Last year we went to Yangshuo (PRC) before going on to HKG. Fly to Guilin (c. 1 -1.5 hrs) and the arrange a car through your hotel. It's a land of karsts, with amazing scenery, lush valleys, jagged limestone mountains. They are pretty used to westerners though, so there are good restaurants with english menus etc, so as a first introduction to China, it's pretty benign.

You would need to arrange a China visa though, but if you want something different, it might fit the bill. Absence of western chains, but there are some nice hotels (not 5 star, but comfortable) around the place - we used the Yangshuo Mountain Retreat - great staff, out of town location (but easy enough to get in and out using fixed price taxis).