IluvSQ

With kids, maybe a day at Disney Shanghai?
And for the high speed trains, I would spend the difference and get first class.

jplee3

We are leaning towards cutting Chengdu out at this point - if my wife and daughter want to see pandas, I think we can do this in Beijing instead. That effectives frees up 2 days? Not sure if we should split those between Beijing and Shanghai (well, one day would probably going to Beijing if they want to see the pandas) so then it's a matter of re-allocating the other day and if that should be in Beijing as well or if we should lengthen Shanghai.

moondog

Even though I am solidly in the "Shanghai is a more comfortable place to live than Beijing" camp, Beijing has MUCH more to offer tourists, so that's where I would allocate your bonus days, but maybe consider to moving to a hotel closer to NE 3rd Ring for that phase of the trip (Chongwenmen loses a lot of its locational value after you knock down the sites in the middle of the city).

jplee3

What would a good suggested itinerary be (at least for Beijing and Shanghai) if we did this?

3/25 Beijing arrival (we can opt to arrive at 4am or at 6pm... not sure which would be best)
3/26 Beijing
3/27 Beijing
3/28 Beijing
3/29 Beijing to Xian
3/30 Xian
3/31 Xian to Shanghai
4/1 Shanghai
4/2 Shanghai to Yantai
4/3 Yantai
4/4 Yantai
4/5 Yantai


One other question: for Beijing (or really any city, since they all have metro) is it recommended that we just take the metro to our hotel upon arrival (as well as when checking out of the hotel and going to the railway station or airport?)? Or is it better to just use taxis instead? Keep in mind: it's the 4 of us, including 2 kids (8 and 7) with our luggage. I intend to pack lightweight as much as possible (my wife and I will have big luggage backpacks on our back and maybe one wheeled luggage and our kids will have their own smaller backpacks and maybe a little wheeled luggage)

moondog

How did Yantai work its way into the mix (not knocking it, just curious)? Assuming you are departing from Shanghai, it would seemingly make more sense to slot it in before Shanghai (i.e. one less travel day).

moondog

Chongwenmen is actually pretty easy to get from PEK via public transit (single transfer to Line 5), and traffic can be ugly, but I'd still probably opt for a taxi in your situation. For getting around Beijing and Shanghai, I personally like subways as long as I can keep transfers to a minimum and my origin and destination are near subway stations (not always a given). For cars, ride hailing apps are useful and occasionally essential. I'm not sure how old your kids are, but shared bikes are also a great asset, and exploring Beijing by bike is a lot of fun.

jplee3

So the Yantai part of the trip is where my wife's relatives are. Her parents will be there so we'll be linking up with them and the relatives and staying in the area for a few days to visit with them before heading back to LAX. How would it eliminate a travel day btw?

jplee3

So upon arrival at PEK, you'd suggest that we just hail a taxi? What about using Didi/ridesharing apps? Or would taxi be hands-down easiest? I guess it's the part of dealing with all the luggage that makes the metro seem like not as good of an idea (unless we can really slim down the amount of stuff we're packing)? For sure, if it were just my wife and I we would backpack it onto the metro but I'm just concerned about the kids. Of course, I know sometimes we think kids won't be able to handle things when they really can...

The kids are 8 and 7 and are able to ride their bikes - are there smaller versions of shared bikes for kids to ride? Or is this where we'd need to have them on a seat in front of or behind us and we pedal (if that's even possible)? Are these regular bikes or ebikes btw?

I did see some notes in Lonely Planet about biking so that seems like it could be a fun option especially for the kids to experience.

moondog

Oh, I see. I mistakenly assumed you'd be flying home from Shanghai (in which case, you'd be going to Yantai and back). Exiting the country from there does seem preferable to PVG (assuming good flight connections).

889

With the traffic -- those big electric bikes especially -- Chinese cities are no place for youngsters to peddle around sightseeing. Just walking is dangerous enough these days. Seriously.

moondog

I was thinking of bikes mainly as a means to move around low traffic hutongs and the like, not major roads.

Switching subtopics back to Didi/taxi, I prefer taxis from airports, train stations, and anywhere else where linking up with a driver could be difficult. But, if my pickup location is easy to spot, then Didi wins.

jplee3

So you can [safely] navigate a pretty good amount or portion of areas throughout the city via hutongs? Do they have smaller bikes that kids can use? What about riding bikes to some of the sites like Temple of Heaven, Forbidden City, Summer Palace, Beijing Zoo, etc?

m.y

I think cutting Chengdu make sense. You can do Tianmen Square Forbidden City, maybe visit Jingshan and Houhai and then Temple of Heaven in one day. Save Summer Palace and Mutianyu for another day.
Having a dedicated driver and tour guide will be efficient but there is a lot of walking in these tourist sites, hence we thought your original plan was very ambitious (still do-able), especially for the kids.
I recommend you take taxi to/from airport, price is cheap and subway isn't very luggage friendly, especially at certain transfer stations.

jplee3

Ah ok. Thanks. So for the bigger transfers after initially getting to the city it's best just to get a taxi to take us to/from the hotel (would you suggest this as well for Xian and Shanghai too?). And then just use the subway for things like Beijing Zoo, Summer Palace, etc. and generally getting around (where it's not easy or too far to walk to) once we're settled. I would still try to look for a hotel that's located near or within walking distance to a metro.

For Great Wall, is it easiest just to arrange for a private guide/driver to take us to Mutianyu direct from the hotel?

moondog

No. Hutong neighborhoods certainly don't cover much of Beijing anymore, and biking to most of the sites you mentioned isn't practical.

Places like gulou/houhai, on the other hand, are well suited for bikes.

In Shanghai, the only bike ride I can really recommend for kids is the river trail (east side); I started a thread on it here, in fact.


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