Help/suggestions with planning a trip to China (tour)
Feb 4, 2024, 8:39 am
#61
Join Date: May 2010
Location: AVP & PEK
Programs: UA 1K 1.9MM
Posts: 6,356
Feb 4, 2024, 9:37 am
#62
Original Poster
Join Date: Dec 2004
Posts: 432
OK, we booked our flights and the itinerary is as such now (pushed back by a week and we also inserted yantai in between xi'an and shanghai for logistics since China Airlines doesn't fly out of Yantai... I suppose we could have considered taking a train from Yantai to Qingdao but didn't think about that until now. My wife didn't want to trouble her relatives with driving us to Qingdao - I guess taxi could have been another option. At this point though, since we already booked tickets, I think we'll just deal with it. Hopefully PVG isn't a crazy airport to fly out of :T):
3/31/24 Sunday lax to pek
4/1/24 Monday arrive in beijing (arrives at PEK at 10:55am)
4/2/24 Tuesday beijing
4/3/24 Wednesday beijing
4/4/24 Thursday beijing
4/5/24 Friday beijing to xi'an
4/6/24 Saturday xi'an
4/7/24 Sunday xi'an to yantai
4/8/24 Monday yantai
4/9/24 Tuesday yantai
4/10/24 Wednesday yantai to shanghai
4/11/24 Thursday shanghai
4/12/24 Friday shanghai to lax (flight departs PVG at 20:50)
The only thing about the # of days in Beijing is that our hotel rate skyrockets with the current # of nights (4 nights). If we cut one day there, it'll reduce our cost at least for Beijing (3 nights is just under $670~ and 4 nights pushes it to over $1000). Would you guys suggest removing a day from Beijing and re-allocating that day to Shanghai given the itinerary?
3/31/24 Sunday lax to pek
4/1/24 Monday arrive in beijing (arrives at PEK at 10:55am)
4/2/24 Tuesday beijing
4/3/24 Wednesday beijing
4/4/24 Thursday beijing
4/5/24 Friday beijing to xi'an
4/6/24 Saturday xi'an
4/7/24 Sunday xi'an to yantai
4/8/24 Monday yantai
4/9/24 Tuesday yantai
4/10/24 Wednesday yantai to shanghai
4/11/24 Thursday shanghai
4/12/24 Friday shanghai to lax (flight departs PVG at 20:50)
The only thing about the # of days in Beijing is that our hotel rate skyrockets with the current # of nights (4 nights). If we cut one day there, it'll reduce our cost at least for Beijing (3 nights is just under $670~ and 4 nights pushes it to over $1000). Would you guys suggest removing a day from Beijing and re-allocating that day to Shanghai given the itinerary?
Feb 4, 2024, 10:01 am
#63
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Dec 2000
Location: Shanghai
Posts: 42,041
(bolding mine)
This is pretty much a huge YMMV in my experience.
I stayed at a few big chain hotels in Langfang, Hebei recently, and whereas the Chinese breakfast selections were adequate, the Western selections were horrendous and inedible (processed, salty bacon substitute with painted-on fake 'stripes', plastic sausages, red colored sweetened baked beans, and scrambled eggs out of a bottle, etc.)
I think when they opened these hotels likely all had great offerings, but as time went on, and hardly any Westerners stayed at these hotels, and only a few locals chose the Western breakfast options, they reduced quality over time to where it's now best to avoid it at all costs.
(Coffee was also hit-'n-miss, although mostly okay.)
This is pretty much a huge YMMV in my experience.
I stayed at a few big chain hotels in Langfang, Hebei recently, and whereas the Chinese breakfast selections were adequate, the Western selections were horrendous and inedible (processed, salty bacon substitute with painted-on fake 'stripes', plastic sausages, red colored sweetened baked beans, and scrambled eggs out of a bottle, etc.)
I think when they opened these hotels likely all had great offerings, but as time went on, and hardly any Westerners stayed at these hotels, and only a few locals chose the Western breakfast options, they reduced quality over time to where it's now best to avoid it at all costs.
(Coffee was also hit-'n-miss, although mostly okay.)
And, given that the OP is feeding 5 people, and morning calories could provide useful fuel for some of his ambitious excursions, I can definitely see value in hotel breakfasts.
That having been said, I personally wouldn't permit the free breakfast carrot to have too much influence in hotel selection. And, I'd also like to draw attention to the pains many FTers go through in order to maintain brand loyalty in China...many end up staying in the middle of nowhere just to be able to hang out in a lounge for 2 hours every night and sleep in a marginally larger room.
But, IHG (free breakfasts for bookings via the app) has a decent footprint in all 3 of the OP's cities, and Hilton is okay in 2 of them (e.g. the Surpass card that @YariGuy mentioned could possibly make sense for the OP's trip).
Feb 4, 2024, 10:05 am
#64
Original Poster
Join Date: Dec 2004
Posts: 432
Breakfasts in the chain hotels in China (or most of Asia for that matter) are big productions with a huge spread including western and Chinese selections. Breakfasts are a big draw for me. That said, I wouldn't pay for them.
I suggest you look into credit card offers that get you to the minimum status required for free breakfast, and concentrate your hotel reservations on that chain. You can even cancel right after your trip. For Hilton, that would be the Amex Surpass, which gets you gold status right away. Heck, if you put all your hotel charges on that card you'll probably spend at least $3k and trigger the 160,000 bonus points.
I suggest you look into credit card offers that get you to the minimum status required for free breakfast, and concentrate your hotel reservations on that chain. You can even cancel right after your trip. For Hilton, that would be the Amex Surpass, which gets you gold status right away. Heck, if you put all your hotel charges on that card you'll probably spend at least $3k and trigger the 160,000 bonus points.
Feb 4, 2024, 10:07 am
#65
Original Poster
Join Date: Dec 2004
Posts: 432
Since the OP is focused on the 3 most touristed cities in China, I don't think he needs to worry about breakfast quality in chain hotels, which IME is quite good (though, I'm not exactly breakfast connoisseur; I don't typically eat breakfast unless it's thrust upon me).
And, given that the OP is feeding 5 people, and morning calories could provide useful fuel for some of his ambitious excursions, I can definitely see value in hotel breakfasts.
That having been said, I personally wouldn't permit the free breakfast carrot to have too much influence in hotel selection. And, I'd also like to draw attention to the pains many FTers go through in order to maintain brand loyalty in China...many end up staying in the middle of nowhere just to be able to hang out in a lounge for 2 hours every night and sleep in a marginally larger room.
But, IHG (free breakfasts for bookings via the app) has a decent footprint in all 3 of the OP's cities, and Hilton is okay in 2 of them (e.g. the Surpass card that @YariGuy mentioned could possibly make sense for the OP's trip).
And, given that the OP is feeding 5 people, and morning calories could provide useful fuel for some of his ambitious excursions, I can definitely see value in hotel breakfasts.
That having been said, I personally wouldn't permit the free breakfast carrot to have too much influence in hotel selection. And, I'd also like to draw attention to the pains many FTers go through in order to maintain brand loyalty in China...many end up staying in the middle of nowhere just to be able to hang out in a lounge for 2 hours every night and sleep in a marginally larger room.
But, IHG (free breakfasts for bookings via the app) has a decent footprint in all 3 of the OP's cities, and Hilton is okay in 2 of them (e.g. the Surpass card that @YariGuy mentioned could possibly make sense for the OP's trip).
Yea, those are good points about the breakfast - it's not necessarily that it needs to be "free" but if we have the option and even if we pay for it (given that the cost is somewhat reasonable) then I wouldn't mind. The bigger issue is the hotel location but part of what factors into that is what restaurants or eateries are nearby the hotel (if breakfast isn't free and if it's actually quite expensive) - I'd want to be in a location where there are going to be good options within short or reasonable walking distance from the hotel for eating meals anytime of the day if that's the case.
Feb 4, 2024, 6:50 pm
#67
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: PVG
Programs: MU Platinum, HH Diamond
Posts: 829
Yea, those are good points about the breakfast - it's not necessarily that it needs to be "free" but if we have the option and even if we pay for it (given that the cost is somewhat reasonable) then I wouldn't mind. The bigger issue is the hotel location but part of what factors into that is what restaurants or eateries are nearby the hotel (if breakfast isn't free and if it's actually quite expensive) - I'd want to be in a location where there are going to be good options within short or reasonable walking distance from the hotel for eating meals anytime of the day if that's the case.
Feb 4, 2024, 6:54 pm
#68
Original Poster
Join Date: Dec 2004
Posts: 432
The breakfast option adds $33 per day for the room but I put 4 guests so presumably it's $33 extra for all four of us...?
Feb 4, 2024, 7:13 pm
#69
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Dec 2000
Location: Shanghai
Posts: 42,041
If you're booking room and board via the travel agency, that sort of makes sense. But, if you're booking directly with hotels or an OTA, 2 breakfasts per room is more normal...free (or deeply discounted) breakfasts for kids is also common though.
Feb 4, 2024, 7:18 pm
#70
Original Poster
Join Date: Dec 2004
Posts: 432
Oh I see. Yes, this is directly off the Hilton website. I think I saw "kids eat free" on some websites (I might be thinking of Holiday Inn actually) but I don't see it for the Hilton Wangfujing. Maybe it's just something they offer there though?
Feb 5, 2024, 12:55 am
#71
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: PEK
Programs: A3*G, UA Gold EY Silver
Posts: 8,958
So for Beijing:
Day 1 - Arrive in Beijing. Take a taxi (you have luggage) from the airport. Arriving at 11 AM, you should be out around noon or so. There shouldn't be much traffic around that time.
After arriving at the hotel, check in, go have lunch.
After lunch, go to Temple of Heaven Park (2 subway stops away from your hotel, if I found your hotel correctly.).
Take a didi to Qianmen and walk around there.
Have dinner at a Beijing duck restaurant (Jingchen Roast Duck 京城九门轩烤鸭店 is a good option. You may want to ask help from the hotel to make reservations.
Otherwise, have a good dinner at a Xinjian restaurant, not too far from your hotel 京城九门轩烤鸭店
Day 2 - walk the central axis
You already did Qianmen - so skip that and go to Tiananmen Sq and then to Forbidden City. You need to get the Forbidden city tickets in advance either directly using wechat or through an OTA like Trip.com. Same for visiting the Maosoleum. If you have these rezs - you can enter Tiananmen Sq, otherwise you need a free entry rez to enter the square. If you are flying through Taipei and can do a stopover for a day - I would suggest doing so and going to visit the national museum there. IMHO a lot more stuff to see than in the mainland. You mention your wife speaks Mandarin. If she's a Chinese national she will not be able to fly Mainland - TPE - US (there's a whole thread on this).
Your plan for the day:
Tiananmen Square > Tiananmen > Forbidden City > Jingshan Park > NanLouguXiang (S Lougu St) > Drum Tower > HouHai.
Have a Beijing hotpot lunch somewhere in the surrounding hutongs around Nanlouguxian.
After lunch, take line 8 (or a taxi) up to Olympic park and walk the rest of the central axis from the Olympic Park up to the Forest Park.
Find somewhere to have dinner up near olympic park. Take the metro back to your hotel.
Day 3 - Great wall. If you have a guide - see if you can do a hike on a wild section of the wall. Much better than a touristy one. Depends on how old your kids are. Mutianyu is not easy to get to by public transport - so you need a driver.
Day 4 - Summer palace. Then train to Xian. The train leaves from Beijing West. If you're with a guide and driver, may be worth having to have them store bags in the car after you check out of the hotel. There are a few 4h11m trains - one at 3PM, arriving at 9PM and another at 7 PM, arriving at 11 PM. Other trains are 5h+. I also second the suggestion to get a first class seat.
FYI - Beijing to Yantai is around 3h by train. So maybe a better way to organize the trip is fly into Xian, then Beijing, then Yantai, then Shanghai?
If you want to throw HK into the mix, then HK>Xian>BJ>Yantai>SH?
One more thought - Qingdao is not far from Yantai -1h by train- and may be worth a day trip from Yantai (together with your wife's family?).
Day 1 - Arrive in Beijing. Take a taxi (you have luggage) from the airport. Arriving at 11 AM, you should be out around noon or so. There shouldn't be much traffic around that time.
After arriving at the hotel, check in, go have lunch.
After lunch, go to Temple of Heaven Park (2 subway stops away from your hotel, if I found your hotel correctly.).
Take a didi to Qianmen and walk around there.
Have dinner at a Beijing duck restaurant (Jingchen Roast Duck 京城九门轩烤鸭店 is a good option. You may want to ask help from the hotel to make reservations.
Otherwise, have a good dinner at a Xinjian restaurant, not too far from your hotel 京城九门轩烤鸭店
Code:
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Zhunga'er+Restaurant/@39.8813817,116.443335,15z/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x0:0x940652b9586184a9?sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjQ-IiJ25OEAxXhka8BHTw7D5wQ_BJ6BAgLEAA
You already did Qianmen - so skip that and go to Tiananmen Sq and then to Forbidden City. You need to get the Forbidden city tickets in advance either directly using wechat or through an OTA like Trip.com. Same for visiting the Maosoleum. If you have these rezs - you can enter Tiananmen Sq, otherwise you need a free entry rez to enter the square. If you are flying through Taipei and can do a stopover for a day - I would suggest doing so and going to visit the national museum there. IMHO a lot more stuff to see than in the mainland. You mention your wife speaks Mandarin. If she's a Chinese national she will not be able to fly Mainland - TPE - US (there's a whole thread on this).
Your plan for the day:
Tiananmen Square > Tiananmen > Forbidden City > Jingshan Park > NanLouguXiang (S Lougu St) > Drum Tower > HouHai.
Have a Beijing hotpot lunch somewhere in the surrounding hutongs around Nanlouguxian.
After lunch, take line 8 (or a taxi) up to Olympic park and walk the rest of the central axis from the Olympic Park up to the Forest Park.
Find somewhere to have dinner up near olympic park. Take the metro back to your hotel.
Day 3 - Great wall. If you have a guide - see if you can do a hike on a wild section of the wall. Much better than a touristy one. Depends on how old your kids are. Mutianyu is not easy to get to by public transport - so you need a driver.
Day 4 - Summer palace. Then train to Xian. The train leaves from Beijing West. If you're with a guide and driver, may be worth having to have them store bags in the car after you check out of the hotel. There are a few 4h11m trains - one at 3PM, arriving at 9PM and another at 7 PM, arriving at 11 PM. Other trains are 5h+. I also second the suggestion to get a first class seat.
FYI - Beijing to Yantai is around 3h by train. So maybe a better way to organize the trip is fly into Xian, then Beijing, then Yantai, then Shanghai?
If you want to throw HK into the mix, then HK>Xian>BJ>Yantai>SH?
One more thought - Qingdao is not far from Yantai -1h by train- and may be worth a day trip from Yantai (together with your wife's family?).
Feb 5, 2024, 9:08 am
#72
Original Poster
Join Date: Dec 2004
Posts: 432
So for Beijing:
Day 1 - Arrive in Beijing. Take a taxi (you have luggage) from the airport. Arriving at 11 AM, you should be out around noon or so. There shouldn't be much traffic around that time.
After arriving at the hotel, check in, go have lunch.
After lunch, go to Temple of Heaven Park (2 subway stops away from your hotel, if I found your hotel correctly.).
Take a didi to Qianmen and walk around there.
Have dinner at a Beijing duck restaurant (Jingchen Roast Duck 京城九门轩烤鸭店 is a good option. You may want to ask help from the hotel to make reservations.
Otherwise, have a good dinner at a Xinjian restaurant, not too far from your hotel 京城九门轩烤鸭店
Day 2 - walk the central axis
You already did Qianmen - so skip that and go to Tiananmen Sq and then to Forbidden City. You need to get the Forbidden city tickets in advance either directly using wechat or through an OTA like Trip.com. Same for visiting the Maosoleum. If you have these rezs - you can enter Tiananmen Sq, otherwise you need a free entry rez to enter the square. If you are flying through Taipei and can do a stopover for a day - I would suggest doing so and going to visit the national museum there. IMHO a lot more stuff to see than in the mainland. You mention your wife speaks Mandarin. If she's a Chinese national she will not be able to fly Mainland - TPE - US (there's a whole thread on this).
Your plan for the day:
Tiananmen Square > Tiananmen > Forbidden City > Jingshan Park > NanLouguXiang (S Lougu St) > Drum Tower > HouHai.
Have a Beijing hotpot lunch somewhere in the surrounding hutongs around Nanlouguxian.
After lunch, take line 8 (or a taxi) up to Olympic park and walk the rest of the central axis from the Olympic Park up to the Forest Park.
Find somewhere to have dinner up near olympic park. Take the metro back to your hotel.
Day 3 - Great wall. If you have a guide - see if you can do a hike on a wild section of the wall. Much better than a touristy one. Depends on how old your kids are. Mutianyu is not easy to get to by public transport - so you need a driver.
Day 4 - Summer palace. Then train to Xian. The train leaves from Beijing West. If you're with a guide and driver, may be worth having to have them store bags in the car after you check out of the hotel. There are a few 4h11m trains - one at 3PM, arriving at 9PM and another at 7 PM, arriving at 11 PM. Other trains are 5h+. I also second the suggestion to get a first class seat.
FYI - Beijing to Yantai is around 3h by train. So maybe a better way to organize the trip is fly into Xian, then Beijing, then Yantai, then Shanghai?
If you want to throw HK into the mix, then HK>Xian>BJ>Yantai>SH?
One more thought - Qingdao is not far from Yantai -1h by train- and may be worth a day trip from Yantai (together with your wife's family?).
Day 1 - Arrive in Beijing. Take a taxi (you have luggage) from the airport. Arriving at 11 AM, you should be out around noon or so. There shouldn't be much traffic around that time.
After arriving at the hotel, check in, go have lunch.
After lunch, go to Temple of Heaven Park (2 subway stops away from your hotel, if I found your hotel correctly.).
Take a didi to Qianmen and walk around there.
Have dinner at a Beijing duck restaurant (Jingchen Roast Duck 京城九门轩烤鸭店 is a good option. You may want to ask help from the hotel to make reservations.
Otherwise, have a good dinner at a Xinjian restaurant, not too far from your hotel 京城九门轩烤鸭店
Code:
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Zhunga'er+Restaurant/@39.8813817,116.443335,15z/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x0:0x940652b9586184a9?sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjQ-IiJ25OEAxXhka8BHTw7D5wQ_BJ6BAgLEAA
You already did Qianmen - so skip that and go to Tiananmen Sq and then to Forbidden City. You need to get the Forbidden city tickets in advance either directly using wechat or through an OTA like Trip.com. Same for visiting the Maosoleum. If you have these rezs - you can enter Tiananmen Sq, otherwise you need a free entry rez to enter the square. If you are flying through Taipei and can do a stopover for a day - I would suggest doing so and going to visit the national museum there. IMHO a lot more stuff to see than in the mainland. You mention your wife speaks Mandarin. If she's a Chinese national she will not be able to fly Mainland - TPE - US (there's a whole thread on this).
Your plan for the day:
Tiananmen Square > Tiananmen > Forbidden City > Jingshan Park > NanLouguXiang (S Lougu St) > Drum Tower > HouHai.
Have a Beijing hotpot lunch somewhere in the surrounding hutongs around Nanlouguxian.
After lunch, take line 8 (or a taxi) up to Olympic park and walk the rest of the central axis from the Olympic Park up to the Forest Park.
Find somewhere to have dinner up near olympic park. Take the metro back to your hotel.
Day 3 - Great wall. If you have a guide - see if you can do a hike on a wild section of the wall. Much better than a touristy one. Depends on how old your kids are. Mutianyu is not easy to get to by public transport - so you need a driver.
Day 4 - Summer palace. Then train to Xian. The train leaves from Beijing West. If you're with a guide and driver, may be worth having to have them store bags in the car after you check out of the hotel. There are a few 4h11m trains - one at 3PM, arriving at 9PM and another at 7 PM, arriving at 11 PM. Other trains are 5h+. I also second the suggestion to get a first class seat.
FYI - Beijing to Yantai is around 3h by train. So maybe a better way to organize the trip is fly into Xian, then Beijing, then Yantai, then Shanghai?
If you want to throw HK into the mix, then HK>Xian>BJ>Yantai>SH?
One more thought - Qingdao is not far from Yantai -1h by train- and may be worth a day trip from Yantai (together with your wife's family?).
In terms of flights, we already have booked the flights going into PEK and then returning from PUD. Flying into Xian was something I think we looked at but decided against because pricing was too high. Is train generally preferred to flying? Our plan was to fly from Xi'an to Yantai...
Qingdao might be a good option and something my in-laws are willing to do.
In terms of my wife speaking Mandarin, she is American-born so no concerns there in terms of transiting through TPE.
Feb 5, 2024, 9:50 am
#73
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Dec 2000
Location: Shanghai
Posts: 42,041
There are a few overnight z trains between Beijing and Xi'an that could be of interest. Between HSR and flying, I'd go for the latter both in and out of Xi'an because it's cheaper, faster, you can check bags, and you avoid dealing with train stations. However, if you're really keen on experiencing HSR, Beijing-Xi'an is probably the best candidate during your trip (shorter than the other legs and lots of trains).
Feb 5, 2024, 9:54 am
#74
Original Poster
Join Date: Dec 2004
Posts: 432
There are a few overnight z trains between Beijing and Xi'an that could be of interest. Between HSR and flying, I'd go for the latter both in and out of Xi'an because it's cheaper, faster, you can check bags, and you avoid dealing with train stations. However, if you're really keen on experiencing HSR, Beijing-Xi'an is probably the best candidate during your trip (shorter than the other legs and lots of trains).
Hmm, HSR is definitely appealing and I think we want to experience it at least once. Is there one between Yantai and Qingdao? Or even Yantai and Shanghai?
Feb 5, 2024, 11:39 am
#75
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Dec 2000
Location: Shanghai
Posts: 42,041
Or even Yantai and Shanghai?