Trip planning update

Qinghai seems to be a bit of a frontier for adventure... but given our limited mobility we will take it easy. You can track overland from south of Xining into Northern Sichuan. Turns out the area we were looking to visit in Mongolia has been overdone re tourist things that takes away from the authenticity (perhaps related to how close it is to Beijing). We are covering a LOT of the country anyway so will forget that for now. So the current plan is: 1. Arrive early morning Beijing (stay somewhere close to airport rail line that night/morning) 2. Take subway to XiSi station near where we stayed last time and order a traditional dress to be made for Charlotte (grandpa found a shop specialising in these, as he visited each shop on his walks). 3. Take the 1.35pm train to Xining which goes through Xian in the early hours of the morning (train takes 24 hours to cover around 1980 kms). 4. Spend 1 or 2 nights in Xining before heading to our sponsored student area (enjoy modern facilities while we can and adjust to altitude if need be). Need to investigate what to do to avoid it... colleague went to Peru and said those on heart medications feared better than the young ones he travelled with (aspirin may help???). In October the snow storms may start to come in and no doubt there will be snow on the mountains. 5. Spend 1 or 2 nights in the city the students study and visit the school/temples/thangkas artists 6. Make it back to Xining and take train on to Xian 7. Visit the terracotta warriors / perhaps Charlotte and I can pedal the city wall / visit the free history museum / acrobat show. 8. Take the train down to Suzhou - stay in a traditional Chinese B&B near the water area. 9. Visit the traditional gardens etc and go to a Chinese traditional tea service 10. Perhaps stay at Tongli in another traditional place (note these places tend not to have all the modern conveniences/smells as you like) - beautiful area again near the water. Take canal ride on small wooden boat. 11. Move on to Shanghai for a few days and visit music street, Yuyuan gardens, acrobats and other attractions. 12. Take train back to Beijing for a night or two before departure, stay in the hutong area, this time perhaps closer to the drum tower and the lakes, north west of the Forbidden City. 13. Visit the lovely Ming Dynasty restaurant Bai Jia Da Yuan again. 14. Fly out. http://www.nickrains.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=216:china-workshop-updates&catid=12:news&Itemid=24 Looks like they love seeing a pic of themselves. http://johnjemi.blogspot.com.au/2011/10/around-qinghai-lake-koko-nor-august-30.html Turns out some groups have bought some of the Tibetan families a solar panel so they do not have to rely on candles which impacts their eyesight.