CP Travel Advice Needed: China

[Flaming Choy]

Hey everyone,

I'm going to China this summer (July 29 to August 21) and need some suggestions on the things I must not miss. In the photo threads I've notices some members that have gone there or live there, so hoping you can help me out. I'll be flying in and out of Shanghai but my entire schedule is free. I go back to Hong Kong pretty often but have never had the chance to visit the rest of China, so I'll probably skip out on Hong Kong this time.

The places I want to go so far are:
Shanghai (expo is there, how much time should I spend here)
Beijing (again, how much time is needed).
Xian

Any other suggests would be great.

Thanks everyone.

[flylock shox]

Been in China for 3 weeks now. First time. Visited Shanghai, Xi'an, Beijing and Changchun. My thoughts:

Expo is insanely boring. I would describe it as a total waste of time, but if you do go, I'd suggest you get there very early (like 7-8AM) so you can get a ticket to get into the China pavilion. Then head to the UK pavilion while you wait, then pick up tickets at the Cultural pavilion to see the afternoon show, then go to the China pavilion with your ticket, then see the afternoon show at the Cultural pavilion, then get the hell out of there. There's way better stuff to do in Shanghai: check out Pudong, the artisan district, some of the city's well used parks (particularly the one next to the stadium), and the abundant nightlife.

In Beijing, the walking route of Tienanmen Square to the Forbidden City, the hutongs, the Lotus Market, and Prince Gong's mansion is all doable in a day if you're fit and full of energy. There's also the great wall (heavily touristed), summer palace (even more heavily touristed), and the Temple of Heaven (quite nice really, but also lots of tourists). You'll probably just enjoy hanging out and watching the world go by as much as anything, but if you want to see the sights, spend at least 4 days in Beijing.

In Xi'an, the terracotta warriors are a must see tourist experience. But I strongly suggest you rent a bicycle and cycle the city wall early in the morning (it opens at 8:30 AM and it takes about 80 minutes to circumnavigate the city at a leisurely pace, and only costs 20-30 Renminbi, about 3-4 bucks).

My brother's been in China for ages, living in Shanghai for most of that time, and may have more suggestions. I'll ask for his input tomorrow.

Hope that's of some help!

[Fozzie_DeBear]

-In Shanghai take an overnight trip and climb Mount HuangShan
-In Beijing goto the Lama Temple for the amazing buddha...trust me I've been twice with two seperate groups no-one hasn't been gobsmacked
-In Beijing go hike the distant section of the Great Wall (Simatai)
-In Xian go to the local antique market...If you are at the right one its NOT targeted for tourists...not easy to find...try to buy a ancient crossbow bolt for $20 (I walked away from the dealer...since he didn't haggle at all it was probably real...I wish I had a mulligan on that one)
-Shanghai Museum


Oh yeah...if you travel by train go overnight and pay for a soft sleeper cab...worth every penny

[jjbouma]

In Beijing at least 4 days to do everything.

In Xi'an at least 3 days - Terracottas, cycle the wall, big wild goose pagoda area, Hanyangling museum was interesting, bell/drum towers etc. I also took a day trip to see Pandas which was worth it as I wasn't going to Chengdu/Sichuan province.

Guilin/Yangshuo is also a picturesque place to go.

I've heard nothing but good things about Chengdu (food, scenery, pandas, earthquake memorial).

[Flaming Choy]

Might have to reconsider the expo thing, just seemed like a big deal and something to see/do.

Is travelling by train easy? I have zero Mandarin skills, can I get by ok with English (or Cantonese)?.

[jjbouma]

Originally Posted by Flaming Choy

Might have to reconsider the expo thing, just seemed like a big deal and something to see/do.

Is travelling by train easy? I have zero Mandarin skills, can I get by ok with English (or Cantonese)?.

They will speak English when ordering your train tickets at the station, but it's luck of the draw if they'll speak English on the train itself. Cantonese is widely spoken in the southern provinces but not the further north you go.

[ma-skis.com]

ride a bike in beijing
go to the great wall that is old, i think simitai, where you do the hike, it's much more memorable than walking around the refurbished sections
eat everything, (try the street vendors, not the ones that look like a franchise on beijing, but the little side ones where old ladies are selling everything and anything)
bargain at 1/10th of what they offer.
walk through the hutongs

edit: 7-10 days in beijing is good if you want to do everything and walk around and enjoy the city on it's own.

[Stumptown]

I spent some time in Shanghai about 10 years ago. I'd recommend the big official museum in Shanghai (next to the Opera House, if I remember correctly). It was brand new when I was there, and had a very impressive collection of ancient silk scrolls and other art. We also visited a "water village" called Zhouzhuang that's not too far out of Shanghai, on the way the Suzou. It was pretty touristy - but mostly local tourists. We hooked up with a guide in Shanghai for that trip. When my parents lived in Shanghai, Suzou was their out-of-town destination of choice - lots of gardens, and (according to my mom) the best shopping in China.

[kermitology]

There was a really awesome dumpling house in the building that was at the top right of this location (giant pagoda inside the old city wall). Also there is an interesting street market at the end of the block of that top right location. I ate some great food there and bought some cool stuff.

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&sour...03449&t=h&z=18

Edit: this is in Xi'an. I also echo the statement that you need to see the Terracotta warriors. It's awesome.

[Fozzie_DeBear]

Originally Posted by Flaming Choy

Might have to reconsider the expo thing, just seemed like a big deal and something to see/do.

Is travelling by train easy? I have zero Mandarin skills, can I get by ok with English (or Cantonese)?.

Don't count on any English

Buy a small travel book that has key travel phrases etc. in:
Chinese Characters
English
PinYin (Mandarin)
(Lonley planet was good IIRC)


Tab the key/phrases pages on:
-Travel
-Food
-Bartering

And if you are hopeless you can point to the phrase you want...

Very useful in restaurants...sometimes their menus are cryptic

And always grab a business card from your hotel when you go on a walkabout...it is so easy to show it to a cabbie and get home if you get ass backwards.

[kermitology]

Originally Posted by Fozzie_DeBear

And always grab a business card from your hotel when you go on a walkabout...it is so easy to show it to a cabbie and get home if you get ass backwards.

THIS, OH SO MUCH THIS!

You can order food by pointing at pictures, or alternatively hope that someone speaks a tiny bit of broken english and can tell you what beef is, chicken, pork, etc..

Avoid chicken unless you like eating bones.

You can barter with a calculator, they usually have something.

I did a hike of a couple of mountains with stairs cut out of the sides. It was really weird. The reason I mention this is there were vendors selling giant swords. I wish someone could bring one of those home.

This was one of my favourite photos from that trip.. though I think the writing on the wall is telling me where the toilet is.

[Arsenal14]

I was in China last spring for about a month (my photos). My thoughts on your destinations:

Beijing: Must sees include the Great Wall (we did the Mutianyu section), the Forbidden City and the Summer Palace. The Olympic Stadiums are also worth spending a half day on. The Temple of Heaven and Beihei were alright, but I'd make those a lower priority.

Shanghai: The Shanghai Museum is alright, depends how much you know/care about the history of China. If you're interested in modern architecture/technology you can always take a walk around the Pudong district, possibly heading to the observation level in the Jinmao Tower or World Financial Center. There is also the mag-lev train out to the airport. The Yu Gardens are nice and peaceful once you make it through the surrounding shopping area into the gardens themselves.

Xi'an: The Terracotta Warriors are the obvious attraction. Cycling around the city walls is alright, but you don't see a whole lot of interest (most of the buildings around the wall aren't all that interesting). The dumpling banquet Kermitology mentions is well worth doing (somebody's blog about it).

Other stuff: definitely remember to get cards from your hotel to show the cab drivers. If you are doing the sleeper trains the hard sleepers are ok, but if you can upgrade to soft sleeper it's probably a good choice.

[Flaming Choy]

Ran out of thanks.

I'm really look forward to soup dumplings in Shanghai and all the random street food in the night markets (like all the weird insects and reptiles).

Has anyone go to Lhasa (looks like Tibet part) or Guilin (or anything rural areas)?

[Arsenal14]

Lhasa is indeed in Tibet. I've never been there so can't speak to that. While I haven't been to Guilin other than passing through, I did spend a few days in Yangshuo which is a small town near to Guilin. While the town itself was fairly touristy the location in the karst hills is amazing. If you ever wanted to rent a bicycle and ride through the countryside this is a good place for it as the traffic isn't nearly as bad the major cities. I would highly recommend taking a hot air balloon ride if possible. That was one of the highlights of my trip.

[ma-skis.com]

and when you barter, make sure when they say it's there final price, or if you've hit yours, pull at least one no thanks and walk away. If they were serious about that price you can go back later after looking at other stuff and ask for that price right away, or if they were willing to budge a little more, they will chase you down and offer you a better price.

when choosing a restauraunt to eat at, pick the ones that is busy and full of locals, a place full of tourists is gnerally set up to rip you off. if you can befriend a local somehow, that's your ticket to all the good food and entertainment.

[Flames89]

Originally Posted by ma-skis.com

if you can befriend a local somehow, that's your ticket to all the good food and entertainment.

Be wary of locals who want to be your friend. Many are setting you up for a rip off. I someone wants to take you to a tea house - reject. firmly.

[Fozzie_DeBear]

Originally Posted by Flames89

Be wary of locals who want to be your friend. Many are setting you up for a rip off. I someone wants to take you to a tea house - reject. firmly.

This. If someone comes up to you speaking/practising english chances are they want to pull you off course for a hard sell...keep on course

Mental health care doesn't go much beyond the family in China so there are crazies...my wife and I ran into a 6'2" 250lbs English speaking psycho smack dab in the centre of Dalian and was VERY aggressive...this is very very rare but always keep your eyes open.

re: Guilin its nice (and hot) and you could find a lot to like in Yangshuo
...its the closest thing to Banff China has (ie a mountain tourist city...that is filled with whites instead of asians). If you go there is Fawlty Towers hotel and, if you want to relax, a very cool antique farm compound that a European has converted into a 'hotel' PM if you want the email addy.

[Flaming Choy]

Awesome. Thanks for the suggestions, guys.

Does anyone remember how long it took to get a visa and how much it cost (from Calgary)?

[kermitology]

Originally Posted by Flaming Choy

Awesome. Thanks for the suggestions, guys.

Does anyone remember how long it took to get a visa and how much it cost (from Calgary)?

I got mine via a travel agency in Chinatown. I think it was $50 and I got it a day or two later.

[Arsenal14]

I got my visa from the Chinese consulate in Calgary (west end of downtown). Takes 4 working days and costs $50.