Weekend or weekday side trips Beijing and Shanghai
 

Hello,

I'm planning a trip to China and want to get out of the city. Any advice on when to plan them. I want to go to the Great Wall and perhaps the Eastern Qing Tombs, and from Shanghai I want to visit Hangzhou and maybe one of the water towns. Are they much more crowded on weekends or just all the time? How about traffic going in or out of either city?

Thanks,
Carl

As far as traffic, you would take a train to Hangzhou and some water towns.

The Eastern Qing Tombs are magnificent. When I visited Beijing in May 2010, neither of the companies that normally run tour bus routes to them were making the trip. I ended up hiring a guide with car and driver. I'm very glad I did! My day with them also included a stop at one of the least visited sections of the Great Wall - my guide and I were the only 2 people there! For more information, you might find my trip report helpful - just click on my name.

You can do Huangyaguan Great Wall with the Eastern Qing Tombs together.
It takes 3 hours from Beijing to Huangyaguan Great Wall.

Yes - that's the section we visited, the Great Wall at Huangyaguan.

The East Qing Tombs, located in Zunhua City of Hebei Province, is one of the largest existing tombs with better design and reasonable layout in China. Take by hired private car from Beijing to The East Qing Tombs(about 180km) lasting about more 2 hours. Then sightseeing The Eastrn Qing Tombs and Huangyaguan Pass of the Great Wall.

As to the Hangzhou and some water towns, well, if you want to see a real watertown that feels like a town then go to tongli (suzhou- from the train station cross the pedestrian bridge, to your right there should be lots of buses in a parking lot near a small ticket booth.

if you want to see a watertown that feels a little like a crowded disneyland but has great shopping and suprisingly pretty cheap prices, go to zhouzhuang (suzhou the bus station at the north of remin lu). Zhouzhuang is also a little more picturesque than tongli and has more people making things by hand, also sold at pretty cheap prices.

kja, I read your trip report, Thanks.

What was the tour operator you found on the web to take you to the Qing Tombs?

Hi, Carl -

Congratulations for wading through that monster of a trip report!

My day at the Eastern Qing Tombs was through tour-beijing.com, but I don't see the tour that I took listed anymore. Here's the only one I see on their current list. The quoted cost is substantially more than I paid, and it doesn't sound like this tour includes the stop at the Great Wall at Huangyaguan.

http://www.tour-beijing.com/side_tri...ng_dynasty.php

Hope that helps!

Hi Carl,

For you Shanghai side trip, I would recommend Xitang. It is one of the less touristy but yet charming water village. It is also between Shanghai and Hangzhou, so if you are going to Hangzhou anyway, this would be a logical destination. If you are interested, check out the following link on our blog about Xitang.

http://www.twocountriesayear.com/sid...hanghai-xitang

Hope this helps. Good luck with your planning.

kja, I've also greatly enjoyed your wonderful trip report recently, as we're planning stopovers in Beijing and Shanghai on the way to and from Europe. Thank you! Will try to find a cheaper way to the Eastern Qing tombs, for 2.

wky123, your stunning black and white photos of Xitang are tempting me away from Tongli! But is is as easy to get to from Shanghai as Tongli?

I haven't been Tongli. From what I have heard, Xitang gets less tourists and that's what we wanted.

There are tour bus going to Xitang from Shanghai (Shanghai stadium) once a day. From Hangzhou, there is bus from the Hangzhou East Bus station to Jiashan from where you can take a cab or minibus to Xitang.

I was told that day tour is also available from Hangzhou and Shanghai. I'm sure your hotel can arrange that for you upon your arrival.

Carrabella - Thanks! I'm glad you enjoyed my trip report. Keep in mind that one or both of the bus tours from Beijing to the Eastern Qing tombs may be running again, so consider checking those options.