|
|
|
Comment |
Sorted by
Date Written |
Decent overview, focusing on China's major cities. (Reply to this comment)
by laowai75
As a westerner who lived in China for 3 years I'd say you hit upon most of the good places for a first visit to China. There are, however, a great many smaller towns in China that are truly the high points of any visit to this fascinating country. Just off the top of my head I would recommend Lijiang in Yunnan highly, set at the foothills of the Himalayan plateau and full of ancient, winding stone streets, this town is a meeting point of Himalayan and Han cultures and the homeland of the Naxi ethnicity. Sip a yak butter tea and plan your day trip to Hu Tiao Sha (Tiger Leaping Gorge). Also in Yunnan, Dali is a nice stopover on the way to Lijiang, and Xishuangbanna in the south gives you a taste of SE Asian culture inside China. In the north, don't miss Pingyao in Shanxi province, a UNESCO world heritage site about 715 km from Beijing. I concur with the other poster that Yangshuo, in Guangxi Province, is a backpacker mecca and should not be missed. The Karst peaks are as stunning as those you'll find in Laos, and you can easily charter a small boat to take you down the Li Jiang (Li River). I would bypass Guilin altogether, except as a transit point on your way to the much better Yangshuo. I could go on for days about out-of-the-way places, but these are my first recommendations. I should emphasize that while the Chinese will go out of their way to be helpful, you will encounter language problems as only people with University educations normally speak more than 5 words of English. I suppose you could hire a guide or interpreter to facilitate your travels, but as I speak decent Mandarin I never did this. My advice: practice your patience and learn a few expressions; this will take you a looong way. And remember: don't get angry or impatient, this is seen as a sign of weakness and serious character flaw by Chinese. Writing about food could fill volumes of books, and I won't even attempt to touch upon it here, suffice to say it is the world's oldest and possibly richest culinary heritage, and the amount of variety from region to region will make your head spin! Hao War ba!
|
Apr 11 '07
3:37 pm PDT
|
|
Don't forget Yangshuo (Reply to this comment)
by cantodude
No trip to China is complete without a visit to amazing Yangshuo. If you've seen paintings of China where wht knife-like limestone towers rise out of the Rivers and paddy fields, that place is Yangshuo. Most people visit Guilin, but it's for package tours. Yangshuo is the hidden gem. We loved the Yangshuo Mountain Retreat, run by American Chris Barcley(sp?) and his team of local village staff. An amazing place on the River. Drifting down on a bamboo raft on this river (Yulong??) is a must!
|
Apr 05 '07
8:51 am PDT
|
|
No Need For an Agent (Reply to this comment)
by bperreault
There is certainly no need to use a travel agent for a trip to China. You just did a wonderful job of outlining an entire vacation in China. So when can I book the vacation?
|
Aug 28 '01
4:09 am PDT
|
|
if you experience china, don't forget the food (Reply to this comment)
by soothsayer
you mentioned western food, sure, there are hamburgers and all that in the cities, but why bother "traveling" in china when you must hanker for western food? perhaps the food in the hotels is not to your liking? Quality food can also be found in some "dark back alley", places where tourists rarely venture.
soothsayer
|
Aug 28 '01
12:39 am PDT
|
|
Re: Very+informative! (Reply to this comment)
by norwaynick
You're welcome. Thanks for your comment!
|
Aug 27 '01
3:27 pm PDT
|
|
Very informative! (Reply to this comment)
by whalewatcher
Thanks for a great 'tour' of a part of the world I have yet to visit. Excellent review!
Claudia
|
Aug 27 '01
12:23 pm PDT
|
|
|
|
