China

WillyFog · Joined: 15 Jan 2006 Posts: 30

Ok after a summer in HK/Japan I think i'll go to China in the winter. Ive heard parts of China can get damn cold during that time of the year but also the snow can make all the difference in some parts.

Now the land is so vast where do I begin. Only thing I have in mind is Beijing, Shanghai and Forbidden City. Otherwise don't know much else.

I suppose those 3 are so far apart they could be the only places I can fit in.

Educate me :D

Laura · Joined: 16 May 2004 Posts: 446 Location: San Francisco

Don't go to Beijing in the winter time unless you enjoy freezing to death. And don't go in the summer unless you enjoy being really hot. And avoid the spring, unless you enjoy dust storms. The best time to go is in October.

Actually, I was there in June, and it was horribly hot, but so long as I kept drinking water and finding shady spots, it was tolerable.

Beijing isn't that far from the edge of the Gobi desert, so they get quite the extreme range of weather. And then there's the dust storms. They sky will be yellowish grey for days, and a fine dust will cover everything. People go around in face masks.

There are many musts in Beijing: Forbidden City, Temple of the Lamas, Temple of Heaven, Summer Palace, the Drum and Bell Towers, the Archer's Tower, Prince Gong's Palace, a side trip to the Wall (check a guide book to find the best location -- the two locations closest to the city, Badaling and Mintianyu, are getting more and more overrun with souvenier shacks and hordes of tourists all the time). Supposedly some group called "Wild Wall" runs hiking tours along less-traveled parts of the wall that are really beautiful and excellent. It's a strenuous hike -- the wall is up in the mountains and snakes along the ridges.

I spent five days on my own in Beijing a couple of years ago. I got around mostly on foot and by the subway (signs are in Pinyin -- the roman alphabetization of Mandarin -- and Chinese). I also took a lot of taxies. They are cheap, and I found every taxi driver to be competent and honorable. Look for the red taxies, they are cheaper than the green taxis, which are mostly used by richer people and foreigners. The red ones don't always have air conditioning, but who really cares in the end. Anyway, I always carried a card with the name of my hotel in Chinese on it, and since I can speak a TINY TINY bit of Mandarin I never had a problem saying the name of the place and then showing pointing to it on a map to get there.

cocodrilo · Joined: 12 Apr 2004 Posts: 494 Location: Western Japan

WillyFog wrote: Ok after a summer in HK/Japan I think i'll go to China in the winter. Ive heard parts of China can get damn cold during that time of the year but also the snow can make all the difference in some parts.

Now the land is so vast where do I begin. Only thing I have in mind is Beijing, Shanghai and Forbidden City. Otherwise don't know much else.

I suppose those 3 are so far apart they could be the only places I can fit in.

Educate me :D
Buy The Lonely Planet , a very concise guide that can give you detailed information/accessiblity to the cities you are interested in. That way, you can have a beter idea of where things are located(oodles of maps!), what is available to do there and hotel and restaurant options. I also recommend the same guidebook series for Japan.

Laura · Joined: 16 May 2004 Posts: 446 Location: San Francisco

I like to take self-guided walking tours, because I like having a sense of direction. The Frommer's web site (Frommers.com) has some for various cities, they are worth printing out. I usually take that, and a different company's guide book (like Lonely Planet, and I also like Rough Guide) so that I get a couple of different points of view and set of ideas.

Beijing is very flat, so you can walk forever without getting too exhausted.

WillyFog · Joined: 15 Jan 2006 Posts: 30

Laura wrote: Don't go to Beijing in the winter time unless you enjoy freezing to death. And don't go in the summer unless you enjoy being really hot. And avoid the spring, unless you enjoy dust storms. The best time to go is in October.

that just made me spit my tea ! sounded funny.

Hmm October maybe doable, not sure what my employer feels about taking 2 big holidays this year !

Beijing sounds like a great place. So many places you have listed. I don't mind the walking, i love hiking even in mountainous area - the adventure !