Help with places to go in China (many places)

[fumitani]

Okay.

My first semester here in Beijing is about to end.

I'm about to venture on a crazy trip, with overnighting in each place for 1-2 days max and moving on.

I'm planning to go to the following places if someone can suggest me where to go in each city please let me know. Of course there will be a trip report covering everything. I know inner China trip reports are rare.

Harbin (HRB) - Snow Festival
Xian (XIY)
Chengdu (CTU)
Chongqing (CKG)
Guangzhou (CAN)
Hangzhou (HGH)
Nanjing (NKG)
Qingdao (TAO)
Dalian (DLC)
Haikou (HAK)

Thank you Air China (CA) and Shanghai Airlines (FM) for joining *A so I can start my 2008 qualification on 10 short segments

Also Thanks in advance for any advice

Fumi

[jhm]

Hey, fumi, I didn't realise you're based in PEK now!

As for your destinations:

Xian (XIY) - the terracotta warriors of course, various pagoads in Xi'an itself, the city wall etc

Chongqing (CKG) - I haven't been here but know it's very hot and very steep; I'm also told by a PVG based friend that Chongqing women are amongst the prettiest in China

Guangzhou (CAN) - never been and not quite sure why you'd want to IMVHO!

Hangzhou (HGH) - the scenery of course

Nanjing (NKG) - historical places as a former capital

Qingdao (TAO) - relics of its links with Germany in the past

Dalian (DLC) - the HKG of the north!

Can I suggest you also consider:

* Xiamen (Fujian province) - the city itself is quite pleasant plus you can visit Gulangyu of the coast (a bit of a theme park but still quite nice); stare across at Jinmen (Taiwanese owned); etc

* The southwest of China, i.e. Kunming (you can fly there from PEK - about 3 hours); Shangri-La/Zhongdian (on the Tibetan plateau); Xishuangbanna; etc

Finally, if you're flying down to PVG, you might want to consider paying for F on an CA 747 to get their new seats (albeit the flight is quite short).

[SQFAN]

From Chengdu, you can try Jiuzhaigou if you like the scenery. There are lots of Buddhist stuff if you're into it. - Mt Emei as well as the Mt Leshan giant sitting Buddha by a river.

There are usually wonderful sights within the Unesco website (http://whc.unesco.org/en/statesparties/cn)

[9V-JKL]

On your list, I've only been to Xian and Guangzhou so I'll focus on these 2.

Xian as jhm has said is worth the trip for the reasons he's already listed. Guangzhou doesn't offer any sights but if you're into 'water goods' then you may want to pay a visit.

I would take SQFAN's advise and include Jiuzhaigou. Have not been there but my dad has and the scenery from the pictures I saw him take were ab fab

[Snaffled]

I'd agree with the Jiuzhaigou comments, and if you are in Chengdu then definitely make a trip to the Panda sanctuary.
I spent 2 days in Guangzhou and cant think of any reason to go there if I were you.
Haikou is an ok city but since you are on Hainan island, I'd recommend a trip down to Sanya instead & check out the resorts. It's a few hours to drive.
Nanjing does have many sights as the former capital, and also the Rape of Nanking museum is worth seeing - but harrowing.

[fumitani]

Hey, fumi, I didn't realise you're based in PEK now!

As for your destinations:

Xian (XIY) - the terracotta warriors of course, various pagoads in Xi'an itself, the city wall etc

Chongqing (CKG) - I haven't been here but know it's very hot and very steep; I'm also told by a PVG based friend that Chongqing women are amongst the prettiest in China

Guangzhou (CAN) - never been and not quite sure why you'd want to IMVHO!

Hangzhou (HGH) - the scenery of course

Nanjing (NKG) - historical places as a former capital

Qingdao (TAO) - relics of its links with Germany in the past

Dalian (DLC) - the HKG of the north!

Can I suggest you also consider:

* Xiamen (Fujian province) - the city itself is quite pleasant plus you can visit Gulangyu of the coast (a bit of a theme park but still quite nice); stare across at Jinmen (Taiwanese owned); etc

* The southwest of China, i.e. Kunming (you can fly there from PEK - about 3 hours); Shangri-La/Zhongdian (on the Tibetan plateau); Xishuangbanna; etc

Finally, if you're flying down to PVG, you might want to consider paying for F on an CA 747 to get their new seats (albeit the flight is quite short).

Thanks guys for the advice not to go to Guangzhou

Okay I can scratch that out and i'll make the trip to Jiuzhaigou instead.

As for paying F on the short sector I don't mind at all, but there isn't any 744 flights on the days I want so i'll end up in a 3 class 340. I think that would not be worth the extra 100 or so USD. Any comments on that?

You can suggest me places right now, because I have this whole week to plan this trip out. I can add and minus destinations as much as needed.

[SuperJonJon]

There is pretty much nothing to see in Haikou and if you wanted to visit Hainan Island, I would recommend that you go to Sanya instead.

Harbin is a great place to visit especially the snow / ice sculptures. The season for the these sculptures does not last very long so go catch them before they melt.

[YK@HKG]

Xian (XIY)
Chengdu (CTU)
Guangzhou (CAN)

I have only been to these 3 places. Xian is of course famous for its Terracota Warriors. A visit to the Museum is a must! Chengdu is famous for its "Face-Change" Mask Opera and the spicy food. Guangzhou is probably the least interesting of the three places, but, u can go to the areas around the Zhujiang River (old Guangzhou). There's a bar street there.

[YK@HKG]

Other worth-visiting places include:
Jiuzhaigou Valley -- a short plane ride from Chengdu, which is famous for its breathtaking sceneries.

Guilin -- in Guangxi. U can ride along the Lijiang river to Yangshuo. There are also numerous interesting caves in Guilin.