Holidaying in China.

wijcc

wijcc

wijcc

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Has anyone here been to the China for holiday or been travelling through there?
I am thinking of heading to China for a 2 week trip sometime this year... Can anyone offer tips or advice?
Thanks in advance
 
I got told that Thailand is like an old fashioned China and that it is a much better place to visit.

Not Thailand. Taiwan, ffs how did I mess that up haha.
 
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Hmm Id pick China over Thailand any day. My cousin spent 3 months in China with his GF backpacking all over the place. He loved it, helped that both of them have about 60% fluency in Chinese though. They told me that it doesnt hurt to learn a few phrases and that the locals REALLY appreciate the effort.
 
China is real big place, cities as big as London, weather now is crap at this time of year, uncle is over there, could go visit but don't fancy spending 2/3 weeks in the place he is in and cant speak a word of mandarin and looks very smoggy from his pics, place does look geared up for English people though but its more business side not back packers.
 
I lived over there for a bit over a year, and plan to move back later this year. It can be tricky if you don't speak any Mandarin, but hostel staff will usually either deal with things for you, or write down what you need to know on a bit of paper you can show to someone else. Worked when I first went in 2006 and couldn't speak a word.

Er...it's a big place, and very different to anywhere I've been, any more specific questions? :p
 
As fifiov says - it's a big place!! Weather is drastically different between the south and the north. The south always has reasonable weather, but the north at this time of year is Baltic!

What do you want to do when you are over here? See historic things like the Great Wall and terracotta soldiers, or a river trip along the three gorges on the Yangtze river, or Shanghai for the shopping and nightlife, or horse trekking on the plains of Inner Mongolia or... there is literally so much to do here, China is huge! I've been here since 2002 and there's still so much I haven't done!
 
http://www.visaforchina.org/LON_EN/

Need a tourist Visa. It'l cost you about £80 for a single entry (done via post) or cheaper if you drop it off and pick it up from the London embassy office (I see you're in London).

I would say do Thailand over China. Did Thailand over Xmas/New Year and it was senational. Beautiful, cheap, great fun, did I mention STUNNING! And no need to get a Visa, plus the weather is lovely. Do 3 weeks in Thailand if you can so you can spend some time relaxing and don't need to go mental ravelling around.

Phuket is easy and cheap to fly into (from KL anyway). Not a great fan of Phuket but it's easy to get across to Phi Phi Don (lovelly island and beaches) where you can get across to Phi Phi Lay (think film The Beach), then you can easily go from here on a Boat to either Krabi/Ao Nang, Railay (AMAAAAZING) or plenty of other islands like Ko Lanta, Ko Samui etc.


Currently in Shanghai it's in single digits and ruddy cold. My gf has just moved back there from KL and misses the heat!

I'm off to China at the end of March to spend time with her in Shanghai, see Beijing, Great Wall, Xi'an etc so can report back on the trip on my thoughts of Thai vs China. But I reckon I'll still say go to Thailand I love the place 'Long Time!'
 
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I went to Guilin and Yangshao for about a week a few years back. Me and a mate were in Hong Kong so we decided to pop over.

It was ok but to be honest I do wish we would havegone elsehwere. THere are many other places to visit in the area that are more welcoming to tourists and with better weather.

Honestly go to Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam. Pick one and have a good look around.
 
I'm not sure why someone told you that! That's just an odd thing to say.

Macky said:
I got told that Thailand is like an old fashioned China and that it is a much better place to visit.
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OP you might find my post in a similar thread helpful if you're looking at SEA...

Spamalot said:
Firstly- I've been to Thailand in June/July and the weather was fine, no problems at all.

I'm currently in the last week of a four month trip through Asia. This has been my journey.

India 3.5 weeks- Start in Mumbai, down west coast, up the east. Verdict, good food if you like curry (but nothing like curry in the UK), rubbish everywhere, loads of people everywhere, it takes ages to get anywhere but the trains are great, the roads are a death trap and the people are amazing. Go if you want an adventure, don't go for a holiday. I'd go again, maybe, the mountains in the north would be the draw.

Andaman Islands 2 weeks- Spent most of my time on Havelock Island. Verdict- It's India on an Island (well it's part of India after all, despite being nearer Thailand), it's beautiful and the sea is blue but there are nicer beachs and it's hard to get there. I wouldn't go again.

Sri Lanka 3 weeks- Started in the hill country in the middle, stunning. Then worked my way down to the quieter south coast beaches. Verdict, it's a lot like India, the travel is really poor, the trains are bad and the buses are shocking. The hills are the most beautiful I've seen. The food is bad, like really bad Indian (that I love). The people are nothing to speak of. I was expecting a lot from the beaches and got very little, with the expectation of Marissa. I wouldn't go again, there are more beautiful beaches and I've seen the hill country now.

Thialand 4 weeks- Started on the south west coast islands then across to the east coast islands, up to Bangkok then on to Chang Mai. Thailand gets a lot of good and bad press, and I agree with some of it. LOTS of people come to Thailand, most of them for good reason, some of them for the wrong reasons. I like to think I go for the right reasons, because of that I avoid certain places (some of them already mentioned in this thread), if you want an imo of anywhere in Thailand just ask. You need to ask yourself why so many people go to Thailand though (and at the same time why so many people don't go to other places), it is truly stunning (in the most part). Verdict, i've been there three times now and it's the only place I've ever been that I spend the whole journey home wondering when I'll next be back. I love the place. I've spent almost three months there in total so I know where to go and where not to go, that's really helpful. I've never seen more beautiful beaches and there's a beach for everyone... literally, I've stayed on islands where I got a beach to myself. Bangkok is also my favourite city in the world, outside of the UK. Chang Mai was nice, it's cheap and we went on a nice three day walk in the hills, compared to the beaches though (and other places I've been) it's nothing special. Travelling is easy in Thailand. You're also guaranteed to see more white people than Asians, even the deserted islands only have guest houses on so no chance of seeing any "locals".

Laos 2 weeks- Crossed the boarder from Thailand, stayed north then went down to Luang Prabang then to Vang Vieng and a few other places. This is the furthest place I've ever been away from home, it's worse than Africa. People here, outside of Luang Prabang and the capital, live in huts, farm and eat what they've grown. Verdict- the transport will kill you, and trust me you don't want to be hurt here, just finding help would take you weeks. The roads are dangerous (and there's no trains) and they can't drive. The food is really bad and there's not really much to do that you couldn't do in north Thailand. I won't be going back in a hurry. I planned to go to Vietnam by road but decided it best to spend £100 on a flight.

Vietnam 2 weeks- Start in Hanoi and work my way down to Saigon. There's two Vietnam's, the one the tourists see and the one the people live in, now most places are like that it's really apparent here. Hanoi was nice and Hoi An is a nice old town. However most of the beach towns/city's are large and full of high rise hotel, not really my cup of tea. Verdict, it's nice but there only really seems to be one tourist trial that could really be anywhere in the world. I might come back, not really that much hurry though.

Background- I'm 27 and am travelling with my gf. We've stayed in a mix of accommodation (sharing the bill helps), ranging from £5 per night (£2.50 each) to £25 for the odd night. Mostly though around £10, that'll get you somewhere nice. We eat mainly at restaurants (nothing posh) with the odd bit of street food thrown in. Over the 4 months I've spent around £2500 excluding flights... about £20 a day, ranging from about £10 in India and £30 in Thailand. It's important to add that just because I say I won't go back it doesn't mean I didn't like the place.

My girlfriend has a travel blog, check it out for pics of out trip so far... www.wherethewindblowsnow.com

Any questions please ask, I know doing research can be hard.
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Great thanks guys....

I am thinking of going in April or May... my travelling partner has already been to Thailand, so I am thinking of going elsewhere (i have not been to SE Asia yet). Though they might not be too opposed to going back there, they went to nothern THailand.. so might be willing to go to the southern part..

I was thinking of heading to Bejing if we went to China.. and travel around from there. Go see the main attractions like the Great Wall, Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City, the Summer Palace etc amd maybe also go see less well known places too and the countryside/mountains etc.
I have heard that the best time to go to China weatherwise is probably late August to early September??

So if we went to Thailand for example we would like to also see go see Burma, Laos or Veitnam as well for a few days.

My travelling partner would like hot weather and somewhere relatively adventurous.. hence not going to a beach holiday in the carribean or southern europe.. but would like some beach too. We both like seeing different cultures, places, and trying exotic food (My favourite cuisine is Thai). Want to the ability to travel internally or go to other places nearby
I love the outdoors and nature.. (mountains, forests, jungles, wildlife, beaches etc).

So more tips and advice would be greatly appreciated..

P.S. I would also like to keep the costs down as well if possible.
 
ok.. we have agreed on Thailand.. can anyone recommend the best places to go in Thailand and surrounding areas please.. Will be going for 2 weeks approx +/- a day.
 
I went for two weeks in Jan/Feb split up by a trip out of the country.

I loved China, taking the sleeper trains around was a cool way to meet people. I visited Beijing and Shanghai plus some less visited places (Shenyang, Dandong).

Advice:

A map and address of where your hotel is not enough to show a taxi driver at the airport. Be prepared to call the hotel for directions or take the taxi to a metro near your hotel then walk.

On a similar note I filled my phone with pictures of attractions I wanted to see as it made explaining things a lot easier.

The Metro systems in Beijing and Shanghai (and Shenyang) are amazing and easy to use in English.

Cash points pretty much solely dish out 100 yuan notes, try to break this at every opportunity as many street vendors won't have change.

If visiting the great wall there is main section with a theme park most excursions go to, avoid this place like the plague. Wikitravel will have advice on the name of this section and how to avoid it. If you havn't used it before WikiTravel is an amazing website.

I'll try and think of more.
 
I'd pick Philippines over Thailand. In Thailand you can barely walk down the street without being hit on by a prostitute. Not the kind of place I'd want to take a girlfriend. :p

Philippines is great. Especially places like

Boracay:
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El Nido:
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Boracay is a small/intimate party island with plenty of bars/restaurants and fantastic nightlife. There's also plenty of daytime activities etc, yet is still a beautiful chilled-out tropical island paradise.

El Nido is an unspoiled marine reserve. And quite possibly the most beautiful spot on the planet. :D
(gamers amongst you may be interested to learn that this was the setting for the PS1 game "Chrono Cross").

One distinct advantage of picking Philippines over Thailand is the lack of drunken Brits. :p When I was in Thailand I often saw Brits fighting and walking around singing football songs etc. :/ May as well have been in Benidorm. And the islands in Thailand (like phiphi) had way too many tedious "gap yah" types.

The only advantage Thailand has is the food. For everything else I'd pick Phils every time. :p
 
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Just be prepared to hit a wall at some point.

Your mood will go right down for a day, you will be sick of it all and then you'll be back to normal!
 
Vietnam is nice to visit, everything is cheap and people are friendly if you're a foreigner.

2 weeks is never enough in the far east, I was in vietnam for 6 weeks and was still not enough.
 
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