Korean Job Discussion Forums

[crazy_arcade]

I guess I've decided that I'm gonna travel in China during summer vacation. I haven't planned anything yet except that I'm going to visit my friend who is living in Beijing.

What's possible in a three week period? What should I make sure I see and what should I skip?

Also, what's the best way to travel? Plane, train? I heard bus isn't recommended because apparently highway driving is attrocious.

Right now I'm trying to plan a route. I was thinking about starting Northern (maybe Harbin?) and working my way down to Beijing and then going from there to Shanghai and maybe into South China.

I guess Xian is a must do. My friend also mentioned Guilin and
Kunming. However, Kunming looks like it would be hard to get to on this trip. He also mentioned Hainan Dao which is apparently the place to go in China to relax on the beach.
I want to see a lot but I also want to give myself personal time; time to relax. Would I be better off starting in Beijing?

[pugwall]

Three weeks is quite tough as there is so much to see. You probably need to decide what you want to do. Scenery. history, citiesetc. Buses are fine and are often the only way of getting to some places and sometimes faster than the trains. Chinese trains are great and cover an extensive network and are pretty comfortable and reliable if you dont mind sitting next to a few people munching on chicken feet. The trains are really friendly and you will find people sharing their food and alcohol with you and speaking any english they happen to know. You really should get a Lonely Planet tho as it can get you out of a few scrapes. Try and learn a few basic dishes so you can always get food into your mouth as often its impossible to find english menus outside of tourist hotspots.

Kunming is great and is a fantastic city, I've been there four times and would love to go back. Its the hub of the Yunnan backpacker trail (Dali,Lijiang, Tiger Leaping Gorge and Xishuanbanna) which are beautiful and represent the minority culture present in South West China more than the dominant Han culture. however its a long way from BJ and would advis flying there (get good prices on internal flights from elong.net) and the completing the Yunnan trail wich will take you two weeks. Otherwise there isnt really much point in making all your way out there if you only have such a short time in China.

One possible itineary I would recommend would be to catch a boat to Qingdao from Incheon and sample the excellent beer,BBQ and beaches there. Then move on to climbing the sacred Tai Shan also in Shandong province. Next to Luoyang where in two days you can visit the Longmen Buddhist grotoes and the Shaolin temple which is the home of Kung Fu. From Luoyang you can travel to Xian and see trhe terracotta warriors and eat awesome kebabs in the muslim part of the city. After a few days the move onto Chengdu and sample spicy sichuan food, Sichuan opera and see the pandas. Take a long train journey to BJ and finish off the trip there, making sure not to miss succulent Beijing duck.

That would be an easy enough three weeks I think without being too strssful.

[samd]

Great advice from Pugwall.

I recommend going by train, a great way to see the country and meet the people. If you get sick of it, you can just fly instead. Flights and airports are plentiful.

I also loved Sichuan province. Chengdu, Chongqing, and the giant buddha at Leshan. Great food. Different feel.

Guangzhou is good too, the Cantonese speaking areas have a unique feel. Macau is worth a visit, though not really China I guess.

Maybe begin in Macau or Guangzhou, take the train to Sichuan province, then go from there to Xian. Then maybe to Beijing and Harbin.

If you have time, go to Shanghai, and spend a few days there too. From Shanghai you can take day trips to places like Suzhou and Hangzhou, both worth a visit.

I'd like to take some of the river tours, and see the Three Gorges Dam too.

[Richard Krainium]

I'd also recommend starting out in Shandong Province. As pugwall said, get there by ferry from Incheon. And yes the BBQ and Tsingtao beer are fantastic! Trains go everywhere from there and are comfy enough and so cheap!

Man, I envy you. I only had a week. I loved traveling in Shandong Province. Had that off-the-beaten-path-feel, once I left Qingdao.

[pugwall]

[Richard Krainium]

[crazy_arcade]

Thanks for the info so far.

How does one go about booking the boat from Incheon to Qingdao? It sounds interesting. What's the price and how long does it take?

I've seen return flights to Qingao for as low as 150 and to Beijing for 200.

[stevemcgarrett]

crazy arcade:

It depends on how you react to hot and humid weather, which describes most of China in the summer.

It also depends on how well you react to crowds of tourists.

If you're like me and despise humidity and excessive heat, it leaves you only three options: Harbin in the northeast with its unique Russian influences, Tibet or Xizang, for which you will need a special visa and time to acclimate to the higher altitudes and, best of all, Yunnan Province.

Dali, Kunming, and Lijiang most notable among the spots to visit. Also Tiger Leaping Gorge and the Stone Forest east of Kunming. My personal favorite is the old town of Dali above Erhai (ear lake). Reminds me of Hawaii in the cool season except it has lots of Buddhist temples and monasteries and is much cheaper.

Avoid the Great Wall at Badaling, and opt for either Mutianyu or Simitai farther to the north where fewer tourists tread.

Avoid the four furnaces of Xi'an, Wuhan, Nanjing, and Chongqing in the summer. They can be sweltering.

After traveling in Korea, China will seem like a gold mine.

Avoid overnight sleeper buses (it's not the adventure you need) and day buses without A/C.

Travel by train is fine but only in hard sleeper or soft sleeper. The latter is best when you have 4 traveling as a group. Request lowest bunk on hard sleeper to have easier access to a table and window, and of course the corridor. New trains that service big cities non-stop are much more amenable.

Fly Air China when needed; better safety record than all other airlines in Asia. Best to book flights with a Chinese friend online at www.elong.net at least a week in advance.

Don't miss out on the local parks in Beijing, for which the city is famous. Best to visit at dawn or shortly thereafter until 9 a.m. when it's cooler and the old folks are out, some practicing Peking Opera or tai'chi.

Best parks: Xiangshan (Fragrant Hills) to the west, Jingshan north of the Forbidden City on a hill, Purple Bamboo to the west, and Tiantan in the south. Also the Summer Palace old and new parks in Haidian District to the northwest are cooler.

Enjoy the local street food, the dumplings (jiaozi), the haw on a stick (tanghulu), the mutton dumplings (yangrou baozi), the mutton on a skewer Xinjiang style (yangrou chuan'r) and of course the Peking duck (kaoya). Various fresh pulled wheat noodle dishes from Shanxi Province with its famous vinegar are unmatched in Korea or Japan. Same goes for the tea (longjing cha) from Hangzhou, jasmine tea from Fujian, and babao cha fruity tea from Ningxia.

[chest rockwell]

I just went to Yantai and fully recommend a visit. Unbelievably luxurious hotels, delicious food. And the nicest widest beach Ive seen in my life, really really clean. The sea was too. So if you want to relax for a few days I recommend this place. And its only a one hour flight from Korea.