3 - 3 1/2 weeks in China

My husband and I are planning a trip to China and would like to spend around 3 l/2 weeks there. I%26#39;ve played around with an itinerary and would really appreciate any input, suggestions or deletions. We are independent travelers in our early 60%26#39;s and are in good health. From everything I%26#39;ve read, I don%26#39;t think we%26#39;ll need guides for most places. We don%26#39;t mind hiring drivers or guides when needed, but really do enjoy discovering places and things ourselves. We love the adventure, but are always cautious. Also, we hate to keep moving from one place to another every day or two, so the ideal time at each place for us is around 3-4 days. But, we do understand that if there%26#39;s not much to see, then less days is an option.

I%26#39;ve listed the places and amount of time that we would like to spend at each location:

Arrive Beijing and spend 4 nights

2 nights Xian

4 nights Hong Kong

2-3 nights Guilin/Long Sheng

2 nights Yangshuo

1-2 nights Suzhou %26amp; Tongli

3-4 nights Shanghai %26amp; then home

We are open to all ideas and opinions and really do appreciate any advice. We%26#39;ve had wonderful experiences with Trip Advisor forums in the past and have done some wonderful trips because of all of you.

Thank you.

3 - 3 1/2 weeks in China

I decided to use local guides, but I didn%26#39;t want anything too touristy and wanted things to be flexible.

I did find these websites that were great for info and the guiding service was excellent too:

www.guilin-yangshuo-guide.com

http://www.shanghailocalguide.com/

3 - 3 1/2 weeks in China

Hi

We went to China for 3 weeks during xmas. We spent 5 nights in Beijing, 4 nights in Harbin and the rest in the South (Guilin, Yangshou, Nanning, Xiamen). I have never been to Xian and Suzhou so can%26#39;t advise much. I%26#39;m from HK originally. I see what you mean when you said you don%26#39;t want to move around every two days so your plan seems very reasonable to me.

I guess you must have planned for the connections already? Flying to HK from Xian should have no prob but I%26#39;ve never tried the connections between Yangshuo and Suzhou/Tongli. Guess you must have sorted that out. We spent two days in Guilin and Yangshuo altogether but didnt%26#39; find them very exciting (perhaps it%26#39;s just us), the hills are beautiful though.

4 days each in beijing, HK and Shanghai seem to be sensible as there are plenty to see. We only spent two days in Shanghai because we felt it%26#39;s too commercialised, but everybody is different. Do have a meal (breakfast or dinner) on the top of the revolving Telecom Tower.

We spent a day in a Wuzhen (the ';water village'; where they filmed Mission impossible III) before we went to Shanghai and that was wonderful if you like that sort of place.

if you think of anything you want to know, drop me a line. Rebecca