Hello, we are headed to china as part of the RTW. We will be coming over from Mongolia on the Trans Siberian. We are planning to spend a month or so in China but have no idea where to go or what to do. This will be May/June '09. The only 1 thing i am doing is running a half marathon on the great wall, after that no plans. After checking out a map, we decided to stick to the coast and travel towards Vietnam but that was just because it looked easiest.

Does anyone have any recommendations for China? Places not be missed, places to def. miss? I don't even know what the backpackers trail consists of in China.

Any advice here would be def. helpful. Thanks

Definitely go to Xi'an. It's an overnight train away from Beijing. Great city, great people (if a little TOO friendly at times haha) and of course the Terra Cotta Warriors. I'd suggest staying at BackPax. It's relatively new, but I loved it there. Very friendly staff. You can book them through Bootsnall.

I also recommend Chengdu. Another wonderful city. If you can, stay in the Tibetan Quarter. Holly's Hostel was great there.

Also take a cruise down the Yangtze River, well worth the money. I was there in April. You can read my Blogif you'd like some more insights.

Enjoy and have fun. I really miss it!!

Thanks for the input. That's exactly the type of advice i need! How did you get to those places, by train or bus? Also, what would you say you spent per day there? We'll be doing typical backpacker stuff and looking for the cheap stuff.

also, i tried to get to your blog but it wouldn't work??

Also, I was wondering - what is the average price per day in those areas? We are on a backpacker budget, so hostels and cheap eats. Thanks

Hi!!!

I'd like to suggest a little gem...
The Yangshuo Culture House

http://www.yangshuo-study-travel.com/

It's just a really amazing place...a little family run hostel... it's like a homestay...
I was there last summer. For about 11$ a night, I got a great private room with A/C and bathroom, 3 homecooked meals a day (If you want them, but thrust me, dinner is amazing... see picture...) cultural lessons of your choice, and a lot of help in organizing activities (Wei, the owner is super nice, helpful and not "pushy").
The place is now in the Lonely Planet and you really need to make a reservation if you're planning to go there.
Seriously, I very strongly recommend it if you plan on going to the area...
Even Wei's family is great! The wife and the grandmother let my friend and I go to the market with them: 6am, absolutely no tourists... It was great!! And they let us help in the kitchen and taught us a few things...

Also Yangshuo is a great place where you can do all kinds of "outdoorsy" activies.

Here are a few of my pictures if you're interested:
http://picasaweb.google.ca/travelclown/MonVoyage
Yangshuo and its surroundings start at the one where you see me making dumplings (at the Culture House) up till my panda pictures (in Chengdu).
You should have a wonderful time in China... Happy travels!!!

Sorry for the delay, work has been insane. IN Xi'an you can get a hostel bed as cheap as 40RMB a night, which at the time was about $5 CAD.

I traveled by train and flew as well. Some of the flights inside China can be quite cheap. The hostels can usually book them for you.

In Xi'an there's a cool market/shopping area. I'll have to look and see what it was called again.

Sorry on the blog, it should be... here.

China is uber cheap. The buses and trains are pretty good. The only thing I had to get use to was sleeping on beds that were super hard!