Itinerary
 

Shanghai (flying into & out of) Guilin-Yangshuo (want to stay here)
Beijing

What is the best way to include these 3 places in 18 days & end up in Shanghai for return flight? Intra-China air travel is rather pricey it seems. 24 hour train ride looks to be daunting. Any ideas or suggestions?

It's a triangle. You can do clockwise Shanghai - Guilin/Yangshuo - Beijing - Shanghai. Or counterclockwise.

Beijing - Shanghai can be done by flight or overnight train. The other two legs by flying.

Domestic flights are fairly inexpensive if you wait closer to departure date. 40-60% off full fare is common.

Thanks Rkwan. I think I may take the overnight train on the last leg of my journey, Beijing to Shanghai, where I will leave to get my flight to the States. And then take 2 air flights in between as suggested. I want to leave my itinerary as open as possible, ie. having heard that is the best way to travel in China, & being the footloose person I am, I like to "go w/the flow" when I travel solo.

If you are traveling in November, I'd suggest you do counterclockwise, Beijing gets cool before Guilin/Yangshuo.
Having 18 days is very nice, no rush at all. Check Ctrip for domestic flights, as rkkwan said, there are deep discounts to be found.

Yes, good suggestion, but I fly into Shanghai, & decided to start there first. So maybe Shanghai-Beijing( by late Oct.)-Guilin then back to Shanghai, instead of Shanghai- Guilin-Beijing (then back to Shanghai??)
I really wanted to fly out of Beijing but could not. I am flying on a ff mile free ticket, so I had to take what they gave me.

It cannot be said too often that Ctrip is not entirely reliable, and that better prices are very commonly available from local agents or even at the airports themselves. Better to book from local agents as you go, and thus be completely flexible. Certainly no point in dealing with an on-line agent targeting foreigners once you're already in China.

Peter N-H

I understand that your international leg is roundtrip Shanghai, therefore intra-China travel counterclockwise meant Shanghai - Beijing - Guilin/Yangshou - Shanghai.

We are on ff miles free tix in/out Shanghai around the same time too, when I get my intra-China itinerary settled, I will post GTG info for different cities, hope to meet you.

Peter, point well taken. Which is why I am kind of free-flowing my trip, due to lack of major funds right now. If I get the airfare for a good price, then I will go, if not, then....Plan B...yet to be determined.
Shainghainese: I would like to meet you also if we are in China in the same place at the same time. Let's keep in touch. You have a huge amount of travel knowledge & I have enjoyed your posts.

How do we deal with the fact that the new VISA applications have to have all the flight reservations?

I am a bit nervous about waiting to be there to get flight tickets any way but now have to show both hotel and plane reservations with applications.

Help!
Thanks

Barb,

My Visa application asks for my flight itinerary and hotel reservations, and I understand that to be the "r.t. tix from San Diego to Shanghai" and my first 5 days at a hotel which is pre-planned. Other than that, they just ask for my trip routing-itinerary within China, but don't need confirmed hotel reservations.
According to what I have read, it is easier and cheaper to purchase intra-China air tickets while you are in the country.

Thanks - lets hope that is the case. I have that much information.

When will you be getting your VISA? I will be going to China the first week in Nov so hope to wait until late Sept. to actually get it.

Have a great trip!

Barb,
I will be leaving San Diego on 10/22 & will be there until 11/11. I will be sending out my Visa application before the end of August.