NeoPatrick

OK, so here's the deal. Traveling alone and my One World Pass flights are booked, so I can change actual dates for flights within the itinerary but can't change destinations or order.

This part is "written in stone": I arrive in Shanghai on Tuesday, Aug. 3 at 2PM. I depart from Changsha (Southeast China) at 11:30 AM on Saturday, August 28. Between those times I MUST fly from Shanghai to Osaka (for Kyoto) and then fly from Osaka to Beijing. Presently I have that set to fly Shanghai to Osaka on Aug. 11 at 1:25 PM and to fly from Osaka to Beijing at 9:50 AM on Aug. 16 (five nights in Kyoto). The dates of those two flights can pretty easily be changed, but those flight times are pretty much the only choice on any day.

So I'm thinking with 8 nights in Shanghai, to spend 6 of those staying in Shanghai itself (two days for the Exposition, do a water town or two and perhaps a day trip to Hangzhou), then fly to Xi'an early the 7th morning for the rest of that day and all the next day in Xi'an --- two nights there. I would fly out of Xi'an to Shanghai/Pudong early in the morning to meet up with my flight to Osaka. I'm thinking I could add a third night to Xi'an (should I?) by delaying my flight a day to Osaka and perhaps cut my stay in Kyoto to just 4 nights instead of 5 -- or moving the full 5 days forward.

When I fly to Beijing, I'm thinking I want to spend 5 nights there, then 2 nights in Chengde (arriving by train around noon on the first day and having the next full day as well). Then return to Beijing by train and fly to Guilin to stay four nights in Yangshuo for hiking, biking, Li and Yulong raft trips. From Guilin I would fly to Changsha to continue on to Hong Kong and the rest of my Southeast Asia trip. I'm not sure that I wouldn't be pushing it to get to Guilin in the morning, fly to Changsha, and still be in time for my 11:30 flight out. I have wondered about taking the last day (I still have an extra in there unless I delay my flight from Osaka to Beijing by a day) to get to some other point between Guilin and Changsha and spending the night, then flying into Changsha to change planes. Or of course, I could spend my last night in Changsha, but is that worth it coming in from the airport then returning to the airport the next morning?

Thoughts? This will undoubtedly be my only trip to China, so I really want to see highlights, with a little mix or major city life (which I tend to love) and some scenic beauty. Another thought is to shorten the stay in Shanghai to not include Xian, moving the Osaka segment ahead by two days, and do Xi'an between Chengde (flying from Beijing to Xi'an, then flying from Xi'an to Guilin -- I'm NOT interested in the overnight train from Beijing to Xi'an). I'm not sure what that accomplishes however. Flights between Shanghai and Xi'an are pretty comparable to those between Beijing and Xi'an.

Marija

What concerns me about your itinerary are the connecting flights to the One World Pass flights. In China, as everywhere else, flights are routinely cancelled for weather or lack of passengers. One possibility is to head out to Xi'an immediately after arriving in Shanghai, return for your Shanghai stay and then fly directly Shanghai to Osaka without worrying about whether the Xi'an to Shanghai flight will be on schedule. Or you can do Xi'an after Beijing since then it doesn't matter when you actually arrive in Xi'an.

Similarly, I don't see how you're going to do the Yangshou to Guilin to Changsha connection by 11:30 in the morning. Again, missing this flight would be bad news. One possibility may be to make your own way to Hong Kong by flying Guilin to Shenzhen and then taking the bus or ferry to Hong Kong. In the past that's been a fairly inexpensive flight.

NeoPatrick

No, I can't make my own way to Hong Kong. My ticket from Changsha to Hong Kong is part of the overall ticket and I cannot change the itinerary itself. But again, I could go to Changsha the day before -- or perhaps somewhere else near there. I've really done no research regarding Hunan Province so not even sure what might be good. At one point I read some things that make me think Changsha was a surprisingly interesting and far less touristy city than any of the others I'm visiting. Perhaps an overnight there wouldn't be bad, and certainly relieve the stress worrying about making my flight.

I'm not too big on changing planes in Shanghai after a 14 hour flight and still navigating on to Xi'an that same day. Nor do I think I want to start my trip in China in Xi'an, rather than Shanghai which I think I might find easier to "navigate" as a novice and break me in.

So you really think the Chinese airlines are too unreliable to count on a morning flight actually arriving from Xi'an to Shanghai?

Perhaps you've given me a good reason though to cut the Shanghai portion shorter so I'm right there to fly to Osaka and then do Xi'an between Beijing and Guilin?
One thing about moving the Osaka portion forward a couple days is that it eliminates my last night starting a Japanese holiday or event -- I forget what -- that my last night there starts to coincide with.

Shanghainese

Since Changsha to HK is set in stone, do stay one night in Changsha to be on the safe side. Try to stay overnight in Hangzhou (daytrip can be long and hot) and do a watertown the 2nd afternoon; one watertown is enough, seen one see all. Since you do not have enough time, just spend 2 nights in Xi'an.

NeoPatrick

So if I reduce my Shanghai part to just staying in Shanghai, am I back to the same problem of worrying about my flight out if I ended that stay with a night in Hangzhou? Or can I safely count on getting from Hangzhou to make my 1:25 PM flight? I'd probably not like to stay a couple nights in Shanghai, then one night in Hangzhou then back to Shanghai for another night or two -- seems like too much checking in and out, moving luggage, etc.

I was originally looking at staying in Hangzhou but see mixed reactions about staying overnight there or not. Assuming I can get early morning and late evening buses to and from there to Shanghai, am I accomplishing anything by staying overnight, if I'm only leaving the next morning?

Marija

We took the train from Shanghai to Hangzhou and spent a couple of nights there before flying to Guilin. It took us almost an hour to get from the train station in Hangzhou to our hotel on West Lake since the traffic midday was absolutely horrendous. Unless you spend the night I don't think it's worth the hassle. I also don't think you would miss too much by eliminating it all together, especially given the rest of your trip. It was not a highlight for us, though it was a reasonably pleasant sidetrip.

I agree with you about not wanting to start off the trip in Xi'an. Shanghai is a better place to start. I think going to Xi'an from Beijing on your second visit to China is the better routing.

NeoPatrick

hmmm. With those comments about Hangzhou and some similar ones I've read today while reviewing some other trip reports, I'm thinking you may be right to just skip Hangzhou altogether.

Shanghainese

To each his/her own, there must be sone truth in the chinese saying "there is heaven above, and Suzhou & Hangzhou on earth", and I choose Hangzhou over Suzhou.