Hi there,

I can't help with the weather as we went in September but you could start by reading my trip report as we visited all the places you mention - http://www.holidaytruths.co.uk/viewtopic.php?t=85325 If you have any questions afterwards come back to me.

Also it would be useful if you could let us know what kind of tips are you after - i.e. shopping, food, sighteseeing etc. - and then we can give you specific answers.

Hope you put a report on when you get back Steamrollus, we have booked Beijing, Xian, Yangtze cruise, Shanghai and Hong Kong for June 07!

Puddleduck2 - your reports were great, I've just had a look. I'm sure I'll have some questions nearer the time so I hope you stay 'tuned'.

Unfortunately, we've just found out that we've lost a day of our cruise because of work on the dam between Sep06 and Jul 07 so we 'terminate' short of the original destination of Wuhan. Oh well, can't be helped.

I'm sure I'll have some questions nearer the time so I hope you stay 'tuned'.

Oh, I'm sure I'll be about as I'm looking for ideas for November 2007!!

Shame about your cruise but I'm sure it'll still be fun.

I think the cruise going all the way has been a hit and miss thing for quite a long time. I did the Chongqing - Wuhan cruise in July 2000. We had to get off the boat at Sandouping and then get a coach that took us to Wuhan, because of work on the dam and some people I met in Beijing said the same thing had happened to them in 1998(or 1999).

Hi Gary and Marks Mum. See your doing a round China trip in Jun 2007. Which company are you going with, as we are going with Archers and have not heard anything about the Yangtse cruise being shortened. Cheers

We got off the cruise to have alook at the dam construction but then back on again on went down a lock and carried on our journey.

Also went up the danning river on a smaller boat.

Ive been to china a few times on my own and if I was to go again on a group tour I would go out and eat on my own in a restaurant that I wanted to go to.

Reason is our tour guide drove miles in the bus to take us to restaurants that wasnt to good but most of the tour group enjoyed them and no one complained, but after eating out on our own we found some fantastic places and very cheap as well.

She also told us that the beer on the cruise is expensive and would drop us off at a local shop to buy some, which we all did but after seeing the prices on the boat we realized that she had ripped us off again.