· First, may I suggest you buy a guide book well in advance so you can decide which parts of China you would like to see. It's an enormous country but as you have four weeks or so, you should be able to see quite a bit.
Secondly, you should decide if you want to see all the "famous" bits (Hong Kong, Guilin, Shanghai, Xian, Beijing) or if you want to see the less developed places. The former will mean sticking more or less to the east and middle of China, while travelling to the west will allow you to visit lesser known, less developed, but equally stunning places.
Thirdly, if you have time, why not book a one-way flight to Hong Kong, enter China via boat to Wuzhou, make your way up to Beijing and return home on the Trans-Siberian railway (six days from Beijing to Moscow). It's a fabulous journey.
You may also like to know that in the summer, the south is extremely hot and astoundingly humid. Rain in the afternoon is common. The north is also very hot but without the humidity. Take a hat. Finally, of all the places I visited in China, the Great Wall is the most amazing. Make sure you get there, it's worth the climb.
Alison Hague
· My husband and I travelled to China two years ago. As we only had two weeks we flew out to Shanghai and spent a few days there, with a day trip to visit the gardens of Suzhou. We then caught an overnight train to Tai'an which is popular with Chinese tourists but less well known by Westerners. Here we spent a day climbing Tai Shan, one of the five sacred mountains of China, which you can also ascend and descend by cable car. Spending the night on the mountain (at the Shenqi Binguan) and waking to watch the sunrise was the highlight of our trip.
We caught another overnight train to Beijing where we stayed at the Bamboo Garden Hotel (which I highly recommend) and at the Grand Hotel Beijing. In Beijing we saw opera at the Zheng-Yi Temple Theatre, ate Peking Duck at Jiuhua Shan Roast Duck Restaurant and visited the tourist highlights such as the Great Wall, the Summer Palace and the Forbidden City.
Our flights (booked through Trailfinders) left from Beijing so we didn't have to retrace our steps. We didn't book any accommodation in advance. This was a blessing and a curse as we couldn't stay in the Bamboo Garden Hotel as long as we would have liked but the room rate was much reduced at the Grand Hotel Beijing because we booked on the day.
We took taxis everywhere; they were cheap and we only had to occasionally point at the meter to make sure the driver put it on. We carried the Lonely Planet guide book with us, circled the name (in Chinese) of where we wanted to go and showed it to the driver. This usually worked.
Booking train tickets was straightforward in Shanghai. There is a tourist train ticket booth but we also went to the Peace Hotel (where all the American tourists stay) and asked them to book tickets for us. Booking tickets out of Tai'an was harder but our hotel probably could have helped out (we stayed in the Huaqiao Dasha - worth it for the bowling alley in the basement and the truly bizarre breakfasts). When someone else is booking tickets for you be sure to get them together; we ended up on the same train but in separate carriages.
China is really safe to travel in but take the same precautions you would in any major city in the UK. The hardest part is making yourself understood and staving off the attentions of a few persistent people trying to sell you things in the more touristy areas. The food can be a little bit scary - scorpions boiled in oil anyone? - but we did have some amazing meals. If you are blue eyed and/or blonde, don't be surprised if the Chinese want their photograph taken with you. They just find you truly exotic!
Alexis Macleod
· I only stayed in Beijing and Xian (terracotta warriors). In Beijing we stayed at the Grand Hyatt which is superb. Everyone speaks English, you cant walk ten feet without someone asking if your OK. There is staff outside to get you a taxi, they ask you where you want to go and tell the driver, and they write down his number in case you have a problem. The hotel is well situated for virtually everything in Beijing. Taxis are incredibly cheap. As an example we got one from the airport to our hotel which is roughly the same as going Manchester to Liverpool and the fair was £6.50, and he wouldn't take a tip. Buy yourself a Rough guide to Beijing, it has everything you will need too know.
Neil Staton
