Must Do Self-plan: Classical and Natural Route of China

I can never stop dreaming of stepping my foot in every part of Asia,though I have impatiently flew to Australia twice. I have done South East Asia, though there a few more places I still need to get in and have fun. For Indonesia, I still need to get to the Nusa Tenggara region as well as East Papua. As for Philippine, I am so longing to dive Anilao and Puerto Galera and finally, Vietnam, where Nha Trang and Da Lat are the places I am dreaming of. Oh and by the way, I am so gonna buy those Ao Dai cloths in bulk if I get the chance to go to Vietnam again. I AM SERIOUS!! Just got my Ao-Dai-like dress from my tailor friend and I guess this is the best piece of cloth I have ever had. OK...OK...I am superfluously exaggerating the introduction for my new post today.

Thinking of my trip to India in 9 months time, I feel it is a must to start peeping on my next plan to the other part of Asia, especially China. I visited several places in China but China is too enormous to be visited once, or twice, In fact, my trip to Beijing was the 3rd trip and it did not satisfy my urge as a traveler. I have not written a thing about my plan for India trip, but let me just start with my Classical and Natural China. I am planning to start the trip in Hangzhou, and end it in Guilin, which will take 3 solid weeks. I have no idea if it is sufficient but based on my interest on the attractions, a day and a night in several cities are good enough. 

Below is the map of China, and the route I intended to travel is marked with purple line,

Map by: www.Travelchinaguide.com

I modified the classical route of China from the fellow travelers in Lonely Planet and combined it my own version of natural route of China which are Chengdu, Chongqing and Guilin. As usual, my travels and journeys are based on several reason. One of the reasons is, I am so into the UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Of course other that this, I want to see, feel and extract some knowledge from the variations of cultures, ancient histories and beautifully designed natures. And to add the cherry on the top, camera shutter is my second eye and the memory card will be my second visual memory.

My rough itinerary is as the following

Day 1 : arrive Hangzhou  - overnight in Hangzhou

Day 2 : Hangzhou

          - depart for Huangshan by bus (evening)

          - overnight in Huangshan

Day 3 : Huangshan 

           - depart for Shanghai by bus (evening)

           - overnight in Shanghai

Day 4 : Shanghai

           - overnight in Shanghai

Day 5 : Depart for Suzhou by train (early morning)

           - Suzhou

           - overnight in Suzhou

Day 6 : Depart for Nanjing by train (early morning)

           - Nanjing 

           - overnight in Nanjing

Day 7 : Nanjing

           - depart for Kaifeng by train (night train)

Day 8 : Kaifeng 

           - overnight in Kaifeng

Day 9 : Depart for Luoyang by bus (morning)

           - Luoyang

           - overnight in Luoyang

Day 10 : Luoyang---> Longmen Grottoe

            - depart for Xian (evening)

            - overnight in Xian

Day 11 : Xian

            - overnight in Xian

Day 12 : Xian 

            - overnight in Xian

Day 13 : Depart for Chengdu by train (afternoon)

Day 14 : Chengdu

            - overnight in Chengdu

Day 15 : Chengdu

            - overnight in Chengdu

Day 16 : Depart for Chongqing (morning)

            - Chongqing

            - overnight in Chongqing

Day 17 : Chongqing --> Dazu Rock Carvings

            - depart for Guilin by train (night train)

Day 18 : Arrive Guilin

            - overnight in Guilin

Day 19 : Guilin

            - overnight in Guilin

Day 20 : Guilin

            - overnight in Guilin

Day 21 : Return home

The trickiest part of this journey is that, it is almost impossible to book the train tickets online and directly from the train company in China. There are several agents available online should any traveler wish to secure seats on the specific time and journey, but a charge of RMB 50 is applied FOR EACH ticket booked. The best idea to ensure the plan works out accordingly is to travel outside the peak season, i.e in winter, from December till March. On top of that, get to the train station as early as one could for short distance journey, and book the night trains at least 24 hrs before travel time. 

Accommodation in China is somewhat cheap. I will allocate RM1500 for accommodation, RM1000  for train and bus tickets, and RM1500 for meals, shopping and entrance fees. By the way, entrance fees of the heritage sites in China are somewhat expensive, so it is a good idea to check the current price of the sites and re-do the budgeting accordingly.