Places To Visit In China

For the past while I've been researching places that I want to visit in China. As I've said before, I definitely want to go to Beijing and Hong Kong (which my hands keep trying to type "Honk Ong"), but wasn't sure where else to go. I'm thinking in the two weeks or so I'll spend in China I'll visit four or five different cities/areas, and I want to try to make it a mix of different cultures. Here are a couple of ideas:

Tianjin: A port city that isn't too touristy, but still might make for an interesting day trip while in Beijing as the train is (fairly) cheap at 59 RMB.

Guangzhou: Guangzhou is really close to Hong Kong and has trains that go there several times daily. Not a ton to see here (compared to other large cities, that is!), but it could still be an interesting stop.

Xian: A sleeper train ride away from Beijing, this is definitely a place to visit to see Northwestern China. The terracotta army is close by, along with several other cool places to see in the city (the Bell Tower being one I definitely want to see :). The city wall would be fun to walk, as well.

Shanghai: Shanghai is another port city and is the center of commerce in China. The only downside to visiting here is that I would be visiting in June which is the rainiest month of the year there.

More to come!

Visa

In order for a foreigner to enter China (possibly just certain foreigners, but definitely those from the US), they must acquire a Chinese visa. After doing a quick search, it looks like this will run me $130 for a double entry visa (plus around $60 in shipping and handling fees). I'll probably need a double entry visa because I want to stop in Hong Kong. If Hong Kong is my last stop before heading home, I'll only need a single entry visa. Oddly, for US citizens it is no more expensive to purchase a double entry visa than it is to purchase a single entry visa, so it really doesn't matter much. From MyChinaVisa (domain names beginning with "My" always feel sketchy to me...) it will take a little over a week to get here, and I need to get it sometime within 90 days before I go, as it does have an expiration date.

I'm still thinking about where else in China I want to visit other than Beijing and Hong Kong. Any recommendations?

Don't Forget

China Visa

Travelers insurance/Travelers checks?