Any advice on "MUST SEE" sites in China? I want SO to see the Great Wall

[HereSince1628]

and the Terra Cotta warrior excavation since these are on her list of things to do in her life, and life just made this possible.

I am into culturally lesser things, I'd personally like to see the Ediacarian rock formations that have yielded up some of the Anomalocarid fossils, but I think that is unlikely to be arranged for any tour.

Anyone know if there is any common way to end up in Vladivostok rather than Shanghai?

[lenidog]

1. Just curious why would you want to end up in Vladivostok?

[HereSince1628]

4. I have a Russian colleague who teaches there.

I spent a couple of weeks with him at the White Sea before he got his new position...we are both sort of "into" parasitic worms in seagulls...

Besides which, he introduced me to peppered vodka and I am ready for a rematch!

[lenidog]

6. I was just curious because Vladivostok is actually not one of the prime

tourist spots on the planet. Though it would be kind cool if you had enough time to visit your friend and then take the Trans-Siberian railway to Moscow and then hop a plane home.

[HereSince1628]

10. Yes, that would be fun.

I rode a train from St. Petersburg to the little town of Chupa on the Kandalaska Gulf of the White Sea.

20 Hours on a "local" to go about 400 miles. Unfortunately, you don't get to see much charging through the darkness or the taiga (miles and miles of birch trees zipping past the window interrupted by an occasional small village), and the train stations at the stops looked very much the same. The good thing was that it was extraordinarily cheap (about $11 dollars and then an extra 8 cents for clean bedding).

[lenidog]

15. I always thought it would be and one day I will travel it

I just like the idea of it being one of the last great rail trips in the world. You end up traveling through something like 9 time zones and two continents.

[HereSince1628]

17. There is a rail connection from China (Beijing?) to the transSiberia

A college I taught at in the 90's took kids from St. Petersburg to China along the railway.

In general, they loved it.

[lenidog]

18. I am pretty sure you can go from Beijing

to Vladivostok by rail. Then you switch trains and take the Trans Siberian to Moscow. I know you can hook up from Beijing to the Trans Siberian at Lake Baikal.

[micrometer_50]

2. How about The Beijing Ancient Observatory

http://antoine.frostburg.edu/phys/luzader/cac/beijing/beijing.html



This is a replica of a simplified armillary that was built in 1439, during the Ming Dynasty.

[HereSince1628]

3. Thanks!..

[lenidog]

5. I can't find the book that listed all of the exhibits on the planet

but I am not sure of the name but Beijing has a museum that has one of the largest collections of fossils on the planet.

FYI the largest collection in the world is at a museum a couple miles outside of Calgary.

[HereSince1628]

7. Yes, the Burgess Shale is beyond extraordinary

There are also a few really amazing anomalocarids from China...

[lenidog]

9. I have a confession I did not know what anomalocarids were

You have got to cut me some slack I have a BA in history and I am finishing my MA in the same subject. The curse of a liberal arts education. So I looked them up. They were bizarre looking beasties.

[NewJeffCT]

8. I was just there 7 months ago...long post.

I'll probably go again next year, if not sooner. In every city we went to, most street signs are in English & Chinese. If you call a major hotel, they will likely first answer in English, then in Chinese. Be prepared for restaurants that have hundreds of tables seating thousands of people. The people are almost always polite & helpful.

When you're in Beijing, make sure you see the Forbidden City, and since Tianenmen Square is right outside the Forbidden City, you can knock that off right afterwards. The Temple of Heaven & the Summer Palace are good, if you have time. The "Lonely Planet" guide recommends buying an English language tape when you get in there, and the tape will guide you on a walking tour. We did not do that - we went with a tour group.

The Great Wall can be an all-day trip. Make sure you wear comfortable walking shoes. And, if you go between mid-May and mid-September, bring light clothes as it can get very humid - it was around 80 and partly cloudy the day we went and I was dripping sweat after the first flight. I also think JRR Tolkien got his inspiration for the stairs of Cirith Ungol from the Great Wall - some of the stairs are very steep & somewhat treacherous.

I actually liked Nanjing a lot, too. The Ming City Wall dwarfs the Great Wall in actual size, but is only 30 miles or so long, instead of thousands of miles like the Great Wall. Make sure you also visit the Nanjing Massacre Memorial & the Tomb of Sun Yat-Sen, the Father of modern China. Fuzi Miao is like a gigantic flea market where you can buy all sorts of cheap stuff for your relatives & friends back home.

Shanghai is just a huge, huge modern city. There are fewer sights than Beijing, though the Bund is really cool, especially at night - it was built in the 20s & 30s and the architecture is a great example of the period and is also well maintained. I think it's the Jing Mao tower that is like a bigger & more modern Empire State Building.

Next time, I definitely want to go to Hong Kong, and hope to get to Xi'An (terra cotta warriors) and I forget the other places.

Also - tap water is not potable in China. Buy bottled water as you go, or else boil some in your hotel room (they provide a teapot in every hotel room to do just that.) This is not a Montezuma's Revenge thing where the locals can drink the water - the locals boil the water, too!

[HereSince1628]

13. Great advice... thanks!

I am thinking of going in June so the advice on clothes is appreciated.

[NewJeffCT]

14. and

Feel free to ask any questions on here, or via PM.

I do have a lot of relatives in Nanjing & Shanghai, so I can answer a lot of other questions, too.

[HereSince1628]

16. Thanks I appreciate that

[OldLeftieLawyer]

11. Don't miss Shanghai

It's much more interesting than Vladivostok, and, if you're daring, much more fun. If you know anyone who lives there, go to Shanghai.

[lenidog]

12. Lets not forget the Forbidden City