Travel tips for China?

[group911@aol.co]

Oddly enough, I've lived through riding both Bejiing and the countryside. Can you ride, walk, drive like you do in the US. No. Can you adapt? Hope so. Otherwise, just stay home and watch the travel channel.

Originally Posted by Rick Lee

Don't even think of renting a bike there. You would die. You will understand within the first hour there. Nothing is more dangerous than being on China's roads and you will see accidents every day.

[motion]

Originally Posted by imcarthur

Guilin & a Li River cruise is certainly on our list & the Zhangjiajie National Forest Park looks amazing as well. It all depends on how much time you have & how fast you want to move. Xi'an would be 4 days minimum (including travel days), Guilin would be 3-4 etc.

Ian

Yeah, it looks like both Guilin and Xi'an are 19-20 hour train rides. I can't decide if I want to poke around Shanghai for 5 days or commit to that much time on the train. Plus, soft sleeper is the only available "upper" class. No First or VIP on these trains. I'm probably going to really regret hanging out in one city for that long, and not seeing the countryside.

[motion]

Originally Posted by group911@aol.co

Oddly enough, I've lived through riding both Bejiing and the countryside. Can you ride, walk, drive like you do in the US. No. Can you adapt? Hope so. Otherwise, just stay home and watch the travel channel.

Looks VERY dangerous.

[group911@aol.co]

There is a place about an hour from Shanghai up towards the 3 gorges dam that is supposed to be really cool. I'll see if I can find the info

Originally Posted by motion

Yeah, it looks like both Guilin and Xi'an are 19-20 hour train rides. I can't decide if I want to poke around Shanghai for 5 days or commit to that much time on the train. Plus, soft sleeper is the only available "upper" class. No First or VIP on these trains. I'm probably going to really regret hanging out in one city for that long, and not seeing the countryside.

[HardDrive]

The Get Out and Nearby Cities sections at the bottom of this wiki have some suggestions:

Shanghai travel guide - Wikitravel

[group911@aol.co]

Here it is. Hangzhou. Not necessarily recommending this site but it will get you started; Hangzhou Tourism: 340 Things to Do in Hangzhou, China | TripAdvisor
Daytrips from Shanghai, Travel Guide on TripAdvisor
There is also a nice boat trip out of Shanghai you can do in a day.

[group911@aol.co]

Yep. All those little school kids were pretty nervous.

Originally Posted by motion

Looks VERY dangerous.

[group911@aol.co]

This should really freak you guys out. I've spent a lot of time in this intersection and I'm convinced a blind person can cross it safely because I've seen it. Traffic in Hanoi during 'rush hour' - YouTube

[Shuie]

As intimidating as the traffic situation in Beijing was for me, I admit that I never saw a single accident. I thought I was going to see hundreds of them while in the car or cab. One of the locals I worked with would just walk into traffic through the intersections and the cars always slowed enough for him to get through.

[HardDrive]

I've driven in India. I doubt you're going to find an environment more challenging than that. Just go with the flow. Or in Beijing, the lack of flow.....

[Seahawk]

I don't know if you have time, but two books, on focusing on Ghengis Khan and the other more recent generations, offer some interesting insights:

Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World: Jack Weatherford: 9780609809648: Amazon.com: Books

Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China: Jung Chang: 9780743246989: Amazon.com: Books

Wild Swans in particular deals with relatively recent history in China and I found it really illuminating, especially how the Red Guard was started, relationship with Taiwan, etc.

Both worth the time on the long plane ride

[shinrai]

Motion I think I sent you a Shanghai list a while back.
Anyhow if you're looking for something countryside take a quick flight to Guilin as mentioned. From there take a bus to Yangshou. Find somebody named "monkeyjane" and take a scooter tour through the real countryside. She'll sort you out (not in that kind of way).
btw stay in a nice hotel.

[imcarthur]

Before you set off to see the countryside, make sure that it is worth seeing. We drove in a van from Beijing to Handan. 5 1/2 hours of freeway. It was flat & boring the whole way. Even the one big city we went through (Shijiazhuang) was just like any other city from a freeway. Driving in a hired van around Xi'an & environs was far more interesting.

Ian

[Rick Lee]

Originally Posted by motion

Yeah, it looks like both Guilin and Xi'an are 19-20 hour train rides. I can't decide if I want to poke around Shanghai for 5 days or commit to that much time on the train. Plus, soft sleeper is the only available "upper" class. No First or VIP on these trains. I'm probably going to really regret hanging out in one city for that long, and not seeing the countryside.

Don't take the train for long trips. Flying is very affordable there and their airports are nicer and more efficient than anything we have.

If you really think riding a motorcycle in China is in any way comparable to that photo of almost no traffic on a side street, then I can only sit back and wait for the "I told you so" moment. I would rather hang glide at night or be the target holder at a rifle range for blind people than ride a motorcycle in China. And you know I'm a motorcycle guy.

I strongly encourage you to read this entire thread.

China or bust... - ADVrider

Some of the memorable accidents I've seen in China:

On the way to Mutianyu with light traffic and a large media strip, single car accident, car flipped over. We drove by as they were pulling the lifeless, mangled body of female passenger out. Looked like a scene from Faces of Death.

Watched an angry mob holding a truck driver down, as he tried to flee after hitting a woman on a bicycle. She was still laying under the truck. Saw a woman on a moped hit the pavement, face first, after a car turned in front of her, seemingly completely ignoring her.

I was in the back seat of a Ford Escort when my buddy backed into a guy on a bicycle, who flew across the back of the car like in European Vacation.

Again, I saw this stuff happen every single day in China. The only time I didn't see it was when I stayed in a Tibetan village where no one had cars and there were no roads. But don't take my word for it. I have no experience in China and I hate adventure travel.

[Rick Lee]

A not uncommon hwy. rest stop Public Service Announcement/warning on driving safely. This was neat Shanghai.

[Rick Lee]

My folks' taxi didn't make it all the way to the airport in Beijing.



Just as orderly as Germany, eh?



From my hotel window in Chengdu.



Why even try to parallel park?



Unlike in the US, in China things can't fall off of trucks and hurt bikers.





Rush hour traffic in Xi'an, everything at a standstill and this guy still managed to flip his car on its side. Some passerbys pushed it back onto its wheels. Driver ran away. Oh, and this was around dusk, but no sun all day.



Not real strict about bike parking in Chengdu.

[imcarthur]

The night view from our 17th floor room at the HoJos - shot taken through a window. The South Gate of the old walled city of Xi'an.



The scale of these is incredible. It is a must see. We went in February & it wasn't busy at all. There are also lesser known tombs with more (but smaller) terracotta dudes near the airport.



But like others are saying - cheap internal flights are the way to go.

Ian

[motion]

Yeahhhhh.... there's no way I'm gonna ride a motorbike in China.

I want to avoid long, boring freeways. But, I don't want to fly over the countryside and miss everything. I know its cheap and fast, but that's not what I'm looking for. I thought the train might show me lots of countryside? Villages, agriculture, farms, small towns going by, etc?

[TimT]

I maintained for my wife while we navigated the immigration hurdles for her an apartment in Chaoyang... We had a VW Magotam? I think it is what we know as a Passat..

I have driven in many cities, Cairo, Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Bangkok,Beijing,Tianjin, etc..

Driven from Beijing to Tianjin and back many times, driven from Beijing to Miangfansheng and some other rural areas a few time also...It is crazy, and an every man for himself sort of environment...... But I drive in Manhattan quite often... surrounded by cabs and black cars.... piloted by people from places where operating a car is a new skill...so my spidey senses are sharp...

I'd need some time in country before renting a bike and going off on an adventure... but that's just me

Don't take the train for long trips. Flying is very affordable there and their airports are nicer and more efficient than anything we have.

Yes....

A bowl of noodles at an airport in Anhui Province

[1990C4S]

Originally Posted by Rick Lee

Don't take the train for long trips. Flying is very affordable there and their airports are nicer and more efficient than anything we have.

I found the high speed train to be awesome.

My hotel had bicycles for rent. I was the only one willing to ride a bike in the streets. The rest of my group thought I was crazy....