Pimevai

(edit: I forgot to put an "a" before ChinaMan in the title, and as such it seems like I'm calling myself the superhero of China or something... not my intention)

Hello everyone,

My dilemma is an awkward one, I am Chinese (speak, read, write no problems) but grew up abroad. I lived for 5 years in Beijing but haven't been there full time since 2011.

I am planning a trip with my wife and in-laws, and due to time constraints only have 5 days 4 nights. Tokyo was our first choice but the tight schedule turned everyone off.

Therefore we have decided to go somewhere within mainland China for this duration. We are starting off from Beijing, and only want to go to one destination so as to minimize travel. We're all born and bred Chinese, and this trip will take place 21 Aug, to 25 Aug.

So I realize asking a predominately foreign forum for tips about my own country is awkward... But here I am doing it anyways. We've probably been to every major city in China, and most second tier ones as well, so we don't have any "dream" destinations in mind, just an excuse to go somewhere. Anyways I'd love some tips, input, and ideas on where to go or just opinions on what I am about to list below.

Places I had in mind were:

- Emeishan via Chengdu
- Suzhou
- Xi'an (I've been many times, but it's been 5 years since my last visit, is it worth going again? Any changes?)

Provinces we're ruling out are all three Northeastern provinces, both Guangs, Qinghai, Tibet, Hebei, and Xinjiang.

Thanks for any tips!

P.S. Some other considerations are that I'd prefer to either go via train or Avios.

YuropFlyer

How about Qingdao? Late August will be hot in pretty much all over China, but Qingdao sometimes gets relatively nice weather - just been there last week, it was absolutely tolerable..

Besides the weather, hotels there are fairly cheap, same with food, and as a small plus, the variety is relatively high (lots of Thai, Korean places, and thanks to his history, also German restaurants) - and of course the beer

Plus, if you arrive by airplane to PEK, both flying to Qingdao as well as taking a train are possible ways to go, maybe even flying one way, taking train one way. No usage of avios possible of course, but you could gamble for cheap flights till a few days before departure and otherwise just take the high speed train if it doesnt materialise. Should be around 400 RMB or below per person when you get a good discount, a bit less for the train unless you go first class.

edit: the only thing that is definitely a vote against Qingdao is that their metro isnt open yet. Might make transport MUCH easier once its finished (should be soon)

Pimevai

Thanks for the tip, do you have any suggestions as to activities?

DernierVirage

I was going to suggest Shandong province and I see that Qingdao has already been suggested. I was going to suggest two other places - Taishan (if you have not already climbed some famous mountains it might be worth considering) and Qufu (ancestral home of Confucius).

Hope this gives you some more ideas....

moondog

As an FYI Qingdao beer festival runs all month. To me this is a good thing, but it does mean larger than normal crowds, especially on the weekend.

cfisher6

Qingdao's beer festival is near intolerable for me with the LOUD NOISES and crowds, but it might be worth a day/evening if you haven't been or are into that. Other things to do are to wander some of the old parks, take a day trip to Laoshan, and just enjoy the beach and seafood. We've stayed at hotels in Huangdao there to avoid the full crowds.

Taian for the mountain and Qufu are both good suggestions, too, but 4 days is a bit much in either location.

DernierVirage

Sorry, I wasn't very clear, my idea was for to visit both Taishan and Qufu over 2/3 days, one day for each is enough, leaving you time for some other stuff, such as Qingdao (which now seems to be off your list now!).

moondog

I didn't notice the op scratching Qingdao from his list (yet). I shall also note that the beer thing doesn't seriously impact those who have no interest in it. You just pay a bit more for hotels than normal, but what's that matter if you have no concept of what "normal" is? Laoshan (plus the beach at its base) is awesome, BTW.

Pimevai

Thanks for all the tips everyone!

I am surprised at the unanimous support for Shandong though, didn't expect that (not that these places aren't great). My mother's family is from Shandong and I've been to all these places but am not opposed to going again with my wife's family. I will talk it over with her and see how receptive she is.

Thanks again!

JPDM

You say nothing about your preferences other than wanting to go "somewhere". If you have been to so many places, I don't see the point of seeing more of the same. Why not go to Guizhou? Much nicer. Not easy to access for foreigners due to the language issue there but not a problem for you.

moondog

I only support shandong because it is not part of your exclusion list, is close to Beijing, and the seaside won't be miserably hot.

That having been said, it should go without saying that heading west would be infinitely more interesting.

Pimevai

I think it's mostly because I have so many options that I don't know where to go.

I did mention three options I had been considering though...

Pimevai

Yeah that makes sense, I've been West many times, and my wife is very much not interested in going West so that is why we ruled out large swathes of it.

For further reference though, our original list of places to go were:

- Barcelona
- Tokyo
- Cancun
- California
- Bali

All of them were ruled out now due to time constraints though (don't want to feel rushed). But if anyone can think of some Mainland substitutes for those kinds of places I'd love to hear your thoughts as well. (I can kind of see Qingdao being 'somewhat' similar to BCN, CUN or LAX, kind of).

Also Hong Kong and Macau are close to being crossed off, but I would consider them simply because I can book everyone in CX J with Avios (I'd rather not give my wife such an opportunity to shop). So if anyone has some really great things to say about those places I'd be interested too.

cfisher6

I thought Shandong would be a good bet as you wanted to travel by train. Also it's my second home, and I really enjoy Lu dishes.

On your list, Emeishan is great, too. Hiking from the bottom and staying at a temple on the way up, if your group is fit for all the stairs, is a fun 2-day experience. You can flesh out the rest of the trip with a day in Leshan for the Buddha and a few days in Chengdu.

sinoflyer

I prefer Yangzhou over Suzhou--for both food and scenery.

Qingdao is my favorite Mainland Chinese city, based simply on my impression that the (Han) people there were the friendliest I've ever encountered. Chengdu comes a close second. It's just so laid back and atmospheric. ^ Leshan is an easy daytrip from Chengdu, which I presume you've done already? Emeishan is almost equidistant, but should definitely require an overnight--IMO preferably in a monastery. BTW, if visiting Buddhist sacred mountains is the point of going to Emeishan, another possible candidate should be Wutaishan in Shanxi province. The closest gateway city is Datong, but it can be reached from capital Taiyuan as well.

Safe travels.