Secret Spots EPlaces to visit ETravel

[Da Dan]

Where are some of the really bitchin places you have been to here in China?

Not necessarily which cities,
The places to go once one is IN those cities.

Most know Kunming is a great place to go But where does one go once they get there?

Places that you found on your own or ones that the local people showed you. Not someplace where one will find a tourist buss parked waiting for their herds of people or places that are somewhat common knowledge, unless it was a place that you thoroughly enjoyed & can recommend.

Ta put it another wayE

If you had family or friends visiting, ones that have already played the tourist game & have seen a lot of the normal kind of attractions in China, or people not interested in going that route,
Where would you take them or send them?

Also, if there are places you have been that sounded good Before you went & you were disappointed in After you went, that is good to know too.

There are already plenty threads about Bad Tours here in China on different forums, not much need to get onto those too much in this thread.

Lets get a thread going about the Great Tours you have experienced here.

If you can put in names of good restaurants, hotels & other things that might make a visit to some out of the way place more enjoyable, `Cool.

If you can only say a little about it & leave it to us to search out the how & where, that is good too. I've been a few places that I only have a general idea of where they are cause I can't remember the Chinese name & other reasons. Those places I Can say approximately where they are (province & nearby city) & might even be able to provide a phone number of whoever took me that can give more details.
Even if you only know a local travel agency type of contact number that has done you good, that's good to know.


A good English speaking local guide would be good to know about, one who is open minded enough to take people where they want to go, not only where the guide knows about, `got their number..?

[Da Dan]

I just returned from a weekend trip around Hainan island, my new home.

We went into the mountains & stayed at a very nice little hotel that has natural hot springs.
Ifll Highly recommend this for a day or two, depending on how much hiking you want to do in the surrounding mountains.
It was a great day / night of some very quiet R&R. I was very pleasantly surprised.

We drove from Sanya up the central expressway that is more of a nice two-lane mountain road to a town called gBaotingh, it is a very nice town, maybe a hundred thousand people if ya include the surrounding area.
The hot springs are in a nearby area called gSeven Fairy Mountain Hot Springh on the tourist maps, there are only a few roads so getting there should be easy using that name as your guide.
It was around a 2 hour drive from Sanya, probably 3-4 hours from Haikou if you drive straight through, it is not as far as it sounds but the roads are windy mountain roads so ya donft drive fast & there are a lot of places to stop & go.. goohc. Ahhhch .

I forget the name of the hotel we stayed at but it is the one the end of the road, there are 5 or 6 hotels there in the hot spring area & not much else. The hotel is owned by a Japanese company & you could tell by the cleanliness of the rooms & bathrooms, the grounds are well kept & very comfortable, maybe 50 rooms in the four buildings.
They have one big pool with hot water fed into one end, it is set in a Japanese / Chinese type garden, we ended up sitting in the pool & garden till 3AM talking story & winding down, the few Chinese tourists went back to their rooms around 11 & we had it all to ourselves, I havenft relaxed like that anyplace in China yet in the two years Ifve been here.
I couldnft smell any minerals in the spring but could see the feeder pool nearby with a lot of very hot water coming out so, it is a natural hot spring.
Behind my room was miles & miles of mountains that are inaccessible except by foot, there are trails to waterfalls & Ifm sure there are springs nearby that are in their natural setting, with No houses or anything above, Ifll guess the small rivers will have some great pools to swim in. The folks I was with werenft interested in hikingc
Ifll go back to this area on my own Ifm sure, it is a place one can truly relax & be with nature.

There are 4 or 5 other hotels there, I liked the one we stayed at but Ifm sure the others have nice pools & might be cheaper, especially if your not there during a busy time & know how to negotiate.
Our hotel was listed at 880 Yuan a night for the normal two-bed room, their suites listed at 1400c We paid 150 per room for a one-night stay & I feel it was a great price for what it is, `woulda been fair at 400 a nightc
Ifm sure you could easily go there without a reservation & shop around to find the hotel you like & get a room / price your comfortable with.
Our hotel had room service for food but we went to the only restaurant in town & had a great meal with wild greens, mountain goat & fresh water prawns, 6 dishes & 6 beers came to 110 Yuanc
If your planning on hiking & staying a few days, (Ifd recommend at least two nights) shop for snacks & stuff in the neighboring town before ya get there, near the hot springs there isnft much for shopping.


The mountains here in Hainan are Very lush, with scattered small towns / villages & a Lot of non-populated area. The air is very clean, the countryside quite green & the roads are pretty well maintained.
We even saw a double rainbow in one of the many valleys along the route, we saw 5 or 6 rainbows during the drive. Looking at how green it is, Ifd say there is a lot of rain up there, passing showers & full on rainy days.
Hainan has busses that go everywhere so you can get to any town / village easy.
There are the moto taxies with sidecars everywhere in the towns / villages so getting around is cheap & easy once there.
Ifm sure it would not be difficult to befriend the locals & find out where the best places to go are, we got a lot of genuine Smiles from everyone we came in contact with in the mountain villages.

Ifd recommend doing the mountains by bicycle, plenty up & down so it wonft be an easy ride but the scenery is open & quiet. The roads are good with wide shoulders so it looked safe enough if one has experience touring by bike. A weeklong bike trip in Hainan would be a wonderful thing, a couple days in the mountains & a few days along the coast.
I donft know the coast yet so will save that for a future reportc

Hainan also has rental cars, Ifve yet to find the full scoop on how much & what licensing is required but will let ya know when I do. First thing I noticed when I got to Haikou was how well the people here in Hainan drive, compared to other Chinese places, I feel I would be able to drive here with little trouble. In other cities Ifve been to, I wouldnft think about driving.

If anyone has info about the mountains or beaches in Haikou to add, Ifd love to hear it

[George61]

Sounds like a great place, DD. Better post some pics.

[Raoul Duke]

Hey Dan,
if you know Haikou and/or Sanya, why don't you start threads on them in the City Info section in the Library?

[Da Dan]

Ifve only been here a month so Ifll wait till I have more & better local info for a thread Raul, Ifm gathering more everyday on work & normal living things of that nature for that thread & will post once I feel I can add enough good info to make it worth while making a thread in the City Info section. Ifm still quite the newbee here & can barely get myself home if I walk in too many circles in the city.

George, I didnft bring a camera this time around, Ifll be back there once I meet a willing friend to accompany me for a weekend. Ifll take pics then.

You all can use my post as a precedent & not feel you have to post pictures of the reports you write up for this thread telling about a couple of the nicer out of the way places youfve been to

[Lotus Eater]

But if I tell all you guys, you'll go there and spoil it!!

But - Langmusi has to be one of my all time favourite places. The best thing there is to organise a horse trek out to the Sacred lake and other places - the people at the Langmusi Binguan will help you.

Tongren is also good - between Xining and Xiahe. Go to Upper Wutong monastery and befriends the monks.

[Da Dan]

Maybe I should have asked if folks could put in which province or even which bigger cities the spots are near so us ignorant folk might be able to add them to a list of places to visit while we are... `wherever it is...

[Lotus Eater]

Tongren is in Qinghai, Langmusi is either the very bottom of Qinghai or the very top of Gansu - can't remember - need to look up Lonely Planet.

But - DON"T go there - too many waigouoren spoil any place!! It's AWFUL.

[George61]

DD, do you have a problem with your keyboard, or is it your fumble-fingered typing???
Your apostrophes come out as "f"

[Raoul Duke]

OK, Dan, but after a month I'll bet you know more than we do. You can always append more later...in fact, that's the whole idea...

[Raoul Duke]

PS, I'm also getting a lot of weird (Chinese) characters out of your messages. What kind of system ARE you using?

[Mr Nobody]

Yeah, I get the chinese characters too.