China and need some suggestions on itineraries given this is our first time there.

Questions we have:

1) We’d like to see as much of the Hong Kong/mainland China as possible – how many days should we spend in HKG? Do we have enough time to see Shanghai AND Beijing?

2) We thought about flying to Shanghai then taking a train to Beijing and fly home from there – but is that too much ground to cover?

3) Where’s the best place see the Great Wall, that isn’t covered with tourists/ tourist buses?

Thanks!

erictai

If you fly US carrier, then you can arrange the itinerary from SF/LAX to HK, then PVG, buy the overnight train to BJ, arrive in the morning, or use their new High Speed train, about 5 hours, then fly home from BJ.
I like Asian carriers, most of them fly late, arrive fresh in the morning, have a good sleep on the plane is crucial, but you have to arrive HK and leave from HK, Cathay Pacific, as an example.
Hope this helps.

Kathie

With just 8 days, I'd choose two cities. Decide what are the most important things you want to do/see/experience. While logistcally it's possible to visit three cities, you won't have enough time to do much in any of the places. You are already going to spend a lot of time in transit getting to/from China, don't spend a lot more of your time getting from city to city.

How much time in each place? You could easily spend eight days in any of those three cities.

rkkwan

With just 8 days total, I'd skip Shanghai. Hong Kong 2-3 days, Beijing 5-6.

Evan_Miller

Thanks all.

Kathie/rkkwan - So you recommend Beijing over Shanghai then fly home from Beijing? Do you have recommendations for best place to see the Wall that's not touristy?

easytraveler

Beijing has enough historical sites to last you all your 8 days and still have more to spare.

Shanghai is more the poster child for the success story of China's modernization. Overnight, seemingly, mud flats turned into skyscraper city.

Personally, for first time visitors like yourself, I think the recommendation of Beijing over Shanghai is a good one.

Evan_Miller

Thank you @easytraveler. Another question for you. Do you recommend booking domestic travel (Hong Kong to Beijing) before leaving the U.S. or wait til we're there? I've heard opinions on both.

easytraveler

Hi, Evan

It's hard to say because the travel scene in Asia is constantly changing, especially in China.

<i>It used to be</i> that I could just land in HK and buy a forward ticket into China right at the airport and those were the best rates, but I haven't done that in quite a long time.

Nowadays, I just go into a megasite like Skyscanner.net and make my reservations before leaving home.

The other consideration is that on a short trip like yours, you don't want to have to spend your precious vacation chasing a flight into China. Even if the cost were a few dollars less, it's not worth it.

So, I'd say on balance, book as much as possible before departure.

I would yield my position to anyone with much more recent travel experience for your cities.

Cicerone

Some thoughts and suggestions:

1. What month are you planning on travelling? This could make a big difference, as Beijing in January is very cold, while Hong Kong is pleasant mild weather. Also traveling during Lunar New Year in the PRC can mean very crowded public transport. There may be other festivals or holidays which you may want to include (or avoid), so it is helpful to know the month you plan to travel.

2. As others have said, 8 days is a very short time, and I can’t tell form your message if those 8 days include flight time from the US. If so, on the trip out, you will “lose” a day. So once on the ground, you may only have 6 days. Very short indeed. Even with 8 days, I would tend to agree that just picking 2 places is better. If you can fit in a flying visit to a third place like Xian, that might be a good add-on. Choosing 3 very large Chinese cities like Hong Kong (5 million), Beijing (11 million) and Shanghai (20 million) may be a bit redundant. But look at flight times to Xian and see if they work with your other travel plans. You could spend 1 night there, although that is a lot of travel, but in 1 day in Xian you could see the terra cotta warriors and a bit of the old town of Xian, both of which are very interesting and memorable. I personally don’t like to be rushed, but some people are OK with packing a lot into a short time.

3. I would look into doing the flights as a package, as that may turn out to be as cheap as trying to buy individual sectors. Also, if you only have 2 days in Hong Kong, the last thing you want to do is spend any time at a travel agent here getting airlines tickets. Look online at carries like Dragon Air and Air China to see if HK-Beijing (and possibly Xian) flights are cheaper than a package which includes your international flights. (Dragon Air is owned by Cathay Pacific, so you may also be able to get a package with Cathay which includes all sectors. It might be worth considering China Air for your international flights as well.)

4. IMO, the best portion of the Great Wall to go to is JInshanling. This is just under 2 hours by car from Beijing. It is further out than Badaling (the closest and packed with tourists) and Mutianyu (can also get crowded and the gauntlet of touts at the start is horrific, IMO). Jinshanling is far, far less touristed. It is also considered by many people to be the most beautiful part of the wall, as there are many intact towers all along the ridgeline. I was there twice this summer, once on a Sunday, where there were maybe 200 people in all (and no lines for entry or the cable car) and then on a weekday where we had the place almost to ourselves. There is a cable car up, and you can also do a very easy walk up in about half an hour. There is a nice little restaurant in the Jin Shan hotel across from the bottom station of the cable car which is good for lunch, or bring a picnic and have it on the Wall. If you send me an email at [email protected], I can give directions for the walk, there is also a good map and information at
http://www.greatwallforum.com/forum/...ling-walk.html (This map shows the route for an excellent 5-hour, somewhat challenging, walk to Simitai, but I believe Simitai is closed for repairs so you can’t go all the way there. You could ask on the forum shown on the link about the current state of Simitai. Simitai is probably about the same in terms of (lack of ) crowds as Jinshanling, but personally, I think Jinshanling is more beautiful than Simitai.)

Iowa_Redhead

<<<This could make a big difference, as Beijing in January is very cold,>>>

The time of year does make a difference, but I didn't find Beijing really that cold last December. It depends on what you're used to and how you dress. If you're going in the winter, you'll have a LOT fewer tourists to deal with but you'll want to dress in layers. I wore cuddle duds (think Underarmor or a similar light baselayer), jeans and sweaters and I was often comfortable without my coat. No matter what season you go, think layers!

I couldn't agree more with Cicerone about visiting Jinshanling. It was truly gorgeous! I felt like I was out in the middle of nowhere, but it was a pretty short drive from Beijing. I hired a driver online before I left home and he picked me up at my hotel. It was a fantastic opportunity to just sit and talk to someone from Beijing and ask questions.

As I was there in the second half of December, I had the Wall pretty much to myself. There were a few women who walk with you to try to sell you things and one attached herself to me for the second half of my walk but I was happy to have her. She pointed out safe places to walk when there were options and she frequently took my camera and took photos for me as I was alone. We met up with a small group of guys (3 or 4) and that was it for people on the Wall. I lucked out on the weather as it was a bright sunny day and I only wore my coat for the first few minutes.


I loved visiting the Terra Cotta Warriors in Xi'an but with your short time limit I wouldn't try it. I think Hong Kong and Beijing are plenty.