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Bejing -> Xian -> Chendu -> Lijang --- need advice

Bejing -> Xian -> Chendu -> Lijang --- need advice

Old May 3, 2012, 7:18 pm
  #1  
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Join Date: Aug 2011
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Bejing -> Xian -> Chendu -> Lijang --- need advice

I am planning a 4-month family trip to Asia starting off with 2 weeks in China.

We were fortunate to get 4 AA (first class FF) seats from Chicago to Beijing. We arrive on Oct 10.

I've done a lot of research and I think these are the main places we'd like to visit. I am putting approximate nights in each place

Beijing - 3 nights
Xian - 2 nights
Chendu - 3 or 4 nights (maybe side trips to Dazu and/or Jiuzhaigou)
Lijiang - 3 nights
from Lijiang we will travel to either Bangkok or Kuala Lumpur

If you could help with any of these questions I would be very grateful.

* What would be the recommended travel from city to city? (and how to make those arrangements) - we don't mind some train travel
* Hotels for each city. We are willing to use points if there is really good value (otherwise we'll use the points for our stays in Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia). We have 160,000 Carlson Club, 75,000 Starwood, 100,000 Chase Sapphire, 20,000 Hilton Honors. We are willing to sign up for credit cards with good bonuses if it makes sense. Looking for places with nice character or 4/5 star (but don't need over the top luxury). If it is better to pay cash we'll certainly do that.
* Any hotel choices where we can have 4 people to a room?


Thanks much!
bazers is offline  
Old May 3, 2012, 8:45 pm
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I think you are making a big mistake on the Chengdu part. You are short-shrifting both Beijing and Lijiang area. I'd drop Dazu--that's going to be 4-5 hours one-way from Chengdu, for about 2-3 hours of useful sightseeing. And probably less interesting for kids.

Beijing 4 nights
Xi'an 1 night (or 2 depending on useable daytime per transport modes)
Jiuzhaigou 2 nights
Chengdu 1 night (or 2 depending on useable daytime per transport modes)
Lijiang 4 nights

Overnight train could be used between Beijing and Xi'an, but fly between all other segments. You wouldn't go from Xi'an to Chengdu only to backtrack to Jiuzhaigou--that just wastes time. It's more than just a "side trip."

A night and part of two days is enough to see the Pandas and misc stuff in the city, a second night could add Leshan. If you omit Jiuzhaigou (which will be a very expensive segment when you figure in flights and entrance fees), other options present themselves. I'd personally spend this additional time in Yunnan instead.

You'll likely need to connect from Lijiang to Kunming then to BKK or KUL. Lijiang-Kunming flights are rarely discounted and not at that peak time for travel. Overnight train service is available.

For all train journeys, 4 of you sharing a 4-berth soft sleeper compartment would be ideal. Train reservations are tricky to get but we can help figure something out. Plane reservations you can do yourself in advance....but not too far in advance (maybe 6-8 weeks out).

Chinese hotels--standard rooms--have a limit of 3 people per room by law. If you can find a "family room" or small suite, that could work for all 4 of you.

Last edited by jiejie; May 3, 2012 at 8:54 pm
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Old May 10, 2012, 7:24 am
  #3  
 
Join Date: Jul 2011
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I would also recommend to mainly fly between the cities. Train tickets can be a bit tricky to obtain and it can be time consuming.
We did most of our travelling by plane, on some shorter routes we took the train or buses. Tickets we bought mainly in China after arrival in the first city, some tickets we bought at airport ticketing counters in some occasions just a couple of day ahead. Prices were still quite cheap.
We flew into Lijiang from Kunming and took a bus a few days later to Dali in Yunnan (it was something between 2 to 4 hours) stayed another night there before we flew from Dali back to Kunming.
In Lijiang its probably nicer to stay in one of the BB-inns in the old-town and avoid the modern Hotels in the new-towns. They are pretty busy with chinese tour groups.
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