July 18 - 22: Last-Minute China Planning
Well, this week was just a blur of planning, planning, planning. I am leaving this Saturday for an eight-night, nine-day trip to China. I have known I was going to visit China for my summer vacation since the moment I arrived in South Korea, even reserving my plane tickets months ago. Unfortunately, I have not been quite as efficient in planning other aspects of the trip, such as my itinerary, transportation, and accomodations.
My original plan was to fly into Beijing on Saturday the 23rd, sightsee the area for a few days, head to Xi'an to check out the Terra-Cotta Soldiers, and finally make my way down to Shanghai for a couple nights. I wanted to fly out of Shanghai on the 31st back to Seoul. Unfortunately, I was hit with the bomb known as the price...over $850 US! Yowzers! I immediately decided that Shanghai was not worth it, and after changing my flight to a round-trip in and out of Beijing, I dropped the ticket price to around $450. Much better...I can always take a weekend trip to Shanghai!
So this week has seen me furiously poring over my Lonely Planet Guide book and plowing through various China-related websites. I have decided that I am going to do a very, un-Tiffany, un-Type-A thing: not plan. Of course, I do have a tentative itinerary down...I am definitely flying into Beijing and have booked three nights in a hostel. Of course, I will visit the Forbidden City and Great Wall. That is about as set-in-stone as it gets. I will absolutely try to get to Xi'an on an overnight train, and I have ideas floating around to hike Hua Shan mountain and sleep on top (in a bush? in a cave?...who knows?!) in order to catch an amazing sunrise and visit a small town called Pingyao.
No matter what happens, I must be back in Beijing by 9:00 am Sunday the 31st to catch my flight back home. Here's to flying by the seat of my pants! Hopefully, I'll be as loyal to my blogging as I was in Japan and put up a posting every night...of course, pictures will come later! Oh, yeah, I decided to once again travel alone...I have a few friends going to China that week with tours, but I am so against organized tours, and I am frankly too selfish to travel with anyone else! Wish me luck! I leave at 9:00 in the morning!
My original plan was to fly into Beijing on Saturday the 23rd, sightsee the area for a few days, head to Xi'an to check out the Terra-Cotta Soldiers, and finally make my way down to Shanghai for a couple nights. I wanted to fly out of Shanghai on the 31st back to Seoul. Unfortunately, I was hit with the bomb known as the price...over $850 US! Yowzers! I immediately decided that Shanghai was not worth it, and after changing my flight to a round-trip in and out of Beijing, I dropped the ticket price to around $450. Much better...I can always take a weekend trip to Shanghai!
So this week has seen me furiously poring over my Lonely Planet Guide book and plowing through various China-related websites. I have decided that I am going to do a very, un-Tiffany, un-Type-A thing: not plan. Of course, I do have a tentative itinerary down...I am definitely flying into Beijing and have booked three nights in a hostel. Of course, I will visit the Forbidden City and Great Wall. That is about as set-in-stone as it gets. I will absolutely try to get to Xi'an on an overnight train, and I have ideas floating around to hike Hua Shan mountain and sleep on top (in a bush? in a cave?...who knows?!) in order to catch an amazing sunrise and visit a small town called Pingyao.
No matter what happens, I must be back in Beijing by 9:00 am Sunday the 31st to catch my flight back home. Here's to flying by the seat of my pants! Hopefully, I'll be as loyal to my blogging as I was in Japan and put up a posting every night...of course, pictures will come later! Oh, yeah, I decided to once again travel alone...I have a few friends going to China that week with tours, but I am so against organized tours, and I am frankly too selfish to travel with anyone else! Wish me luck! I leave at 9:00 in the morning!
posted by Tiffany Joiner @ 4:18 AM
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