Editors Pick

Heading out from Beijing!

In and around China

After almost a week of being spoilt staying with our friend Alan in Beijing it was finally time to set out on our journey through China.

Keith had been studying the Lonely Planet Guide to China and had mapped out a rough itinerary that would take us south from Beijing through Xi'an, Chengdu and Lijiang before heading towards Vietnam.  We planned to enter Vietnam through the Friendship Pass south of Nanning.

Meeting and Greeting the Chinese at last!

That was the plan and we pretty much stuck with it although we'd loved to have investigated eastern China also.... maybe next time!

Route taken and entries written by kwfletch

  1. 1

    Terracotta Warriors and more

    Xi'an, China | Nov 13 '05 | Reviews: 1
    Xi'an is mostly known for its proximity to the famed Terracotta Warriors, and is also quite a pleasant little city. We arrived in the late afternoon a... Continue reading »
     see 1 photo »    see 1 place visited »  

  2. 2

    Chengdu and into frozen north Sichuan

    Chengdu, China | Nov 16 '05 | Reviews: 2
    Arriving in Chengdu on the airport bus was easy finding the hotel we'd booked was not! We only had the name written down in English not much use to ta... Continue reading »
     see 5 photos »    see 2 places visited »  

  3. 3

    The Old Town of Lijiang

    Lijiang, China | Nov 22 '05 | Reviews: 1
    We arrived in Lijiang after dark but armed with a piece of paper with the hotel name written in Chinese we were able to find our way fairly easily, th... Continue reading »
     see 3 photos »    see 1 place visited »  

  4. 4

    The Ancient City of Dali

    Dali, China | Nov 26 '05 | Reviews: 1
    Rising yet again at an hour at which we are not at our best we dragged the luggage back across the cobble stones to arrive at the bus station at 8.28a... Continue reading »
     see 5 photos »    see 1 place visited »  

  5. 5

    Short stop - Kunming

    Kunming, China | Nov 29 '05 | Reviews: 1
    A leisurely start to the day at 8.00am on Wednesday 30 November saw us packing for our trip to Kunming on an express bus. We were impressed to be coll... Continue reading »
     see 1 place visited »  

  6. 6

    Backpacker paradise, western breakfasts continued

    Yangshuo, China | Nov 30 '05 | Reviews: 2
    Ran into a couple of girls we met in Dali whilst having breakfast in Kunming. They actually live in Yangshuo and were returning there on the same flig... Continue reading »
     see 4 photos »    see 2 places visited »  

  7. 7

    Last stop in China

    Nanning, China | Dec 04 '05 | Reviews: 1
    We arrived at a bus station in the city of Nanning in the early afternoon of Monday December 5th.  We were none too sure where we were, but knew that... Continue reading »
     see 1 place visited »  

  8. 8

    Good Morning Vietnam!

    Hanoi, Vietnam | Dec 05 '05 | Reviews: 3
    The never ending saga of getting from the Chinese border to Hanoi.......Our taxi driver handed us over to a minibus headed for Hanoi... seemed OK even... Continue reading »
     see 3 photos »    see 3 places visited »  

  9. 9

    Fog!

    Sapa, Vietnam | Dec 08 '05 | Reviews: 0
    Ah, the joys of the "soft sleeper"!  Four people crowded into a tiny little cubicle with 2 sets of bunks.  Not a lot of sleep was had that night!We ar... Continue reading »
     see 4 photos »  

  10. 10

    Cruising - in the fog!

    Halong Bay, Vietnam | Dec 11 '05 | Reviews: 0
    Monday morning saw us responding to the alarm clock yet again.  In due course (eventually) we were picked up by the minibus for our overnight trip to... Continue reading »
     see 4 photos »  

  11. 11

    Trading the fog for Rain!

    Hue, Vietnam | Dec 12 '05 | Reviews: 1
    Arriving in Hue on schedule (after a one hour flight with Wendy asking Keith constant questions about the engine noise and what the pilot might be doi... Continue reading »
     see 3 photos »    see 1 place visited »  

  12. 12

    Dodging the rain in Hoi An

    Hoi An, Vietnam | Dec 14 '05 | Reviews: 1
    Thursday morning we left Hue bright and early (again!).  The four hour trip to Hoi An followed the coast for some of the way - the waves crashing in o... Continue reading »
     see 4 photos »    see 1 place visited »  

  13. 13

    Ho Ho Ho in Ho Chi Minh

    Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam | Dec 18 '05 | Reviews: 2
    We organised ourselves in Hoi An for our midday flight down south - only marred by being stung over $2 for a broken glass in our hotel room.  (Outrage... Continue reading »
     see 7 photos »    see 2 places visited »  

  14. 14

    Merry Christmas in Singapore

    Singapore, Singapore | Dec 24 '05 | Reviews: 0
    Christmas morning saw us up early to get organised for our trip to Singapore. Santa appeared to have forgotten that we were in Vietnam and left us no... Continue reading »
     see 1 photo »  

  15. 15

    Serious diving and rambles in the jungle

    Manado, Indonesia | Dec 25 '05 | Reviews: 4
    The flight from Singapore was uneventful although Wendy thought it was a bit bumpy!Manado has a reputation as one of the cleanest cities in Indonesia... Continue reading »
     see 8 photos »    see 4 places visited »  

  16. 16

    Mountains, lakes & rain around Tomohon

    Tomohon, Indonesia | Jan 08 '06 | Reviews: 2
    The Marpaung family drove us to Tomohon, stopping at a couple of interesting places along the way - including Watu Pinabetengan, a rock with ancient i... Continue reading »
     see 10 photos »    see 2 places visited »  

  17. 17

    A final night in Singapore

    Singapore | Jan 17 '06 | Reviews: 0
    On the afternoon of Wednesday Jan 18th we made it back to Singapore after the 3 hour flight from Manado.  By the way, Silk Air do a great job - heaps... Continue reading »
     see 1 photo »  

ekleibowitz avatar ekleibowitz on Nov. 22, 2005 @ 04:03PM said
My and wife and I are contemplating a trip to china, perhaps in the spring of 07. We are reasonably well traveled but have concerns about spending about 3 weeks staying and traveling within China-issues of language, transportation, medical facilities if needed, etc. We are in our 70s and in good health. We managed very well in Japan having spent a month there on our own several years ago. We don't speak Japanese but found the railroad and bus systems in local towns worked very well. Our luggage was shipped for us from hotel to hotel overnight. I assumed there will be logistical issus in China that we didn't have to face in Japan. thanks for your anticipated response
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kwfletch avatar kwfletch on Nov. 22, 2005 @ 04:03PM said
Hi There were some challenges for us - mainly language. We were lucky in Beijing that we had a friend to stay with and show us around, which got us acclimatised to some extent. As time was limited we tended to fly the longer sections rather than spend nights and days on trains! We started trying to be clever and booking hotels on the internet, but soon found we were better off relying on the travel guide (Lonely Planet) as its recommendations were more traveller friendly and usually had English speaking staff - the ones we had booked on the internet in Xian and Chengdu were difficult to find (as we didn't have the names written down in Chinese) and did not have English-speaking staff. So an important point is to always get someone (travel agent or whoever) to write down hotel names and addresses in Chinese characters - then you can show a taxi driver where you want to go. Usually we could find someone who spoke at least a little English when we were desperate. "Sign language" and mime also worked well as an alternative to English. We found the Chinese people we met unfailingly helpful and friendly. As our confidence increased we were able to use local transport without difficulty. We did not (fortunately) have need of medical facilities so cannot coment on this. Some places we visited (Xian, Dali, Yangshuo) were much more tourist oriented and English was often spoken. Apart from our independent travel we did take a couple of tours - 4 days from Chengdu to Juizhaigou Park - great tour but the tour guide spoke no English, fortunately a couple of the other passengers (all were Chinese except us) did speak English so we were never totally lost. Likewise a day trip from Lijiang to Jade Dragon Mountain. We did provide a considerable amount of amusement for the other tour members! If you have travelled in Asia previously then you should be fine. Toilets may be an issue - outside the hotels these are invariably eastern-style (squatting) and in the more remote areas tended to lack such things as partitions and doors - my wife found this a little challenging but not impossible. Hope this is of some use, please let me know if we can help further. Keith
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Cady avatar Cady on Nov. 22, 2005 @ 04:03PM said
I really appreciate and have a great respect for you! Your vitality moves me a lot. You’ve already been to the most worthiness place one should visit in China. May be it was also a memorable experience for you. Actually I am a professional Travel Planner in China. For the convenience of overseas tourists, my suggestion to the foreign friends who come to visit China is to go and find a travel company with good standing. Because there will be experts help you to make your own plan and itinerary. Also there will be private English-speaking guide. Further more, visitors usually can get cheaper flight tickets and hotels from a travel company than order from the internet by themselves. If you have any problem about traveling around China, please feel free and let us know. My e-mail adress is liuyang@eastravel.com. At last I want to say, “Welcome to China again! I would like to provide you our best service and help”
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ekleibowitz avatar ekleibowitz on Nov. 22, 2005 @ 04:03PM said
Thanks Keith-I will share your comments with my wife and will probably get back to you with questions. Ephraim
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