China Travel Guide

CHINA

China is big, bold and slightly mental. you could spend your whole gap year here, there is so much to see. Big city lights, alien landscapes, cultural epicenters, rolling hills, deserts, roaring whitewater rivers, serene old towns, some of the biggest rivers in the world, and the mighty Himalayas its all here.

Seat61/ Trains

An Unbeatable guide to rail transport around this massive place. Rail Itinerary ideas, onward travel and more, awesome stuff . I think trains are a great way to get around, Especially a country this big. Tickets can be hard to get during the summer, school holidays and so on as its the nations favourite way to get around too.

So give yourself some flexibility if you are travelling around then. It is incredibly cheap and can be a great way to mingle with the locals. Once you get out of Beijing or Shanghai you will become a strange, tall white pasty alien, of great interest to all. You will have your photo taken, discreetly.. and not so discreetly.
Communication comes down to hand gestures, scribbles and pictures! but somehow it all makes sense at the time. Bring some pot noodles with you on the long distance or overnight trains. There are hot water taps on the carriages for this reason. Go to the toilet early...as the night progresses, aim, coordination and the general logistics of the operation steadily go downhill

Wikitravel China

For up to date, detailed info on all China related goings on, check here out

Highlights

Beijing
Forbidden city

Bare in mind when visiting here, that there is an ENTRANCE and an EXIT. I know most places do, but they are at opposite ends! Also if combining this sight with Tiananmen Square, I would Probably do the square first.As us being mildly challenged people at times, checked our little map given to us by our hostel, walked straight to the top of the Forbidden City. Discovering the entrance we found, was in fact the exit, we then set off and walked all the way around the perimeter to the opposite side in the blistering July heat.We spent a while rambling around the whole place for couple of hours and then came out the Exit wanting to go to Tiananmen Square. Which of course is located beside the Entrance to the Forbidden City

Tiananmen Square

Scene of the 1989 protests and bloodshed.You will have to pass through tight security getting into the square and all bags through bag scanners. There are CCTV cameras everywhere, poles, trees, vans so on. Surrounded by Government buildings, people flying kites, and a little eerieness..
The Great Wall
There are a few different sections of the wall you can go and visit. I went to Mutianyu. It is by far way less busy and crowded than Bedaling the other main part. Other parts less touristy and suited to hikers are Jinshanling and Simatai. You can either take one of the million tours to Bedaling or a Train. Tours Depart constantly to Mutianyu, Jinshanling and Simatai. You can arrange all this with a days notice when you get there.

The Large dominating city walls of Xi'an

XI'an
Beautiful ancient walled city. Dating back almost 3000 years, and is undoubtedly the root of the Chinese civilization, once the capitol for 1000 years. The city itself now famous by the huge discovery of thousands of hand carved warriors buried in the ground, The Terracotta Warriors. A definite must see, and one of the most popular tourist attractions in all of China. Do stay within the city walls. The city is easy to navigate, having a main road run top to bottom, and left to right with the Large drum and Bell tower in the middle, so no getting lost here!

Lijiang
Spectacularly preserved Chinese old town, possibly the best in the country. beautiful winding streets, delicious restaurants, surrounded by epic mountain scenery!
Tiger Leaping Gorge is just short a bus trip away half way between here and Deqen. The winding streets, canals and lanes of the old town itself is quite small and you will see many of the local Naxi people walking around in their traditional clothes.
Jade Dragon Snow Mountain, is a large peak visible from the town and well worth the cable car trip up. You can hire a bike and cycle to Baisha, a small charming village outside Lijiang.
Do try the Naxi Potato Cake!

Deqen/ Shangrila
A Tibetan Mountain town, Surrounded by hills and mountains, plateau's of wildflowers, meadows and nomads. An amazing place, great for walking, trekking, Yak hotpots, and possibly one of the best cable car stations i have ever seen, complete with prayer wheels! There is an airport and bus links back to Lijiang and beyond.
There is plenty of trekking available around here and a couple of agencies in the town to book through. Renamed Shangri-La by the Chinese, the area itself is an amazing mix of snowy mountains, lush green plateau's, valleys multi colored with wild flowers, and crystal clear lakes. i recommend taking a trip up Shika Snow mountain by cable car, and walk back down through the valleys. You will see amazing landscapes, wild flowers, and many Tibetan Nomads tending to there Yaks. Do try some Yak butter tea, Yak Cheese, and some fresh Barley bread!

Guilin/Yangshuo
Beautiful Chinese rural countryside, spectacular karst rock scenery, flowing rivers. popular destination for both domestic and internaltional tourists. Great boating, walking and biking trips to be had here. To get to Yangshou i do recommend taking a bamboo boat along the river Li. This can be organised anywhere in Guilin. It is a beautiful trip, do watch out for pick pockets at the end of the trip just as you get off the boat, seems to be quite an issue, i seen a guy with a giant tweezers trying to nab stuff from a girls bag, I stopped him, but im sure he is not the only one.

Countryside around Guilin

Zhangjiajie

Amazing Landscapes and immense culture, Huge vertical towers of rock and trees pierce the ground for miles. Like one huge stone forest. this was the inspiration behind the alien lands in the movie Avatar.
To get here you can take a flight to Dayong.
There is a alsoa train station.
You would need 3 or 4 days here to see the massive park, plenty of guides around too, if you are not up for wandering around lost, physically and verbally, Get one.
Also near by is the fantastic old town of Fenghuang. A beautiful example of of a small Chinese town before the modern age came along. Picturesque winding lanes, houses and traditional market shops on the banks of the Tuo Jiang River. A really nice spot.

Zhangjiajie, Hunan, China

Always tasty snacks not too far away... Finger food in Beijing

Moonhill, in Yangshuo, good for climbers..if you have the ROCKS!!

SAMPLE ITINERARY 3 WEEKS

Beijing-Xi'an-Guillin-Yangshuo-Hong Kong
Beijing-Xi'an-Chengdu-Lijiang-Kunming

SAMPLE ITINERARY 8 WEEKS

Beijing-Xi'an-Zhangjiajie-Guilin/Yangshuo-Kunming-Lijiang-Deqen.

See Beijing, The Forbidden City, Take a trip to the great wall,Summer Palace, Tienanmen Square etc.
Catch an over night train to Xi'an. Check out the Terracotta Warriors. Walk around the city wall. A few nights is enough here.
Flight to Dayong for the spectacular Zhangjiajie Park and scenery. You Can catch an over night train from here to Liuzhuo for Guilin.
A bus from the train St will drop you to Guilin, Yangshuo is only a bamboo boat ride away.

Bus,Train or or fly to Kunming. From there take a bus to Lijiang. See the amazing old town. You can head north by bus to Deqen/Deqin and see, 'Shangrila' as the Chinese have it re-christened. Amazing mountain scenery. A small Tibetan town surrounded by rolling hills, Valleys and mountain peaks. Brightly coloured wild flowers line the valleys and pastures. Yak bells jingle and the smell of open fires scent the air.

Strangeness and Odd stuff..

Forget sitting and pooping here folks, Toilet bowls are uncool and have no friends here.. balance is key here one slip and your browned. After some training and experience you may try to perform on a moving train.
If you or your friend is anyway edible watch out. Anything can be eaten here. Scorpions, insects, toads, crickets various animals and many many many many more.
No Facebook. The Great Firewall of China. You cannot access Facebook, Hotmail, and lots more of your favorite sites. Although there are ways around it. If you are in the know ;-P
1 timezone. I am from Ireland and i only have 1 timezone. But China is huge, while it gets bright in Beijing at 6am people in Lhasa are waiting until nearly 9am thousands of mils away! come on lads sort it out ye..