China During Golden Week

We were told to leave China on September 30 because of Golden Week and the airport was packed with Chinese taking advantage of this holiday break. If your plans are set, be prepared for crowds of domestic tourists as the week is the National Holiday giving workers across the country time off to travel.
Beijing is a wonderful city to explore. Perhaps hiring a local guide might help.

I traveled during Golden Week a few years ago. It was definitely busy, but it did not detract from my enjoyment of the sites. We found that getting to places early helped. I think that having reasonable expectations for the crowd levels will ease any frustrations that arise.

I just spent 6 months in China and everyone advised me NOT to travel during the national holidays. The crowds at the train stations are insane!! Google holiday crowds in Hongqiao train station to see what it's like.

The crowds at the train stations are insane!!

Last trip to China 3 years ago included IntraChina air travel. The Chinese middle class have discovered domestic air travel as an alternative to long distance trains. Airports were packed with crowds at check in. The Chinese do not do carry-on only. But once checked in and through security domestic air travel is as comfortable as North American air travel and Chinese airports are new and modern. Planes flew full, but unlike trains, airlines do not allow standing room passengers. Challenge of air travel during Golden Week may be getting air reservations, but if you can book tickets, you are good to go.

Thanks we have all our flight reservations within China both the weeks leading up to the Golden Week. We are staying away from railway travel. I have traveled by rail but that was by an organized tour. We have private tours set up that include pick up and drop off at the airports. And all our tickets are purchase. Unbelievably expensive.
Thanks for all your advice.

If you are flying on internal Chinese airlines, be forewarned that they are usually running late, sometimes many hours late. In the 6 months we were in China, I probably took 10 flights within the country and 8 or 9 of those were delayed considerably, by that I mean we would have gotten there faster by train in many cases. At first I thought we just had bad luck but the statistics suggest something else at work. Also the luggage inspection at the airports is much stricter than in the US. On one flight, they called us from the waiting room to inspect two pieces of checked luggage which they detected batteries by X ray. I thought there were no batteries but when they pointed out which corner of the suitcase was suspect, I found a small camera battery tucked away in a bag that I had forgotten about. The good thing is that when the plane is really late, they provide food (sandwiches) at the waiting room.