Beijing is a craphole...I don't know how that city is going to have the infrastructure to handle the summer olympics. The track and marathon runners are going to be hacking up black phlem from all the pollution spit out from smokestacks dotted around the city.

I recommend you spend and extra week in Vietnam and one less in Beijing. Vietnam is a beautiful country and the people are great...be sure to spend some time in Hanoi, the capital (which happens to be more interesting architecturally than Beijing). Also, Hue, the old capital is a great city to visit...and be sure not to miss the stunning Halong Bay. Remember, there is much more to see in Vietnam than Ho Chi Minh City.

You could also spend an extra week in Japan. One week is not nearly enough time to spend in Japan, let alone Japan AND Korea.

glad you like vn so much. i'm from there originally. i'm interested in beijing for the olympics and more specifically the structures they're building for the events. maybe a week will be enough though. the chinese gov. will suspend about 1+ million auto licenses in attemp to reduce pollution for the event. hopefully that will help for the time i'm there :)

Adamus is right tnarch. 2 weeks in Beijing is way too much, you're going to start to get nostalgic after the first (I did in 4 days). I'd take that other week and go to Shanghai.

taesung + adamus:

how about hk? if you could rank 10 cities i have to see in east asia, what are they?

Ah, well if you put Hong Kong into the mix then I would recommend that too :). It's only 2 hours flight from Shanghai. If you have 2 weeks to divide up, then i'd do 4-5 days in each. I found the nightlife and ease of transportation the best in Hong Kong and Shanghai. By the way, are you going to Beijing right before, during, or after the Olympics? I was planning on going again a few months after since prices are going to be overinflated before and during. If you plan on hardcore backpacking and need some tips/info, feel free to message me privately. I loved traveling through China for as little as $5 US a day a year ago.

10 cities I would visit or have visited in East Asia:

1. Tokyo
2. Hiroshima (more for historic reasons)
3. Hong Kong
4. Singapore
5. Shanghai
6. Beijing
7. Taipei
8. Seoul
9. Kuala Lumpur
10. Bangkok

Last two are more SE Asia, though you are going to Vietnam.

just one wk for japan AND korea?
watch the olympics on tv while you spend extra time in japan/korea

yes...would like to hit NZ on my way back. May do an around the world thing...(1) Japan - 4days (2) China 10 days (3) NZ 6 days (4)India 3 days (5) Morocco 3 days (6) Spain 3 days and back east. Saving for it now will be tight, but may be able to write some of the trip off.
If tight...will eliminate India through Spain.

salty, how bout 3 days in NZ and 10 in india? im not saying that just because im Indian, but also because its better to not go india at all then just go there for 3 days...its too less.