27 Dec - 2 Jan: Northern Vietnam (Trang An WHS, Ho Citadel WHS, Yen Tu TWHS (aiming for Vinh Nghiem Pagoda near Bac Giang), Hanoi).
2 Jan - 3 Jan: Night train Hanoi tot Ningming in China (I actually need a proper Vietnamese visa for this, as the e-visa is not valid for this exit point!)
3 Jan - visit Zuojiang Huashan WHS, overnight in Nanning
4 Jan - bullet train Nanning - Kunming, overnight in Kunming
5 Jan - Chengjiang WHS, overnight in Kunming
6 Jan - Bus Kunming - Yuanyang, overnight in Yuanyang
7 & 8 Jan - Hani Rice Terraces WHS, overnight in Yuanyang
9 Jan - Bus back to Kunming, evening flight to Xiamen, overnight in Xiamen
10 Jan - Gulangyu WHS, overnight in Xiamen
11 Jan - Quanzhou TWHS, overnight in Xiamen
12 Jan - Bus to Liulian for Fujian Tulou WHS, overnight in a Tulou in Liulian
13 Jan - Bus back to Xiamen, overnight in Xiamen
14 Jan - flight home

How cold? When I look at the weather forecast now for Yuanyang it will be 29 degrees Celsius? Still deliberating what jacket to bring for the full itinerary, it all seems still quite warm in N Vietnam and S China

Honghe is more like 5-15 in January, bring something thick if you want to go out for the sunrise, like a puffer jacket. I like those because I use a vacuum sealer bag to suck out all the air and it's not big in the luggage when not used. Amoi (Xiamen) is always warm.

By the way, I think nowadays you need to book the ferry to Gulangyu else there is a long wait. Gone are the days of a cheap regularly ferry but it's strange because it was never full, it's just that they collected 1 yuan extra for sitting upstairs and nobody wanted to pay so it was crowded only at the lower level...

Try the famous peanut soup near the end of Xiamen's pedestrian road and there is some "famous" pineapple cake shop next to it but I find it too dry. Miss Zhao.

We still have not 100% confirmed China's nomination for 2020 and 2021. Though, reports indicate its likely between these two candidates.

Western Xia Imperial Tombs

City Walls of the Ming and Qing Dynasties

Interestingly, this article wants the Xi'an City Wall to withdraw from the (Ming & Qing) nomination and become an extension to join the Silk Road sites in Xi'an. This potential complication is about the Xi'an City Walls authenticity as a product of Tang civilization or the Ming Dynasty.

In addition to my review of Zuojiang Huashan, a few practical things to consider for future visitors considering to take the same approach from Vietnam as I did:
· the Vietnamese e-visa is not valid for this border crossing so you have to buy a 'normal' visa at an embassy beforehand (read this)
· I was not able to book a ticket to Ningming online, so I just bought a full-fare ticket to Nanning and asked the train staff 15 minutes beforehand to be let out at Ningming station (I was the only person leaving the train there)
· Stock up on Chinese yuan beforehand or go into Ningming town first. There are 2 atm's near the railway station as well, but I found one out of order and the other did not cater to international cards. I still had some yuan from an earlier trip.
· Only 3 buses a day pass Zhoulian dock. Their reception called a Didi taxi (Chinese uber) costing 50 yuan to take me to Ningming bus station (which lies far in the outskirts on the other side of town), from which there are frequent onward buses to Nanning.
· Zhoulian dock lies only some 8km from the train station. Take the road to the left (it is signposted). After 3km there is a visitor center of some kind, but I did not go there.
· Entrance fee is now 82 yuan (boat tour including entrance)

With the lack of transportation I didn't go to the visitor center either but I'm still curious if the area offers more than the boat ride.

winterkjm
2020 will be quanzhou
2021 will be a natural site

Interesting, any clue which natural site? Did you find a specific article? If you have a reliable source, please let me know. I struggle finding any news about China's world heritage nominations.

winterkjm
The Quanzhou news will be released around 1/2/2019(befre Chineses New Year)
In China, cultural site is nominated by Nationl Cultural Heritage Administration（国家文物局）, and natural site is nominated by National Forestry and Grassland Administration（国家林业和草原局）.
In 2020,the nomination belongs to NCHA. So in 2021, it will turn to NFGA.

Forbidden City to open night tours for first time
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/201902/17/WS5c69667da3106c65c34e9b94.html

China to invest 45 mln USD to protect Potala Palace's ancient documents
http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2019-02/25/c_137849511.htm

Migratory Bird Sanctuaries along the Coast of Yellow Sea-Bohai Gulf of China (Phase II)

From the report, the second phase is set for 2023WHC

http://www.greenchina.tv/news-36064.xhtml

Regarding Taihang Mountain, anyone else feel the Nihewan criteria is placed into the wrong document? The Yangyuan County is west of Beijing and far off the rest of the mountain range, but they DID post it as a mixed site. Mistake??

Here's our itinerary from our recent China trip. It was our first proper trip to China, other than a previous visit to Hong Kong and Macau. We started in Beijing, knocking off the large number of sites, then continued on to the more foreign-touristy destinations of Xi'an and Chengdu, before looping back to Shanghai. Nearly all by train, booked in advance.

22 sites in 26 days (could be compacted to 23 days):
0: Arrive in Beijing
1: Imperial Palace WHS & Temple of Heaven WHS
2: Day trip to Great Wall WHS (Mutianyu)
3: Summer Palace WHS & Grand Canal WHS (Part #1, we also visited at Suzhou)
4: Imperial Tombs WHS
5: Peking Man Site WHS
6: Break day (picked up 13 tickets each at the train station and visited 798 Art District)
7: Train to Xi'an, visit Xi'an City Walls TWHS (hire the bikes!)
Note: I've been informed Longman Grottoes WHS is doable from a train station enroute, but we missed this out for now
8: Mausoleum WHS (Terracotta Warriors) & Silk Road WHS (2 pagodas in Xi'an)
9: Train to Chengdu, some local explorations
10: Leshan Giant Buddha WHS (skipped Mt Emei section)
11: Panda Breeding Centre (not a WHS, but unmissable - make sure you go early morning)
12: Mount Qingcheng and Dujiangyan WHS (we focused on the latter) + Giant Pandas WHS (Mount Qincheng area)
Note: Probably could do this on the same day after the Panda Breeding Centre, especially if you do just Mt Qingcheng, which covers both WHS
13: Travelled to Chongqing via Dazu Rock Carvings WHS
Note: The section of the Karst WHS at Wulong is also doable as a daytrip from Chongqing, but we skipped it as we had planned to visit Guilin, but removed that later on. The rock carvings are also easier to do as a day trip from Chongqing than Chengdu, if you have more luggage than we did.
14: "Slow train" to Tongren
15: Fanjingshan WHS
16: Slow train to Zhangjiajie (a fast train should be completed in the next year or two, making it a lot easier to visit this destination, and increasing visitor numbers - I found this natural site to be less busier on average than Fanjingshan and Huangshan, but it's also a far bigger area)
17: Tusi Sites WHS (Laosicheng Village)
18: Train to Jiujiang (3 trains via Changsha & Nanchang, a bit of a mission as it was Mid-Autumn Festival and our preferred train sold out, so we had a rather tight connection that we nearly missed as our first train was 5 minutes late...)
19: Lushan National Park WHS
20: Train to Huangshan North, Xidi and Hongcun Villages WHS (just the latter, but we could have done both)
21: Mount Huangshan WHS
22: Train to Huangzhou, Liangzhu WHS
23: West Lake WHS
24: Train to Shanghai, explore Shanghai
25: Gardens of Suzhou WHS and Grand Canal WHS (Part #2)

Doing my preparation for China.

Some issues:
* The 2020 nomination sites seem off. They can't nominate 3 anymore, can they?
* "Chinese Section of the Silkroad" are two nominations or we have a spelling error (with and without the)? Also, is this a separate site or an extension?

One question:
* Can you combine Huangshan and Xidi into a day trip? Practical tips appreciated. I will also ask the hotel if they can arrange something (driver, tour).