China

In July 2007 I went on holiday to China. I wanted to see it before the Olympic Games, although I had perhaps left it a bit late to see Beijing before the massive construction activity had begun. We used Audley Travel (www.audleytravel.co.uk) to arrange accommodation, flights and some other transport and guides where needed, but otherwise we were on our own. Total cost of the two-week trip including international and internal flights was a little over £2,000 each. We flew from London Heathrow to Beijing with British Airways, departing at1635 and arriving at 0935 ten hours later, the next day. A fairly long flight, but bearable and direct. We had already ...  Read the complete review

Back in 2004, I decided to take a six month career break and further decided that I would occupy most of this time by taking a four month trip around Asia. I also toyed with the idea of South America, as just like Asia, there are several countries there I would like to visit one day. But in the end Asia won on account of the higher number of places on "my list" and also because I had not done a trip like this before and I though Asia would be a bit easier, possibly safer for a lone female traveller. I didn't know about dooyoo or write reviews back in those days, however I have just stumbled upon the journal I kept at the time and with the help of ...  Read the complete review

As part of a trip of a lifetime during Feb-March 2002, my partner and I spend a month in China. We travelled overland from the South and the borders of Vietnam all the way to Beijing, a journey of around 1,500 miles. Please be warned in advance: this is a long review. There is so much to say as China is so fascinating, diverse and of course, huge! ********************************************************************* About China. ********************************************************************* China is one of the largest countries in the World, beaten only by Russia, Canada and the USA. Its capital is Beijing and it borders a ...  Read the complete review

I was apprehensive about travelling by train in China, particularly after the image Lonely Planets conjured up of the toilets. I’m paranoid about toilets, but then you would be too if one of your formative memories is at age 3 going to use some ditch in the ground at your grandparents house and finding the hut full of lizards. Sorry, back to trains in China. I decided to travel from Shanghai to Hong Kong by train as it was exceptionally cheap, approximately £45 in fact. **Buying a ticket** You can’t buy a ticket from the train station in Shanghai, you have to go to the Longmen hotel. This is about 2 minutes away from the train ...  Read the complete review

Mmmmm... China... Mixed bag that one really. About 5 years ago with a couple of mates, we travelled London to Hong Kong by train. Inevitably this meant going through China. To be honest, I was really looking forward to it as we had stopovers in Beijing, Xian and Canton, travelling through the whole country by train. Even best of all was the fact that the train went UNDER the Great Wall as opposed to us clambering onto it and walking a section. I was deeply disappointed in Beijing. I wasn't expecting everyone to be running around waving a little red book at me, or travelling round in rickshaws or on water buffalo, but the city was awash with ...  Read the complete review