I am planning a trip to China from June 12-July 3. It's for my family and we have 8 of us traveling-2 parents and kids ranging in age from 25-11. Mom and dad are footing the majority of the travel expense so we are trying to go as economically as possible without feeling like we are being "cheap". We arrive in Hong Kong on the 12th at 6pm and fly out of Beijing on July 3rd at 10am. I have a tentative schedule planned but no in country travel or hotel rooms booked yet so it can be adjusted if needed. We are thinking that some/most of our travel between cities will be via overnight trains. From what I can see, it's not only cheaper but we then save the cost of a hotel room. We can change that idea also though if it will be more time effective to seeing the things we would like to.
Here is the itinerary I think might work:
June 12-16: Hong Kong
17-19 Guilin/Yangshuo
20-21 Chengdu
22-24 Xian
25-27 Shanghai/Suzhou
28-3 Beijing
Does this seem like a logical way to go? I tried to go geographically from south to north but if there is a better routing due to better train/flight connections, I welcome input.
I'm beginning to get a little anxious about getting some of the in country stuff sorted out but it does seem like it is best financially to wait until about 2 months out to book most of it.
We have been to China once before as we adopted our youngest daughter in 2004 but all of our arrangements were made through our agency. This time, I'm trying to do it myself trying to save a little money and also freedom of going where we want on our own schedule. I welcome any and all advice. Thanks!