Our latest itinerary - please be brutal!

Here is our latest itinerary. Please be brutal! All comments, suggestions are appreciated.

Day 1 - arrive Beijing

Day 2,3,4,5 - Beijing

Day 6 Beijing - train/bus to Datong, overnight in Datong

Day 7 - sightsee Datong - late afternoon bus/train to Pingyao

Day 8 - Pingyao - overnight train to Xian

Day 9 Xian

Day 10 - Xian - overnight train to Xining

Day 11- arrive Xining

Day 12 - Xining

Day 13 - Xining - train to Lanzhou - flight to Guilin

Day 14,15,16, 17 - Yangshuo/Guilin

Day 18- Guilin to Beijing

Day 19 - leave

Our latest itinerary - please be brutal!

Only buy one train ticket sector, until you have survived the experience.

Ireally want you to come back with a trip report

Our latest itinerary - please be brutal!

hi, your plan see graet !

have yu get a good arrangement for the train tickets??

if you don%26#39;t make a good perpration in advance ,you trip will get dealy ! and also if you don%26#39;t get the sleeper ticket and you have to get into the normal trian cab and the condition is not so godd.

and you can feel the large population there!

and i%26#39;m a local citizen in Xi%26#39;an please ask me if ou have any questions in Xi;an

Have a good trip in China

Jeff

hi, your plan see graet !

have yu get a good arrangement for the train tickets??

if you don%26#39;t make a good perpration in advance ,you trip will get dealy ! and also if you don%26#39;t get the sleeper ticket and you have to get into the normal trian cab and the condition is not so godd.

and you can feel the large population there!

and i%26#39;m a local citizen in Xi%26#39;an please ask me if ou have any questions in Xi;an

Have a good trip in China

Jeff

Thanks for the offer for help.

Sounds like we should be looking into flights. I thought the overnight soft sleeper trains were pretty good.

Any other comments?

Thanks!

I think the soft sleepers are reasonably nice, but some people can%26#39;t sleep on the trains.

The biggest issue might be getting tickets in places like Xi%26#39;an, where you won%26#39;t have much advance time. I think this could be a problem in Pingyao as well--you may need to leave from Taiyuan.

Overall, it looks like a good trip.

Thanks for your response.

A few questions :

Are there villages around Xining where we can see Tibetan culture within 1-2 hours, ideally 1 hour?

Our friends would rather not take the overnight trains. I know we can go from Datong to Pingyao by bus. Everything we read states a different travel time. Do you know how long the bus takes?

Also, what about going from Pingyao to Xian. It looks like there is an 8 hour bus. Is there a place between Pingyao and Xian that we could overnight that has some sights? I was thinking about Luoyang but it appears to be out of the way.

Thanks!

I have never been to Xining. There is a Tibetan monastery in Xiahe which is several hours by bus from Lanzhou. I don%26#39;t think you would have time to go there, which makes me think that your travel to Xining may be even more unrealistic, since it is further from Xi%26#39;an.

I am not very sure about the time by bus from Pingyao to Datong, but it could be several hours. There is a big difference in speeds between different buses, and there are bound to be some traffic jams, so it is hard to predict.

The only place I%26#39;ve been between Pingyao and Xi%26#39;an is Luoyang.

The Kumbum Monastery is about 30 minutes from Xining. Xining is three hours by train or bus from Lanzhou. This is why we thought we would visit Xining instead of Xiahe. Xiahe seems to be 6-7 hours from Lanzhou. We would prefer the monastery at Xiahe but weren%26#39;t sure it would be worth the extra 3 hours, in each direction.

Is there a better way to get to Xiahe? Is there another place you would recommend? We are interested in seeing Tibetan monasteries and Tibetan villages?

We thought that Luuyang would be a great place to overnight but it is far. We are hoping to find something in the middle, 4 hours from Pingyao and 4 hours from Xian.

What do you t hink about 4 days in Guilin/Yanghshuo? Would the time be better spent in the PIngyao area?

Thanks!

The more I read the more concerned I become.

If you were a couple of 30 year old backpackers,fit and healthy, this would be a challenging trip.

My next question is, what travel have you previously done in an Asian country, to rural areas.

The cities yes are ultra modern, but the countryside that you really want to see, is rustic.

Meaning,very limited places for you to eat safely,very limited places to use a bathroom.

If one of the family is sick, and there is a 70% chance of that.

This holiday could very quickly turn into a horror story.

I travelled in Asian countries with children for 15 years and with what I have experienced,I know these places are even more challenging.

Enduring an 8 hour bus trip,have you seen the bus,there is smoking,spitting, babies not wearing nappies all on that bus with you.

Thanks for your response. We haven%26#39;t traveled in rural Asia with the kids and our friends would definitely not be too excited about what you are describing.

We had decided to fly from Taiyuan to Xian but when we looked at it, it seemed that we would spend 1-1 1/2 hours getting to the Taiyuan Airport from Pingyao, then have to check in, wait for our flight, fly for one hour , pick up our luggage and then spend 40 minutes or so getting to our hotel in Xian. It seemed we should take the bus.

I had heard that there were very nice air conditioned, comfortable buses but it sounds like these may not be available for the PIngyao to Xian route. If we took the overnight train, I thought we would have our own compartments. However, after your comments, we decided against the train. But under the circumstances, would that be a better option?

What do you suggest? Should we see if we can arrange a mini-bus to take us from Pingyao to Xian? At least for Beijing to Datong, it sounds like there are some nice air conditioned, comfortable touristy buses.

At your suggestion, we are now planning to fly from Xian to Langzhou. From Lanzhou, I thought we would take the train. It is a 3 hour ride. Do you think that train is okay?

Alternatively, is there another place to go that%26#39;s close where we can get a taste for Tibetan culture? Llasa is far, for our limited time, Lijiang is touristy and also requires plane changes. I guess Xiahe would be another option as there are tourist buses from Langzhou but it is a 7 hour drive.

What do you suggest? Thanks so much for your help!