I searched and didn't see anything.

Have any of you been to China? What are some things worth seeing besides the obvious stuff like the Great Wall?

7/1/2008 12:56:33 AM

Forbidden City per a friend - what cities are you going to

7/1/2008 1:35:34 AM

The Summer Palace in Beijing was awesome. Tiananmen Square, Forbidden City, obviously the Great Wall. At one place on the wall you could pay a few bucks and take a ski-lift to the top, but we decided to be bad-asses and climb the stairs. That part sucked, but it was cool. The best part was this half-pipe slide back down to the bottom. Mucho fun! My friend's wife is Chinese so we were fortunate enough to have a tour guide. Flew in to Shanghai, took a train to Beijing, went to various places and then for the wall we just hired a cab driver for the day and went to different parts of it - some of which were closed to the public and I got a nice adventure out of that one with the Chinese po-po and some "Wall Guards" but that is another story.

In Shanghai, it's much more Westernized. Jin Mao Tower was awesome, and the new one beside it might be finished now, I'm not sure. When I was there we looked down from the top of Jin Mao and saw people welding at night about 30 floors down on the new building. I had a bit of extra time in Shanghai so we went to some local museums, found some cool places to eat, etc. One restaurant was kind of in an alley but there was this secret door to get in, no sign for what it was, and had really good food. If you are going to be in Shanghai I'll ask my friend exactly where this place is. There are a lot of "upscale" bars and clubs where there are tons of people speaking English, but are not necessarily American. It's like a gathering people for everyone who is not Chinese, and of course their Chinese friends.

For transportation, if you fly into Shanghai, be sure to take the Mag-Lev from the airport to the city. It's like 9 bucks, takes 7 minutes, goes 180mph, and is just plain awesome. The cab ride was cheaper with 4 people, but its 45 minutes and much more scary. Do not walk out in front of cars in China. Cabs are super cheap, but the subway is even cheaper and as long as you don't get on at like 5 PM or 8 AM, it's not that bad. I got on at 5:30 one day and had to ride through 7 stops with my arms straight up in the air, back arched, and people pushed all on me from every direction. Somebody could have stolen my wallet and I couldn't have even put my hands down to stop them. Fun times!

7/1/2008 1:54:28 AM

I am living in China right now. The best guide I have ever seen for touring China is: http://www.concierge.com/cntraveler/articles/11931?&articleId=11931

Oh add Bahai (sp???) park.

I would suggest spending an extra day in Beijing as the CCTV tower, Military Revolutionary Museum, Capital City, and Beijing Art Museum are pretty cool and are all walking distance right off the subway.

In addition, I would recommend the Impressions show in Youngshuo, after a Li River cruise. If you have some extra time, it is also nice to spend a day in Hong Kong, hang out at LFK during the evening and then head to Maccau the next day and go to Kolion and head to Fernando's restaurant.

Shenzhen is another place you can go, head to LouHu and get custom made clothes if you need. Either head to shop 5061 with Stephanie/Jessica or Suzanne in shop 21. They are fairly cheap and make wonderful clothes. However, you will be assaulted with people selling copy items. Just head to the 5th floor.

If you need other information, you can send me a pm.

Enjoy.

7/1/2008 6:03:44 AM

heh, i'm in shenzhen now in the nanshan district.

7/1/2008 9:18:35 AM

^^ aha, sounds like the trains I ride now.

I figure we'll probably end up in Shanghai and Beijing mainly but this trip isn't until spring probably, thanks to the Olympics, so I'm gathering ideas now

7/1/2008 9:20:46 AM

yeah good plan

wait till the visas aren't goddamned absurd to get

7/1/2008 9:21:36 AM

Yeah the Olympics fucked up my summer plans Of course, if I had more foresight I would have gone to China last summer instead of Korea lol.

7/1/2008 9:23:13 AM

^^^^ I am actually living in Shenzhen now, have been for 10 weeks, have 1 left in Shekou. Small world of 1.4 billion people.

Either way that Conde Nast travel guide is pretty good and all can be done without a tour guide if you would like. Otherwise you can get a tour guide for pretty cheap with most of that stuff.

7/1/2008 9:43:50 AM

I was in China for the summer of 2006. I visited Beijing, Xian, Kunming, Lijiang, Guilin, Yangshuo, Hong Kong, and Shanghai. If you can make it down south I highly recommend it. The landscapes around Guilin are incredible. I stayed in a small town called Yangshuo for about a week probably my favorite place I visted while I was there. Its pretty touristy but there are all kinds of stuff to do. I also suggest Lijiang and Tiger Leaping Gorge but thats pretty far southwest. I enjoyed all of China but the southwest areas were my favorite.

Heres are some pics from my trip
http://flickr.com/photos/jasonpierce/sets/72157594311886553/


I forgot to add if your looking for a great bar scene you got to go to the San li Tun area in Beijing.

[Edited on July 14, 2008 at 7:40 PM. Reason : Bar]

7/14/2008 7:33:23 PM