Must see and do in China

[rikki]

What are the must see and must do things in China?  I realized that I haven't planned a single thing for this trip and I should probably start at least looking at what cities to go to and what hotels.  We will be traveling with our 2 year old and 4 month old, but we have a nanny coming with us.  Ideally, she and the babies would go most places.  We have 2 weeks not including travel.

[GilliC]

Beijing - Forbidden City, Summer Palace, Great Wall
Shanghai - Old Town, Bund
Xian - Terra Cotta soldiers

Beyond that, it depends on your interests. I'd recommend one of the small water towns near Shanghai (Zhujiajao, Tongli, Whuzhen, etc) as a daytrip. Yangshuo (near Guilin) was one of my other favorite destinations in China because of the landscape and the laid back atmosphere.

It's a bit outdated, but here are all my Beijing recommendations:
www.tripadvisor.com/GoListDetail-i17565-An_Unofficial_Travel_Guide_to_Beijing.html

[thebulldog]

GilliC is wise. Today is my first day back from two weeks in China. Let me write more when i get home.

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[rupertpenny]

If you end up coming to Hong Kong I can give you lots of kid friendly recs. I know that probably isn't what you meant by China, but I just thought I'd throw that out there.

[rikki]

Apr 27, 2015 19:30:35 GMT -5 rupertpenny said:

If you end up coming to Hong Kong I can give you lots of kid friendly recs. I know that probably isn't what you meant by China, but I just thought I'd throw that out there.

Actually, out first 4 days will be in Hong Kong! We will go to China for 2 weeks after. Thanks.

[rupertpenny]

Apr 27, 2015 21:45:18 GMT -5 rikki said:

Apr 27, 2015 19:30:35 GMT -5 rupertpenny said:

If you end up coming to Hong Kong I can give you lots of kid friendly recs. I know that probably isn't what you meant by China, but I just thought I'd throw that out there.

Actually, out first 4 days will be in Hong Kong! We will go to China for 2 weeks after. Thanks.

Awesome! Hong Kong is great. I'll try and round up some of the recs and links I've put together for other people if you'd like. 

You also enjoy designer bags, right? I may be confusing you with someone else. Anyway, if you are, I can also recommend some of the better places to shop. There are a lot of deals to be had here. 

[rikki]

Apr 27, 2015 22:01:29 GMT -5 rupertpenny said:

Apr 27, 2015 21:45:18 GMT -5 rikki said:

Actually, out first 4 days will be in Hong Kong! We will go to China for 2 weeks after. Thanks.

Awesome! Hong Kong is great. I'll try and round up some of the recs and links I've put together for other people if you'd like. 

You also enjoy designer bags, right? I may be confusing you with someone else. Anyway, if you are, I can also recommend some of the better places to shop. There are a lot of deals to be had here. 

Thank you so much. I can't wait to hear all your recs, including shopping!

[Deleted]

We did a 3 Gorges river cruise there and I thought it was really pretty: www.victoriacruises.com/

That's the line we used and it was great.

Yang's dumplings are amazing too. It's like 80 cents for 6 delicious balls of soupy heaven.

Haidilao Hot Pot was awesome too. They have this kitchsy dish called the dancing noodles where the guy comes out and spins the noodles around. While you're waiting they offer massages, snacks, etc... It's definitely worth the wait. Although, I would wear clothes that you don't really care about smelling like hot pot for a while. Despite the good ventilation the smell really permeates in your clothes. I had to wash my clothes 6 times before the smell came out. 

[thebulldog]

Will write in pieces:

We were in China from April 9 through 23 hitting Beijing, Xi'an and Shanghai. It was just DH and I so some of this might be a lot with little kids.

Beijing: no hotel recs as we stayed with a friend.
The subway is very easy to use and very cheap.
We did the Great Wall at Mutianyu as an all day thing. We hiked all over the place and it was fantastic.
The next day we spent a little time at the National Museum of China (it is free to get in with a passport), then walked through Tianamen Square to the Forbidden City to wander for a few hours. It is huge and gorgeous.
Then went out the back of the Forbidden City to Jingshua Park (this name might be wrong). There is a big hill in that park that has an amazing view of the Forbidden City.
We then walked up to the Drum and Bell Tower and around Houhai Lake and through various hutongs back there. These are tight alleyways of homes. Really interesting to wander through.

We ate dinner at Da Dong for duck. Pretty amazing.

We also visited the Temple of Heaven, The Summer Palace, a few markets (i am not a brand seeker so i had no idea what deals were there), and we also saw the Bird's Nest and Cube stadiums.

We ate at the hot pot place pp recommended as it turns out our friend living there really likes it too.

Note that all the main sites have entry fees (it is just a few yuan) but none took credit cards. They are all HUGE Temple of Heaven and Summer Palace are set in large gorgeous parks. Comfortable clothes and solid awesome walking shoes are key.


We took a bullet train to Xi'an. We stayed at the Sofietel on Remin Square. It was a pretty nice location. There are hotels closer to the drum and bell towers but we used some of Dh's points for this place.
(The pool in this hotel is in one wing so if a pool is important to you, make sure to ask if your room is in the correct wing).
It was nice to relax at the end of the day in the whirlpool with a beer.

Xi'an was awesome. We did a day in the city itself biking along the City Wall, eating our way through the Muslim quarter, and visiting the towers. We even went back at night to see everything lit up. There is a park at Remin Square with a light up fountain and lots of litte kids that might be really fun for you.

We just took a cab arranged through the hotel to go to see the warriors. It is about an hour away. Pretty amazing to see and we also stopped at the hot springs just about 10 minutes away to see that palace too. The green mountain and the gardens there were such a nice change from all the city scapes we had been seeings.
There is a cable care you can take to the top of the mountain. We did not do that but it looks pretty great too.

There is a yummy lamb based soup with bread and noodles we ate in the Muslim quarter. Also also kabobs, noodles, dumplings, fried sweet potato. All good.

We also stumbled on the City God Temple just a few blocks away. Very pretty.

The subway here is not as expansive as Beijing or Shangahi. But cabs are very cheap but making sure the driver understands you is the hard part.

We flew to Shanghai. (The train was going to be too long). Everything went smooth. We got right off the plane, to the Maglve train to the subway with zero problem.

This was our splurgey hotel and we stayed at the Grand Hyatt in Jin Mao tower. It was unbelievable and we had a great view of the pearl tower and the bund.

We did a dumpling tour and cooking class with Untours (booked via Viator) that walked us through the French Concession and we stuffed our faces with all kinds of things.

We also did a motorcyle sidecar ride through Shanghai Insiders. This was one of the most fun things we have ever done on a trip. He took us through old town (we stopped and wandered through old houses), the marriage market at People's Park, and all over the city. We even speed down the bund. It was so fun.

The Yu Gardens and the tea house near there was completely packed. We skipped going into the actual gardens it was so crowded that day.

We did do a day trip to Zhujiajiao. This is a little touristy with shops and restaurants lining the canals but still very pretty and a nice change from Shanghai and Beijing. I am curious what the other towns look like.

China is huge with a zillion people. I wanted to do Hong Kong and Chengdu too but very glad we didn't try to jam more in than we did. We came home just beat every night.

Other things: bring toilet paper or tissues as publoc bathrooms have none. Be prepared for squat toilets. Although the bonus of places that do have western toilets is that there is never a line for them.

We bought a lot of water bottles. They are everywhere and being out all day we made sure to stay hydrated.


This is a little rambly but happy to answer any questions.


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[origami]

We did Beijing, Xian, Chengdu, a Yangtze river cruise (also Victoria but we were originally booked on a different line I would have liked the food of better, but the dates didn't work out), and Shanghai. We didn't take our kids with us though. Ditto everyone on what to see in those areas. While I enjoyed the cruise, I would skip it if I had taken my kids b/c the excursions are places with a lot of stairs (ie not kid friendly). The ship is not like a big cruise ship with a bunch of kid-friendly activities and pools. I don't even think our ship (Victoria Jenna) had a pool. I would definitely take the kids to Chengdu though to see the pandas. That's a much more kid-friendly area.

I want to warn you that you will get mobbed by people wanting to take pics with you and/or your kids. If you're not ok with this, you will need to learn how to politely decline photos, in Chinese. ETA: most people were really good about asking my permission before taking a photo with me or my kids, and I don't care about photos so that part wasn't a problem for me. But they talk to my kids and touch them first before getting to the photo, which made my kids really uncomfortable before they got used to it. That part was a problem. My kids are shy though. Hopefully your 2 year old will be fine with it.

[thebulldog]

Agree on the photos. Dh and i easily posed for 50 photographs with strangers (we are white, blondes aka freaks of nature). Everyone was nice and it was pretty hilarious after a while. Your kids will be minor celebrities if you look anything different than Chinese.



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[rikki]

Apr 28, 2015 9:44:22 GMT -5 thebulldog said:

Agree on the photos. Dh and i easily posed for 50 photographs with strangers (we are white, blondes aka freaks of nature). Everyone was nice and it was pretty hilarious after a while. Your kids will be minor celebrities if you look anything different than Chinese.



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First, thank you for all of the recs!  Amazing and excited to look into them more.

Our son was a total celeb in India.  Not kidding, he must be on 100 random people's Facebook and Instragram accounts.  Everywhere we went they posed with him, sometimes picking him up without asking!

[pittpurple]

We took our then 18-month old to HK and Beijing last summer. Don't have time to think it through at the moment but our first tip is to try to get away without a stroller, particularly in Beijing. Every time we took the stroller we really regretted it. We stayed in an AirBnB guesthouse type place and used the subway exclusively though so it would be easier if you were thinking of having a driver. We found it best to have 1 goal per day as all the sites are absolutely gigantic.

Our starting point was this blog www.80diapers.com/ and the woman who writes it actually answered a ton of questions for us.

[thebulldog]

Apr 28, 2015 10:11:55 GMT -5 rikki said:

Apr 28, 2015 9:44:22 GMT -5 thebulldog said:

Agree on the photos. Dh and i easily posed for 50 photographs with strangers (we are white, blondes aka freaks of nature). Everyone was nice and it was pretty hilarious after a while. Your kids will be minor celebrities if you look anything different than Chinese.



Sent from my SM-G900P using proboards

First, thank you for all of the recs!  Amazing and excited to look into them more.

Our son was a total celeb in India.  Not kidding, he must be on 100 random people's Facebook and Instragram accounts.  Everywhere we went they posed with him, sometimes picking him up without asking!

That was a half-asses post written on the train into work this am. Happy to answer any questions. Good for you taking the kids!
Be prepared for lots of crowds and lots.of walking but totally worth it.

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[rikki]

Apr 28, 2015 10:33:22 GMT -5 thebulldog said:

Apr 28, 2015 10:11:55 GMT -5 rikki said:

First, thank you for all of the recs!  Amazing and excited to look into them more.

Our son was a total celeb in India.  Not kidding, he must be on 100 random people's Facebook and Instragram accounts.  Everywhere we went they posed with him, sometimes picking him up without asking!

That was a half-asses post written on the train into work this am. Happy to answer any questions. Good for you taking the kids!
Be prepared for lots of crowds and lots.of walking but totally worth it.

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I am sure that I will have lots of questions once I start looking.  I will let you know!

[thebulldog]

Apr 28, 2015 11:58:26 GMT -5 rikki said:

Apr 28, 2015 10:33:22 GMT -5 thebulldog said:

That was a half-asses post written on the train into work this am. Happy to answer any questions. Good for you taking the kids!
Be prepared for lots of crowds and lots.of walking but totally worth it.

Sent from my SM-G900P using proboards

I am sure that I will have lots of questions once I start looking.  I will let you know!

When do you leave? Do you have visas already?

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[rikki]

Apr 28, 2015 14:31:44 GMT -5 thebulldog said:

Apr 28, 2015 11:58:26 GMT -5 rikki said:

I am sure that I will have lots of questions once I start looking.  I will let you know!

When do you leave? Do you have visas already?

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Not for 4 more months. I'm 39 weeks pregnant now.

[kpol]

Apr 27, 2015 15:01:26 GMT -5 GilliC said:

Beijing - Forbidden City, Summer Palace, Great Wall
Shanghai - Old Town, Bund
Xian - Terra Cotta soldiers

Beyond that, it depends on your interests. I'd recommend one of the small water towns near Shanghai (Zhujiajao, Tongli, Whuzhen, etc) as a daytrip. Yangshuo (near Guilin) was one of my other favorite destinations in China because of the landscape and the laid back atmosphere.

It's a bit outdated, but here are all my Beijing recommendations:
www.tripadvisor.com/GoListDetail-i17565-An_Unofficial_Travel_Guide_to_Beijing.html

This is a great list! We're going there next month with friends for a long weekend. Does anyone have any places they recommend for evening drinks? 

[thebulldog]

Apr 28, 2015 17:30:11 GMT -5 kpol said:

Apr 27, 2015 15:01:26 GMT -5 GilliC said:

Beijing - Forbidden City, Summer Palace, Great Wall
Shanghai - Old Town, Bund
Xian - Terra Cotta soldiers

Beyond that, it depends on your interests. I'd recommend one of the small water towns near Shanghai (Zhujiajao, Tongli, Whuzhen, etc) as a daytrip. Yangshuo (near Guilin) was one of my other favorite destinations in China because of the landscape and the laid back atmosphere.

It's a bit outdated, but here are all my Beijing recommendations:
www.tripadvisor.com/GoListDetail-i17565-An_Unofficial_Travel_Guide_to_Beijing.html

This is a great list! We're going there next month with friends for a long weekend. Does anyone have any places they recommend for evening drinks? 

We hit two breweries in Beijing...Great Leap and Slow Boat. Nothing fancy inside but beer was good.

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[larzhope]

Apr 28, 2015 4:05:27 GMT -5 @uwhuskygirl said:

We did a 3 Gorges river cruise there and I thought it was really pretty: www.victoriacruises.com/

That's the line we used and it was great.

Yang's dumplings are amazing too. It's like 80 cents for 6 delicious balls of soupy heaven.

Haidilao Hot Pot was awesome too. They have this kitchsy dish called the dancing noodles where the guy comes out and spins the noodles around. While you're waiting they offer massages, snacks, etc... It's definitely worth the wait. Although, I would wear clothes that you don't really care about smelling like hot pot for a while. Despite the good ventilation the smell really permeates in your clothes. I had to wash my clothes 6 times before the smell came out. 

Oh man, UW, Yangs is the place where H and I got massive food poisoning. It was so yummy, but we got so sick!

[larzhope]

Great Leap is a great brewery - started by two guys from Ohio. Really good burgers if you're missing American food.

I loved Duck de Chine the best for Peking Duck, but I know many think it's overrated. I would eat there once a week if we could afford it and we still lived there.

Our favorite restaurant hands down was Black Sesame (http://blacksesamekitchen.com/). Reservation only, but the meal was our highlight of the entire time we lived in Beijing - I can't recommend it enough. Plan in advance, because their reservations often fill up several weeks in advance since the restaurant can only accommodate 20 guests.

I second @uwhuskygirl's rec of haidilao - so good. If you are looking for a quick lunch, try xiabu xiabu - often found in malls, but it's quick personal style hot pot, so yummy.

As far as things to do - head to Sanlitun - it's the expat area, so there is great people watching, and it's also the gateway to Yashow market, which is a 5 story "mall" with all sorts of knockoffs/tailors, etc.

If you have a chance to head to the Olympic Stadium, I would recommend it. Beijing is so so busy and the subway line to get there was so dead. It's such an interesting stark contrast to the hustle and bustle that is Beijing.

I blogged about our experience working/living in Beijing, so have tons of "touristy" things that I talked about - PM me if you want the link.

[dana2006]

Beijing: I'd put Temple of Heaven above all other sights. Hit it early in the morning and you'll see lots and lots of retirees practicing water calligraphy on the ground, dancing, singing choirs, playing games, and engaging in fun activities. It's my favorite vignette of the city. Start your visit at the south gate and make your way north to fully appreciate the architecture and historical significance. There is also Nanluoguxiang, just south of the Bell Tower, an old Hutun neighborhood revitalized with cafes and interesting stores.

Outside of Beijing, our favorite places have all been small towns. One such place is Lijiang, located in Yunnan province. It's a world heritage site famous for its wooden houses and Naxi culture.

[Deleted]

If you're looking for breweries, H really liked Boxing Cat in Shanghai. He still talks about it 5 years later!

www.boxingcatbrewery.com/

[thebulldog]

Apr 29, 2015 14:30:18 GMT -5 @uwhuskygirl said:

If you're looking for breweries, H really liked Boxing Cat in Shanghai. He still talks about it 5 years later!

www.boxingcatbrewery.com/

We went there too and liked it better than the Bund Brewery.

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[rikki]

May 1, 2015 3:26:58 GMT -5 RockNVoll said:

I've only done Beijing, Xian, and Datong. I'd recommend a lot of what we saw. In and around Beijing: the Great Wall (we went to an unrestored section whose name escapes me), Forbidden City, and Summer Palace. The Terra Cotta Warriors in Xian are a must IMO. In Datong we went to the Hanging Temple, which is pretty cool but I wouldn't put it on the top of your itinerary.

I was going to email you... didn't you go to a place with pandas?  I think that E would love that.

[simone]

We love Beijing. We stayed at Sunworld Hotel which is walking distance from Wangfujing Street (where we got to try exotic food. The scorpion was yummy! As well as the caramelized fruits.) We also enjoyed visiting the Temple of Heaven, Summer Palace and the Forbidden City. When visiting the Great Wall, try to go to Mutianyu section. We found it less crowded. We didn't get any photo bombers in our photos Ming's tomb is also interesting.

In Shanghai, we stayed at Seventh Heaven Hotel which is right in Nanjing Road. It is withing walking distance to a lot of shops and restaurants. I liked the view of the Bund better at night. We also visited Zhujiajiao.

Hongkong and Macau are also great places to visit.