China

[zoossh]

I need help in planning a grad trip.

Thus far, there are 10 of us going FIRSTLY to Yunnan on a guided trip for 8 days (this part is fixed) before we proceed to fly to another major city in China (via internal flight) for a free and easy 4-5 days trip. We are going for less than 14 days in total starting in the 4th Week of May.

The thing is: which city can we visit? It should prefably be contrasting to Yunnan (which is mainly scenic).

I've two place in mind: Beijing and Shanghai.

The concerns are:
Beijing (more things to see, e.g. great wall & forbidden city but few of us visited before)
Shanghai (might be more ex and shanghai expo is up in may which may affect the hotel rates)

Thanks!

i dunno if your group (? photographers) can form a consensus, but since u guys are still young, why not consider places that might be difficult to go in groups when u become older. let's say dunhuang... land of the huns, the visha, subsequent chinese commandery and history of early buddhism into china.

 

[KangS]

i dunno if your group (? photographers) can form a consensus, but since u guys are still young, why not consider places that might be difficult to go in groups when u become older. let's say dunhuang... land of the huns, the visha, subsequent chinese commandery and history of early buddhism into china.

Yes, I agree. Think the major mountains in China should be worth visiting especially when you're young. Such as the 五岳 , the 4 sacred Buddhist mountains 四大佛教名山, 武当山, 黄山 and difficult to access areas too.

 

[tkbonz]

i dunno if your group (? photographers) can form a consensus, but since u guys are still young, why not consider places that might be difficult to go in groups when u become older. let's say dunhuang... land of the huns, the visha, subsequent chinese commandery and history of early buddhism into china.

Yes, I agree. Think the major mountains in China should be worth visiting especially when you're young. Such as the 五岳 , the 4 sacred Buddhist mountains 四大佛教名山, 武当山, 黄山 and difficult to access areas too.

Firstly, thanks for the advice. The initial plan was to have an adventurous grad trip but now the conditions have changed quite abit for us as the number of ppl going burgeoned.

Most of the 10 ppl going aren't photographers and our tastes are very varied (8 guys + 2 girls). And some of us have health issues (e.g. history of pneumothorax, heart problem, asthma) so the mountain hikings are rather impossible.

It will be hard to manage (as mentioned by other CSers) 10 ppl and I'm currently the so called group leader. I can't imagine the logistics in planning a free and easy itinery for 10 ppl with varied interests!!! Hence, we decided on a common Yunnan portion of the trip to satisfy the scenery/cultural aspects of a trip. It will be fun as the trip will only consist of us and us only as we have enough ppl (i.e. 10) to form our own tour group.

HENCE...we would want another getaway to a major city for the shopping/simpler sightseeing aspect and we're concern with the prices/hotels/attractions of places like Beijing vs Shanghai vs Guangzhou.

So anyone with tips about such places do feel free to share!

Thanks again!

 

[daredevil123]

Firstly, thanks for the advice. The initial plan was to have an adventurous grad trip but now the conditions have changed quite abit for us as the number of ppl going burgeoned.

Most of the 10 ppl going aren't photographers and our tastes are very varied (8 guys + 2 girls). And some of us have health issues (e.g. history of pneumothorax, heart problem, asthma) so the mountain hikings are rather impossible.

It will be hard to manage (as mentioned by other CSers) 10 ppl and I'm currently the so called group leader. I can't imagine the logistics in planning a free and easy itinery for 10 ppl with varied interests!!! Hence, we decided on a common Yunnan portion of the trip to satisfy the scenery/cultural aspects of a trip. It will be fun as the trip will only consist of us and us only as we have enough ppl (i.e. 10) to form our own tour group.

HENCE...we would want another getaway to a major city for the shopping/simpler sightseeing aspect and we're concern with the prices/hotels/attractions of places like Beijing vs Shanghai vs Guangzhou.

So anyone with tips about such places do feel free to share!

Thanks again!

I really do hope that at least one of you have good knowledge of china and how things work in there.

 

[tkbonz]

I really do hope that at least one of you have good knowledge of china and how things work in there.

Yup some of us have been there recently before. Just not Yunnan only.

 

[daredevil123]

Yup some of us have been there recently before. Just not Yunnan only.

Not just been there. But traveled free and easy, getting around on your own, know what the dos and don'ts are, especially when off the beaten track.

And I don't mean joining a tour or a company sponsored business trip.

 

[tkbonz]

Not just been there. But traveled free and easy, getting around on your own, know what the dos and don'ts are, especially when off the beaten track.

And I don't mean joining a tour or a company sponsored business trip.

Yes I have friends who have travelled as you said before. I'm not claiming to be the expert here but would like to find out ideas from experienced CSer on which location to go.

 

[daredevil123]

Yes I have friends who have travelled as you said before. I'm not claiming to be the expert here but would like to find out ideas from experienced CSer on which location to go.

That's good. Safety first.

About locations, you have to first decide on what is you main trip first. After you decided that, you should select your port of entry/exit, which will be your shopping location as well.

If doing Yunnan, consider Guangzhou or Shenzhen. If you are doing northeast or Jiangnan, consider Shanghai. Personally, I like Hangzhou airport. But it can be a challenge for newbies and a large group.

 

[daredevil123]

And when you mention Yunnan, you need to be clear which parts of Yunnan too. There different approaches to "conquer" Yunnan. Are you referring to the usual Dali or Lijiang? Or south Yunnan like Xishuangbanna or the Sichuan border into Tibet. And the weather changes too... as you travel inside Yunnan.

 

[tkbonz]

The Yunnan portion will be a guided trip most probably engaging SATours or CTC. We will be going Dali, Lijiang, Shangri La. The temperature there varies alot depending on which part of Yunnan. It can range from 10+ to 20+ in Kunming and 3+ to 15+ in Shangri La during late May.

Have u been to Guangzhou? My friends are keen to go there. Our group have ppl who've been to Beijing before so they are not so keen to go there again. For Shanghai, we're considering the fact that the expo is held during the same period and prices for hotels, airfare and cost of living might be higher.

Thanks for the replies

 

[daredevil123]

The Yunnan portion will be a guided trip most probably engaging SATours or CTC. We will be going Dali, Lijiang, Shangri La. The temperature there varies alot depending on which part of Yunnan. It can range from 10+ to 20+ in Kunming and 3+ to 15+ in Shangri La during late May.

Have u been to Guangzhou? My friends are keen to go there. Our group have ppl who've been to Beijing before so they are not so keen to go there again. For Shanghai, we're considering the fact that the expo is held during the same period and prices for hotels, airfare and cost of living might be higher.

Thanks for the replies

Yes. Been there numerous times. I lived in China since late 2005 and I traveled a lot for work.