Hi
I went to China for 3 weeks a couple of years ago. We travelled independantly.
We flew into Beijing & stayed there for a few days to see the sights. We made our own way out the the Great Wall away from the "tourist" area.
We took an overnight train to Xian. We stayed there for 3 days. Except for the Terracota Warriors theres not much else to see in Xian, but they are amazing. Pictures or t.v programmes don't give you the full effect, so don't miss them.
Then we flew to Chongqing where we took a "cruise" on the Yangtze river. We were on a boat with about 500 chinese people and not one other "westerner". An unforgettable experiance.
Then we went to Yangshuo which is a small town thats very popular with backpackers. Here you can get your fill of western food. Everyone speaks english and its fairly picturesque too.
From there we flew to Hong Kong. And then home
A few pointers...
- Outside of Beijing hardly anyone speaks english
- McDonalds & KFC are everywhere, handy when you get fed up of chinese food
- The Chinese are very friendly but they will stare at you, even in Beijing. It did get on my nerves for the first few days but you get used to it. I was even asked to get into a few photographs with people?
- They spit constantly
- Are you familiar with Asian toilets? I wasn't & got a bit of a shock
- Buy a copy of The Lonely Planet...worth its weight in gold. Whatever happens don't loose it (unless you speak on of the Chinese dialects fluently)
- You do get a bit of hassle from people trying to sell you stuff,get you accomodation etc.
I don't know anything about Tibet.
HTH