This section will describe our travel route as currently planned

China 中华 and Hongkong (4/8/2016 – 5/31/2016)

Overall route

We’re going quite literally one time across China, starting in Beijing in the north and going south-west through Xi’an, Chengdu until Lijiang, close to the border of Tibet. From here we take the west-east route through Dali, Kunming to Guilin where we’ll stay a bit longer for relaxing and outdoor activities before we finally head to Hong Kong from which we’ll continue towards Singapore.

 

Beijing – 北京 – 4/9/16 – 4/17/16

In Beijing we’ll be staying in the 161 Hotel which is located near the center and public transportation and will be our base for taking on the city.

Beijing has a lot to offer, here are some of the things we want to do:

• Enjoy the Hutongs, eat the good food (Beijing Duck)
• Visiting the famous forbidden city, Tianamen Square
• Visit to the Summer Palace
• Visit to the Temple of Heaven
• Visit to the great wall
• Bike tour within Beijing
• Walking through the various markets etc.

After 8 nights in this thriving city we take the Bullet Train G609 which brings us in 2,5 hours to the picturesque city of Pingyao.

Pingyao – 平遙 – 4/17/16 – 4/20/16

This city is China’s best-preserved ancient walled town and allows us to step down from the hectic of Beijing. Here we’ll be staying 3 nights in the Pingyao Harmony Hotel. We plan to stroll through the ancient streets, take a bike tour through the city and over (!) the old wall and visit the obligatory temple or two.

After two days it is enough with Pingyao and we take a nice slow 3 hour train ride to Xi’an.

Xi’an – 西安市 – 4/20/16 – 4/23/16

Arriving shortly after lunch we have plenty of time to check in to the Hotel HangTang House and use the rest of the day to look around in the area.  Highlight of Xi’an is of course the terra cotta army, but there is more to see, so we’ll be spending 3 full days here.

On the program are again bicycle rides, visiting the nearby Mount Hua, some creative workshops and the great music fountain show.

At the end of the 4th day in Xi’an we take the night train k879 onwards to Chendu . This is quite a long train ride – 842 km – where hopefully the typical night train feeling comes up – conversations with locals included.

Chengdu – 成都 – 4/24/16 – 4/28/16

In Chengdu we will stay in the hotel Tang Town near the center and the main goal for the visit is the panda breeding research base, the Wenshu temple and as a base for a trip to the nearby Leshan Buddha and the Buddhist holy mountain Emei Shan.

Leshan – 乐山 – 4/28/16

Leshan is famous for the giant buddha which is carved from stone. We’ll do some hiking and site seeing here, but only for one day as we continue afterwards to Emei Shan.

Emei Shan – 峨眉山- 4/28/16 – 5/1/16

Here is a nice promotion video regarding Emei Shan, it sure get’s us in the mood 🙂 We will arrive in the evening and stay the night in the – with backpackers – well known Teddy Bear Hotel. From here we will visit some monasteries the next day and take the bus and cable car to the top. If possible we want to spend one night at the top of the mountain and decent the next day, depending on the weather (goal is to see sunset and sunrise on the top – see picture below).

Chengdu – 成都 – 5/1/16 – 5/2/16

One night in Chengdu near the airport as we have an early flight to Lijiang on the 2nd (6:15 AM take off – that hurts!)

Update: Thanks to additional flights we now fly at 10:15 am, much better 😉 Quick rebooking using ctrip and we’re done.

Lijiang – 丽江 – 5/2/16 – 5/6/16

Lijiang in Yunnan Province is on the outskirt of the Himalaya and with 2600 m quite high. It is famous for its old town which is an Unesco world heritage and  thus also a bit crowded with tourists, both foreign and Chinese. Nearby is also the famous tiger leaping gorge, but we’re not sure yet if we can visit this with a small child.

Dali – 大理 – 5/6/16 – 5/11/16

In Dali we want to stay in Jim’s Tibetan Hotel and probably visit some of the rural areas around to see how some of the local minorities are living.

Kunming – 昆明 – 5/11/16 – 5/13/16

We’re 2 nights in Kunming in the Lost Garden Guesthouse.  Main goal for Kunming is visiting the stone forest (video):

After Kunming we take the second inland flight of the trip and fly directly to Guilin where we arrive late at night.

Guilin – 桂林 – 5/13/16 – 5/15/16

We’re not spending too much time in Guilin itself, as this another big Chinese city and we are here for the scenery. We’re staying in the Lakeside Inn with hopefully a nice view across the Guilin lakes.

There are several things to do, like the flute cave and the lakes, but we will soon take the river cruise down to Yangshuo where we’ll spend a bit more time.

Yangshuo – 阳朔 – 5/15/16 – 5/23/16

In Yangshuo we stay in The Giggling Tree – a hostel run by a Dutch couple where we will spend 8 nights to ensure we can fully enjoy the area and all the activities that are available.

Things to do here include

• Rock climbing
• Bike tours
• Cooking courses
• Relaxing around the pool
• Calligraphy

After we’ve spend 8 nights here it is time to slowly move onward to the larger cities, but before that we’ll go the one of the most typical Chinese landscapes, the Longsheng Rice Terraces.

Longsheng Rice Terrace – 龙胜梯田 – 5/23/16 – 5/25/16

As can be seen on the picture above this is a know image of rural China, and we want to spend two nights here and do some tours with the local residents. We’ll be staying in the Li Qing Hotel in the middle of the rice fields – and this time we will know why we are backpacking as there is only a food path to the hotel 🙂

Guilin – 桂林 – 5/25/16 – 5/26/16

Shenzen – 深圳 – 5/26/16

Ok, we’re actually just passing through this big industrial city where we arrive by train from guilin and move on to Hongkong. But as this is our last stop in the people’s republic before we leave the country it is worth mentioning.

Hongkong -香港 – 5/26/16 – 5/31/16

The last 5 nights of Mai we will be back in a thriving city, this time in Hongkong. After that, still open 🙂 At the moment we’re thinking about going to Bali, Malaysia and of course Singapore as we’ll head back to Germany from there.