We are planning to travel around China for the length of a one month visa ( 30 or 31 days?) We have two side trips planned. One to Mongolia and the other Tibet so I figure that takes about 2 weeks right there. We are planning to do most of the travel by train to keep the expense down so my question is what should we absolutely see with the remaining three weeks? WE had planned to go to Shanghai, Beijing, and Xian. We have a friend near Xian who we want to visit. Should we only spend a short time in Shanghai or Beijing. Are there cooler places off the beaten trail we should check out? Do really save considerable money taking a train vs flying? Please help!!

Well this might be a little out-of-the-way from the other places you are visiting, but I just returned today from South China and it was amazing! Guangxi province is where I visited and Guilin, Yangshuo, and the Dragon's Backbone (LongJi) Rice Terraces were all extraordinarily beautiful. I have also heard that Yunnan province is equally if not more beautiful too. So, depending what you are looking for, you might consider these areas as well

I can also recommend the Guilin/Yangshuo area. It is great scenery and the tours are good. Yunnan has attractions like the Stone forest which i regret not seeing.

For me, Chengdu is a MUST visit. Xian is great as well... beijing was kind of a drag for us.

Chengdu has amazing food, and the people are very friendly. Plus pandas and a trip into the mountains is awesome. Read our post here: http://www.jenzybarnzy.com/Site/Road_Journal/Entries/2009/2/28_Spicy_Panda.html we really fell in love with the place.

Pingyao is a wonderful place... Its an ancient city surrounded by large walls. Its worth visiting because there are some great little temples and such. Bob at Zhengjia International Youth Hostel is a great guy, he speaks English and will have you taken to and from the train station for free. Its reachable by train to Taiyuan in Shanxi province from Beijing for an overnight ride, then about a two hour ride on another train. Its a crowded ride, but it is genuinely Chinese!

Its worth a few days, if you like taking cool pictures, antigue shopping, and seeing "old" china. Also there is a beautiful temple outside of the city, which you can reach by bike.

Also, if you do decide to go south, there's an island off of Shanghai called Putuoshan. Lots of Buddhist temples and beaches. I loved it.

WOw! Thanks for all the advice. All of these places sound amazing . Does anyone know of a good website for the possible modes of transportation up into Mongolia. I know there is a bus and possibly a couple different train routes but that's about the extent of the information I have.

Hi,

Just a thought from past experience in China.

Do you have a multi-entry visa to get back into China from Mongolia? Also, you need to have made both entries in China by the visa expiry date (found this out the hard way on the Laos/China border!).

Sounds like a great trip. Good luck.

I'd also check out the visit regs our 30 day was a single entry Visa. Check to be sure you can do what you want.
Have a great trip.
Jean

Continued....
some of the trains are fantastic just like the bullet trains in Japan and go at great speed. On the station you are put into waiting rooms until shortly before the train arrives and then you are instructed to go onto the platform and you queu at the number your coach is. It all works wonderfully well and the train in off in minutes. If I remember rightly you can book 2 weeks ahead of time, go down to the train station you will be able to speak to an English speaking person and they are very helpful. Our train from Shanghai to Hong Kong (approx 27hrs) was an overnight train we had crisp linen sheets, duvet cover, fitted carpet, slippers, a TV, a flask of boiling water for making drinks it was fantastic and all for £24.
You can also travel by sleeper coaches but make sure you get book a well placed seat some have restricted leg area and don't get next to the toilet, look at the plan before you book. You take off your shoes before getting on the coach putting them into a bag, the coach has fitted carpets and generally you get a meal thrown in if it's a long journey and the cost is minimal.
Oh by the way we could only withdraw money from the ATMs at the Bank of China not sure why that was but some wonderful police officers took us to one in their car as we couldn't find anywhere to get money out, it was a hoot.
Have a great trip
Jean

Average amount of money spent in Hong Kong on food? It looks like the variety of food here is limitless as are the pricing scales??

So we are looking to take a train from Hong Kong to Chengdu. Has any one taken this route? It looks like you have to transfer at least once. We were thinking of stopping somewhere along the way and spending a couple days. Any suggestions, advice?

I am trying to do the same thing in 3 weeks. Hopefully with both Mongolia and Tibet. Thanks everyone for posting, it will be a great adventure.

Hi Minimal — three weeks to see Mainland China, Mongolia and Tibet will be too tight, in my opinion. It'd be likely trying to see Canada and the US in three weeks. Doable, but you would miss great swaths of each.

My wife and I recently went from Hong Kong to Yangshuo (a lovely place), then took a 24 hour train from Guilin to Chengdu. The train was comfy enough, but you definitely want to bring some food. We tried the dining car which only had a menu in hand-written chinese. We let them order two dishes for us and got a plate of greasy eggs and a bowl of greasy egg soup. The chinese mostly go with cup-a-noodle.

We often found plane tickets for about the same price as long-distance train rides. We used elong.net to find flights, but that required us to send photos of our credit card, passports and signed forms - worth it though.

When you get to Chengdu, be sure to pick up some of the expat free city guides. Don't try to find Ma Po Tofu based on the Lonely Planet - their addresses are wrong for two locations!

have fun
-todd