Places to see near Beijing or Shanghai

[mama bear]

I am going back in August, and was trying to see what other options would be available. 

 

Mama Bear, thanks for all the great information.

210584[/snapback]

You are always welcome!

My family also plan go to somewhere outside Beijing in summer.But it will be too hot go to south in summer. Papa bear want Shanghai, Hongkang and Hainan, he is a cold wheather man, I don't think he can bear the hot and humid in south China.Maybe go to Xinjiang or Tibet will be a better idea,but he said no muslem area.hehe.

[Feathers268]

Since here in sunny California it will probably be a little warm, that might be nice change. It's looking more and more like this will be a Beijing trip.

210346[/snapback]

Papa bear will be in Beijing at that time, welcome to BEIJING!

210360[/snapback]

I love all of this information. B) I think Jen and I will have a full schedule by the time I meet her there. If Papabear is going to be there also, I think that we should get together at least for a day. Hey, maybe we are starting what can be a CFL, 001 get together in Beijing. We'd love to meet any of our brothers and sisters in The Middle Kingdom. B)

[mama bear]

I think Jen and I will have a full schedule by the time I meet her there. If Papabear is going to be there also, I think that we should get together at least for a day. Hey, maybe we are starting what can be a CFL, 001 get together in Beijing. We'd love to meet any of our brothers and sisters in The Middle Kingdom.

210665[/snapback]

Let's make it--a CFL, 001 get together in Beijing!

[A Mafan]

Beijing's cool, but to me, more for doing things rather than seeing things.

 

After seeing the Forbidden City, Tower of Heaven, the 13 Ming Tombs, the Summer Palace, I was struck by how they pretty much looked all the same.

 

[shrug]

 

The other problem with Beijing is that there are just too many people who live there and visit there, so my impression is that most of the parks are over-visited and dirty.

 

The Xiangshan (Fragrant Hills) park is truly worth it. It's distant enough that less people visit it; plus it's big.

On the way out there, you should also stop at the Arbetorium (?) In Chinese, it's "Zhiwuyuan" (Plant Zoo/Park/Garden). It's also not as visited, but very beautiful and green.

 

Hangzhou is cool, and it could be considered a day trip from Shanghai...but we took 3 days and still didn't see everything. But what we did was well worth it!

 

Traveling within China, I highly recommend the train. You travel overnight, so most of the travel is while you are asleep, and boarding and debarking is far easier than the hassle of a plane.

 

We also traveled once on a travel bus from Suzhou to Hangzhou. It was about 2.5 hours, and quite comfortable, clean, and new.

[Feathers268]

I think Jen and I will have a full schedule by the time I meet her there. If Papabear is going to be there also, I think that we should get together at least for a day. Hey, maybe we are starting what can be a CFL, 001 get together in Beijing. We'd love to meet any of our brothers and sisters in The Middle Kingdom.

210665[/snapback]

Let's make it--a CFL, 001 get together in Beijing!

210671[/snapback]

You're on! We will be working to get a loose time set here soon so plane tickets can be purchased before the summer travel season drives up prices. I can then coordinate with you about a good day and location.

This is really shaping up to be a fun trip.

[Feathers268]

Oh yea    The Forbidden City is being readied to undergo it's biggest face-lift in 300 years.  I heard this last month when I was in Beijing.  My guess is, around October 2006 it'll be under alot of scaffling and tarps.  Maybe it would be best to look around the Summer Palace or Xiang Shen Gong Yuan (Fragarant Hills Park) and the Great Wall rather than try and spend a day in a place which is basically under construction.  You know, it's the face-lift thing in preparation for the 2008 Olympics. 

 

PapaBear  The Original 

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Thanks for the heads up on this. Jen insists that this should be a stop on our tour and it is one of the places I want to see, but I agree, major renovation says it might be kept for another time. Any information on the condition of the Forbidden City at that time will be most helpful.

[jemmyell]

Hi,

 

The Badaling Great Wall is a good day trip from Beijing.  The thing to watch out for is the elevation.  Even if it is sunny and pleasant in Beijing (I was there last October for Golden Week) it will be cold and windy at the great wall.  Take a coat and a sweater, dress in layers.

 

-James

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Try it in mid-February, like I did. Yikes! At least there were no other tourists there. There was a reason for that.

210708[/snapback]

Lol,

 

I forgot to mention all of the 'entreprenuers' in the parking lot at Badaling selling used coats for a PREMIUM price. I had only brought a sweater and I was cold all the time.

 

My boss told me that I was taking my life in my hands by flying on a Chinese domestic airline, but the only two times I felt in danger were crossing the street on foot and riding that tram in Badaling up to the wall...

 

-James

[SheLikesME?]

Here are some random pics of my last 2 trips, which were not business trips.

 

http://candleforlove.com/forums/index.php?...cmd=si&img=1384

 

People are more interesting than sight seeing, but it is worth doing in Beijing to go ahead and see the Forbiden city as sections are already restored and they seem to only close off portions at a time to do the work. My son & I hit a local graden mostly restored. Summer Plaace was our favorite and looks good. If warm it is an excelent place for a picnic and boat ride. If winter you can walk on water.

 

Since we decided too late to be able to catch a bus, we paid a man 290rmb to drive us from Beijing to the Great Wall and walked it to the end. After starting I was glad it was winter as it is work. We then went to the main tomb. Good day for low cost. My wife usually buys food to back pack for the day so we don't have to buy at the tourist places. Very frugal she is. Note those companies who will drive you in a car are not the way to go, as they are unreliable and yet pass out cards at the Forbidden City etc. There are plenty men with cars all around you can negotiate with for a ride and you can get a larger car this way. We just got a guy who is always outside of my wife's building.

 

Marriage trip:

In Spet my wife and I took an overnight train to Benxi to see her sisters and friends. Even in First class you share a room and you must get tickets early and try to get 2 upper or 2 lower bunks, or at least in the same room. If it doesn't work out usually you can negotiate with people or the conductor to get you and your wife in te same sleepr room. Sleepers seem to sell out quick but I hear you cannot buy the tickets until 3-4 days before departure, so best to work on that. The trains are SLOW so you want a bed.

 

We then got a free car ride to Shenyang where we took another train to Dalian where you can rent a 2 or 3 place bicyle, go to the beech and etc. We ate crab for dinner at a resturant downtown. From Dalian we took an overnight sleeper ship to Tianjin. Get at least 2nd or 1st class so you don't have to share a room. My wife tried to save too much money in my opinion. The ship is very old, but we had a very good time eating on the deck that night with food we bought in town before we left. In Tianjin we went to the fish market by Taxie and got crab where we paid the Taxie driver to take us to his home and cook the crab so we could take it home. Took a bus from Tianjin back to Beijing. She bought all the tickets so I have no idea of the cost as I just handed her the cash to negotiate.

Edited April 30, 2006 by SheLikesME (see edit history)

[Dan R]

Like any world capitol Beijing has a multitude of things to interest. I would recommend you check it out and ask other tourists as well as residents on http://www.virtualtourist.com . It is to travelers what CFL is to visa seekers. I even now have a good friend in China from this site. There was a Shenyang meetup before. Check it out.

 

Jim I'm sure there must be a pyrotechnics company somewhere in Beijing

[ameriken]

Shanghai: here are some things to see and do, it is a short list, there is so much more!

Shanghai Museum

Yu Garden: over 100 year old garden, very beautiful and colorful, with many gift shops.

Longhua Temple

Oriental Pearl at the Pudong River: the tallest broadcast tower in China (in the world?)

Pudong River, near the Oriental Pearl (there is a Starbucks there with a great view). You can walk along the bank of the river there. Very romantic at night.

The Bund: a long row of over 100 year old European Banks along the Pudong River (opposite side of the Pearl)

Nanjing Road: the Times Square of China

 

If you want ancient Chinese history, Shanghai is not really the place. However, if you want to see the biggest, fastest growing, and most modern city in China, it is Shanghai. Shanghai is the New York of China.

It really is a must-see. It is very clean, and has an excellent subway, bus, and taxi system. 10 to 50 yuan should get you to almost anything you want to see if you are staying in the Pudong District in central Shanghai, and it has a huge offering of restaurants and hotels, shopping, etc.

 

While you can get almost all of the major hotels, I stayed at Motel 168, a clean 3-star hotel with rooms under 300 rmb. The one I stayed in was in Central Pudong, on Pu Cheng Lu (road). Have your SO call 021-114 (info Shanghai). They are a busy hotel.....make sure you are there when you tell them you will be.

 

Then, you have to get to the bus station in Pudong and hop a 2 hour ride to Hangzhou. I think it is 40 RMB one way PP. You have to go see Westlake, as well as the Temple there, the Temple is one of the most beautiful places I have been, anywhere. Westlake has many boat attractions, and you can rent a bicycle there and ride along the lake. Hangzhou too is very clean, and the people there are very friendly.

 

In Hangzhou, we chose the SSAW hotel, which I think was 300 RMB/night.

 

If you visit Shanghai, you will not be disappointed. Every visit, the skyline changes with new 20+ story highrises going up constantly, in order to house the 15 million there. The architecture of the skyscrapers are absolutely the best in the world (my opinion).

 

Shanghai, is a beautiful place to visit, especially at night ! ! !

Edited May 1, 2006 by ameriken (see edit history)

[Feathers268]

Thanks again for those sending pics and recomendations. Looks like I will be meeting up with Jen in Shanghai for the first week and then on to Beijing.

That would put a loose time of the final week in October to plan out a get together.

[obxtrainman]

We saw many things around Beijing. The one thing I wish we had done was go to the Beijing Opera. Not that I'm an Opera kind of guy Just thought it would be cool.

[pkfops]

I use CTRIP as a planner:

 

http://english.ctrip.com/Destinations/DestinationGuides.asp

 

Here's a good hotel we stayed at in Beijing, Wangfujing Grand Hotel.

It is located at the north end of Wangfujing St. and is a five minute

walk to the north gate of the Forbidden City (no Crowds).

 

As Dan says, check out VT also.

[SheLikesME?]

We saw many things around Beijing.  The one thing I wish we had done was go to the Beijing Opera.  Not that I'm an Opera kind of guy   Just thought it would be cool.

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They post what is being done or said on a lit up board so those speaking english will understand the story in th eopera. I quite enjoyed it. I felt like I was in one of those 60s movies made in Japan like the one with James Garner, Red Buttons, & Marlon Brando where he was a fighter pilot and marries the head dancing mistress sworn to no marriage. It was kinda cool. My wife wanted a better opera than the 2 story one we saw. But hey I probably would not know the diference. Good fight sequences, acrobatics, too.

[obxtrainman]

We saw many things around Beijing.  The one thing I wish we had done was go to the Beijing Opera.  Not that I'm an Opera kind of guy    Just thought it would be cool.

212218[/snapback]

They post what is being done or said on a lit up board so those speaking english will understand the story in th eopera. I quite enjoyed it. I felt like I was in one of those 60s movies made in Japan like the one with James Garner, Red Buttons, & Marlon Brando where he was a fighter pilot and marries the head dancing mistress sworn to no marriage. It was kinda cool. My wife wanted a better opera than the 2 story one we saw. But hey I probably would not know the diference. Good fight sequences, acrobatics, too.

212308[/snapback]

We spent a week in Biejing,,it wasn't enough. I watched part of the Opera on the hotel tv. I think I would have really enjoyed it.....Just a good reason to redo the trip.