Our Shanghai holiday trip from 10 May to 21 May, 2008

Hello all the Shanghai experts out there. Help is needed. My family of 4 (2 adults, 2 elderly) will be coming to Shanghai for a holiday trip in May. We have 10 full days to tour (excluding the first and last day). We would like to visit Shanghai, Suzhou, Hangzhou and Nanjing. And also places like Tunxi, Yiwu, Wuxi, Huangshan and water villages like Tongli, Nanxun, Zhouzhuang or Wuzhen. We will be staying at La Residence, Shanghai in Zhenning Lu. This is a timeshare deal, so we will allotted 7 nights at La Residence. We intend to make full use of the 7 nights because it%26#39;s free, but we are willing to sacrifice maybe 2 nights because there are many other places to visit. We intend to do day trips in Suzhou from Shanghai and stay in Hangzhou and Nanjing because they are further away from Shanghai. Our questions is :-

1) Is it possible to tour all the places stated above in 10 days ? We would like to visit scenic places, try local fares, do a bit of shopping, understand the culture ....

2) How should I apportion how many days to spend in Shanghai, Hangzhou and Nanjing ? Our last day is in Nanjing as we are flying back from there.

3) Which is the best water village to visit? I heard that Zhouzhang is rather commericalised now.

4) Do we need to book our accomodation in Hangzhou and Nanjing in advance perhaps using the website ? or we can do it when we are in Shanghai ? Which one is cheaper ? Where should we stay in Hangzhou and Nanjing ?

5) We intend to travel to Shuzhou, Hangzhou and Nanjing by train. Do we need to book the tickets in advance ? If so, how many days in advance ?

6) Where is Tunxi. Is it worth visiting ?

7) How would the weather be like in May ? What about rainfall ?

We really would appreciate very much for any help that we can get from anybody. Thank you in advance.

From wijantin

Singapore

Our Shanghai holiday trip from 10 May to 21 May, 2008

1) Definitely not. Shanghai 2-4 days, Suzhou 1-1.5 days, Hangzhou 1.5-2.5 days, Nanjing 2.5-3 days, Tunxi 0.5-1 day, Yiwu 1 day (only if you%26#39;re going for business/shopping?!), Wuxi 1 day, Huangshan 2 days, water villages 1 day each... how did you think you%26#39;re going to see everything in 10 days?!

2) So, which places exactly are you going to?

3) My personal favourites are Xitang (members.virtualtourist.com/m/1d57/f2e9f/t/) and Tongli (http://www.tongli.net). Stay overnight if possible so that you can enjoy the place without all the pesky daytrippers.

4) I prefer to do so, so that I know what I%26#39;m getting for my money. So far I%26#39;ve had pretty good luck. What/where you stay would be dependent on your expected price range, number of people etc. In Hangzhou stay near the West Lake, I prefer the east or southeast bank. In Nanjing I prefer the Fuzimiao or Xinjiekou areas.

5) Train tickets go on sale 10 days in advance. I prefer to buy in advance as much as possible to minimise waiting time and hassle.

6) Tunxi is also called Huangshan city. About 1.5 hours from the foot of Huangshan mountain itself. Not really worth an extra trip to visit unless you%26#39;re going to the mountain as well.

7) Look on weather.msn.com/region.aspx鈥?/a> and http://www.wunderground.com/global/CI.html for weather data for various locations in China.

Email me at ellyse99@yahoo.com if you%26#39;ve any more questions -- put ';TripAdvisor'; and your own username (eg wijantin) in the subject line please.