Hi, I would like to hear about your tour to China, good tours and not so good ones and your favorite place. Thinking about a tour in the spring, would like to visit Hong Kong, Shanghai, Guilin, Xian and Beijing. Thanks for any information or advise.

Hi. I was in China for two weeks last April. I can tell you our itinerary: Flew to Beijing (I live in Hong Kong) and spent 4 days. Great. Watch "The Last Emperor" before going! Then we flew to Xian, and spent three days. To me, only the terracotta warriors are worth seeing there, so two days would have been enough. Then, deciding to skip Shanghai, we flew to Hangzhou, a quieter and slower paced city. It had a huge lake and we rode bicycles around it like one of the locals. A little R & R. From there we did a day trip to Fuyang, an old island village. That was really interesting. After Hangzhou, we flew to Guilin and took the Li river cruise to Yangshou. We stayed overnight there, which I thought was really worth it. Otherwise, you have only one hour in the village, and have to turn around and go back to Guilin. I loved our entire trip. We had private guides in each city, with a driver too. They were all incredibly knowlegable. I have heard that Shanghai is not worth seeing, if you go to Beijing, and are seeing Hong Kong. But, not having been there, I cannot say. I used a travel agent who specializes in China, but who is based in NY. You can email me for her phone number if you want. Hopw this was helpful. Enjoy!

I'm writing this to supplement Sara's reply. I HAVE been to Shanghai, and it's a wonderful city. Not like either Beijing or Hong Kong (which are both also worth seeing). If you don't generally like large cities (14 million), then stick to places like Hangzhou and Guilin, but you'll miss a lot by skipping Shanghai.

Sue <BR>I've just got back from twelve days in China. A quick trip but saw a lot. Beijing a must as is Shanghai. I did the three gorges tour which was great. Go downstream starting at Chongqing and take the four to five day tour. We had CITS organise ours and they were great. It all ran to plan but I had organised a group. You can certainly do it cheaper by yourself if you skip some of the organised shopping and meals. Three star boat was quite fine for our needs and the gorges are spectacular. When in Beijing go to the Mutianyu section of the Great Wall. Less crowded and they have the best toboggan ride to get down was you,ve climbed it! Silk Alley is also a must for shopping in Beijing as is Yuyuan gardens in Shanghai. <BR> <BR>Email me if you have anything specific. <BR> <BR>Cheers <BR>Bill <BR>

Went to China / HK last year with <BR>Smartours of NYC (800-337-7773). Their prices are better than any others I found, and the trip was teriffic. Great hotels, meals, everything. A friend from work just came back from the same trip and raved about it too. I think Smartours has the best deals out there. <BR>

Suggest you take a look at this website http://rcna.com/travel. Quite a few pictures of China.

I have been living in Shanghai for about a month now... not too bad.. A little different from Canada.. ha ha <BR> <BR>You will love it.. Beijing is amazing too <BR> <BR> <BR>I just went to Beijing for three days... I stayed at the Taiwan Hotel just a few blocks north.. very near the Forbidden city too... They gave us an amazing rate of 600 RMB a night.. no service charge... and we were very near the food ally.. if you do stay at the Capital take the time to walk straight up Wangfujing ave.. there is a lot of construction for a bit right now.. but you will pass the Foriegn language bookstore on the left.. go left on the next intersection ( the taiwan hotel is to the right) That is the food alley... you have never seen anything like it.. hundreds fo vendors selling side by side.. everything frome noodles to scorpions.. A sight to behold! <BR> <BR>Always offer half of what people tell you the price is.. except in the big stores or food alley... everything else is negotiable.. if you are shy, just say it is too much or expensive and they will drop the price right away... Always offer less than the price.. Pay no more than 10 RMB for post cards.. if they say no, you will find a hundred more who will say yes. <BR> <BR>hint.. in the back of books or post cards you will find a series of nubers.. e.g. 0001000 That means 1000 fen, or 10 rmb... look for it.. or 0003900 is 39 RMB

We had arranged some tours with CITS prior to leaving for Beijing. Once there we arranged our own sightseeing. Get a street map, speak to the hotel bellboy/concierge and tell him where you want to go. We did this and saw the Zoo, Temple of heaven, Lamaist temple for £10.00 ($16.00) including taxi fares for the two of us.

<BR>Hello <BR> <BR>I agree with most of the other posters in that Shanghai is a must. Lots of beautiful buildings and a real gung-ho feeling. You can feel the zeal and passion for life here, and understand that the city is back on track to being a world class city state. <BR>I lived there for a year in '88-'89 and had a blast. The locals have their own dialect and think themselves superior to the Beijingers. It was always the centre of fashion and of revolution, and things change here faster than other places. Check out the Lonely Planet or Rough Guide books to find cheap places to eat and stay, but do try to go there. China might be frustrating at first, but bear with it and reap the rewards! Learn a little Mandarin to ease your way in.

Woody: How did you book the Taiwan Hotel? I am interested in staying there also but can't find a direct link.

Check out my web page on our trip to China in April. Our itinerary was exactly the cities you mentioned.

http://www.travel.stv77.com/china/china.htm

I highly reccomend Pacific Delight Tours. They were a fabulous combination of accomodations, prices and tour options. We had a wonderful trip with them