Here's my updated Itinerary:

9 Oct Thu Depart Washington DC
10th Fri Beijing arrive afternoon
11th Sat Beijing
12th Sun Beijing
13th Mon Beijing-Great Wall Mutianyu
14th Tues Beijing
15th Wed Beijing

15th - Overnight Z Train to Xian (2-person soft sleeper compartment)

16th Thu a.m. arrive Shaghai
17th Fri Shanghai
18th Day trip to Suzhuo and/or Tongli

19th Sun – Morning flight to Luoyang
20th Mon Day trip to the Longmen Caves
21st Tue Train to Xian (or take overnight train on the 20th)
22nd Wed Xian – Day trip to the Terra Cottas Warriors
23rd Thur Xian
24th Fri a.m. flight to Chengdu

25th Sat Visit to the Panada Preserve
26th Sun Fly or train to Guilin
27th Mon Day trip to the Rice Terraces (head to Yangshuo at end of day)

28th Tue Yangshuo – Li River trip (**OR do I have to go to Guilin to do this?)

29th Wed Yangshuo
30th Thu Yangshuo

31st Fri Morning flight to Hong Kong
1 Nov Sat Hong Kong
2nd Sun Hong Kong
3rd Mon Hong Kong - fly home

For hotels I'm considering:

Beijing: Holiday Inn Central Plaza or the Crowne Plaza Hotel

Shanghai: Ramada Plaza or JW Marriott

Luoyang: ?

Xian: Hyatt or ?

Guilin: Sheraton

Yangshuo: Li River Retreat

Hong Kong: Salisbury YMCA

Your comments are appreciated!

Thanks,

Monica

Hi Monica,

I think there is a typo on the 15th when you take a trip to Xian but then are in Shanghai...

Regarding the Li River trip, there are several alternatives. If you appreciate unusual and beautiful geography, then the Li River Cruise of 3+ hours is worth it. If you are the type that likes to keep moving, then maybe that cruise is too long for you. In the alternative, you get to Yangshuo by express a/c bus and then take the YuLong River raft trip, as well as a shorter boat trip up the Li River as well as a private raft trip down the Li River. I enjoyed all of them as I am in love with the geography and photography in the Li River Valley. These are the famous pictures you see everywhere (on guide book covers, for example) of the lone fisherman on his raft with the soaring mountains around.

I have stayed at Guilin Sheraton (be picky if you do not like the first room assigned) and the Li River Retreat. I recommend them highly. From other sources, the Shanghai Ramada Plaza gets mixed reviews while the JW is rated much better. Both your Beijing picks get good reviews consistently. Join Priority Club if you haven't already. I was Longshen, Guilin and Yangshuo last October, and it is a beautiful time to visit. The rice terraces may be golden with ripe rice, rather than filled with water as in the spring, though it is still a magnificent scene. Have a great time.

rploehn,

Thanks, yes, that's a typo. Heading to Shanghai from Beijing (I was originally going to go to Xian from Beijing).

Thanks for the comments on the Li river options and hotels. Did you use any guides for the river tours? I'm waiting to hear from one but would like to compare prices and options.

What do you think about if we were to stay in Yangshuo the whole 5 nights and did a day trip from there to the rice terraces? Too long a trip? Should I keep Guilin as an overnight so we can do the terraces from there and then head to Yangshuo at the end of the day?

Thanks!

Monica

You can stay the whole time in Yangshuo. The rice terraces become a longer trip, but you save the transfer hassle.

I used www.yangers.com and Alf did a fine job for hotel booking at Li River Resort. He got us a guide (Li Jing Feng) and she was very nice and informative, no BS, shopping etc. I did have a problem along the way, and Alf made it right! So he is a man of his word. He knows all the tips and activities around there. The guide and rental motor bikes were very reasonable. She also has bicycles.

Thanks for the information. I've already booked directly with the Li River Retreat. Need to add one more night if we decide to spend all 5 nights there.

I think this part of the trip will be wonderful!

Monica

Hi monica:

flying from chengdu to guilin is the only reasonable mode of transportation for your itinerary

stay in guilin the first night as per your current plan, arriving by 2 PM gives you enough time that day to see Guilin's sights, and moving on to Yangshuo then daytipping to Longsheng from there just adds to commuting times with no benefits

you won't miss any great scenery by arranging for a smaller Li river excursion while in Yangshuo, the best scenery can be seen out of the town of Xingping, all can be arranged reasonably from Yangshuo

don't miss the river sound and light show one night while you are in Yangshuo, it is moving and fantastic

happy travels

maytraveller

Got this from wacts.com about a portion of my itinerary:

Kindly note that we just can buy standing-room-only ticket for the train form Luoyang to Xi'an, because Luoyang is not the departure station.

If you want to get the seating ticket, maybe you can purchase the ticket at the Luoyang train station ahead of 4 days. Here below is the train schedule for your reference.

T69, Luoyang - Xi'an, October 21 , 02:37am-07:03am

Not sure I want to get up after midnight and take a 2:37am train! Does anyone know of other options or maybe I should skip Luoyang and add another day to Shanghai and Chengdu?

Monica

"...maybe you can purchase the ticket at the Luoyang train station ahead of 4 days."

How the heck am I suppose to do that if I'm NOT in Luoyang train station?

Monica

Ah, those wacky Chinese!


Just topping so you can get some answers. The whole trip sounds wonderful!

Monica -- Could you post your "revised" updated Itinerary? I'm somewhat lost in it between Beijing, Shanghai, Xian ...... and might offer a different routing suggestion when I see your new one.

Wait a bit on booking hotels, let's get your itinerary nailed down first.

Mels -- Do hope wacts is not wacky! Aloha!!

Hi Monica! I just returned from my month in China last night (and Fodorite addict that I am, here I am posting even before I get my bags fully unpacked, never mind get pics and a trip report together LOL!).

In brief, I spent 3 weeks in Beijing for a class, then my last week traveling in Sichuan province. We did a lovely one-day trip out of Chengdu to the Chengdu pandas plus the amazing Dofo Buddha carved into a cliff at Leshan, which is about an hour south of Chengdu. We booked a driver through the hostel we stayed at called Sam's Guesthouse, which has great staff (Linda) to book tours even if you don't stay there. I'll get you the contact info out of my Rough Guide China book once it's unpacked! The minivan driver was 600 yuan (about $80) for the day; with three of us plus a Spanish couple staying at the hostel, it was 120 yuan ($16) per person - and no tip.

At the panda center, there were newborn pandas in incubators, and little one-year olds romping around their "kindergarten" - so cute!

I've heard that the Great Wall at Mutianyu is very nice. We visited Simatai, which is breathtaking!

One last thought on your itinerary: I'd really wanted to see Suzhou as a collegue's mother is from there and it's supposed to be very beautiful. Some of my classmates went to Shanghai for four days and said that was more than enough with a full-day visit to Huangzhou (sp?) and the beautiful West Lake. I've read other trip reports on here that rave about the beauty and cleanliness of the town...

Also, I remember that you were interested in the hutongs in Beijing. Do you know that some of them have been converted into hotels (and hostels)? If you're interested, I can get some specific info from friends who stayed in one.

More later!
ggreen

P.S. When you say "panda preserve", did you mean the one I mentioned in Chengdu, or the one in Wolong? The latter is quite a long drive to get to!

ggreen

The pandas ggreen saw are at the Panda Breeding & Research Base Station less than an hour from city center, you can make a big donation and hold a cub for a few minutes.

Wolong Panda Natural Reserve is high up in a remote mountain area and several hours one way by bus, most people stay overnight. You can also arrange to volunteer there like some Fodorites have done, hauling/chopping bamboo, sweeping panda dung ... not hard work but definitely not glamorous.

There are plenty of day trains you can take between Luoyang and Xian. You should have no problem getting soft seat tickets on those. It'd be very difficult to get the sleeper from a intermediate station in the middle of the night.

Hey Melissa! Thanks for topping this for me.

Shanghainese, my updated itinerary is the one in this thread. The part I'm concerned about is getting from Luoyang to Xi'an. Wacts.com states there's only the 2:37am train. YAWN!!! Too late for us!

rkkwan, would you know how many trains there are from Luoyan to Xian?

Welcome home ggreen! Looking foward to your detailed report and photos! Yes, I was talking about the panda place near Chengdu. As for a hostel in the hutong area, thanks but I think we'll be staying either at the Crowne Plaza or Holiday Inn. However, do post your information and I'll take a look at it!

Thanks everyone,

Monica

I counted over 40 trains a day. From about 4.5 to 6 hours.

Of those 40+, about 27 are K or T "fast trains" with air conditioning. Most of them past through during the night, but at least 10 or so are day train.

If temperature isn't hot, there are those other non-AC trains. Basically just as fast (~5hours), and most run during the day.

Monica -- There are hostels in the Beijing hutongs, and there are some very nice courtyard hotels too, more like B&Bs, one is Sihe in east central, and there's another one some Fodorites stayed at in west central.

rkkwan, thanks for the information - I wonder why wacts.com is giving me just the one terrible schedule. Did you find the schedules on the one web site mentioned before?

Shanghainese, do you have any links to these places?

Thanks!

Monica

monica - I use a Chinese site, but this one in English gives the same info:

www.chinahighlights.com/china-trains/

I have reservations at the Sihe , a courtyard hotel in a hutong in October. It has very good reviews from recent travellers on another forum.

Les