Trip Report on China Holiday
 

Well we have just arrived back after four weeks in China and I have used this forum so much in the planning I thought I better do a trip report , a way of thanking everyone who helped me. We originally were being told by everyone you need to do a tour of china but having travelled through Asia before independently we decided to do it ourselves after reading other reports on this site. We are aged late 50's. It is easy to do it yourself with a bit of planning before so you are more aware of what you are going to face when you arrive in China. There are a lot of people who don't speak English but there are enough who know a bit to get you through. All the hotels we stayed in had english speaking staff. I would get them to write down what I needed to know, eg where is the train station and I would just show it as we walked and people would point and we always found where we wanted to go. I also had taken the names and addresses of most of the places we wanted to visit, eg Forbidden City written in chinese which I got of the net and this was very useful to show taxi drivers who basically don't speak a word. The hotels also give you cards with some of these places written in chinese. We booked all the accomodation on the internet, we had different styles along the way. We visited Beijing, (Park Plaza Hotel which was excellent, Jinbao St which was an excellent hotel, great position and good staff)a night at Mutianyu (Great Wall) instead of a rushed trip up and down we stayed overnight,stayed at the Brickyard Inn which was also very good and the staff were excellent, you lay in your bed and look up to the wall. Then onto Shanghai, we stayed in a B&B in the French Concession area, this was okay but very small, We then went to Yangshou and stayed at Li River Retreat, this was wonderful, about 25min walk, 5 min in taxi into the town itself , staff were excellent, would do anything to help you, it was lovely to be away from the big city and the smog, which was bad in all the other places we visited. We had 5 days here and used it to have a bit of rest and relaxation. We did a trip down the Yulong river which was better than the Li River but if you have time do both. This was recommended to us and it was correct the Yulong offered a lot more scenery and local life and it was on a bamboo raft (very safe) for about 2 hours. We then went to Xian and stayed at the Belltower, this is smack in the middle of town and our room overlooked the Belltower itself, because of its position you are within walking distance of markets, restaurants and shopping.
For Beijing , Yangshou and Xian we hired a guide for one day to help us orientate where we were and to learn how to get around and what to see. This worked very well, I can recommend our Beijing and Yangshou guides who were excellent but would leave the Xian one. If anyone wants their addresses I can pass them onto you. We had five days in Beijing which was great because we didn't have to rush and we were able to see the main attractions plus enjoy just wandering and seeing other places.
In Beijing we used the subway most of the time, easy, also used buses with our guide which was fun , taxi's easy and cheap as long as you have it written where you want to go, We went to Quanjude Restaurant for our peking duck and it was fantastic, not really that expensive for western people , hint get their early as it is busy, we arrived at 5.30 had the meal and then went to the Beijing Opera at the Liyuan Theatre for a one hour show which was interesting, you watched them putting on the makeup and getting dressed , got nibles and tea, then the show, our guide got us good tickets and they were cheaper than advertised, we soon learnt that anything is possible in China, don't know how she got the tickets but I presume because the theatre is not full they get cheaper tickets. She suggested we get the best tickets which we did but paid they price of the back tickets. Did a hutong tour, we did a rickshaw but I think you would enjoy it as much if not more by walking through the area.Went to Jingshian Park where you get a great view of the Forbidden City and see a lot of the chinese, dancing, clapping, tai chi etc early in the morning before probably 9. Couldn't believe who we saw at the Forbidden City, we are Aussies and there was Julia Gillard walking through holding us all up.
In Shanghai you don't need long really we had 3 days and we also took a car to Xitang a water town which was well worth the visit. We did a trip to Suzhou but I didn't enjoy this day, I dropped my camera in the Humble Administrators Garden. We went to the Shanghai Circus World , the show called ERA-Intersection of Time, Wow what a show don't miss this one it was fantastic, you won't believe what you see. Shanghai Exhibition Centre was worth a visit, 40 year plan of Shanghai. YuYuan Gardens were interesting as long a you don't do it on a long weekend like we did with thousands of Chinese tourists. Walk along the Bund and definitely visit the World Financial Centre at Pudong, we went to the 97th Floor and had drinks and nibbles, you have to pay a minimum of 120yuan per person but I think it costs about 150 to go to two floors above and you don't get a drink or anything for this, fantastic view, I think it was better during the day if it is clear as you can see more, at night the lights down the bottom are so far away but is still pretty specky, it is over 492metre high, highest building in China and second in the world. We didn't do the Pearl Tower as I am sure nothing could beat this one.
Xian I didn't really like but you have to visit to see the Warriors which were amazing, Muslim area worth a look.
Yangshou,River rafting , walked up Moon Hill, Silver Caves,Banyan Tree which is 1400 years old , do a local market we were lucky and the market was on in Fuli which was amazing to see, best wet market I have seen in Asia so far. We also did the river trip from Yangdi to XingPing town which was good, this as I said before was not as good as the Yulong River but is different with the karsts close by the river and XingPing was worth visiting. We caught the local buses which were great, as good as our intercity buses in Aus. Very clean and cheap. Definitly see the Impression Liusanjie show, you need to book early in the day because they book out each night and there are usually two shows.
Sorry it is so long, will finish off with a few tips, book accomodation on the internet, no problems, I only booked one airflight because I was a bit worried so got my travel agent to do the others. I booked one through CTrip and got first class tickets for the price of economy by booking about 3 weeks before and we felt like the king and queen so definitey try to do this, it will be our only first class flight I am sure, just keep checking. No problems with Ctrip and it was much cheaper than the travel agent. Do as much research as you can, Fodors is great . Food is great, pictures instead of English works fine. You don't need guides every day, is easy if you are organized to get around, subway is so easy in all cities.
Better finish this is far too long, any questions let me know.

We're heading to China in a couple of days with a similar itinerary as yours. Please give us the names of your guides in Beijing and Yangshou, their cost and what they showed you. Thanks.

Did you feel like you needed a guide for the Forbidden City?

I don't think you need a guide for the Forbidden City, we went to Jinghshian Park first and got a good look from the hill (this was built when they dug out the moat which is around the city). We then came in the back way (maybe the north entrance) this way there weren't many people to start with which was nice they also have a good audio guide you can hire. We took about half a day to see everything, it is a large area and amazing.

We had Barbara in Beijing, she was wonderful, her cell phone is 13121800933 , I don't have an email at this stage but will see if I can get one. We paid 100 yuan for the day and paid our own entrance fees and we just used the subway and walked we had worked out where we wanted to go and she was happy to go along with this,we found it helpful getting her to show us how to use the subway and then this was useful in wherever else we used them, we went to the Lama Temple, Confucious Temple, had lunch in a local cafe which she recommended and it was great, we then went to a local market not a tourist market and that was good because it was easier to shop without all the hassle, we then visited Belhai Park and had a look at the Nine Dragon wall. Another good spot for shopping which we liked was the Pearl Market, there was a good toy market behind it with about three floors, said it was a wholesale market but they sold to us. If you want a driver as well I think it was 350yuan for the day. In Yangshou we had Lilly who was recommended on this site, ([email protected]) cell phone 8613877373880 I think she may have a web site now look up www.lillylu.webs.com she charged 100 for the day and 350 for the driver, (we then paid for all entrance fees) we did a visit to a school which we requested as I had taken some books for kids, then we did the rafting trip which we paid 100 each I think (yuan)we visited an old farmers house which was interesting, we went to the silver caves which were good, huge area, climbed Moon Hill, visited the Big Banyan tree, then we had a walk around Yanghsou and had dinner and then she had organized tickets for us to see the light show so she took us there and put us in our seats which was great because it was chaotic once we got there and then we met her at the end of the show and were taken back home, Our day started at 10 and finished at 10 and we saw a lot, we basically told her what we wanted to see and she took us but you may want to see other things so you can work out with her what you want to do and she will arrange it. She speaks very good English and is fun to be with, will give you a lot of information also. If you book her tell her Jeanette and Barry recommended her. Just a tip too,the guide I had arranged in Xian was busy so she organized another girl to do it and we weren't overly impressed with her, so when you book them, confirm that it is definitely Barbara who is taking you and Lilly not somebody they are passing you onto. Not sure if either of these do that but just to be sure confirm they are your guide for the day.

Great trip report! Just got back from China last week and did almost the exact same trip.

We are planning 2 week trip to China next May.
How did you go from Beijing to Shanghi and Xian? Train or Plane? Did you buy the tickets in advance or in China?

It's a great report. Just one word: paragraphs.

We flew from Beijing to Shanghai, then to Guilin then another flight to Xian where we then caught an overnight train from Xian to Shanghai before flying home.
We had two flights booked by our travel agent, we booked one on CTrip ourselves which was a great deal and would suggest you use them. The train was booked for us by our travel agent because they only book 10 days before departure and we were already in China at this stage but from what I now know you could do that yourself also

Great report. Thanks!