Hey guys, I'm planning to travel China for more than 7 weeks from end of November until mid-January. I will have 52 days in total. I plan to fly in to either Beijing or Shanghai and leave afterwards from HK. I don't plan on taking any domestic flights, so trains will be my main choice of transportation because they're cheap and fast in China. However, I still can't decide on what route I want to travel. So far I’ve figured out two possible routes:​Route 1:LocationDays (including arrival)Journey of arrivalBeijing7Flight to BeijingShanghai (with daytrips to Hangzhou / Suzhou or Nanjing)94.5h direct train to ShanghaiHuangshan42h direct train to HuangshanXi'An48h direct train to Xi'AnChengdu73h direct train to ChengduZhangjiajie513h night train to Huaihua + 4h day train to ZhangjiajieGuilin511h night train to Liuzhou + 1h day train to GuilinShenzhen (with daytrip to Guangzhou)43h direct train to ShenzhenHong Kong71h transfer to Hong KongTotal: 9 locationsTotal: 52 daysTotal: 50.5h of transfer​Route 2:LocationDays (including arrival)Journey of arrivalBeijing7Flight to BeijingShanghai (with daytrips to Hangzhou / Suzhou or Nanjing)124.5h direct train to ShanghaiHuangshan42h direct train to HuangshanWuhan44h direct train to WuhanChangsha41h direct train to ChangshaZhangjiajie55h direct train to ZhangjiajieGuilin511h night train to Liuzhou + 1h day train to GuilinShenzhen (with daytrip to Guangzhou)43h direct train to ShenzhenHong Kong71h transfer to Hong KongTotal: 9 locationsTotal: 52 daysTotal: 32.5h of transfer​Both routes start from Beijing and end in HK. I know that going straight to Xi'an after Beijing would be closer, but I don't want to miss out on Shanghai and the train to Shanghai is also really fast. Another option to start Route 1 would be to fly in to Shanghai first and then continue with (Huangshan?)-Beijing-Xi'An and the rest of Route 1.Huangshan mountains are close to Shanghai, so that would be my next stop. I hope it's not too similar to Zhangjiajje. Now after Huangshan I need to decide how I want to travel further down to Zhangjiajie. That's the part I can't really decide. Route 1 goes through Western China and with Xi'An and Chengdu in it, it seems to be the more interesting route? The main disadvantage seems to be the long distance I'd need to travel all the way from Huangshan / Shanghai. Also it would be more difficult to get to Zhangjiajie and I would need to take a night train with a transfer. With Route 2 through Central China it would be much easier and more relaxed to get to Zhangjiajie over Changsha and I could spend more time in Shanghai to make daytrips to Hangzhou or Suzhou for example.My question to you guys is now, which route would you choose? Or do you know any better route? Any advice is welcome. Also feel free to correct the number of days I've put in (didn't do much research yet on how many days to spend at each place). However, I don't like to rush from one place to another, that's why I've planned 4 days at least for every place considering one day goes already away for transfer. I'm fine to have some laid-back days. It's great to meet people and get a better feeling for the place.Before you start dismantling my routes, keep in mind that I don't want to drop Beijing, Shanghai, Zhangjiajie, Guilin, Shenzhen and Hong Kong. I'm (M23) interested in nature / scenic areas, hiking, photography, history, culture and architecture (doesn't matter if ancient or modern).I hope that wasn't too complicated. Thanks a lot in advance! via /r/solotravel https://ift.tt/2Y5lBOE