We have no idea (rather, too *many* ideas to decide) where to go next year.
Asia has been on our radar for a while.

My husband has a childhood friend (the brother of his best friend) who has been on a work assignment in China. His contract was renewed for two years and he wants us to come see him. He lives in Shanghai.

Is this a good enough reason to choose China, over say, Nepal, Turkey + Bulgaria, Romania, or the TransSiberian with Mongolia, or Morocco (our big list we're playing with for next year).

Having a place to stay free would be a huge deal. And having someone familiar with such an unfamiliar destination (and who's eager to show us around) would also be great.

But, like when I have plate envy in restaurants, would basing a decision like where to spend funds and time for the year on the fact that a friend happens to live there leave me wishing we'd chosen something else?

I'm leaning towards the jump-on-it mentality.

Where to go? Only you can really prioritize, but I can say that I absolutely loved Shanghai when we were there a few years ago as part of a 17 day tour of China. It is a vital, vibrant city with absolutely wonderful art treasures in its fabulous museum, great food, and an interesting mix of east and west. Unlike Beijing, which I found very difficult to get a handle on and have little desire to revisit, I would go back to Shanghai in a heartbeat. And I wish I had been able to spend more time visiting the area around Shanghai, too.

Good luck with your planning.

Judy

Absolutely jump on it! China is still a difficult place for tourists- and still a place where you can get that thrill of being there before the tour buses. Having a friend to show you around gives you an incredible advantage over the average tourist. I've been to Beijing several times on business- much of it is charmless, but there are the big attractions and a certain thrill to being there. I've also been to Shenzhen in the south and Hong Kong, but never Shanghai. I hear it's one of the best places to visit in China.

It is the best condition for going to China, when you have an "insider" friend to steer you.
China is very different - day and night - from the way it is fashioned and packaged by package tours. You see very different things, esp eat differently when you are on your own, steered by an insider.

Buddy Steve and I have been writing about the old foreign concessions in S'hai in the "rest of the world" forum, under the thread "China in April: …"

Ethrush, did you "catch" the lovely "hutong" neighborhoods in Beijing? A great deal of them are being demolished for the Games next year. -- It's like tearing down Haussmann buildings in Paris because they are "too old". Breaks my heart.

Shenzhen is a scary "far west" kind of city - all pollution, all crime, no charm. I'd skip it unless one has a wellpaying job that obliges one to visit it.

China has been demolishing old monuments since it started with the millenary ramparts of Beijing that took 10 years to destroy, between 1968 to 1978 approximately. They have been replaced by anonymous grey buildings all round. The country has more and more malls - most empty, - as well as theme parks such as fake minority villages in Guangxi and Yunnan, as well as the fake Pyramid, etc. -- Isn't there a fake world theme park near Shenzhen?
Considering this trend, one should hurry to see China, take one last stroll on a hutong and sip tea in a tea house before it is made into a tea house theme park.

In this case, I definitely agree with eveyone else and say Yes! Take advantage of your connections!

Hi

I have visited friends in Kuala Lumpur and Singapore and family in South Africa and having a local contact makes it a totally different experience. Especially in Asia it is good to have some local connections so you can get recommendation where to eat, what to eat...and generally get an impression of the local culture. So I would go to Shanghai :-)

Thanks everybody - you make really good points!

I think we'll be seriously considering this (and reading up over in the Rest of the word forum)

Hey Dana, my stepdaughter teaches English in Toyama Japan, and we have been thinking about this as our next destination, but Don is not fond of that cusine. I told him not to worry, I'd pack him some munchies...hehehehehe

We have often used friends or relatives as "reasons" to choose destinations, tho most of those trips were domestic US when our children were younger. That, with medical conventions, is how they saw places like Philadelphia, Toronto, New York, Washington, DC and Disney World. It also went a long way towards maintaining relationships with people who had moved away.

Now if we only knew more people abroad ! We did use our daughter's study semester in Siena for a trip to Italy last year and visited Australia when our older daughter lived there for several months. I guess what I am saying here is yes, go to Shanghai, visit China with someone who knows it, reconnect with an old friend, and having a free place to stay is not a small thing, either.

Marcia

Added advantage to China -- it's cheap for people with local knowledge. You won't drain much of your saving if your friend is there.

According to a survey, http://shanghaiist.com/2007/07/10/shanghai_the_16.php the average backpacker can spend about $10 /day traveling in Shanghai (incl. lodging). I know you are not backpackers, but you see, the possibility of a good inexpensive trip awaits you.

Steve

quote:

Originally posted by buddy:
Added advantage to China -- it's cheap for people with local knowledge. You won't drain much of your saving if your friend is there.

According to a survey, http://shanghaiist.com/2007/07/10/shanghai_the_16.php the average backpacker can spend about $10 /day traveling in Shanghai (incl. lodging). I know you are not backpackers, but you see, the possibility of a good inexpensive trip awaits you.

Steve

hah -- after our most recent trip we'll have to go back to our backpacking ways to afford another trip