The pandas are about to return home. We leave Friday taking all of the advice we've gleaned from this forum and its participants. Special thanks to EKscrunchy and Shanghainese and NYwoman. Your patience is appreciated. Our final itinerary is Shanghai-3 days, Beijing-6 days and Shanghai-5 days. We cut out Hangzhou and Suzhou from the advice of Seth and Liz. We'll take a trip or two from Shanghai. We';ve hired a guide in Beijing for two days, one of whih will be a trip to the Great Wall. I plan on setting a land XLB record. It won't be pretty.

Have a brilliant time, don't be late with your trip report!

I think you are doing yourselves a disservice by not going to some of the gardens in Suzhou, you can do it as a day trip, I think.

Regardless, enjoy all of it, and see you in BKK

Have a great trip!

I wish you a furry good time!! Stay away from Fabio Wong!!

Thanks.

Nywoman-as self disservices go, missing Suzhou is a minor one. The YJ (Seth) said Suzhou was crowded and he didn't like it. Blame it on him. I figure it's more time to eat XLB's.

I hope you have a fantastic time. And, eat your Wheaties before the big hike on the wall!

If you are at Simatai, there is an outside bar with drinks and food with a beautiful view of the wall. It was the perfect stop to take it all in while sipping a beer. If you are feeling adventurous, you can take the zip line down to it!

Enjoy and look forward to hearing about it upon your return! Don't forget tp and immodium and you'll be fine.

Where's Bob? A thread started by Gpanda doesn't seem complete with a remark or two from Bob?

That should be a "!" at the end, not a "?".

Bob is a question mark! He's busy planning his safari in South Africa. The wildlife is praying for rain.

HT-I think you may have mixed metaphors invoking divine help for the current Chinese regime. In fact, I plan on walking through the Hutongs unguided.

My instincts were correct then, should have left the question mark as is.

Hi Andy,
Here are a few photos from our short trip to Beijing earlier this month. It is truly a fascinating city.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/3880219...7622373299506/

i am here...dismayed of course that i am not mentioned as a contributor.....i nearly planned the whole D thing for him...and beth planned the rest.... he can't even get his clothing together without asking about it....

its really pathetic....but i guess fodors-land knows that already....

Bob at his worst. He's never beeen to Shanghai, but he claims he planned our trip. Delusional. One can imagine how concerned I am about his "dismay".

ShaneK-great pix. Where did you go at the Wall?

Andy, I hope that you and Beth have a great time.

Have a wonderful trip, Andy and Beth. Can't wait to read your impressions!

Hope you have a good trp - but the gardens in Suzhou are worth the crowds. Really. And I was there around National Day, they can't get worse than that.

Our trip is still fluid. I will speak to Mrs. Panda about the Suzhou gardens.

The trip report may have to wait until we return. It depends on access. I may have to take notes. A non-panda activity.

I promise not to append the report to this thread.

Andy will you be skyping BOB so you don't have withdrawal symptoms?

"The trip report may have to wait......"?????

UH, exCUSE me, but exactly HOW LONG are you planning to dilly dally before beginning the report?