As usual, we have very little time (about 8 days) and too many plans; sleep is again not planned for.
Updated itinerary:
3 days in Beijing
1 day to get to the Huangshan (Yellow Mountains) and hike up and down
2 days in Hong Kong
2 days in Shanghai
Updated list of questions:
- What guidebooks have you used? I've bought Frommer's and Fodor's, but can't say that I am in love with either.
- Any useful websites?
- Domestic transportation - did you prebook flights and/or trains? Or are they easy to get from China?
- Hotels - do we need to reserve them or just walk up, as the guidebook recommends?
- Huangshan - have you hiked it? Did you stay at the summit? How did you get there (transportation-wise)? Did you watch the sunrise from the summit? Was it worth it?
- Qufu (the birthplace of Confucius) - is it worth visiting? We would be there on Sep 8th, Confucius's birthday - does that make it more worth it?
- What about Suzhou (famous for its gardens) - worth a visit?
- Same about Hangzhou (famous for its lake)?
- What about Nanjing (the Ming capital)?
- Shanghai - how much time (at a minimum) should we plan on spending there? Is it a tourist city at all, or just a bustling metropolis?
- Anything else in the Beijing/Shanghai area that I missed?