Travel to China
Travel to China
Hello ~
me and my family planing to take trip to China in the future so I really need advice for places to visit... and what good Cities to visit with Amusement parks and shopping malls that are the best and fit for family mood ^__^
Thank in advance
me and my family planing to take trip to China in the future so I really need advice for places to visit... and what good Cities to visit with Amusement parks and shopping malls that are the best and fit for family mood ^__^
Thank in advance
I went to China last year. Visited Beijing and Shanghai. If this is your first time, I would suggest getting with a tour company. Basically it was just the two of us with a tour guide and a driver. Traffic is no joke in China and it made life a whole lot easier to let someone else do the driving. Also, it was not that expensive. It would have cost us the same if we would have tried to do all of those things on our own.
PS. I felt the best shopping was in Shanghai. Shanghai was very trendy, whereas Beijing was very cultural.
PS. I felt the best shopping was in Shanghai. Shanghai was very trendy, whereas Beijing was very cultural.
My sister and I went to China two years ago. We went to Beijing, Shanghai, and Hangzhou. We used a private tour for our trip to the Great Wall and did a day trip with a bunch of Chinese locals to a cave outside Hangzhou. For everything else, we either used the subway or taxi. If you're going to do a tour, I second doing what Lucille did and getting your own tour guide. However, my experience is that if you do very good research ahead of time and don't mind taking the subway and walking a little, it's much cheaper than doing a tour.
If you're looking into Beijing, this site gives a pretty basic overview of popular tourist attractions: http://www.beijingtraveltips.com/index.html. We went to most of the cultural touristy places: the Great Wall, Forbidden City, Tiananmen Square, etc. Unless you're really into them, I wouldn't recommend going to more than one temple or palace. All the architecture starts looking the same after the first couple times, and it's a lot of walking once you get inside.
We did quite a bit of shopping as well. There are a lot of large upscale malls as well as a ton of shopping centers that sell replica designer stuff where they mark up the price by about a thousand percent and you get to hone your bargaining skills. Shanghai definitely has the better shopping, though.
I'd recommend checking out the Dong Hua Men Night Market to see the stalls of weird critters they pass off as food. Also, take in an acrobat show while you're there, or any large city in China, really. It's one of China's oldest traditions and definitely worth seeing.
If you're looking into Beijing, this site gives a pretty basic overview of popular tourist attractions: http://www.beijingtraveltips.com/index.html. We went to most of the cultural touristy places: the Great Wall, Forbidden City, Tiananmen Square, etc. Unless you're really into them, I wouldn't recommend going to more than one temple or palace. All the architecture starts looking the same after the first couple times, and it's a lot of walking once you get inside.
We did quite a bit of shopping as well. There are a lot of large upscale malls as well as a ton of shopping centers that sell replica designer stuff where they mark up the price by about a thousand percent and you get to hone your bargaining skills. Shanghai definitely has the better shopping, though.
I'd recommend checking out the Dong Hua Men Night Market to see the stalls of weird critters they pass off as food. Also, take in an acrobat show while you're there, or any large city in China, really. It's one of China's oldest traditions and definitely worth seeing.
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When we went on a 7 relo private tour 4 years ago, to Beijing and Xian, there were stops at the pearl, cloisonee (sp?), terracotta warrior and jade shops, where we were given the standard tour: info about the product, "how to spot fakes, but everything here 100% genuine", and then the trusty "discount vouchers". We even had lunch at the jade place, though you had to go through the "tour" and the entire enormous showroom before getting to the restaurant. Suggest you make sure you tell the tour company none of that. Chinese friends have subsequently told me that the prices are higher at those tourist only shops. Oh, and shops, vendors, taxi drivers and random people on the street will likely try and rip you off - "tourist prices", so bargain hard. Also beware the students and the "art exhibition". If you "look foreign" (ie non Chinese) you'll get harassed more than, say, me, who looks local but can't speak mandarin.
I think the big sights in Beijing - Forbidden City, Summer Palace (wanted to walk around the lake, not enough time), Great Wall are definitely worth seeing. Traffic is horrendous! Would also recommend walking through an old hutong neighbourhood well away from the bright lights. And certainly the museum.
The Terracotta Warriors in Xian were also well worth visiting. The main pit is just massive, much bigger than I thought.
Hongkers is an interesting place, though it will be very hot and humid now. Like a small, British influenced piece of China. Easy to get around by yourself on efficient public transport.
Haven't been anywhere else in China.
I think the big sights in Beijing - Forbidden City, Summer Palace (wanted to walk around the lake, not enough time), Great Wall are definitely worth seeing. Traffic is horrendous! Would also recommend walking through an old hutong neighbourhood well away from the bright lights. And certainly the museum.
The Terracotta Warriors in Xian were also well worth visiting. The main pit is just massive, much bigger than I thought.
Hongkers is an interesting place, though it will be very hot and humid now. Like a small, British influenced piece of China. Easy to get around by yourself on efficient public transport.
Haven't been anywhere else in China.
If you want amusement parks then just go to disney land florida (assuming youre american)
Beijing you should go just because it's the capital & has all these huge sites (summer palace etc) where you will melt in the sun. Tienanmen & the forbidden city (right next to it), old summer palace, new summer palace & olympic area would be good places to visit. I wouldn't suggest going inside the bird's nest (its so boring & pointless) but you should get photos outside. You can also go swimming in the olympic pool if that interests you. each of these places will take up a whole day (so 4 total). The great wall is quite a distance from Beijing and so I wouldn't recommend going (think of what you're doing -- travelling far out of the way to get to a big wall).
IMO you should definitely go to Guilin and take a boat ride to Yangshou. Guilin was the favourite city I visited and many Chinese will say the same because of its beauty. Yangshou sucks though so just 1/2 days there
You should NOT go to Macau. The 2 main things there are gambling (its Asia's version of Las Vegas) and prostitution. I want to go for these very reasons (the prosititutes on youtube look hot & its legal) but I don't think it fits the family atmosphere.
I've never had an interest to visit Shanghai, it just never had anything that appealed to me (big tower, so what) but now they have the expo there. I still wouldn't go though even for the expo.
Hangzhou is a place worth Googling; its a place I want to visit next time (seems very pretty & traditional :o)
Beijing you should go just because it's the capital & has all these huge sites (summer palace etc) where you will melt in the sun. Tienanmen & the forbidden city (right next to it), old summer palace, new summer palace & olympic area would be good places to visit. I wouldn't suggest going inside the bird's nest (its so boring & pointless) but you should get photos outside. You can also go swimming in the olympic pool if that interests you. each of these places will take up a whole day (so 4 total). The great wall is quite a distance from Beijing and so I wouldn't recommend going (think of what you're doing -- travelling far out of the way to get to a big wall).
IMO you should definitely go to Guilin and take a boat ride to Yangshou. Guilin was the favourite city I visited and many Chinese will say the same because of its beauty. Yangshou sucks though so just 1/2 days there
You should NOT go to Macau. The 2 main things there are gambling (its Asia's version of Las Vegas) and prostitution. I want to go for these very reasons (the prosititutes on youtube look hot & its legal) but I don't think it fits the family atmosphere.
I've never had an interest to visit Shanghai, it just never had anything that appealed to me (big tower, so what) but now they have the expo there. I still wouldn't go though even for the expo.
Hangzhou is a place worth Googling; its a place I want to visit next time (seems very pretty & traditional :o)
I would say to skip Shanghai, unless you want to go for the Shanghai Expo. HongKong would be better than Shanghai. Both cities are perfect for shopping and amusement, but Hongkong is far bigger and has more to offer.
but you should definitely go to Beijing, Xian, DaLiang, HangZhou. would also recommend Sichuan (Jiu zhai Gou), it is supposed to be the most beautiful place in the world^^ But that is more for a nature experience, I guess =)
but you should definitely go to Beijing, Xian, DaLiang, HangZhou. would also recommend Sichuan (Jiu zhai Gou), it is supposed to be the most beautiful place in the world^^ But that is more for a nature experience, I guess =)
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I lived 4 months last year in China in Shanghai. It was amazing !!
I went to Suzhou, Hangzhou, Chongqing, Beijing, Zhujiajiao, Chengdu and its pandas ^__^ and the beautiful place Huangshan "Yellow Mountains".
It was a great moment in my life and I want to go back to see more cities et beautiful places ^^
I plan go to South Korea and Japan in the future too !!
** Shanghai **
** Beijing **
** Hangzhou **
** Chongqing **
** Chengdu **
** Huangshan **
I went to Suzhou, Hangzhou, Chongqing, Beijing, Zhujiajiao, Chengdu and its pandas ^__^ and the beautiful place Huangshan "Yellow Mountains".
It was a great moment in my life and I want to go back to see more cities et beautiful places ^^
I plan go to South Korea and Japan in the future too !!
** Shanghai **
** Beijing **
Re: Travel to China
I love all the images and very happy to see all of them. I heard much about China and its attractions. Travel to china is the best way to see the beauty of this country. The images are shoe the beauty of this country. I visited only Great Wall of China and had spent a great time here. I will try to go there again.
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