I'm finalising everything for mine and the BFs forthcoming trip to China, leaving later next week. Had a lot of support on here for the early plans for which I've been very grateful! I just have a final few things to iron out...

1) I fly in on LH953 arriving into T3 at 0830, then depart on CA1847 at 1105 out of T3. Is it straight forward connecting within T3? I need to pick up luggage and re-check in, hopefully with no delays on arrival. I booked my internal flight through ctrip and have received an email confirmation but no ariline ref. to check my status online etc, is this normal?

2) I'm planning on getting a bus from Nanjing to Tangkou. I've not been able to find uptodate and reliable times online but plan on heading to Nanjing Central Gate Bus Station (Nanjing Zhongyangmen) to check times/book tickets. Is this the best plan or does anyone know how to check times online?

3) Any recommendations for seeing sunset/sunrise on Mt Huangshan? I'm staying at Beihai hotel if that helps.

4) How easy it to get from Tangkou to Hongcun?

5) The BF arrives into Beijing on LH953 T3 at 0830 and departs from T2 on CZ3282 at 1155. I think this is long enough for a transfer, but what is the quickest way to get through immigration and transfer to T2, etc. Any experiences would be useful.

6) We're going to spend a couple days in Yangshuo, any personal tips on what to see? I know the key sites but wondering if anyone knows anything off the beaten path at all.

Otherwise I'm quite confident things are in order as best they can be, so thanks all for the help!

It is straightforward to connect and there are people to answer questions.

For checking status online you may use the ticket number or the passport number you used in booking the ticket. Typically you can't select seats until less than 24 hours before departure.

Two choices (taxi is a 3rd choice, in theory, but the driver would be irate, and no faster than the bus, assuming you have to queue):
1) bus = free, travel time = ~10 minutes
2) train = $4, travel time = ~5 minutes

BTW, unless I'm mistaken both of these choices occur after you've cleared immigration in T3, taken train to baggage claim and collected bags. The only difference between you and BF is he will exit customs and head to bus/train ant T2, while you will either find the Air China baggage drop (if checked through) or check in at T3 for your flight.

Thanks for the info on connecting, feeling a little more confident now that thinks should go quite smoothly. Cheers

Are these connections on the same ticket/itinerary? If so, you should know that if your inbound flight is late and you miss a flight, the airlines are obligated to rebook you at no charge.

No, unfortunately they're not. My backup for getting to Nanjing if something goes wrong is the train, but for Guilin we just have to hope things go smoothly!

Just follow the crowds from the hotel. Everyone gets up in time to watch the sunrise and walks from the hotels (yours included) up to lookout points.

It's a crapshoot though as sometimes the clouds roll in and obscure the view.

Remember that you must carry everything up the mountain from the cable car to the hotel. (Or hire someone to carry it for you). So pack light. And if you're going to spend a day or two hiking, be sure to keep hydrated.

It's one of the most beautiful places Iv'e ever been.

Great to hear you enjoyed your visit, I am hoping the weather is suitable - a bit of cloud would be nice for the effect but not so much to obscure the view. I'm hoping the same for the great wall and rice terraces, so at some point I'm sure I will be both disappointed and pleased with the weather.

I'm going to be backpacking and I heard you can leave large items at the hotels at the base on the Mt before ascending which I hope to do as I plan on walking up the mountain rather than getting the cable car as I heard you miss out on some great views getting the cable car.

I don't know about the views if you skip the cable cars. But I think you're staying at one of the hotels that's on a plateau that's above the cable car stop. As I recall the plateau has several different hotels and restaurants, shops etc. I also recall that some people were camping on the plateau. There is a basketball court in the plaza where we watched some Chinese guys playing.

I hope you've decided to stay up there at least a day as there are several trails that fan out in different directions that give while new perspectives of the mountains. And I'm pretty sure the hotels up there allow storage of stuff.

Best for me was that very few foreigners were there. So you get an unfiltered experience. Take a good camera. :-)

I was wondering where the hotel was, had hoped for a sign at the top. Cheers for the info.

I was intending on climbing the eastern steps to ascend in the morning and then do a trail at the top in the afternoon/evening. Then descend by the western steps the next morning before moving on to Hongcun.

Don't worry about finding the Beihai hotel at the summit, there are signs at the various trail forks in the road. Generally if you keep walking up, you'll be getting close. Print out from the internet, a trail map, preferably one good schematic and another that shows distances in km and most importantly, in time duration. I think the time you have allotted is fine, if you are in pretty good shape and are a fairly steady hiker. I'm not sure I'd walk up the eastern steps in search of better views; you might be better off taking the cable car up, then spending the time saved doing more of the different mountain paths once up. Regardless, the better part of two days and one night on the summit is enough for Huangshan. To some extent, you have to get a bit lucky with weather to maximize the experience: too much cloud cover and heavy fog and you see little; too clear a day and you don't get the optimum atmosphere nor the ideal photos. Hopefully Mother Nature will cooperate during your visit.

Luggage: If you're staying the night before in Tangkou village, leave your excess stuff at the hotel, locked and ready for pickup when you return. If you are coming from Huangshan City or elsewhere, then there is a Left Luggage storage facility at the Tangkou bus station--somebody can point it out to you. I cannot emphasize strongly enough how important it is to pack very light for the Huangshan interlude, and resign yourself to having to eat lousy food and replenish water supplies on the mountain, at exhorbitant rates.