Expert: Victoria Hamilton - 5/4/2009

Question
Would like to attend the 2010 worlds fair at Shanghai next year.  But would like to see other parts of China either before or after.  I do not want to spend lots of time on busses or planes.  Are there any river cruises out of Shanghai?  Any daytrips out of Shanghai?  Any suggestions?  I have seen the 'silk road' advertised-what is that?

Answer
Hi Ron,

Let's start with the 'SILK ROAD' part of your question. Below is the answer I gave to another member who asked a similar question.

The Silk Routes (collectively known as the 'Silk Road') were not only conduits for silk, but also for many other products. They were very important paths for cultural and technological transmission that linked traders, merchants, pilgrims, missionaries, soldiers, nomads and urban dwellers among China, India, Persia and Mediterranean countries for over 2,000 years.(Wikipedia)

Classical Silkroad Tour: 14 Days Beijing-Urumqi-Kashgar-Urumqi-Turpan-Dunhuang-Xian-Shanghai

"I have found some websites which should give you good ideas of the usual trail people take when travelling from Beijing to Kashgar. As I mentioned before, I have not taken this route so do not know of any personal tourguides nor can I recommend any particular hotel/hostel to stay in (I do have a great guide in Xi'an however if you wanted to see the Terracotta Warriors along the way).

Booking flights are fairly easy. www.yoee.com is a very useful site. Top right hand corner is the button for english. You can book online using a credit card but there have been complications so I suggest you have them delivered to your hotel or free..just call them up. Flights and train tickets are all best to be bought within China as theyre cheaper than being bought abroad.

Travel companies and typical routes to take:

http://www.adventures.com.sg/18d-gap-acsr-silkroad/

http://muztagh.com/chinatour/silk-road/beijing-kashgar.htm

http://www.gotobus.com/cs/c1129/frombeijing/beijing_urumqi_kashgar_turpan_dunhua...

http://www.chinatravelkey.com/silkroad/silk-road-tour/sr1-beijing-urumqi-kashgar...

All of the above REALLY seem to offer great tours and although I do not suggest you book through them necessarily as they seem pricey, I do recommend you use their tours for ideas.

Flight from Beijing to Kashgar is 4 hours to Urumqi and then 1.5hrs to Kashgar.

Lovely detailed information on Kashgar:

http://www.beijing-visitor.com/index.php?cID=433&pID=1220

Details of train timetable from Beijing to Kashgar..very good:

http://www.summitclimb.com/new/mustagata/travel2.pdf

Hope this is all of some help for you."

Secondly, let's move onto your other question about seeing other parts of China when you are here for the 2010 EXPO.

There are several day trips out of Shanghai to neighbouring cities and towns. You have Suzhou which is compared to Venice (not quite as scenic, but it has the water going through the city). There is also Tongli which is a proper Water Town along with Xitang (where Mission Impossible 3 was shot). Also, a couple of hours away is a city called Hangzhou. This city is famous for its tea and its big lake called The West Lake. These are fairly easy to get to using the local bus and train lines. I don't believe there are any river cruises out of Shanghai. You can however take a boat cruise along the Bund for a few hours, but that's not getting out of the city.

I hope these ideas have given you some pause for thought and if you would like me to expand on any of them, I'll be pleased to do so!

Victoria.