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My 25 yr old daughter did a solo 6 week vacation to Japan/China/Korea last fall, In Japan and Korea she stayed at youth hostels and had no problem joining up with other travelers to do daily trips here and there.
Her China part of the trip she went on an 18 day group tour,she said she was glad she did as she would never have got to half the places she went or even known some places existed without a guide, also communication would have been a real hassle as once outside the major cities its the rare person who speaks English.
Her group. http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g1...ps1f7xnlzo.jpg
She enjoyed every aspect of the trip, too many notables to list
In China she was impressed with the big dam, took a boat trip up the Yangtse the terra cotta guys and the wall, Tiennamin Sq. Once away from the big cities toilets and the food became some what primitive.
Logistically speaking, Eastern Asia is going to be much tougher to travel through then East/Central Europe as you did before. The barriers to travel are firstly going to be political, unlike the politically unified Europe, East Asian states don't have the best relations with one another. Japan and the PRC don't like each other, the PRC doesn't like the ROC (for obvious reasons) and South Korea has iffy relations with many other regional powers. Then there are geographic barriers, Japan is a long chain of islands with no connection to the mainland. China is a massive state, with developing but by no means perfect infrastructure, and South Korea is cutoff from China thanks to North Korea. So driving between these places is going to be a nightmare, plus actually finding a car rental is going to be challenging as well. There are all kinds of issues with insurance, and licensing to take into account as well.
If I were you I would stick to China, it is large, and not homogenous. There are many regions of China that might as well be their own country, China is extremely diverse culturally and ethnically. You can ride transportation between various cities, and take in the sites. Please be safe though, especially in the countryside, many regions rarely if ever see foreign tourists.
I should add that if you really want to visit more than one country, your best bet might be Mongolia. You can travel by rail from China to the Mongol capital of Ulaanbaatar.
Dn't rent a car; it's not worth it and its way too much hassle.
14-18 days is pretty tight, my guess is you would have to maybe focus on just 2 countries.
I just want to comment that if you are not going on tour groups, which I understand, you would really need to know some of the local language, i have been to China and Japan and don't be surprised if the staff at the international airport can't speak English.
On a last note, if you want to go to China, no matter what happens, please never go during the Golden Week period.
I agree with this post except needing to know the local language and staff at international airports not knowing English. You don't need to know the local language, especially if you're only going to vacation there, although it would be good for you to learn how to say "thank you". If you're concerned, there are cell phone apps I believe that can translate languages. Also, based on my experience, almost everyone in a customer service position at any decent sized international airport will know English. The airport is actually probably the place you least need to be concerned about a language barrier. At least in China, if you're a non-asian foreigner, it shouldn't be too hard to find someone who speaks at least some English and is eager to help you, probably a younger person. Unfortunately if you're asian like myself, you may receive some hostility for not speaking to local language. The further away from major cities, the harder it will be to find someone who speaks english. It's really up to you whether you want to go to one or two countries, but 3 seems too hurried.
I agree with this post except needing to know the local language and staff at international airports not knowing English. You don't need to know the local language, especially if you're only going to vacation there, although it would be good for you to learn how to say "thank you". If you're concerned, there are cell phone apps I believe that can translate languages. Also, based on my experience, almost everyone in a customer service position at any decent sized international airport will know English. The airport is actually probably the place you least need to be concerned about a language barrier. At least in China, if you're a non-asian foreigner, it shouldn't be too hard to find someone who speaks at least some English and is eager to help you, probably a younger person. Unfortunately if you're asian like myself, you may receive some hostility for not speaking to local language. The further away from major cities, the harder it will be to find someone who speaks english. It's really up to you whether you want to go to one or two countries, but 3 seems too hurried.
I have to agree with the above; as a ethnic asian, i face severe hostility from immigrants in my own home country when i choose to speak English (which is the de-facto national language of my own home country) instead of the ethnic language.
Logistically speaking, Eastern Asia is going to be much tougher to travel through then East/Central Europe as you did before. The barriers to travel are firstly going to be political, unlike the politically unified Europe, East Asian states don't have the best relations with one another. Japan and the PRC don't like each other, the PRC doesn't like the ROC (for obvious reasons) and South Korea has iffy relations with many other regional powers.
Politically / between governments, maybe, but the citizens couldn't care less and those with means to travel are traveling back & forth with ease.
Back to the OP, your main issue will be time. I'm not a fan of whirlwind trip so I would never go to all the places you mentioned in 2-3 weeks. I'm exhausted just reading it.
I also would not drive in Hongkong, Seoul, Japan (especially if you're talking about Tokyo, Kyoto, and the other bigger cities), and China. Hongkong especially has fantastic public transport systems and their subway is 10x better, more efficient, and cleaner than NYC. As does Tokyo.
I would not spend more than 2-3 days in Hongkong, unless you're into shopping and people watching. I personally think people watching in Tokyo is so much more fun than HK.
I went to China 20 years ago when I was in college, traveled there solo and stayed at either hostels or university dorms. It was one of the most fun trips I've had. I like Beijing, Gui Lin, and Kun Ming. Beijing because it has so many historical sites to see, Gui Lin and Kun Ming due to their natural beauty. Xi'An is cool but outside of the terracotta warriors, there's nothing else to see or do. Been to other cities such as Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shen Zen, etc, but they were just ok. The pollution was not so bad when I was in China back then, I heard it's gotten really bad, so take that into consideration if you have bad allergies.
If I were to narrow down to just 2 cities in China, I would say Beijing and Gui Lin. You can do the city and historical sites thing in Beijing, and the natural wonder/country thing in Gui Lin. The big metropolitan city thing you can do in Hongkong or Tokyo, preferably Tokyo. I've been to Hongkong so many times that it's lost the novelty on me.
I would not plan on playing golf. There are way too many things to do to occupy your time for such a short trip. Historically and for the many beautiful sights you can use up all that time in Japan alone.
We've done the China, So. Korea and Japan trip. Personally I'd avoid the So Korean part. You'll find more to do in Japan and China.
And yes the smog in China is terrible so be forewarned. Don't recommend renting a vehicle either. Cheaper and safer to use a taxi or bus.
Dn't rent a car; it's not worth it and its way too much hassle.
I just want to comment that if you are not going on tour groups, which I understand, you would really need to know some of the local language, i have been to China and Japan and don't be surprised if the staff at the international airport can't speak English.
On a last note, if you want to go to China, no matter what happens, please never go during the Golden Week period.
I think that in China foreigners can't rent cars easily.
As stated above don't go to China during the first week of October as the Chinese themselves overload all the the tourists.
Also I wouldn't recommend going to Beijing during the winter months as the pollution is much worse than do the continued use of coal for heating.
As for the language, the airports that I used in China (Beijing, Jinan & Xi'an) all had English speaking staff. But there were no English speaking staff at the high speed railway stations or bus stations and taxi drivers as well as bus drivers don't speak English. So if you need to take a taxi in Chinese, you must have some write the address in Chinese on a piece of paper that you can show the taxi driver.
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