Best North Asia cities for solo photographer to visit?
Jan 13, 2014, 9:54 am
#16
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Sept./Oct. is THE worst time of year for rain in SE Asia, though our summer months are also monsoonal in other parts of the region. I went to Taroko in summer and it was rainy, though thankfully not of the all-day type.
Saw Naadam in Ulaan Baatar last year and it was very memorable. People dress in their colorful best, and the opening ceremony is an amazing riot of colors in motion. Though with the smaller Naadams in other towns you get much closer to the action and the people, or so I'm told. Mongolia would be a great country to travel further afield in (I got to UB and Terelj), but the distances can be great and transit slow. Lake Khusvogol, the far west and the Gobi were the most popular excursions, but you needed at least 7-8 days. Weather in July was delightful (highs 70s, lows 40s, sunny).
I found Vietnam to also be especially rich in both people and scenery photos, though I'd rate the north better for that than the south. Beware pickpockets, though.
Saw Naadam in Ulaan Baatar last year and it was very memorable. People dress in their colorful best, and the opening ceremony is an amazing riot of colors in motion. Though with the smaller Naadams in other towns you get much closer to the action and the people, or so I'm told. Mongolia would be a great country to travel further afield in (I got to UB and Terelj), but the distances can be great and transit slow. Lake Khusvogol, the far west and the Gobi were the most popular excursions, but you needed at least 7-8 days. Weather in July was delightful (highs 70s, lows 40s, sunny).
I found Vietnam to also be especially rich in both people and scenery photos, though I'd rate the north better for that than the south. Beware pickpockets, though.
I did look into Mongolia but we decided to stick to China since Mongolia would take a it more time to get to, and that would really need a good amount of travel time out of the capital to really enjoy.
Yes, we are very excited about Vietnam even though we'll be on the South side in Nov. This is ok with us as a good friend of us gave some recommendations in Saigon.
Jan 13, 2014, 9:57 am
#17
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OP,
Couple of additional thoughts.
China and Asia are a photographers dreamland. Dont expect to do it all in half a dozen trips, less to say 1 trip. The key is to concentrate on just couple of regions to minimize flying.
While in Guilin/Yangshuo, you can tag on Longji Rice Terrace (or others in the same area). All can be done in 3 nights/4 days.
As far as Guilin, Yangshuo and Longji, some images can be found below:
http://stefanofoto.smugmug.com/Asia-...jiang-Li-River
http://stefanofoto.smugmug.com/Asia-...ilin/i-WHf8zc9
http://stefanofoto.smugmug.com/Asia-...aces/i-P4gp3qB
Toss in a couple of places to consider (on top of what up-posts suggested), while youre in the southwest China, how about LiJiang (the city) and Dali, both are in Yunnan. To fly there, need to transit in KMG (I think? Not sure if any direct flight KWL-LJG).
Some images from LiJiang & Dali can be found on this (2011) trip report:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trip-...dventures.html
Couple of additional thoughts.
China and Asia are a photographers dreamland. Dont expect to do it all in half a dozen trips, less to say 1 trip. The key is to concentrate on just couple of regions to minimize flying.
While in Guilin/Yangshuo, you can tag on Longji Rice Terrace (or others in the same area). All can be done in 3 nights/4 days.
As far as Guilin, Yangshuo and Longji, some images can be found below:
http://stefanofoto.smugmug.com/Asia-...jiang-Li-River
http://stefanofoto.smugmug.com/Asia-...ilin/i-WHf8zc9
http://stefanofoto.smugmug.com/Asia-...aces/i-P4gp3qB
Toss in a couple of places to consider (on top of what up-posts suggested), while youre in the southwest China, how about LiJiang (the city) and Dali, both are in Yunnan. To fly there, need to transit in KMG (I think? Not sure if any direct flight KWL-LJG).
Some images from LiJiang & Dali can be found on this (2011) trip report:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trip-...dventures.html
Longji Rice Terrace does look quite interesting. Guilin/Yangshuo/Longji in a few days seems reasonable. Thank for the pics too, they look great.
That thread of 100 days, 500 photos is great. Quite a trip! I'll look through more of that to see if anything in particular strikes interest.
Jan 13, 2014, 10:04 am
#18
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There are nonstop flights from TPE to KWL on EVA but may not be daily...but if you could do an award all the way to KWL with stopover in Taiwan on the way, that would work pretty well. Then return from Shanghai or Hangzhou. Try very hard not to route through PEK at least on the way inbound. Jiuzhaigou may not be a place that you can get awards in/out of due to demand. And regular flight tickets are quite expensive. If you choose Huangshan (TXN), then flying from there to PEK and picking up an award PEK-home might work. Doubt if CA is offering awards that would include the TXN - PEK segment but you can try.
More confusing to me is your time frame. I thought you started with only 9-10 days for a trip. I think given your wish list, you may have some unrealistic time frames concerning intercity travel and particularly trying to get in/out of Zhangjiajie. Getting from Guilin to ZJJ is not a straightforward or time-efficient exercise. For an adequate trip to both including the transportation, figure on 7 days right there. Additional if you want to put days in Hangzhou and/or Shanghai. Jiuzhaigou is not in the same geographic area. It isn't all that high, and altitude is normally not a problem for most people. The upper reaches of nearby Huanglong (a separate park), does get quite high and that can be problem for some. But again, if you want to carve out time for that, at a practical minimum you'd need 3-4 extra days to do the plane connections then time at the park(s) themselves. Huangshan is quite accessible from Hangzhou by road and Shanghai by air, so one of the easier itineraries would be Guilin - fly Hangzhou - road to Huangshan - fly Shanghai. This could be done in a week. Make sure that you understand the setup at Huangshan--cable cars are available but a lot of stair work up and down will still be required. There are photogenic villages in the area that might be of interest to you.
I can't speak for Taiwan, but central and mountain China would typically be better in September than in early June due to weather (rain) issues. Try to avoid July, August (school holidays and all tourist sites exceptionally busy) and at all costs avoid the first week of October (national holiday).
More confusing to me is your time frame. I thought you started with only 9-10 days for a trip. I think given your wish list, you may have some unrealistic time frames concerning intercity travel and particularly trying to get in/out of Zhangjiajie. Getting from Guilin to ZJJ is not a straightforward or time-efficient exercise. For an adequate trip to both including the transportation, figure on 7 days right there. Additional if you want to put days in Hangzhou and/or Shanghai. Jiuzhaigou is not in the same geographic area. It isn't all that high, and altitude is normally not a problem for most people. The upper reaches of nearby Huanglong (a separate park), does get quite high and that can be problem for some. But again, if you want to carve out time for that, at a practical minimum you'd need 3-4 extra days to do the plane connections then time at the park(s) themselves. Huangshan is quite accessible from Hangzhou by road and Shanghai by air, so one of the easier itineraries would be Guilin - fly Hangzhou - road to Huangshan - fly Shanghai. This could be done in a week. Make sure that you understand the setup at Huangshan--cable cars are available but a lot of stair work up and down will still be required. There are photogenic villages in the area that might be of interest to you.
I can't speak for Taiwan, but central and mountain China would typically be better in September than in early June due to weather (rain) issues. Try to avoid July, August (school holidays and all tourist sites exceptionally busy) and at all costs avoid the first week of October (national holiday).
Yeah, I agree that Guilin to Zhangjiajie is problematic in the timeframe now. I thought the flights between could be done, but it's not realistic. I do agree about a week for Guilin/Yangshuo and Huangshan though (with return from Shanghai). After finding pictures of Zhangjaijie I was just thinking about trading Huangshan for it possibly.
Good to know about cable cars/steps at Huangshan. I will read up more on that and discuss with my parents to be sure they are up for it if we decide to go that route.
Jan 13, 2014, 10:08 am
#19
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Suggest you try to avoid the golden weeks in China in Sept & Oct as places will be extremely busy. For 2014 these are Mid-Autumn festival (Sept 6 - Sept 8) and National Day (Oct 1 - Oct 7).
Surprised you haven't also considered a trip combining Hanoi and Halong Bay. Great places for photography!
Surprised you haven't also considered a trip combining Hanoi and Halong Bay. Great places for photography!
I actually have considered Hanoi/Halong Bay since I have to get a Vietnamese Visa for Nov anyway. That area looks great. I will see if my parents are interested in that and if flights for Hanoi and Guilin would work any better. I do have to make sure that we don't go places that the wife would get too jealous of and demand we go right back to immediately though
.
Jan 16, 2014, 11:24 am
#20
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Still working on this ticket. Some holds I had released before they were supposed to, ugh. Had to start all over. Most amount of work to plan a trip yet! I have parents taken care of with DFW-PHX-LAX-TPE, TPE-PEK-DYG. Then purchasing DYG-CAN-KWL. They will then go to Beijing, Xi'an and Shanghai for over a week with separate award tickets and return PEK-IAH-DFW.
We should get 3.5 days in TPE (parents will actually get 4.5 since they have to arrive 1 day earlier because of availability now, grr!), 2-3 days in DYG and 3.5 in KWL. I think that will be sufficient for this trip. Saving Huangshan for next time as I believe that Zhangjiajie will be better for photography and I actually figured out routing, plus as you guys mentioned there just isn't time in a 10-11 day total trip with this.
Anyway, I'm trying to return KWL-HKG (paid on Dragon Air), then HKG-BKK-MXP on TG in F (start of my open-jaw return UA award) and then SOMETHING..... back to US. Europe is a real pain to return from in F/J in Summer!!!
Maybe I'm complicating all of this when I could easily take Air China F PEK-IAH-DFW though. I cannot find any good reviews comparing Air China F to TG F, Eva C, etc...
Trying to take advantage of last ditch effort in J/F on *A partners before rates go up. My old for all of this expires tomorrow night and then after that I bet this whole thing is toast.
We should get 3.5 days in TPE (parents will actually get 4.5 since they have to arrive 1 day earlier because of availability now, grr!), 2-3 days in DYG and 3.5 in KWL. I think that will be sufficient for this trip. Saving Huangshan for next time as I believe that Zhangjiajie will be better for photography and I actually figured out routing, plus as you guys mentioned there just isn't time in a 10-11 day total trip with this.
Anyway, I'm trying to return KWL-HKG (paid on Dragon Air), then HKG-BKK-MXP on TG in F (start of my open-jaw return UA award) and then SOMETHING..... back to US. Europe is a real pain to return from in F/J in Summer!!!
Maybe I'm complicating all of this when I could easily take Air China F PEK-IAH-DFW though. I cannot find any good reviews comparing Air China F to TG F, Eva C, etc...
Trying to take advantage of last ditch effort in J/F on *A partners before rates go up. My old for all of this expires tomorrow night and then after that I bet this whole thing is toast.
Last edited by glocklt4; Jan 16, 2014 at 11:52 am
Jan 20, 2014, 8:37 am
#21
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Don't forget about Japan. The whole country is practically brimming with photographic opportunities thru majestic sceneries all across. Though if you're looking to take photos of exotic-looking people then Yunnan might be a good bet - more specifically near the border with Guizhou (minority peoples), or for old towns to places like Dali, Lijiang, Shangrila or the Yuanyang Rice Terraces.
Jan 22, 2014, 7:06 pm
#22
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Don't forget about Japan. The whole country is practically brimming with photographic opportunities thru majestic sceneries all across. Though if you're looking to take photos of exotic-looking people then Yunnan might be a good bet - more specifically near the border with Guizhou (minority peoples), or for old towns to places like Dali, Lijiang, Shangrila or the Yuanyang Rice Terraces.
In the end I ended up booking
DFW-YYZ-TPE <stop>
TPE-PEK-DYG <open-jaw>
DYG-CAN-KWL (paid flight)
KWL-HKG (paid flight)
HKG-BKK-CDG-FRA-ORD-DFW
Very excited about seeing Taipei (especially Taroko National Park), Zhangjiajie, and Guilin! Thank you for all of your advice!
Jan 22, 2014, 10:56 pm
#23
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yep, we are going to plan a trip there late march/april some year to get the cherry blossom bloom.
In the end I ended up booking
DFW-YYZ-TPE <stop>
TPE-PEK-DYG <open-jaw>
DYG-CAN-KWL (paid flight)
KWL-HKG (paid flight)
HKG-BKK-CDG-FRA-ORD-DFW
Very excited about seeing Taipei (especially Taroko National Park), Zhangjiajie, and Guilin! Thank you for all of your advice!
In the end I ended up booking
DFW-YYZ-TPE <stop>
TPE-PEK-DYG <open-jaw>
DYG-CAN-KWL (paid flight)
KWL-HKG (paid flight)
HKG-BKK-CDG-FRA-ORD-DFW
Very excited about seeing Taipei (especially Taroko National Park), Zhangjiajie, and Guilin! Thank you for all of your advice!
Jan 23, 2014, 7:26 am
#24
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Yeah, the TPE-PEK-DYG is the only way we could get the timing to work with "free" flights (included in the award). There was TPE-PVG-DYG but only 2 seats and even then the connection time was too risky. It would have been 4.5 hours total compared to the 8 for TPE-PEK-DYG, but it is what it is. The fastest paid flight was $480 each and would take 5.5 hours total anyway. 2.5 hours extra to save $480 each is not a problem for me - will catch up on sleep anyway. Working with 3 people with award seats has been pretty difficult since they all release 2 seats at a time, except Air China it seems.
Going through Changsha was going to require a stop in Nanning as well. Pretty crazy! We would burn an entire day doing so, 6am-5pm. For DYG-CAN-KWL we will get in before midnight and just crash at a hotel for the night in CAN, then fly out the next morning. I'd much rather stay overnight at a hotel in a random city than waste daytime hours connecting around when I have limited time.
And also to mention, the long return from HKG is all to enjoy F on Thai. I could have just gone back to PEK-IAH-DFW more easily (but with an overnight layover in PEK). I chose to go the long route for the experience while United partner awards in F are affordable (pre 2/1/14 change).
Last edited by glocklt4; Jan 23, 2014 at 9:14 am