China - Enter the Dragon -

jank

Well apart from my dramatic title I have some questions on China.
I have searched the forum and there is not alot to be found. Only bits and pieces. Would be nice if we could create a mega thread out of this one if there is interest.

Anyway my first few questions.

Based on those that traveled the country how easy or difficult is it?
South East Asia is well traveled which I found quite easy so long you have a bit of sense. But I have heard from others that China is a much more difficult proposition due to the size of the country and the language barrier especially outside of the major cities. Because of this would one recommend doing a trip like this

http://www.intrepidtravel.com/trips/CRR

The price isn't bad IMO.
Is it just as easy to do it yourself by booking things either from the internet or local travel agents in China as you go along.

I suppose Visa has been covered in other threads like here before

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055522566
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055318964
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055282972&page=3
http://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree/thread.jspa?threadID=1585596&start=0&tstart=0

but I am wondering can one get a visa in another country. I am in NZ at the moment and would be probably be heading to china before going home to Ireland. Can one get a visa from their embassy here in wellington(Hope so!)

I kinda have a rough idea in my head on where to go and what to do. Can anyone recommend their highlights, must see attractions, things to do, things to give a miss as it was crap!

I am a great fan of trains so http://www.seat61.com provides some info on transportation

cashback

jank wrote: »

Well apart from my dramatic title I have some questions on China.
I have searched the forum and there is not alot to be found. Only bits and pieces. Would be nice if we could create a mega thread out of this one if there is interest.

Anyway my first few questions.

Based on those that traveled the country how easy or difficult is it?
South East Asia is well traveled which I found quite easy so long you have a bit of sense. But I have heard from others that China is a much more difficult proposition due to the size of the country and the language barrier especially outside of the major cities. Because of this would one recommend doing a trip like this

http://www.intrepidtravel.com/trips/CRR

The price isn't bad IMO.
Is it just as easy to do it yourself by booking things either from the internet or local travel agents in China as you go along.

I suppose Visa has been covered in other threads like here before

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055522566
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055318964
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055282972&page=3
http://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree/thread.jspa?threadID=1585596&start=0&tstart=0

but I am wondering can one get a visa in another country. I am in NZ at the moment and would be probably be heading to china before going home to Ireland. Can one get a visa from their embassy here in wellington(Hope so!)

I kinda have a rough idea in my head on where to go and what to do. Can anyone recommend their highlights, must see attractions, things to do, things to give a miss as it was crap!

I am a great fan of trains so http://www.seat61.com provides some info on transportation

Yep you can get a visa in Wellington, my mate did when we were there.

China is a great country to travel in. Neither me nor my fellow traveller had any Chinese but we managed to get around OK. Chinese Hostels are great, well as long as you stick to the well rated ones on Hostelworld. The staff will often organise buying bus or train tickets for you etc. Trains are the way to go in China definitely.

Definitely go to Yunnan if you can and try get to Tiger Leaping Gorge for a trek, one of the best experiences I've ever had.

jank

Thanks for that!

Doop

Speant a month travelling round on my own and its not hard at all, have no chineese cept hello and thank you! hostels are reallly good and will look after you for booking tickets etc! You get by easy enought and you'll meet loads of other westerners travelling round.

As said tiger leaping gogrge is great craic, Leijing (where you'd probably leave from is a cool little town). Great wall was one of my highlights from Beijing. Terocatta warriores are supposed to be a bit of a dissapointment (didnt do them myself).

When your getting trains the "hard sleepers" are fine, best off booking the middle bunk. Everyone sits on the lower bunks even if it is your bed, and the top bunks are pretty high up! only a tiny difference in price... but there pretty comfy.

Wouldnt bother going with an organised tour, way more flexibility doing it yourself.
Enjoy!

Doop

Speant a month travelling round on my own and its not hard at all, have no chineese cept hello and thank you! hostels are reallly good and will look after you for booking tickets etc! You get by easy enought and you'll meet loads of other westerners travelling round.

As said tiger leaping gogrge is great craic, Leijing (where you'd probably leave from is a cool little town). Great wall was one of my highlights from Beijing. Terocatta warriores are supposed to be a bit of a dissapointment (didnt do them myself).

When your getting trains the "hard sleepers" are fine, best off booking the middle bunk. Everyone sits on the lower bunks even if it is your bed, and the top bunks are pretty high up! only a tiny difference in price... but there pretty comfy.

Wouldnt bother going with an organised tour, way more flexibility doing it yourself.
Enjoy!

Richard Roma

I'm just back from three weeks travelling there on my own without any Mandarin. You will encounter difficulties now and again ordering food or buying things but for the most part you'll be grand. There's a very well-defined travel route through China so you'll bump into loads of people to hang around with provided you stick to the most popular hostels.

Defintely go to Tiger Leaping Gorge if you get a chance, its the most spectacular scenery I've ever been to.

I'd advise you to spend a fair bit of time in Beijing. I thought it was an amazing city full of really interesting contrasts, I had 4 days of solid sightseeing there which wasn't enough. The best way to see the city is by bicycle. I'd recommend staying in Beijing Downtown Backpackers hostel.

RATM

Agree with others re Tiger Leaping Gorge, its an excellent trek. Seans place near the end of it is a good place to stay, fab views.
#Also dont miss out on Yangshao which is near Gullin- its got hundreds of karst limestone stacks near the Li River. Really spectactular scenery.

jank

Some good advice here.
Cost wise how did you find it? More, same as South East Asia?

tywy

Hi,

I did the trans sib a few years ago... train from Russia to China. If you have lots of time you could take that on your way home. Stop in Mongolia and at Irutsk for Lake Baikal. You can probably get a train all the way to Holyhead from Beijing if you really wanted to!

We stayed near the train station in Beijing... can't remember the name of the hostel now but it was big and very clean... had pool tables and a bar if you wanted to meet people.

We didn't have any trouble with the language really but then again we were only in Beijing and Shanghai...

cashback

jank wrote: »

Some good advice here.
Cost wise how did you find it? More, same as South East Asia?

Found it roughly the same. Bit more expensive in Shanghai and probably Beijing though I haven't been there.
That said you'll always be able to have a meal for about €2.50. In big cities, the big malls always have loads of restaurants that are quite cheap.
Of course if you can get some locals to bring you to some authentic spots that'd be better!

killbillvol2

jank wrote: »

Some good advice here.
Cost wise how did you find it? More, same as South East Asia?

Beijing is a bit more expensive than other parts for accommodation but really cheap for food and transport. Shanghai is probably most expensive for everything.

If you're going in the next few months give Shanghai a miss anyway. They're preparing for Expo2010 and it's literally a building site. The whole waterfront is dug up.

As others have said there's now a pretty well beaten track if you're staying in hostels. The hostels will look after pretty much everything from tours to onward tickets so you can just follow the herd if that's your thing. Travelling independently is a bit more difficult without a little bit of the language.

Enjoy!