I'm flying into China in March next year and flying out of Hong Kong 16 days later.
I need advice on what to see, where to stay and how can I get from China to Hong Kong cheaply. I know there is a train from China to Hong Kong but is it safe, is there places worthwhile to stop on the way.

Any adivice would be nice especially how to cope with the language differences etc.

Sorry Vim this isnt a reply but an addition. Im also travelling to China next year (February) and would like to know about how difficult it is to find accomodation and travel in China during new year (feb 12th next year) and about travelling by train within China and on to Hong Kong. Anybody done this and can give advice. This is my first time in Asia and im under 20 (so a little nervose).

Hi,

I have been in China for a year now and will be leaving for Vietnam via Hong Kong in a few days.

I have travelled by train on this route before and it is not too expensive and - if travelling soft sleeper - is very pleasant.

With regard o travel in holidays - FORGET it. I went away during the national holidays in early Oct and train tickets were impossible and i had to fly. Accommodation isnt a problem though. Remember the Spring Festival / New Year is the biggie and seats on trains will be at a premium so i advise staying in one place or coming at another time.

Hope this helps

Ben

The best thing to do with the language (which isnt a problem except when purchasing train or bus tickets) is to write down the characters of the destination, departure city, and type of seat (soft sleeper etc). Most gudebooks have characters for such destinations. As far as places to go I highly recommend Pingyao (see Taiyuan - aroung Taiyuan on this site). Not very touristy. Raise the Red Lantern was filmed nearby. Looks like "classic" china. I liked Sichuan province a-lot (the food is fantastic) and I have heard Gui Zhou province is amazing as it has recently opened up to foreigners. For some good china stories read member<a href= "http://travel.roughguides.com/planning/journalGuide.asp?GuideID=277">Roger Ratcliff</a> in the travel journals.

I found China to be extremely safe (with the exception of the traffic, especially in Guang Zhou).

Have fun!

16 days in China is not a long time in such a vast country especially if you are travelling overland.

China is absolutely packed full of UNESCO World Heritage sights, it is hard to know where to start but here goes a quick list.

Beijing: The Forbidden Palace / Tianamen Sq which is also where the Mao Mausoleum is (free). Temple of Heaven and the Summer Palace. The Great Wall of China.

The square is massive and the Forbidden palace is fantastic. Get the tape guide with Roger Moore who is superb in a manner unique to himself.

There are couple of places to visit the wall within Beijing but I would go to Simitai about 3 hours out as it is origin and is also the steepest part of the wall. The view there is stunning. You can also stay there overnight too on the wall but there are NO facilities. The death slide is a good way to get down.

Xian: Home of the Terracotta army and the very interesting walled city. The muslim quarter is busy with very good food stalls. Try the casseroles with the quail eggs and vermiceli. There is also the burial mound of the first emperor whose contents are described as magnificent including a fabled map of the world with following mercury oceans propelled by some kind of mechanical mechanism. It is unopened so not much to look at except the mound but these are again UNESCO W H sights.

Chengdu: The home of the Panda reserve and also the gateway to wonderful treks such as the Leaping Tiger Gorge (reputed to be the deepest in the World), a few hours away is a place where the 2nd larget Budha (75m) is carved into rocks ( may be the biggest now as the ones in Afghanistan were blown up recently by the Taliban!) along with the temple complex (UNESCO again) and also near to the Yangtsi where you can get a 3 day boat trip through the magnificent 3 gorges and mini gorges before they are flooded upon the completion of the dam.

There is also the beautiful Guilin/Yangshou with the strange loaf shaped mountains, fishing cormerants. Shanghai whose waterfront looks like Liverpool but feels like Hong Kong with KFC's everywhere. Taishan, the holiest mountain, Nanjing- the old capital, Tsing Tao - home of the beer (sold in plastic bags) and the old german district with architecture to match.

With regards to trains, they are perfectly safe. I got trains all over China and a train from Hong Kong to Shanghai for £60 soft sleeper though getting on trains is usually a scrum. Best to stick to soft sleepers as seat carriages have no restriction on numbers and it gets very crowded; people sitting on floor between your legs and under tables, lying on overhead lugguage racks, you name it, there will be people on it. If buying a ticket but no sleepers are available, you can almost always upgrade on the train. Buying tickets can be done via agents who all speak English (in hotels or banks usually!) for a small commission of about 50p.

Regarding language, get a guide book with the place names also written in chinese. Get a note pad and learn to draw also. If you do not wish to eat dog, draw one with a great big cross over it!

So much to do but so little time. A very interesting and historical place indeed.

By the way, you can get a substantial discount if you have a student card on trains and most historical sights such as the Terracotta Army.

That of student discounts on trains in China, unless the Chinese Government recovered the good rule of charging different to Chineses and Foreigners on anything from tomatos in the market to plane tickets, was terminated long time ago. What used to happen was that students could get the Chinese prices, but they unified the prices (also for public parks or other attractions) up to the foreign prices for everybody (local or barbarians) I think in 1996.

In any case, if you are travelling from China to HK, it depends a lot on where from in China. There is one direct train Beijing-Hong Kong, but the cheapest way to cross the border is going through Shenzhen (a big but ugly city across the border and one of the economic miracles of China). You can walk over the border in Luohu (Lowu in Cantonese), but better avoid morning or late afternoon, since it gets very very very crowded. Once in Hong Kong you can take the KCR (kowloon canton railway) that will take you to the Hunghom station in Kowloon East, or can change to the MTR (the ultra efficient metro) some station before that.

Chinese trains, like almost everything in China, are very safe, unless you have some strong allergy to sunflower/melon seeds or instant noodles with warm beer, and/or hate playing cards. Try the hard sleeper (yinwo) instead of soft sleeper (ruanwo) since it is ok and its closer to experiencing the real China, without the hardship of the hard seats (yingzuo).

Enjoy.

Hello Guys!
I'm planning to travel from Hong Kong to Guilin in December and I would like to hear some advice about the best way to do it and recommendations.
Cheers everybody!!