Our China trip

My husband and I are planning on spending a few weeks in China this summer as part of a train journey from London to Ho Chi Minh City.

We haven%26#39;t made any definite decisions (apart from arrival date in Beijing) This is what we%26#39;ve planned so far, so I was wondering if people had any comments or suggestions on where else to go.

Thusday 2oth Aug - Arrive Beijing

Explore Beijing and The Great Wall, etc.

Wed 26th Aug - Get the train to Guilin.

Thursday 27th - Wednesday 2nd September - Make our way to Kaili through Dong and Miao villages.

Thursday 3rd September - get the train to Chengdu.

Explore Chengu, Emei, Leshan. Then travel down to Lijiang, and then on to Kunming

Arrive in Kunming around Thursday 10th September. Spend a couple of days there

Around 12th September - travel down to Vietnam border, via Jianshui. Then on to Sapa in Vietnam.

We will also stop off in Hong Kong on the flight home, when the weather is a bit better. Other than that we want to do the whole trip by train or bus.

We would be happy to hear any feedback people have about our itinerary. Are we trying to do too much or not enough? We%26#39;re worried we have planned too much travelling but China%26#39;s a very big place! We have also tried to plan so that the weather will not be too much of a problem, although it%26#39;s not the best season to go to China. Also, if you think that we will have problems with things like getting train tickets or not being able to speak the language, then please let us know! We are planning the whole trip ourselves without a travel agent.

Thanks in advance!

Our China trip

Drop Guilin - you haven%26#39;t time and it%26#39;s a 24 hour train journey to get there from Beijing.

Go Beijing - (train or plane) Chengdu - (train) Xichang - (bus) Lugu Lake - (bus) Lijiang - Tiger Leaping Gorge- Lijang- (bus) Dali - (train) Kunming - (train) Nanning - (train) Hanoi

Make sure you have a good guide book with Chinese characters.

You will love Lugu Lake and won%26#39;t want to leave once you get there. It%26#39;s about half way between Chengdu and Lijiang. Get there via overnight train to Xichang (not much there, but no choice) followed by bus.

Our China trip

I just seen you want to go to Sapa. In that case forget Nanning and go straight from Kunming.