Honeymoon ideas for China

[HarpoBoy]

Booked three weeks for out honey moon in China in August.

Now all I have to do is fill it.

Any ideas people? As its a honeymoon, cost is less of a consideration

We went two years ago and had a brilliant time. I'd recommend thinking about the kind of thing you enjoy and prioritising because as I'm sure you know it's vast and very varied. we wanted a mix of city and country so did Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong and rural Anhui, Huang Shan mountain and Guilin area. Enjoyed Beijing and Anhui the best. Also long distance trains are good fun if thats your thing.

went 15 years ago so these places may be over touristed now. BUt Lijiang was stunning, the Stone Forest near Kunming was great - and the whole area amazing plants and animals. LOved the Guilin area but it is very touristy. Try to go to a less touristed area of the Great Wall -we found one and it was one of the highlights of our tour. If I ever go again I would try to get to the mountains in Sichuan. I also loved going to non Chinese areas like Tibet areas or the areas where the Dong people (seriously) live with their special buildings and water wheels and culture.

Agree with Guilin/Yangshuo. My guess is that you are the adventurous sort...the Tibetan plateau or anywhere from Lijiang north is different and nice -'Shangri-la'/Zhongdian is OK but we loved Deqin and the walks around it. We also loved Kashgar (you might consider flying there) and the Turpin Basin and if you do go as far as Xinjiang province we loved loved loved Tian Chi (heavenly lake). I would also recommend climbing a mountain while you are there. There are loads to choose from, all with fabulous, unusual landscapes and many you climb at night in order to reach the top by sunrise. We climbed Hua Shan near Xi'an. Finally, I would say that in some of these places 'luxury' accommodation might be hard to find-even if you were willing to pay for it! But you could top and tail your trip in fancy hotels in Shanghai/Beijing/Xi'an/Guilin.

*Turpan basin

Spent 5 days walking the Great wall which was great once you got away from the really touristy and restored bits of wall. Great to see the original parts. Forbidden city is a must.

Spent 3 days in Xian which I'd definitely recommend.

suzhou is nice.

we also did Yangtse River cruise - but I think that's all gone now since they flooded it?

Chengdu - pandas
Suzhou - lovely gardens
Shanghai - the Bund, Pearl Tower, Pudong etc
Nanjing - former capital of China - Sun Yat Sen Mausoleum, Ming Tombs and wall
Xi'an - warriors, drum tower, bell tower, wall (you can cycle on it) and the mulsim quarter is really interesting
Guilin - amazing and evening show is great
Kashgar - a completely different China experience - the market is amazing - hotels not that great though, same goes for Turpan
Beijing - a must
Tibet - best route is on train from Xining, although the rules regarding entering Tibet change frequently
Shaolin - home of kung fu

I think you would struggle at the moment to get into Tibet from China as as far as i'm aware the border is closed at the moment. If you really wanted to go you could probably make that your last stop and so from Hong Kong? I live in Beijing and there's a lot to see here and definitely make sure you go to the Summer Palace -it's stunning!
Inner Mongolia is also supposed to be good if you're adventurous and you can do camel rides in the desert and stay in a Yurt. Pingyao is a walled city and is also supposed to be nice although i've not been there myself.