The great west of China is one of the most beautiful zone of the world and one may spend a lifetime there without stop being astonished. It includes the Gobi (the rock desert) and sand desert, high mountain, tribe, highland and grassland, often right next to each other.
You may find that you can manage without a tour or tour group in many places – for example Beijing, Shanghai, the canal cities outside Shanghai. The travelling infrastructure is very good in and between these cities and people are generally helpful.
If you plan to visit Yunnan Province in Southwest China take a look at Dali, Lijiang, and Zhongdian. Lijiang esp, the old town is full of wooden houses hundreds of years old. All three cities are beautiful.
Guilin and Beijing (and Shanghai, HK and Macau) and highly recommend too.
It strongly suggests that if you go to Guilin, you manage to take a small bus to Yangshuo. Avoid the big tourist boats, it’s just a waste of time. Visit Yangshuo’s surrounding with smaller boats/bicycles/whatever transportation you can get. This place is worth a few days for sure.
The region between Shanghai and Huangshan is also quite cool. It is famous for its great canal and gardens (Suzhou and surrounding villages, Hangzhou…), as well as Yunnan.
Li River in Autumn can be hazy. The pollution is hideous all over China – you literally can not see the sun on some days (the locals will tell you it is humidity, but humidity doesn’t make your eyes water and lungs cough). Hire your own small boat or guide for the Li and hit it at the crack of dawn. The light is horrible from 8am or so on. It is a gorgeous landscape with great views around every bend in the river. Nearby, you can escape into rice patties. The city of Guilin is quaint, but other than the sun and moon pagodas, not much happening.
By no means, Beijing can’t be avoided if you go to China… you need at least to visit a Great Wall and the Forbidden City. Beijing is spectacular. You can wander old neighborhoods for hours and the night markets are wonderful and bright with color. The Great Wall is only and hour or so from Beijing, but also go early in the morning if you want to avoid the crowds.
If you are worried about the pollution – go to Jiuzhaigou in Sichuan Province. It’s just a amazing place. If you want to know how it look like, you can watch the Chinese movie “Hero” which was filmed there.
Visiting Xi’an – a local day-tour to see some of the popular sights will cos you about $US45/day included lunch and English speaking tour guide. These types of tours can be booked at just about any of the larger hotels.
For the Yellow Mountains you need to book adequate accommodation far in advance, and for this it is a good idea to link-up with a reputable company that has a proven track record of arranging accommodation and insuring that you get it when you arrive. Make sure you are physically fit – lots of stairs to climb and descend!