China/India - Best months to go?

[flexible]

Can you please me plan post Sep 2012-April 2013? My husband doesn't like temperatures to be too cold or too hot. It's too cold in Northern California from October to April and too hot for a few weeks in July so that is when we usually travel.

We want to use up our Mexico timeshares Oct 2010-Apr 2011 & Nov 2011- Mar 2012 then again in 2013/2014.

Highest priority:
30 day tour with http://chinafocustravel.com/ - their tour dates begin in March & end in October. Maybe with a few weeks of timeshares in Bejing or Shanghai before or after.

Would October 2012 be too cold? Or if we wait until March 2013 is that too cold. Would it be a big difference to go September or April?

Less important but would be nice:
Australia because we have 7 DAE exchanges to reserve by late 2011 and their availability is strong there. h
Hopefully with a 30 day around Australia cruise before or after.

http://www.palacesonwheels.com/agra/tajmahal.html - avoiding Monsoon season April-June http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climate_of_India

The least expensive way for us to travel is to use one of large TS contracts to pay for cruises between areas. So if the schedules match we could leave SFO-SYD, around Australia, or Australia to China etc. I have a feeling it will be hard to find a cruise ending in India and we'll have to fly to Agra anyways so that we'd probably use airline points or pay cash for flights for India.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

 

[lily28]

China is a big country so temperture vary widely. It is very hot and humid in the summer, more so in southern china near hong kong than beijing. the best time to travel is spring and fall. there are more rain in spring so more mosquitos. late sept and october are better months for travel to china, cooler in the south (important if you want to see Guilin and hong kong) and. nice/balmy weather in the north like Beijing. (beijing has similar weather to chicago and hong kong has similar temp to florida) It maybe still chilly in beijing in march and part of April and you also need to worry about dust bowls from the north.
For us, we have been going to china in the spring and fall (I stayed mostly in southern china and have to visit the in-laws in Beijing). Unfortunately, once my dd5 starts kindergarten in sept, we can only go for our 4-5 wk vacation in China in the hot steamy summer (we are dreading it for our vist next june-july)
If you traveling yourself within china, don't book interchina airfare via american websites. You can book discounted airfares using chinese website like elong.com or ctrip.com. I booked my flight from beijing to guangzhow on air china airline in May of this year for $120 instead of >$250 us.

 

[lily28]

I check out the initinary in the china focus tour. If you are joining the 29 days tour, there might be big temp variations in the cities you visit as you go north to see Urumqi, Turpan, Dunhuang, Jiayuguan and west to Lhasa. If you go to above cities in april or october, it might be colder while cities like beijing/guilin/shanghai are better. But if you go in the summer to those somewhat out of the way cities, beijing/shanghai are probably steamy hot and humid.

 

[flexible]

Thanks Lily28,
Your information is very helpful. We've only been to Hong Kong & Shanghai for a day each in February 2008 while on a world cruise.

Thanks for looking at the itinerary. Do you think May or September might be better?

My husband will be 84 next week and while he is in excellent health he worked with asbestos for at least 20 years in the heating/sheet metal industry. Perhaps we need to consider the optimal time for the altitude of Tibet (12,000 ft ) & Khampa La Pass at 15,668 feet.

My husband wants to take the 29 day "Journey of a Lifetime" that was recommended from a traveler we met. It begins in Bejing, leaves Bejing on Day 6 and arrives in Shanghai on Day 27.

On Day 19 we'd fly to the capital of Tibet, Lhasa over 12,000 feet in elevation, visit the Stillwell Museum, which formerly housed General Stillwell, who was commander of the US forces in the China-Burma-India Theater and chief of staff to Chiang Kaishek in 1942 then spend the remainder of the day is for relaxing and acclimatizing to the altitude.

"Day 21 - Lhasa
Today you will have a 70 miles scenic drive along Lhasa River and across Tsangpo River (Highest River in the word) to visit Yamdrok Yumtso, meaning Jade Lake. You will reach the highest altitude of your life record at Khampa La Pass with 15,668 feet above sea level. You can see here the highest hydroelectric plant on this planet."

He is particularly looking forward to the Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River and the Terracotta Warriors in Xi'an.

We've haven't researched other China tours but perhaps in an ideal world having more time to acclimate to the altitude would be helpful. While on a 2008 World Cruise many passengers who took the excursion to Machu Picchu mentioned taking medication to help with altitude. We didn't take that excursion.

Thank you again for your advice.

 

[lily28]

May and sept are good for shanghai/beijing/xian but might be still cold for northern china and Lhasa.
I took my daughter and my mom 69 to Liyang and shangri-la in china and another beautiful yet remote region near chengdu in May. both places have high altitue about 4000 meters (12000 feet). I can feel the thinner air up there and have to buy portable oxgyen tank just in case. With the high altitude, flying in might be a problem both for adjustment to the altitude as well as worry about weather for both may and september. We flew from chengdu to jixianguo (? spelling) 4000 meters high which was only 40 min flighttime away in may. because of weather (no snow), the plane has to turn around to chengdu and we have to wait until the weather get better. we were at the airport all day for a 40 min flight and did not arrive till 11 pm. same story on the way back. So for 1 day of incredible sightseeing, we spend 2 full days at the airport getting back and forth. Locals told us to travel to high altitude places, it is better to go during the summer for obvious safety reason and for better weather.
The 29 days china focus tour travels to come some popular cities but also some out of the way places where they are more minority chinese. the 20 day tour goes to more popular chinese cities with beautiful scenery and cultures/history. However, if you stay at shanghai longer at the end of the tour, you can still visit suzhou (1 hr by bus/train away) and Hangzhou (3 hours away by bus and 2 hr by fast train) as side trips. There are many day trips from shanghai but you probably should consider at least 2-3 day for Hangzhou.

 

[Passepartout]

We spent a month on a China Focus tour back in Sept 2002. It was a wonderful, rewarding trip. It was cool- sweater weather in Beijing, hot on the Yangtze, nice in Souzhou, Hangzhou, warm in Shanghai. We didn't go to Tibet and the far West, but from experience, high altitude causes extremes in temp, and sudden plummeting of temp at sunset.

The area you are discussing is huge. It would be like asking when the weather would be most favorable (no extremes) to see the USA and Equatorial S. America. Just impossible to do it. The latitude extends from roughly Philadelphia to the equator and altitude from sea level to 15,000 ft.

Much of the Indian Sub-Continent is straddling the equator and near sea level. No matter what time of year, it will be hot an humid. There is a definite rainy (spring/Summer for us) and dry season (Fall/Winter here).

The key is to take layers of dress. Take the most comfortable shoes you can find. Not new!! Many sights will be up hundreds of steps. (only 300 steps was a phrase we heard often)

Have your DH ask his physician about meds that will help him metabolize oxygen better. Supplemental oxygen will be available at the airport at Lhasa, and after a couple days he'll acclimate. Just don't plan real strenuous hiking. Your tour guide will be experienced with unacclimatized foreigners, and won't be too demanding.

The trip is truly a 'bucket-list' trip. May it be as memorable for you as it was for us.

Jim Ricks

 

[Jwerking]

May and sept are good for shanghai/beijing/xian but might be still cold for northern china and Lhasa.
I took my daughter and my mom 69 to Liyang and shangri-la in china and another beautiful yet remote region near chengdu in May. both places have high altitue about 4000 meters (12000 feet). I can feel the thinner air up there and have to buy portable oxgyen tank just in case. With the high altitude, flying in might be a problem both for adjustment to the altitude as well as worry about weather for both may and september. We flew from chengdu to jixianguo (? spelling) 4000 meters high which was only 40 min flighttime away in may. because of weather (no snow), the plane has to turn around to chengdu and we have to wait until the weather get better. we were at the airport all day for a 40 min flight and did not arrive till 11 pm. same story on the way back. So for 1 day of incredible sightseeing, we spend 2 full days at the airport getting back and forth. Locals told us to travel to high altitude places, it is better to go during the summer for obvious safety reason and for better weather.
The 29 days china focus tour travels to come some popular cities but also some out of the way places where they are more minority chinese. the 20 day tour goes to more popular chinese cities with beautiful scenery and cultures/history. However, if you stay at shanghai longer at the end of the tour, you can still visit suzhou (1 hr by bus/train away) and Hangzhou (3 hours away by bus and 2 hr by fast train) as side trips. There are many day trips from shanghai but you probably should consider at least 2-3 day for Hangzhou.

Lily - you must have an excellent command of Mandarin to perform independent travel in China. I am American born Chinese and speak Toishanese and had a very difficult time on our trip to China about 7 yrs ago. Few people spoke English - thus, on our bus trip from HK to Toishan (about 100 miles SW), it was pretty stressful as I had no clue what was going on. Didn't know that we were going to change busses when we crossed over the border and left some of our items on the other bus from HK. Got really freaked out that the bus was just dropping passengers literally on the side of the road. It all worked out, because when we got to the end of the bus line in Toishan, everyone could understand my Toishanese and it was great. But after that, I paid for private transfers - which was relatively cheap and worth every penny to avoid the stress. When we got to Bejing, the only way to get around was cabs with the hotel writing down for us where we wanted to go and then just showing the hotel address when returning. In some cases in hailing a cab, some drivers would refuse to take us because we could not speak the language. However, we loved our trip and the sightseeing in Beijing was truly awesome and a life experience. Thus, I would assume for most Americans- the way to go is an organized tour. However, I agree with you totally about using a Mainland Chinese travel agent for airfares, private transfers, tours, and hotels. So much cheaper - thank you for the websites.

Joyce

 

[lily28]

Joyce, I was born in China so I can speak cantonese. since I married a guy from beijing, my mandarin got better. my mom's family was from Toishan so I can understand the dialect but can't speak it. I only do independent tours in big cities like shanghai and beijing. To out of the way areas like chengdu and minority regions, I joined local chinese tours for safety and convenient reasons. those tours are often inexpensive compared to american tour prices. Just make sure you book the 4 star or 5 star hotel tours. don't book the 2-3 star hotel tours unless you are adventurous and want to try out the local old hotels.

 

[Jwerking]

Joyce, I was born in China so I can speak cantonese. since I married a guy from beijing, my mandarin got better. my mom's family was from Toishan so I can understand the dialect but can't speak it. I only do independent tours in big cities like shanghai and beijing. To out of the way areas like chengdu and minority regions, I joined local chinese tours for safety and convenient reasons. those tours are often inexpensive compared to american tour prices. Just make sure you book the 4 star or 5 star hotel tours. don't book the 2-3 star hotel tours unless you are adventurous and want to try out the local old hotels.

Hi Lily:

LOL - I can't join a local chinese tour because I can't speak the language to even book it or understand anything when I am on the tour. Or are you talking about booking English speaking tours when in China? You are correct about it being so much cheaper to book the tours thru a local Chinese travel agency. We did a Great Wall tour from Beijing - where I had made arrangements thru a local agent at half the advertised price to Westerners. I was to arrange this through the tour desk at the Marriott Courtyard where we were staying. She was not happy to give me the discounted price, but I had the email from the local travel agency - so she had no choice.

Also used the local agency for airfare from Guangzhou to Beijing and a CHinese hotel in Guangzhou. - it was so much cheaper than from the US or even HK. The CHinese hotel was brand new and the rooms were huge. However, the carpeting in the room was somewhat dirty - but this appeared to be a problem with hotels in China overall. Also, the front desk staff spoke little English - which could be problematic. At the Marriott in Beijing, the front desk and bell hops all spoke English really well. This was a long time ago - but the Guangzhou travel agent would only take cash - which was a real hassle - since we had to take enough traveler's checks to cash to pay him.

My daugher just accepted a job in Korea for three years. So I will go visit and would love to combine it with another trip to China. BUt I have a slight problem because my hubby hated China - being Caucasian, I guess he couldn't get over the language thing. Anyway, have no problems doing it on my own - I am independent.

Joyce

 

[Conan]

I was talking to a business associate who was in Xian (where the terra cotta warriors are) and Hong Kong last week. He said the air pollution is shockingly bad....something for you to think about.

I was looking at India climate charts recently, thinking about Goa on the southwest coast. They say the monsoon ends in October, so mid-November through maybe Feb-March are drier and less excessively hot. Then the humidity builds as the next monsoon gets nearer.