Possible China intinerary
 

I am planning a two week trip to China and would like advice on my itinerary and any suggestions.

I land in Hong kong on 6/25 in early morning.
I would stay in Hong kong for the nights of 6/25-6/27.

On the morning of 6/28 I want to catch a flight from Hong kong to beijing.

I would spend the nights of 6/28-6/30 in Beijing. (3 nights, four days)
I would spend the day of 7/1 in Beijing and then take the evening sleeper train to Xi-an.

I would arrive in Xi'an on the morning of 7/2 and spend the day and night there. (i'm mainly interested in seeing the warriors -since the train gets in early morning is it possible to see the warriors and then catch a flight to guilin in the evening and spend the night there before moving on to Yanhshuo?)

On 7/3 I was considering flying to Guilin and heading straight to Yangshuo.

I would stay in Yangshuo or area for nights of 7/3 & 7/4.

I would then fly to Shanghai on 7/5 and stay there for the nights of 7/5-7/8.

On 7/8 I would fly back to hong kong and spend the night there.

I fly back home from hong kong on the evening of 7/9.

Please let me know if there are alternative suggestions or if there is a problem with this type of trip. I know very little of China.

Update: Since my flight out of Hong Kong is not until 6:45pm I am toying with the idea of spending the final night in Shanghai and flying into hong kong on a 2:05 arrival. It is a bit risky since the hong kong flight is my outgoing first class seat, but it seems like it would be really time consuming and more expensive to fly back into hong kong the day before, transport to the hotel then the next day transport back to airport. If I could land at the airport and then just go and check in for my outbound flight since I am already there that seems more ideal and would give me more time in Shanghai. My concern is about how long it will take in HKG coming off a flight from Shanghai. I would have to get through customs, still I think if I land at 2:05pm I should be able to be able to make a 6:45pm outbound at same airport.

On the morning of 6/28 I want to catch a flight from Hong kong to beijing.

As Hong Kong - Beijing is an international flight, I would suggest you to take a flight from Shenzhen to Beijing if you wanna save some money.


I would arrive in Xi'an on the morning of 7/2 and spend the day and night there. (i'm mainly interested in seeing the warriors -since the train gets in early morning is it possible to see the warriors and then catch a flight to guilin in the evening and spend the night there before moving on to Yanhshuo?)

It is possible but the warriors are outside of the city like the airport so you maybe would be in a hurry.


On 7/8 I would fly back to hong kong and spend the night there.

As I mention above, to fly to Hong Kong is an international flight. To fly to Shenzhen, stay the night there (for cheaper money) is an alternative.

I'll spend the night in Xi'an so I don't feel the need to rush to the airport. The suggestion of looking at Shenzhen to Beijing flight is one that I will do. Coming back from Shanghai though it might be worth it to fly straight to hong kong airport. The alternative is I can fly shanghai to Shenzhen and cross the border the day before and stay in hong kong. I have a free hyatt night, so lodging cost would not be an issue in hong kong and therefore no need to stay in Shenzhen (unless its worth staying in for sightseeing reasons).

I would not do this trip this way at all. Due to high possibility of weather delays this time of year with flights (in addition to the usual ATC delays), I would stay with trains on some routes. I recommend you reorder the itinerary and do the following, making arrangements quickly so you can get the tickets that make this work. Order HK > Shanghai > Beijing > Xian > Guilin > HK.

6/28 morning flight HKG-PVG on Hong Kong Airlines 08:15-10:50. Forget about Shenzhen on this, the differential after you spend cash getting to SZX is negligible, and it wastes time that you don't have.
6/30 late afternoon train Shanghai to Beijing. The G22 in 1st class seat is available. 17:00-22:16. You need relatively less time in Shanghai and more in Beijing.
7/4 overnight train Beijing to Xi'an. The Z19 in soft sleeper is available and recommended. 20:41 from Beijing West arriving on 7/5 08:15 into Xi'an main.
7/6 late morning flight Xi'an-Guilin on China Southern 11:20-13:10. Get forthwhip to Yangshuo and spend your time there.
7/9 Two decent options: A: Fly KWL-SZX on CZ flight 08:10-09:10, then shuttle bus to Hong Kong. You'll still have some free afternoon time in HK. Looks like no nonstop KWL-HKG available that allow for a comfortable connection to an international out of HKG. Option B: first fast train D2831 Guilin North to Guangzhou South in 1st class seat 08:00-10:44 is still available. Shuttle bus or private car to HKIA. Unfortunately Guilin-Shenzhen fast train meeting your schedule reqmts is already sold out. Flight schedule slippage/delay is possible; train will almost certainly run on time.

Thanks for info. I have to re-read your post a few times to process it as its a lot of information. I was not aware that the potential flight delays were soo significant.

ATC delays in Beijing and Shanghai airspace are legendary. Late June and early July, you are in monsoon season which can affect the coastal areas fairly severely, and Beijing also is at its rainiest. Since your schedule is so tight, you should place a high premium on reliability and predictability on this trip.

How do you see which trains are still open? Or are you reading it in chinese?

I do like the recommendation on the Shanghai to Beijing train and it would save me the hassle of dealing and going to/from the airports. The first class seats are worth the money over the second class seats? I am 6'2 so more legroom is always useful.

I wouldn't risk a short connection with flights into/out of HKG, especially if you have a first class ticket out that doesn't have flexibility.

Either take one of the options outlined above, or if none of those are suitable, you should fly in early morning or the night before. Travelling to a hotel in Kowloon or Central is fairly quick, easy and painless... it's just a short walk from the arrivals hall to the train, then a taxi to your hotel. Easy with luggage and fairly cheap.

If I take the train for Guilin North to Guangzhou South where exactly do I end up when I come out in Guangzhou South. Is it far from central hong kong? I was thinking of maybe taking the D2367 on 7/8 and spending my final night in Hong Kong. Its a second class ticket but only a few hours. I take it the standing tickets are best to be avoided based on pictures I seen it looks like a NYC during rush hour for three hours!

Here are two user-friendly, reputable agents with English websites where you can check availability and book tickets for domestic China trains right now:
www.travelchinaguide.com
www.china-diy-travel.com

Yes, for you first class seats on the D and G trains are worth the money. I'm glad you mentioned your height, since IMO overnight sleepers like the one you plan to take Beijing-Xi'an may not be comfortable for 6-footers--I will defer to other forum members who are closer to you in stature than me, and who have experienced Chinese overnight sleepers. If you reconsider, then on 7/4 take the late afternoon G669 Beijing West to Xi'an North 17:27-22:52 and spend the night in a hotel bed in Xi'an vs on the train. 1st class seat still available.

Yes, Guangzhou South is far from central Hong Kong, a few hours by road when you figure in the land border crossing/Immigration. There are shuttle buses that run from various points of Guangzhou city to Hong Kong Airport; if you decide on this method, we would need to give you further advice on the best location and timing. Skylimo or a private/shared van transfer would be more expensive but in combination with the train ticket, still less than flying Guilin-Shenzhen or Guilin-HKG (and the latter nonstop is not available on the morning of the 9th nor the evening of the 8th).

I don't think taking the D2367 on the 8th gets you anything except time in the Guilin region so shortened that you might as well not bother at all. Frankly, with the time you have, you are trying to fit one node too many in the mix. You could reconsider, cut Guilin out, and move that time to the Shanghai region where you could see Suzhou, a water town, etc.

Alternatively, if your time in Hong Kong on 6/25 to 6/27 is purely personal and you have no business commitments, you could cut back by 1 to 1.5 days, get going to Shanghai earlier, then add the time back to HK at the end, giving you plenty of cushion for that intl flight out. We'd have to check the new days of travel to see what's available for trains and planes. ETA: after a quick check, the gambit of splitting the HK time to both ends, and flying afternoon of 6/26 to SHA, returning on late afternoon 7/7 by nonstop flight from KWL, and everything in between, helps out and optimizes your time at each place.

Ok. I didn't realize how far out Guangzhou South is, so I think in that situation I should focus on option A for coming in on 7/9. Unless I am looking at the schedules wrong it seems like the flights directly into Hong Kong are double in price and there does not look to be any nonstop flights that would get me to the airport in a safe amount of time to make my flight. Which leaves the Shenzen flight mentioned earlier. It seems like this flight would give me a few extra hours in hong kong before I had to head to the airport (or is this a naive of me to believe I would have time for this?). The only problem I forsee is if there would be a way to store my luggage for a few hours in central hong kong before heading to airport.

The 5:27pm train to Xi'an might make more sense (not that I would be adverse to the sleeper car). I could get in to Xi-an late but then I will have a hotel I can stay at. Get the lay of the area at least a little bit and then wake up early to make a tour of xi'an. I could leave my bags at the hotel and then after a full day take an evening flight to guilian and then head straight from the airport to Yangshuo. I could spend the first few nights there and then stay in Guilin on the last night, so I can be in closer proximity to the airport for the morning flight?

You can check-in for your flight (all day check-in) at the Airport Express terminals in both Central and Kowloon. You need a ticket for the Airport Express to use the service... so you buy one of those, check-in, then are free to do whatever you want and catch the train out to the airport at a convenient time.

Great to know! This is probably exactly what I will do.

Actually you'd better check the link below to see if your airline is on there... CX no problem. But there are a couple of restrictions here and there for other carriers: http://www.mtr.com.hk/en/customer/se...ckin_info.html