Expert: Jay - 4/20/2010

Question
Hi Jay, we are a family of 2 adults and 3 kids under 12, travelling to Hong Kong in early July.  we are flexible with our dates but would love to also go into china, see the great wall and spend a few days - maximum 10 days including time in Hong Kong.  Can you recommend the closest site to Hong Kong to see the great wall, other things we should see in China without too much travel and how to get there from Hong Kong.  As australians do we need a visa?  Any other recomendations would be great,
thanks, Rebecca

Answer
Hi Rebecca,
Unfortunately the closest place to see the Great Wall would be in Beijing which is quite a distance away.  Because of the distance/things to do in HK as well as things to do in Beijing 10 days is not really long enough.  If you do decide to break up your time and go to Beijing then you would need at least 3 days in Beijing.  While there you should take in the Forbidden City, Summer Palace, Ming Tombs, Tiananmen Square and of course the Great Wall.  You can do the Great Wall Wall and Ming Tombs in one day tour.  Summer Palace and Beihai Park in one tour and the Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square are right next to each other so those two can be done in one day as well.

You do need visas to go into China but your travel agent should be able to help with that.

To help with cost check out the the difference between a package tour and just booking the flights.   When I was living in China and travelling around I would use www.elong.net to book my hotels as it worked out cheaper.

Hope this helps,

Jay