Traditional China

My wife and I are planning on going to China October 5th to Oct. 21st. We want to visit Beijing but after the Capital we would like to go south, not being so interested in the big cities. We would like to see some more ';chinese'; towns and feel their culture.

Any advice will be welcome.

Traditional China

Most destinations in China are big cities, but some small towns (or big cities with an old town that feel small) are:

Pingyao and Shanhaiguan near Beijing

Xiahe in the West (but it is rather remote)

The Water towns near Suzhou (Tongli for example)

Yangshuo near Guilin

Dali and Lijiang in Yunnan Province

Pretty much all of these are swarming with tourists of one kind or another, but you most likely need a place with tourist services like hotels and that has something to see.

Using these places as bases, it is often possible to explore smaller towns and villages in the area that may be more along the lines of what you are looking for.

Traditional China

Thak you for the info. We will study using thosecities as bases.

Floridawestonian

I am an Aussie living in Guangzhou and I have to say stick to the well defined tourist areas because there is a language barrier and even in the tourist areas you will have trouble communicating.

Before you come to China you should invest in a travel book Lonely Planet (I am an Australian afterall)or similar do some reading so you during your holiday are targetting areas that you want to see.

For a first time to China I suggest these cities and towns and to get the most out of it you will have to do some background reading

Beijing for a cultural overload including the Great Wall Mao%26#39;s Tomb etc etc

Xian Terracota Warriors

Yangshuo for rural China in a unique setting and a relief from the language problems encountered nearly every where else

Kumming for a look at the 25 minority groups there and some great scenery and if you enjoy flowers this is the place to be

Hong Kong and home this trip if done at a holiday pace will take about 3 weeks and will allow you a look accross a wide area of China.

Just a personal comment unless you really like river cruises where you become a trapped customer and are charged accordingly give the Three Gorges river cruise a miss

Lucky aussie

hi,why not try xi%26#39;an? the ancient capital of Xi%26#39;an,and the also the origin of chinese culture?

have a nice day

Foreigners might still consider Chinese towns as big as cities, as they might not be prepared for the population size and density of China.

My favourite ';smaller'; town destinations in China would be Kaifeng (Henan province), Quanzhou (Fujian province) and Wuyuan (Jiangxi province).

Lucky Aussie,

Can you explain about the minority cultures in Kunming? I thought this was a bigger city.

We are very interested in seeing minority cultures.

Thanks!

I have done a trip to China with the following itinerary: Flew to Shanghai, stayed there for 3 days, during which time visited Su Chou (by train return), flew to Wuhan and got on a river cruise on Yangtze River. Yangtze River is the third longest river (after Amazon River and River Nile). The cruise was amazing with awesome scenary along the way and the cruise ship stopped at different intervals with guided tours to visit the local river towns. We opted for an upstream cruise and the cruise ship is run by an American cruise company. We disembarked in Chung Quiang, we flew to Xian and visited the Terra Cotta museum. We stayed in Xian for 2 days and after that we flew to Beijing and stayed there for four days. There are lots to see and do in Beijing. If you go in October, (same time I did last time), weather is perfect. This was my first trip to China and I covered many places in 2 weeks time. I have since visited China a few more times visiting different places. Have a good trip!