Help needed!

Hi everyone. I am after some advice please. We have approx 6 days in Beijing, 2 of which we plan to use to take the train to Xian and back. Firstly is one full day enough in Xian?

Secondly, how long do we need to spend in main downtown Beijing for the sights there, and what are the most important ones?

Thirdly, which is the best way to see the Wall? I am quite interested in the 10km walk from jinshaling - samatai - is this an easy thing to do, and how do we get from Samatai back to Beijing?

Help and suggestions appreciated! Please!

Help needed!

Try to see this itinerary

1st day: Tian%26#39;an men square,forbidden City,Temple of Heaven

2nd day:To the Wall,if you can rent a car that will be better ,save time,Jinshanling is a nice section,i been there but didn%26#39;t do hiking there:)Or try to see some younth hostel have one day trip to there,it will be easier.Hiking from jingshanlin to Simatai,10.5km.The car will pick you up in Simatai

3rd day:Summer palace.Lama temple,take train in West Railway station(remember to buy tickets once you arrive in Beijing)

4th day:sightseeing in Xi%26#39;an,terrocotta warriors(if you have a guide it will be easier,i know a guide there,if you need i can tell you her email address),

5th day:some museum in xi%26#39;an in downtown ,night train back.

6th day:maybe do some shopping in Beijing,haha..if you meet weekend worth to see the Panjiayuan dirt market.

Have a nice trip!

Help needed!

Hello,

Jinshaling and Simatai are great parts of the wall to visit. Most hostels do tours that take you to Jinshaling, then pick you up at Simatai. A word of warning though, the Jinshaling section is extermely steep and tough going so I would recommend this to the fit. Simatai is a beautiful part of the wall very natural and unspoitl with many crumbling watch towers, amazing views which you will thoroughly enjoy. If you are worried about the hike from Jinshanling then Simatai is a little easier and you can spend many hours there. Don%26#39;t forget your camera!

In Beijing city, be sure not to miss the main sites, i.e. Forbidden City, Tianenmen Square, you can easily spend a day wandering around these areas. The %26#39;dirt%26#39; market as previously mentioned is a great place. Just be sure to bargain and get a good price!!

If you get chance you could do a tour of the hutongs, and visit the Summer Palace which has many beautiful gardens.

All in all your in for a treat!

Good Luck

Littleshel

Thanks everyone for the information - roughly how far are these parts of the wall from downtown Beijing?

We took a mini bus from Beijing to Jinshaling and it took about 3 1/2 hours, the traffic is really bad in and out of Beijing.. although it is worth going that little bit further as these parts of the Wall are much less crowded than the more touristy Badaling.

I would highly recommend Simatai.

If you would like to see some pictures from Jinshanling / Simatai let me know.

Littleshel

Hi

Yes it would be great to see some pictures if possible? Any information helps greatly.

Cheers

Why would you need 2 days to take the train to Xi%26#39;an and back? The overnight trains only take 1 night each way, so you could have 2N1D or 3N2D in Xi%26#39;an. I probably would prefer the latter.

For sights in Beijing, I would pick Tiananmen Square, Forbidden City, Yonghegong Lamasery, Temple of Heaven, Summer Palace.