China April Trip Route

ClintonL on 08/02/2025 - 18:29
Last edited 08/02/2025 - 21:19 by 1 other user

Hey guys, looking for advice for travel in China.

I'm looking to go around the 12th of April to 27th give or take a day or two if I can get flights for cheaper, wondering what you guys would suggest in terms of itinerary and best route of getting around. I'm thinking of including Beijing/Shanghai + Chonqing or Shenzen/HK. I' m not sure if adding all 4 would be feasible so wondering which you guys would suggest and also the route I should take e.g. If I should land in one place, then order of each city before returning to Australia. Key factors would be cost of the intercity travel and also cost of flights to and from Australia.

I was thinking of Xiamen airlines and going to Beijing > Chonqing > Shanghai and flying out of there but open to other suggestions.

Thanks

• 

  star-ggg on 08/02/2025 - 19:16

  +2

  Beijing > Chonqing > Shanghai

  This is a good route for 2 weeks. You can take a fast or overnight train to a stop in between. For example Beijing -> Xian -> Chongqing -> Changsha/Wuhan -> Shanghai. The local cuisine and dialects of each province is different in China esp if with that route where you're going north to northwest to east to central to east regions.

  • 

    ryefig on 08/02/2025 - 21:11

    Hey star-ggg, can you speak the language?

    I am so keen to do an itinerary similar to this, and with all the cheap flights coming from these Chinese airlines it's making it even more appealing, but I am very worried about the language barrier.
    I usually wouldn't bother too much when traveling, and I have travelled a lot, but I understand things are verrrry different in China and I just wouldn't want to find myself in a tricky spot - esp because I know a lot of social media/google (?) is blocked.

    • 

      sumyungguy on 08/02/2025 - 22:13

      I visited Beijing & Xian back in 2011 when I didn't data roam and the Google Translate camera hadn't been invented. Didn't have any trouble whatsoever with language thanks to the 2008 Olympics for which the Chinese made significant and welcome accommodations for international tourists. I still reckon they accommodate us way better than we do in return, where speaking slowly in a loud voice continues to be the order of the day.

    • 

      SilverKing123 on 08/02/2025 - 23:50

      You can hire me as a travel guide/companion and it will be much easier. 😄

      Use a proxy, which is better than a VPN in China. Then there's no such thing as internet block by the Great Firewall.

    • 

      star-ggg on 09/02/2025 - 09:27

      That itinerary is well touristed. You will not have issues getting around. Even if you don't use one of the many available methods to circumvent the Great Firewall, you could download the maps and translate offline beforehand.

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  bargaino on 08/02/2025 - 22:02

  +2

  China is enormous.
  Unless this is your last visit, I'd suggest you try to see what little is left of Old China while it still exists. Rural villages without electricity.
  Any old Warongs in Beijing that have not been demolished.

  Shanghai is not going anywhere.

  • 

    sumyungguy on 08/02/2025 - 22:15

    +1

    Did you mean Beijing hutongs?

    • 

      bargaino on 08/02/2025 - 22:16

      I most certainly did. My Chinese is rusty. I'm afraid to ask what warong means :-)

      • 

        sumyungguy on 08/02/2025 - 22:33

        +1

        I did try to learn what a warong may be but couldn't find anything that page ranked. Now about rural China, you do need to have zero anxiety about human waste disposal.

      • 

        meong on 09/02/2025 - 07:44

        +2

        Warong/warung is indonesian/malaysian for small food stalls

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  JIMB0 on 09/02/2025 - 00:00

  +1

  High speed trains are good if the cities aren't too far apart and you can get an express service. Travelling through the countryside at 350 km/h is pretty good.

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  SilverKing123 on 09/02/2025 - 00:07

  +1

  You certainly can do that route. Just one of a thousand options.
  Check this one out yourself and find out if the airline cost can be cheaper: Guangzhou > Beijing > Shanghai > Australia.
  Between Beijing and Shanghai, you can take bullet train.

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  wots on 09/02/2025 - 10:54

  +2

  I preferred Chengdu over Chongqing. History over skyscrapers (which are nice but the novelty wears off after looking at them for one evening). I was happy that we had 4 days to explore the Emei mountains in between those two cities. There’s more to China than just mega cities, and I wouldn’t want to see more than 2 mega cities in one trip, to be honest.