trip to hong kong, beijing and/or japan
 

We are going to visit our daughter while she is studying abroad in Hong Kong in March. Would it make the most sense to go from Japan to Beijing to Hong Kong? Or should we visit somewhere else other than Japan? We have a little over two weeks for the whole trip and we want to spend at least 5 days in Hong Kong.

If we visit Japan, we heard Kyoto is the best place to visit. How many days would you recommend staying there? What side-trips would you recommend?

How many days should we plan for Beijing? What is the best place to get Peking Duck?

My son is 18 years old. Is there anything in particular that he might like? We want to go to Japan as he does not seem to be that interested in the rest of SE Asia.

Thank you for your advice!

Hi Ald.

To me it makes more sense to go to Hong Kong first, and then fly from there to Japan and China.

Japan is, as you probably know, and lad of tradition and technology. People go to Tokyo for the technology, the night life, and with a little bit of culture.

Kyoto is traditon, with many shrines and other cultural aspects. I would say four days would be enough, especially if you add in a side trip to Nara. If you decide to solely do Kyoto, fly into Osaka, as it's the closest international airport.

It's hard to recommend anything for your son, as even though he is a teenager, teenagers seem to be interested in a whole lot of things. Is he the sporty type? Or is her interested in computers and new technology?

The Phillipines and Vietnam are just as close as Japan, and shouldn't be ruled out as destinations.

Hi,how long for your travel?i suggest 4 days in Beijing,2 days in Xi`an,3 days in Shanghai or little more,Guilin 2 days.i don`t know well about Japan,aha,so maybe you should go Japan first,then Hongkong,Beijing,Xi`an,Guilin,leave from Shanghai.

Thank you, this is helpful. Violet, we are trying to see if we can fit Xi'an in, but my husband dislikes switching hotels all the time and 3 may be his max, haha.

Sydney, my son is interested in reading fantasy novels & books about history & a little philosophy, video games, and he does enjoy sports (rowing, football, cross country).

We were solely considering Kyoto because are we more interested in the tradition aspect. My son wants to see Tokyo, though he hasn't explained why.

We have not looked into the Phillipines, but we have considered Vietnam. My son is the most interested in going to Japan, so that is where we have our focus.

With just over 2 weeks total and 5 days in Hong Kong, I highly suggest you stick with your original plan of just Japan and Beijing.

You can book a multi-leg flight like US-NRT, NRT-PEK, HKG-US. Then purchase the PEK-HKG flight on your own.

4 days will be fine in Beijing. Japan depends on how many places you want to go. Kyoto is the ancient capital with lots of temples to see, but the kid may enjoy Tokyo more. You can perhaps spend 2-3 nights at each.

That will take up all your time already.

I recommend that you fly into Osaka, Japan. Visit Kyoto for three or four days. Day trip to Nara. Both Kyoto and Nara are of considerable historic and cultural importance.

Go to the sumo tournament! The March tournament is held in Osaka.

Visit Hiroshima and stop in Himeji to see the magnificent castle. The castle in Osaka is a reproduction, but the original castle and its destruction were an important part of Japanese history.

Then fly on to Hong Kong.