Shanghai and Hong Kong questions
 

I have always received good travel advice on here so i have a couple new questions about a proposed trip to China and potentially Japan in May 2018.
will be there for 9 or 10 days.
was thinking fly into Shanghai - 3 or 4 days, fly or train to Hong Kong - 3 or 4 days,
or possible fly from Shanghai to Tokyo for 2 nights then back to Hong Kong

open to suggestions, we don't mind going to the airport multiple times or staying in cities only 2 days.
is it too much to go to Japan and China - or should we just stay in China a pick a 3rd chinese city?

we were thinking US to London (spend 1 day) - London to Shanghai
coming back Hong Kong to US via London
using BA Avios so unless we go to LA first we have to route thru London

thanks.

"...we don't mind going to the airport multiple times or staying in cities only 2 days." "...is it too much to go to Japan and China - or should we just stay in China a pick a 3rd chinese city?"

Your question pretty much contradicts your first statement. My advice would be to visit Shanghai and HK. Full stop. There's so much to see & do in both cities, to add another would simply deprive you of the joys of all of them rather than add to the fun, as you seem to think might be the case.

When you bother to get yourself all the way to these world-class cities, don't wreck it by turning around and leaving 2 days later. You'll have a much better experience by limiting the loss of days spent changing locations to just one in the very short time you've got. Save Tokyo for a longer trip to Japan.

good advice...we have spend lots of time in europe doing 2 days in a city and moving on....but china will be very different from Europen Europe so i think we may just stay in China as you suggest....

i have been to shanghai for work for 6 days and it was amazing so I do have a feel for that city.

I totally agree with MmePerdu: I wouldn't even attempt Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Tokyo all together and in that short period of time. Yikes!

I was just in Hong Kong in Feb 2017 and had 5 nights and still didn't get all in that I would have liked to have gotten in. But, it was in the 5th week of my annual, 6-week trip to S.E. Asia and one, non-S.E. Asia country included.

I haven't done Shanghai, but as for Japan, I put it off for another trip, as in I'm leaving soon for Japan and have opted for only doing two cities in 2 weeks as this upcoming trip is going to get slowed down as I'm just back from Europe, this month, and was there at a fast pace as I have friends in different countries there. So, 4 countries in 3.5 weeks of which friends live in 3 of the 4. But, Europe is Europe and Asia is Asia and when it comes to Asia, I like to slow it down and really absorb it.

Happy Travels!

You might also consider Beijing and Shanghai, rather than Hong Kong and Shanghai, since you will have to get a visa for China and don't need one for HK.

I agree with a comment above about doing Shanghai and Beijing instead. The big advantage is that they are both in the same country. It means less time wasted traveling and passing immigration twice which means nearly a whole day wasted. In addition, Beijing is the number one tourist destination in China with the Great Wall, forbidden city and a lot more.
The only advantage of your current plans are that these options can be done without a visa.

"The only advantage of your current plans are that these options can be done without a visa."

Surely they need a visa for Shanghai, unless it's a very short visit? Actually, sounds like they may already have one.

Currently for anything less than 72 hours in country, you don't need a visa. I just read about that might be doubling sometime soon too.

jp4120- have you seen my current trip report on Hong Kong and Shanghai? If you feel like you have the time, I encourage you to take the train between the two cities. It was really fun.

I also agree that sticking to the two cities is the best course of action.

The comment above is not quite correct. You get a visa-free transit for 72 hour in a few cities, certainly not all.
For Shanghai, you can transit visa-free for up to 144-hours. That's 6 days. OP says that he will spend 3-4 days in Shanghai, so this certainly qualifies, hence my comments that the current plan's advantage is no visa.
Beijing announced that they will also offer the 144-hour visa free transit but we don't know when.

Have you heard of 'wu yi jie'? The is the May Day holiday which translates into 'massive one week chaos thruout China', esp if seeking to travel. Once the holiday is over normal returns but even that can be upsetting to alien tourists.

Great tips, thanks to all
coming from phila area - going thru london using BA avios. We are thinking of breaking up the 'to' travel by staying 1 night in london on the way over...and coming straight back. any thoughts on that...I have been to Asia but did not fly coach so I am wondering.

also i am thinking 3 nights in Beijing, 3 nights in Shanghai, 3 nights in Hong Kong..probably in that order...any thoughts

thanks again

There is more to see in Beijing than Shanghai so I would make it 4-2. In any case this is a matter of opinion.

I did book the airfare for May 2018, using BA points you have to book well in advance - 3 nights each in Beijing, Shanghai, Hong kong, we plan to take the train from Beijing to Shanghai but were wondering if we should take the train or fly from Shanghai to Hong Kong. Any other tips or must see/must avoids would be welcomed...thanks