TravelManKen

My wife and I will be making our first trip to Asia this summer - 4 days in Japan and 4 days in Beijing. We'll be in Beijing Aug 7th-11th and I was also wondering if there was enough to fill up the schedule. I can't believe that I can actually read part of that schedule

fallinasleep

If you don't care for nightlife, I think Beijing is the better place to visit in terms of allocation of days. On the other hand, if you decide that you want to visit Hangzhou or nearby towns then the advantage goes to Shanghai. In both cities, however, you can easily spend 3-5 days staying busy during the day (although Beijing is a better place).

Personally, if you want adventure and have the budget, then I would add a few more days to the itinerary and go somewhere else to get a better feel for the country. China's West(ern frontier) is as big as America's (which director Zhang Yimou has used effectively in his movies), and there are some great world-class/UNESCO places to visit in the two "autonomous" minority regions of Tibet and Xinjiang (think Lhasa and Kashgar, respectively) where you can easily occupy a week or more (but 3 days is also do-able if you time your connections). That's where I would spend my money on a side trip. Flight/train connections are improving, so it no longer takes days to get to these areas. On the other hand, this also means that it isn't so hard for China's frontier to be settled by "outsiders". Go now before these regions lose their uniqueness.

I think Hangzhou and Nanjing are frequently mentioned because they are near Shanghai by road or train, but they are not on my top ten list. If you have the budget to fly around (although domestic airfares are frequently discounted, they have not reached the level that LCCs have conditioned the customer to expect in Malaysia, Europe and parts of the USA), then the options open up dramatically.

shazbot

adding to Moondog's list,

pegasus: Alot of hip-hop music, and if you like trendy hot asians in rockstar (hot) outfits, theres plenty here.

Rojam: Trancy place, with lasers & everything. Has a small hip-hop room.

XingTianDi: Alot of bars at this district, and alot of live bands playing. Not too much dancing, just grab a table, and watch the live bands play... with sheet music ;o.

MBox: Near zapatas, but not as expatish.



Theres so many trendy clubs/bars in SH that I could go on & on, its best to just go & check 'em out.

moondog

only popular on thursdays and increasingly annoying crowd

only mondays and with a group; otherwise, waste of time
where is there in mbox near zapata's? (i only know of mao ming rd, but i think i may have seen one on tongren rd last month)

moondog

I agree that there's a lot to see and do out west. The problem is that most people that request advice here have limited vacation time and don't make it to China very often. Therefore, I usually encourage people to get their fill of the big cities on their first trip and then do something more adventerous the next time around.

fallinasleep

I also agree that one should visit Beijing and Shanghai before anything else , but after those two big cities, all others are "tier two," as they say...

My interpretation of the OP's initial request for information was that he had the time and the inclination to get off the beaten track, especially as his interests were in art, history and architecture and not necessarily the latest trendy clubs and bars in Shanghai.

There are so many threads on Shanghai and Beijing on Flyertalk (and the information isn't going to get stale anytime soon), wouldn't it be nice to talk about some other destinations for a change?

pegasus8228

to me tier 2 would include hangzhou, xian, guilin, kunming
maybe dunhuang, lhasa, suzhou, chengdu area, lijiang, xinjiang area, etc.

hangzhou clearly stands out among tier 2, (a clear top 3 on par with BJ and SH....10 years ago i would have put hangzhou in front of shanghai!) in terms of sightseeing and culture. IMHO Nanjing is not that special, and i would place NJ near the end of the above list.

shazbot

I've only been to pegasus on thurs's, but it was the only place where I saw some really stylin girls; the kind you see at the vegas night clubs.

Rojam is always fun, although I'm a bit leary of the chinese E scene. I hear its big though.

Mbox is like a 10m walk from zapatas, in the direction away from mural. Its at this big intersection, and on the 5th floor of this building. Kinda hard to see.

shazbot

Definately. If its a first time trip to china, or an infrequent one, theres no point in staying in SH for more than a few days. You might as well goto NYC for the shopping/bars.

mntblue

I just don't see the appeal of Shanghai to a western visitor. Yes it's a great place to make money and have parties. But for a first time vistor to China with limited time, how can Shanghai be preferrable to Hangzhou and Xi'an? It's like coming to New York and only visit the Chinatown.

pegasus8228

mntblue, i agree. but you do see the front edge of china's modernization in shanghai, and where the new china is going... that is why i suggested only 2 night for SHA.

lujiazui (pudong -- the new zone) has the most amazing group of new glass pane architecture in the world, from a green field 12 years ago.
imagine the canary wharf (or century) x 50, clustering with no building older than 12 years in between.

moondog

i lived in yanlord gardens several years ago and returned there for a bbq last month and was blown away by the pace of development (impressive, even for sh); there must 50,000 apartments in the area now.

omahajim

If you want to see some Shanghai before going, rent the Tim Robbins movie Code 46 .