I am going to China soon for about 3 weeks. I plan on spending a fair bit of time in Beijing and Shanghai, but the schedule is up for grabs. I am open to going to other places and nothing’s been locked in yet.
I’m looking for advice on what to do in Beijing and Shanghai and where else I really hafta go. Sorry if this thread’s beeen done recently.
I don’t know Beijing worth beans, but my favorite place is always the Lama Temple (Yonghegong) and make sure you catch the tantric chanting. There are some historic spots down the street too.
For Shanghai, there really isn’t much to see. Seriously. There are tons of restaurants and places with views if the weather is clear (which is rare). This is a GREAT city to wander or ride a bicycle around. The French concession area and off from the Bund are my favorites.
I highly recommend doing one of the river towns. They’ve all been developed, which means you can buy all the touristy china crap you want. But everyone I have ever taken to a river town has really enjoyed it. ZhouZhuang and Tongli are the most famous. Zhujiajiao is closest to Shanghai.
Tell me more of what you like or things maybe you’re hoping to do in China and I can give feedback.
Depends on how much time you have. I highly recommend HangZhou–it’s a 2-hour train ride from Shanghai. It’s the city where all the legendary heros meet their legendary hunnys. (To condense and paraphrase a bit.) IMHO the most beautiful city in China, and maybe the most beautiful anywhere.
In Beijing, you really can’t go wrong. We loved the zoo–gotta see those Pandas!–and the usual tourist stuff: forbidden city, Tiananmen Square, etc. Or just wander around and buy stuff in shops and have lunch at a random resturant. The story is that the public water supply is now safe to drink; I personally wouldn’t, but YMMV. 
Oh, and remember: “HongKong is not China.” It’s more like New York except everyone has black hair. Not that that’s a bad thing…
Just in case you happen to be traveling through there.
This ain’t really Cafe Society material, so I’m moving it to MPSIMS…
In Beijing, there are a handful of must-dos. Forbidden City, the Lama Temple, and the Temple of Heaven. Add to that one of the classic Beijing duck restaurants around Qianmen.
Then there’s the Great Wall. You can do a fairly quick tour to Badaling, the most popular site. It is completely restored, with handrails and all. This like visiting Disneyland, but it is easy to get to. Usually a tour to Badaling is combined with the Ming Tombs. There’s nothing to see there, it’s a graveyard. (rimshot)
If the weather is good and you have plenty of time to spare, look into going to Simaitai, a part of the Great Wall that has not been restored and is situated on a breathtaking mountain. It is a full day trip, will cost more, but the place is awesome. Here are pictures I googled. I don’t know the guy in the photo.
If you have money to burn, my favorite places in China are found in northern Yunnan, like Lijiang and Dali. With three weeks and a full schedule in Beijing and Shanghai, you’d almost certainly have to fly there.
I was in Shanghai and Beijing last year. The Flag Raising Ceremony in Tiananmen Square (at dawn) was interesting, if not breathtaking. Most amusing were all the Chinese tourists staring at us instead of the flag.
The Peking duck I had was rubbish, and I was very disappointed. I went to one of the touristy restaurants, but there are better ducks to be had.
In Beijing try to find a hutong or two to explore, as they’re an aspect of old Beijing that is being destroyed in the rush towards modernisation.
It’s also worth it to go and see Mao lying in state. Not to honour that old mass murderer, but to see the bizarre way he is worshipped by the people and the state - it’s a bizarre sight.
I went to the Mutianyu part of the wall, which was restored, had a cable car to go up and a slide (!) to come down on. It was still amazing to see.
The Bund Tunnel under the river in Shanghai is one of the most laughable and lame tourist attractions I have ever seen - and therefore is unmissable. I could hardly contain myself, I was laughing so hard; not in the right way.
The restaurant at the top of the Jin Mao tower in Pudong is overpriced (minimum Y150 spend), but it’s a way to get to the top of the tower, and the view is breathtaking.
If you’ve got 3 weeks, you’ve got to make it to the Southwest, especially Guilin and Northern Yunnan. Guilin rice noodles are alone worth the journey to China, and I have many times considered the $500 plane ticket for one bowl of these noodles. They only make them in Guilin – you really can’t get an authentic (or tastier) version anywhere else because of a combination of local ingredients, special recipes, and…I don’t know, secret mojo.
When American Presidents go to China, they go three places: Beijing, Shanghai, and Guilin. Don’t miss it.
As China Guy said there isn’t much to see in Shanghai. The museum in People’s Square is a must, as is the Jin Mao tower. Outside of that it’s pretty much eh. Great city to party in though if you are in to that.
I too will add my recommendation of Yunnan. My favourite province in China. I travelled Kunming => Dali => Lijiang => Tiger Leaping Gorge (a hell of a scary two-day walk) => Zhongdian (now renamed “Shangri-La” and receiving hundreds of thousands of tourists for no apparent reason) and back again, and it was absolutely fantastic. You could fly into Kunming and out of the new Zhongdian airport, in about one week.
You have to ask yourself what you want to do and how much time you have to do it in. There are some good suggestions about getting waaaaaay outside of Shanghai and Beijing. I can give you advice on Southwest China but you have to hint on your interests. Do you want to see hill tribes, Tibetan monastaries, terra cotta army, etc
Keep in mind that China is a big country and travel while reasonably easy these days can also be an unpredictable pain in the ass. You’ve got to focus on just a couple of places but it might be worth going beyond Beijing and Shanghai.
Hope you don’t mind me hijacking your thread, but I was thinking of going to Shanghai for a few days (say, 4-6 days) after Christmas, and I was wondering if you had any advice… So far, I’m pretty much set on the Yu Gardens (Near some temple, I think), and eating Xiao Long Bao. Thinking of a day trip to a canal town (Zhong something?) about 50km out of Shanghai, but other than that, I dunno what else to do.
General consensus seems to be that Shanghai isn’t worth it… Should I go to Beijing instead?
I love Shanghai and would require a LOT of money to move to Beijing. But, Shanghai is a pretty modern city and was nothing more than a fishing village about 100 years ago. I think it’s a great city to wander in but after Christmas is likely to be cold, damp, over cast and rainy.
You’re plan is fine though. The best xiaolongbao are at the Yuyuan Gardens. Most famous canal cities are Zhouzhuang and Tongli. I’ve been to around 8 of the canal towns from pretty uncommercialized to a modern disneyland.
Beijing is the place to go if you want to see history. There’s a ton of it there. It will be COLD, but at least it’s a dry cold. It can be brilliant in the winter with blue skies, cold crisp air.
With 4 to 6 days you need to pick just one place. Are you going to be jet lagging as well?
No, coming from Singapore. 
The Missus prefers Shanghai, because she’s not too much of a history person… So I guess that’s pretty much it. The parents prolly wouldn’t be able to take the Beijing Winter as well… tropical monkeys.
So pretty much YuYuan Gardens, TV Tower… stroll around the old town? If there are any old farmer’s markets, or perhaps flea markets, that would be interesting as well… but really, I’m just looking for some advice as to what to see in Shanghai, generally.
I am keen on getting out of the big cities. I am just a bit of a chickenshit with travelling and I will be on my own and not speaking the lingo so a bit scared of getting too far out into the country.
Great suggestions. Thankyou, all.
Another question is whether I will need to have everything booked in advance or whether I will be able to book stuff (flights, trains, hotels) on the run from China if I have my itinerary planned before leaving home. Thoughts, China Guy and others?
Come for the food then. 
The old town is in the Yuyuan neighborhood. The French concession area is an old town but different part of shanghai and different thing altogether with old villa’s.
If you like to eat, and you like to eat in restaurants in old historic buildings, then Shanghai is paradise. There’s tons of great restaurants that are pretty reasonably priced, and even most of the expensive ones are not bad by Singapore standards. An example, Shanghai has not one but two continental restaurants in formerly russian orthodox churches. Japanese style european food in a former villa. Villa restaurants are some commonplace that I can think of at least a dozen without trying.
Skip the TV tower. if you must have such an overview of Shanghai and the weather is clear for same, then go to the bar on the 87th floor of the Jin Mao Tower (Grand Hyatt hotel). IIRC it opens at 18:00, and you can either make reservations or get there when it opens for a great view and a drink. They have some good restaurants on the 56th floor or so that also offer a great view.
One of the river towns would make a good day trip. Probably more like a bazaar, flea market, chinese tourist crap mixed in with a historic setting. Better than any market in Shanghai, that’s for sure. Some of them have pretty cool peasant art.
Most people like Hangzhou, especially if it’s kinda arranged for you and you get a good restaurant out of it. I hear there is a new fast train between Shanghai and Hangzhou that makes it pretty convenient. If you want a buddhist temple, definately Hangzhou (IIRC lingyun temple) is THE place instead of the really lame ones in Shanghai. Food’s good too.
You’re in the right season for Shanghai hairy crab. You don’t have to go to Bacheng on the Yancheng Lake, but that can be a good experience. Again, need to have it arranged to go to the right “floating” restaurant but it’s pretty good. You can get great hairy crab in Shanghai too, but something about having them pulled out of Yancheng Lake a few minutes before being steamed up is just heavenly. Here’s a hairy crab and after steaming and opened. It’s not for everyone, but it’s damn good.
