My family and I are going to china this summer, any intresting, scenic, or active places to visit?

Question

My mom, brother, dad, and I are going to china this summer and I was just wondering if any body could give me some cool places to visit. We'll be traveling to bejiing, shanghai, Hong Kong, and then sailing up the Yangtze river to the city of Xian. If somebody could give me some really intresting places to visit or things to do, I would be eternally grateful.

Answer 1

Hi, I'm from Hong Kong and I go to China very often to visit my relatives and for business. I would like to share a bit of what I know with you here.

If this is your first time to go to China with your family, I guess you would plan it well before you get on the plane, I would suggest the following places :

1) Beijing, the capital city of China since 111? (total 4 days), take a very good rest when you reach the hotel the first night because your body clock needs to adjust the time difference + the long flight and you would have a lot of walking in the next few days - the forbidden city (Museum) + Tiananmen Square + eat good (but don't hurt your stomach) + try traditional chinese foot massage + sleep good, you would have to climb the great wall in the next day (day 1), the great wall + Shisanlin, Tomb of 13 Kings of Ming Dynasty (day 2), Beihai Park + YiheYuan + Tiantan (day 3), relax / shopping at Wangfujingdajie / prepare to go to Chengde

2) Chengde (total 2 to 3 days), also known as the mini Laisa (Tibet), 5 hours train from Beijing - visit the summer palace, built between 1650 to 18?? (day 1), visit the Tibetian's architectures out of the palace which the emperor spent more than 30 years to build, he also invited a lot of monks fromTibet to visit Chengde (day 2) and prepare to leave Chengde the next day

3) Shanghai (2 days) - Yu Garden + ChengHuang Temple + Lunch at the Pearl TV Tower + The Bund + eat good at any 5 stars hotel + night curise at Huangpujiang (day 1), Shanghai Museum + Sex Museum (900 numbers of exhibits there and some are 5000 - 6000 years old, this museum is the only one of the kind within the whole China), afternoon tea in any modern / contempory area or traditional Shanghai tea house (day 2) prepare to go to Hangzhou

4) Hangzhou (2 days) - This city has been established more than 1450 years ago, ancient Chinese called it & Suzhou as the paradise (the best cities to live in), West Lake, is famous for its 10 breathtaking scenics in different seasons of the year (the former US President Richard Nixon visited it in 1972 as well) + YueWang Temple + Hangzhou Cuisine - old duck soup / braised vinager fish / fried shrimps with loongjing tea leaves and make advance booking for beggar's roasted chicken wrapped with lotus leave in the clay for dinner tomorrow night at Hangzhou Restaurant - very famous 80 years old restaurant phone no. 86 - 0571-8509-1717 (day 1), LingYin Temple + FeilaiFeng + Longjing, to buy Loongjing tea, the best green tea and see how they fry the green tea leaves with bare hands on the hot chinese wok (day 2), going to Suzhou

5) Suzhou (2 days) - ZhuoZheng Garden (built from 1509 to 1513 by a retired politician), stunning chinese landscape & traditional residence + ShiZiLin (built in 1342) + Fu Qiu (an ancient palace / tomb of more than 2400 years old) +Liu Garden (another famous traditional residence) (day1), visit the Silk factory (Suzhou is also famous for it silk industry and embroideries in china) + shopping (day 2), the next day go to Zhou Zhuang

6) Zhou Zhuang (2 days), an ancient town 30 km from Suzhou where you can sit on a boat enjoy the scene between bridges and feel the interest of the water township (like Venice) - the Double Bridge, the water routes + Shen's House (built in 1742) + Zhang's House (built between 1436 and 1449) +the South Lake, the lotus pond, the lake tower, mid-lake Pavilion, bridge of 9 turnings, marble boat + Quanfu TeachingTemple by the lake shore (established in 1086), all of the Buddhist statues & collected treasures were ruined in the 1950s, the temple was re-built / repaired in 1995, view the sunset in the South lake + staying 1 night in South Lake Holiday Resort (day 1), prepare to go to Ningjing (day 2) ... (Cities #7 to #10 - sailing up the Yangtze River)

7) Nanjing 8) Wuhan 9) Chongqing 10) Chengdu 11) Xian ... fly to 12) Hong Kong

12) Hong Kong (3 days) - my hometown ... hmmm.. it is convenient like any other big cities in the world / clean / great hotels / great food!!!!

If you have plenty of time to travel (at least 4 weeks) then you can have a lot of fun from #1 (Beijing) all the way to # 12 (Hong Kong) + #13 Macau, a former Portuguese colony for more than 400 years ... wow.. how nice! (please stay in Beijing for more than 4 days, I was there for 2 weeks and still felt missing so much when i left)

If you have got only 2 weeks or so, I strongly recommend you to visit #1, #3 to #5 then back to #3 (Shanghai) + take a 3 hours flight to HK for another 2 days to end your journey in my hometown, if you named yourself as a gourmet, you could not skip Hong Kong hahaha...!

But.. surely if you skip #1 & #2 and go from #3 (Shanghai) all the way to #11 (Xian), it still would be an excellent option (would take you at least 18 days for not being too rush).

I have never been to #8 to #11 but I know all these places are very nice and I hope you would have a wonderful vacation in China.

P.S. Other than the abovementioned cities / places, the best and surely I would love to visit again and again are Qingdau / Dalian / Qufu / Taishan / Huangshan (for the sunrise mentioned by other) ... my mother thought of buying a second house in Dalian because of its seaview (she said it looked like Nice in France!) and its exceptionally clean environment (the cleanest one we have ever been in China). In fact, my parents have second houses in Guangzhou, Jiangmen, Zhongshan and Enping, like many Hong Kong residents, they think of moving back to China when they get real old for cheaper living cost and medical services.

Answer 2

You have to go to the Great Wall out of Beijing. That is a must and a beautiful place. Also have Peking duck in the place where it originated. See the Black lakes and the people dancing in front. There are restaurants there and bars, quite nice with live bands playing American music. See Tienanmen Square as well. There is a lot in Beijing.

In Shanghai, you have to stay in a 5 star hotel in Pu dong which is a brand new part of Shanghai that means "East of the River". You will love the views and the historical areas here.

Hong Kong, home of Jackie Chan, is a shopping Mecca.

I haven't been to Xian but the clay soldiers are the most noteworthy.

The Yangtze is being expanded. You will see good and bad going up that river. There is a lot of poverty in China.

Overall, I think you will love it. My niece is there now. She is blond and blue eyed so a lot of people stare and take pictures.

My best advice is to stay in 5 star hotels. Ceramic toilets are not that common in many places and a nice hotel is welcome when you cannot speak the language or read it. Eat at nice places and you will enjoy the food, too! Chinese can be very hospitable in person and fun loving.

Have a great time!! ( I am an Anglo from Texas if you were wondering).

Answer 3

All I can tell you about is Beijing but depending on how long you will spend there this is what I suggest:

-Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square, which are right across the street from each other and in the direct center of the city. The Forbidden City takes about 2 hours to explore the entire thing (I had a tour guide who wasn't that great so use your discretion on that). Tiananmen does't take long to see as it is just a large square but this is also where Mao's mausoleum is located. If you're interested in seeing the "body" make sure you go there before Forbidden City as it usually closed at like 11:30am. Also a short walk from these places is WanFuJing, which is the expensive shopping and tourist central. It's worth checking out if you have time.

-For shopping I suggest PanJiaYuan, a giant flea market, open every weekend. You can find anything there from Mao paraphenalia to jade jewelery to tibetan trunks.

-Also Peking Duck is a must, you can't leave Beijing without having it- it's fabulous.

-And of course the Great Wall. There's several locations and I know of Badaling, which has mostly been restored and Simatai, which I believe is less climable than Badaling but is the original wall. I've only been to Badaling but I enjoyed it very much. And there's also the Ming Tombs, which you can do in the same day as they are fairly close to each other.

Enjoy your trip, hope this helps.

Answer 4

I suggest you take a train from Shanghai to Huangshan, Annui Province and go up the "HUANGSHAN" It would be nice if you could arrange to stay overnight at the top and watch the sunrise the next morning. It is worth the sweat and be sure you take with you a digital camera with lots of memory card. The other place is in southern China in GUILLIN , easily accessible from Hong Kong. Take the day cruise along Guillin river and enjoy the fantastic panorama.. Try googling these places too before you go

Answer 5

As one of the six historical cities in China, Beijing has been one's heart and soul of politics throughout their long history and therefore there is an unmatched wealth of finding to joy and intrigue travelers because they explore the city's old previous and fascinating modern progress, know more with hotelbye . Now in day, Beijing it is becoming among the most used vacation destinations on the planet and the places lice Yunju Temple or Summer Palace are in to the reason why for what Beijing worth visited. Beijing Summer Palace is the largest elegant Garden in China.

Answer 6

Shanghai is just a renowned international metropolis drawing more and more attention from throughout the world; so see what this town provides with hotelbye . Shanghai is a favorite vacation location for visitors. In Shanghai you can see the wonderful Yu Garden (Yù Yuán), also known as the Garden of Happiness. That Garden addresses a location in excess of 20,000 square yards and includes an outer and an internal garden. The oldest part may be the Outer Garden with more changes being made in the 18th century when Sansui Tang, the park's major corridor, was added. The newer and significantly smaller Inner Garden times from 1709 and includes features typical of a established Chinese writer's Garden: desirable little pavilions, ornamental stones, and little mountain ranges, separating surfaces and small wetlands, and even a richly furnished theatrical stage.

Answer 7

Ning Hao!
Every time I go to China (I have been ten times - between 1 to 3.5 months each time), I find a new place! China is developing extremely fast and dynamically!
Try to walk and visit places that not a lot of big noses go (white people are called such)!
Antiquities, modern and contemporary cities and areas, natural beauties, antiquities, restaurants, museums, gymnastics, Beijing Opera (don;t try a full one - you can stand if for 5 - 10 minutes, not more!)
Go shopping and bargain! When the first offer is for 100 and you pay 50 you have spent too much!
It is a great country that you will enjoy a lot!

Answer 8

hi,i am in beijing..you can't sailing up the Yangtze river to the city of Xian,for the river not go through the city at all.wish you will have a great time in china.the three canyoo is the most famous attraction in the river.in beijing you can go great wall,palace museum.summer palace,heaven temple,and so on.if you need a volunteer guide in beijing you can contact me.

Answer 9

I have been to china recently, as i am forced to travel extensivly with my parents, so if you are going up the Yangtze river then i suggest you go to the Yuntang He temple ruins. I think it is spelled like that but it is pronounced differently. It is a great place to go and it is a lot of fun to explore in the ruins.

Answer 10

About 700km east of Beijing, there is a major city called Shenyang, where the China International Horticultural Exposition 2006 is being held this summer. Check for details from this website:

http://www.expo2006sy.gov.cn/index-eg.htm

Answer 11

I was in China for a couple of months last summer and before I left I found a site, www.itsaboutchina.com it had a lot of informaion. I use a domestic travel agent while in china. Karen I found her on the site and she was of great help. She is in Guilin but she arranged most all of my travels to many of the places you listed. Good luck I had a fantastic time