Korean Job Discussion Forums

[bossface]

like everybody else, i am looking to travel between december 23 and january 2. i was originally thinking thailand, i have a buddy living down there, plus the weather in december would be great, but i haven't found a flight anywhere close to reasonable, in fact, i believe both united and thai (i always look at star alliance first for milage purposes) were sold out on coach entirely. so, now i'm thinking china, just because i think the two mandatory must-see places while i am here are thailand and china (and japan, but it's a short flight with no visa, so i can do that on a long weekend.) i am thinking shanghai and beijing. how cold are they? is it worth braving the cold for cheaper off-season rates? keep in mind, i'm from chicago, and i took a winter trip last year to belgium and germany, so i know cold. does beijing hover around freezing (32/0) or is it considerably colder? is it easy to fly into one city and out of another? how long does the train between them take, or is it just more sensible to fly? or, should i just scrap this whole plan and go to hong kong or taiwan?

[denistron]

haha. Sounds like we are thinking the exact same thing. I'm still trying to figure out if Ill go to Thailand or do the China thing (Shanhai, xian, hong kong). I eventually deceided on the Thailand trip becasue I heard it can bet a little cold in china at that time. But I will all depend on if there are any flights still available or not. I also heard it can get pretty booked around that time.

Are you going for one week or two?

[poof]

For the amount of time you have, covering Beijing, Xian and HK all in one go isn't worth it. The cold, bleak landscape is also not much fun. I suggest Taiwan. You can take a train around the island in the time you have and enjoy the 'other side' of China. Lots of really nice off the track places in Taiwan which are really surprising. Great choice of food, too. Taiwan can turn cold too, however, starting from the end of December. But it's nothing like the big freeze on the mainland. Taiwan, Taiwan!!

[VanIslander]

Hong Kong, Macau and thereabouts in the south have average daily highs of 19 celsius (that's an average, some days 20+), lows of 10 celsius for January, so that's nice and mild, in fact would feel a bit warm if sunny.

[ttompatz]

[denistron]

Man! that sucks. My school wont tell me when our winter camp is so I still dont have a ticket. Im going to get screwed!