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Originally Posted by Knalus
I would consider this if it were just myself - but in my case, I have a wife who is very leery of going to China, and who is a vegetarian on top of it all, who pretty much insists on a tour. It was quite a job convincing her to go even with a tour in the first place.
Any suggestions on what is a must see, and what is a pass for China?
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I really liked Beijing as a starting off point. Lots to see, good food options and the metro was very easy to use (in english and mandarin). I spent a full week there and it was worth it. The consensus seems to be 4-5 days to see the must see areas though. Seeing one site of the wall is a full day.
Xian has a lot of history. If you're a history buff, the entire area is interesting. Xian as a city, left a lot to be desired in my opinion however. Big, dirty, slow moving traffic and poor public transit. I spent 5 days there, which was probably 1-2 days too many for what I saw. I also made a full day trip to nearby Hua Shan, which was cool but I was not overly impressed with Chinese "hiking". If you like hiking in the Rockies, it is nothing like that in China. Very scenic, yes, but people are yelling everywhere and (as with most places in China) there are people all over the place. Not serene in the slightest.
I loved Chengdu and spent a week in the area. Giant panda research base is a must see and there are several good day trips around (ie. giant buddha at Leshan). In many ways Chengdu is just a regular city, but I enjoyed the food and the more relaxed pace.
Pictures I posted after I got back.