Todd

We will be in Guangzhou, Guilin, and Yangshou in the first part of Jan 03. Any advice on hotel bargains in these cities? Under $100USD, Clean, good location (shopping, siteseeing, eats, nightlife). Thanks.

Peter N-H

At that time of year you can have almost any hotel you want for US$100, and you will be able to get a good, clean, upper-three to four star hotel for around US$40, in fact. You should *not* book in advance, but merely show up, look at the posted prices, ask how much discount is being given at the moment, and then ask for a little more. You are unlikely to pay more than 50-60% of posted prices, and perhaps less (at the moment many hotels in eastern China are charging no more than 30-40% of posted--'rack'--rates. Rack rates are a positioning statement and a fiction, except, in Guangzhou's case, at the time of trade fairs).<BR><BR>I'm afraid I don't have detailed notes in front of me, but having recently visited several hotels in Guangzhou, I'd suggest the Customs Hotel, on Shamian Island. Not too big, new, clean, with sizeable rooms, and in a relatively quiet area of the city. If not there, then one of the many other hotels on Shamian. Guangzhou's attractions are not numerous, one of them is the old foreign buildings on the island itself, and you can get yourself close to most of the others (principally the Nanyue King's tomb) via subway--there's a station less than ten minutes' walk from the hotel.<BR><BR>'Yangshou', by the way, is spelled 'Yangshuo', and pronounced (very roughly) 'yang shwor', not 'yang show'.<BR><BR>Peter N-H<BR>http://members.axion.net/~pnh/China.html

orgy7

you could stay in a decent place for a month for a litle over 100 bucks in Yangshou..

henry

try LiDO Hotel in Guangzhou,Beijing Rd.<BR>Or surf ctrip.com

Andrea

Peter - Your &quot;Beijingren&quot; is showing! <BR><BR>I couldn't help but smile at your pronunciation of Yangshuo with an &quot;r&quot; at the end!<BR><BR>For others . . . the Mandarin Chinese spoken in Beijing is sort of heavy on the &quot;r&quot;s - it almost sounds like they add them to the middle and ends of most words. In Shanghai (when they speak Mandarin), they don't do that (I took a random sample of my colleagues to confirm that they all pronounce it &quot;Yang shwoh&quot. The Beijing style is considered correct or pure Mandarin, somewhat like Parisian French or the Queen's English - Beijingren make fun of Shanghainese for speaking Mandarin that sounds like staccato Japanese to them!<BR><BR>(The bottom line is, stick with what Peter recommends and you'll be fine!)

Todd

Thank you for taking the time to respond. Happy Travels!