trains & tours

I%26#39;ve been reading some of the previous forum questions and answers and have two questions i%26#39;d love to get feedback on, help is much appreciated!

1)Trains - we%26#39;re traveling to china in mid-may we%26#39;ll be taking a train from Beijing to Xian, Xian to Luoyang, and Luoyang to Shanghai (or Suzhou). Since we%26#39;ll only be in beijing 3 days, and about 2d in every other city, will that be enough lead time for our hotel to book train tickets (assuming i wait until we check in to each hotel to ask them to get the tickets). Or is this waiting too long (i%26#39;ve read that Z train tickets go on sale 20d beforehand and soft-sleepers can sell out for beijing-xian ... but i haven%26#39;t booked our hotel yet).

2) Tours - are there any major sights in Beijing, Xian, Luoyang, Shanghai that are significantly better if done with an experienced tour guide, or can we DIY armed with guidebooks/research?

many thanks!

trains %26amp; tours

Do Xi%26#39;an -- Luoyang by bus instead of train. Easier to buy tickets, and also faster.

Luoyang -- Shanghai you%26#39;d need to buy in advance, since there%26#39;s only 1 train that originates in Luoyang.

For Luoyang%26#39;s Longmen Grottoes, I would suggest that you hire a guide at the attraction itself, who would be more knowledgeable about the grottoes themselves. And you won%26#39;t need to go around with your nose buried in your notes! These are official guides employed by the attraction itself, not independent guides. I don%26#39;t know how much the English-speaking guides cost, but a Chinese-speaking guide would cost 50 RMB for the West grottoes, which are the main ones.

trains %26amp; tours

thanks ellyse, very useful info.

a completely unrelated question, do you know of any good halal restaurants in the above cities. Thanks again.

1) Beijing Xinjiang Hotel: 7 Sanlihe Lu (near Xi Waidajie), Xicheng district

汗腾格里清真餐厅: 西城区三里河路7号新疆驻京办事处院内(近西外大街)

2) Beijing Xinjiang Restaurant: 1 Chegongzhuang Dajie Beili (near Zhanlan Lu Hospital)

新疆饭庄: 西城区车公庄大街北里1号乌鲁木齐驻京办内(近展览路医院)

3) Xi%26#39;an Huang Family Pao Mo: 3 Hancheng Nanlu, Lianhu district

黄家泡馍: 莲湖区汉城南路3号

There%26#39;re also a lot of good halal restaurants in the Muslim Quarter, near the Grand Mosque.

4) Luoyang Rabbit Manager: 174 Nan Xin%26#39;an Jie (near Lao Bei Men)

兔子经理: 南新安街174号(近小北门)

I know the name sounds funny, but it%26#39;s supposedly one of the best-known halal restaurants in Luoyang.

I think you%26#39;ll find the Chinese characters for all above infinitely more useful than the English translations!

thanks again for the helpful info!!

peace.

Do let us know how the restaurants worked out!