Please comment on my itinerary

Hubby and I are having just over a fortnight in China this Christmas - we spent a couple weeks doing usual touristy things a couple of years ago and I am taking a group of high school students to Beijing, Xi%26#39;an and Shanghai in September for 13 days - so this trip needs to be different. I am also using heaps of frequent flyer points (from different airlines) so some of my destination choices are driven by potential flight planning (in case they look odd).

Sydney - Bangkok (2 nights)

Bangkok - Hong Kong - Guangzhou (flight - 2 nights)

Guangzhou - Guilin (2 nights)

Cruise to Yangshou (1 night)

Guilin - Chengdu (flight -2 nights)

Chengdu - Lhasa (flight - 3 nights)

Lhasa - Xian (train 1night + 1 night)

Xian - Guangzhou (1night)

Guangzhou - Hong Kong - Bangkok (1 night)

Bangkok - Sydney (overnight flight)

Tours are planned in Guangzhou, Guilin, Chengdu and Lhasa. We have no more time as much as I would like to extend a few of the stops.

Thoughts and suggestions welcome - including the best options for booking flights and accommodation (have used the internet extensively in the past but never for China) Thanks

Please comment on my itinerary

your plan seems good and please ask ne free if you have anyhelp !

i%26#39;m local in Zi%26#39;an.

Jeff

Please comment on my itinerary

Thanks, anyone else?

It sounds like too much travelling around, especially since you have a group of high school students in tow!

The students are travelling with me in September to Beijing, Xian and Shanghai. This itinerary is for my husband and I in December (I mentioned the students to make sure you realised I had seen some of China previously and this was the next trip).

Oops sorry, guess I misread.

I think you could skip the Li River cruise from Guilin to Yangshuo and instead do the smaller one on bamboo rafts from Yangshuo to Xingping (not sure if I remember the name of the place correctly). Would also recommend staying in Yangshuo instead of Guilin, take a look at http://www.yangers.com for reliable and up-to-date information about Yangshuo.

The train from Lhasa to Xi%26#39;an actually takes about 37 hours, did you factor that in as well?

I hope you mean you%26#39;re flying from Xi%26#39;an to Guangzhou, not taking the train. Otherwise you don%26#39;t have enough time.

Personally I would recommend to skip Lhasa for another time when you could do it more justice. You%26#39;re doing a lot of travelling around and it%26#39;s no joke if you happen to come down with altitude sickness. In which case you could do nothing but rest and then get out of Lhasa, what a waste of time, effort and money. You might want to look into substituting Jiuzhaigou for Lhasa instead, it%26#39;s possible to fly Chengdu -- Jiuzhaigou -- Xi%26#39;an.

I%26#39;d personally prefer a much slower pace--you are covering a lot of ground. But if you don%26#39;t mind a lot of time flying around and want to see those cities briefly, this is okay.

There%26#39;s nothing wrong with visiting Xi%26#39;an for a short time, but it is out of the way. I%26#39;d want more time in Guilin/Yangshuo and Lhasa.

Personally, I%26#39;d probably use this time to focus on Chengdu, Sichuan Province, and Lhasa. But then, I%26#39;ve already been to Xi%26#39;an a few times.

Xi%26#39;an is turning out to be just a stopover - somewhere to sleep because the flights don%26#39;t line up perfectly. I have already been to Xi%26#39;an previously too, and will have toured it again with the students 3 months earlier as well. It might look a bit rushed on paper, but in some places the flights arrive nice and early and we don%26#39;t depart until late and so on - but thanks for your comments. Hope it doesn%26#39;t sound like I am not considering everyone%26#39;s advice. TT

We are planning to go back to china in sept and would like to take the Li River criuse - with a 1 year old baby. How is the cruise condition? We want to fly to Guilin (might need to stay there for a night to slow the pace down), then take the cruise (along with our luagge) and stay at the Li River retreat (seems like an ideal country retreat). Is this doable? Does the cruise stop by the Li River retreat? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!!