| Guangzhou - Xian - Beijing - Guangzhou - 7 days - Advice needed | |
|---|---|
| Jun 17, 2007 15:35 |   |
 | Dear Forum, I will be in Hong Kong for a few days, and then in a week I need to be in Japan. In the 7 days between, I would like to explore as much of China as possible. I know 7 days its kind of not enough, but this is what I have, and as I am unsure of being able to return to this opportunity again, therefore I am going at it with the best effort possible. The trip is coming up in Early October, so there is much time to plan, and I thought of asking a few questions on this board, hope some of you will be kind and push me to the right directions. Firstly, would you be able to advise how to use my 7 days in these 3 cities? I will be taking trains, and hope to travel at night, to have the days free. My Initial plan is, this, any suggestions are welcome: ######### Schedule Initial ########## October 3rd Depart to Xian from Guangzhou 20:45 Train K226/K227 arrival October 4th 22:28 - Cost $85USD October 6th Depart to Beijing West from Xian 20:28 Train T28 arrival October 7th 07:34 - Cost $56USD October 8th Depart to Shenzen from Beijing West 23:56 Train K105 arrivate October 10th 05:00 - Cost $94USD Total Cost: $235USD ############################# As you can see, most time I have in cities is a full day, and another one with an upcoming train ride at night. This would mean for the 2nd day I need to carry my suitcase along. I speak no Chinese, only English and Hungarian, but I am not sure what I do with the later one, and also unsure how far English would get me. I would like to stay in budget hotels or hostels if possible. How is transportation from remote areas of Xian and Beijing, or are there any hostels in the city centers? Next Q would be regarding costs. How are taxis priced? Do drivers cheat foreigners? If not Taxi, then how about Subways, buses? Do they have any form of English or at least Roman signs that I can read? About trains: Are they safe? I have read many reviews and people were quite satisfied. I am not a scared type, but still worry about stolen luggage and the kind. I will take the Soft Sleeper cars, and since I am traveling alone, going to the wash-room, etc raises an undoubted risk of leaving my stuff behind. Thanks for any suggestions, these are the questions I could think of right now. Ben |
| Jun 17, 2007 20:31 | #1 |
| Hi,Ben, I would like to stay in budget hotels or hostels if possible. How is transportation from remote areas of Xian and Beijing, or are there any hostels in the city centers? Yes,there are some hostels in the centre in Beijing and Xi'an,you can find it easily.I stayed in Shuyuan Youth Hostel in Xi'an,and also a few Youth Hostel in Beijing,around subway stations. Next Q would be regarding costs. How are taxis priced? Do drivers cheat foreigners? If not Taxi, then how about Subways, buses? Do they have any form of English or at least Roman signs that I can read? In Beijing,the basic price is 10RMB,and then 2RMB/Km.No cheat!!!Most places' name are in english in Beijing,don't worry about tt. About trains: Are they safe? I have read many reviews and people were quite satisfied. I am not a scared type, but still worry about stolen luggage and the kind. I will take the Soft Sleeper cars, and since I am traveling alone, going to the wash-room, etc raises an undoubted risk of leaving my stuff behind. Haha,it's safe!But be careful of your money and passport,or cellphone. Good luck! |
| Jun 18, 2007 03:48 | #2 |
| Hi, Thanks for your comments. I guess China is a more advanced place nowadays than where I am from, here Taxis will try to cheat foreigners from time to time, etc, like taking you on a ride of 10km even though you destination was only 5km away. Anyways back to China. So basically the preferred transportation is Taxi when in Beijing or Xian? Do they speak English, or I just say the name of the place and they take me there? As per your comment if I understand correcty, I can leave all my belongings on the luggage rack, and only take my passport, money laptop, camera etc when going to the rest room? Another question came up. I will need to work on the Train. In the Soft sleeper cars can I find some sort of a power outlet? If so, are they Chinese standard, 220V 3pin plugs? (I hope I am correct about the Chinese standards) Since I will need Internet, I was thinking on purchasing some Pre-paid cards, and use my mobile phone over bluetooth, or busy a PCMCIA Data card. How is the mobile reception on the way, or in general in China? Is GPRS built, or even better, 3G? I just need internet for basic E-mail checking, and VPN connection to my office, etc. Thanks a lot for any help, Ben |
| Jun 19, 2007 00:33 | #3 |
| Hi Ben, You really couldn't be coming at a worse time of the year. The first week of October as we are constantly reminding people is one the busiest times of the year with public transport at a premium and often fully booked well in advance. May I suggest a better use of your time would be to fly especially for the long distances between Guangzhou and Xian and Beijing and Shenzhen. This will give you much longer on the ground to do your exploring. It is safe to leave your luggage, not valuables, at the train or bus station or even at your hotel until you are ready to leave town. Book early, both your trains, planes and hostels (hostels are especially hard to get if not booked in advance) but you can still find other budget hotels for similar prices. Your English will suffice in most places but a good Chinese guide and phrase book will also be invaluable. With your limited time, taxis and tours are a good idea. I can reccommend a company in Beijing for a visit to the wall. The company is taylored to foreigners who don;t want to waste time on non-essentials. Most hostels who have a lot of overseas guests usually recommend or themselves offer good tours as well and you can fit in with others who are staying there. |
| Jun 19, 2007 11:05 | #4 |
| Hi Jabarootoo, I have read many of your posts, and I must say I enjoy your writing. Thanks for your advices again. The train I chose because I would like to blend with the people and would also like to see the countryside. I know that I chose the worst time ever, so I am going to be quick with my hostel booking. I already found great ones for around 20-30USD a night in a private room with shower, etc. I am also on a budget, I travel to Hong Kong, China and then to Japan, so it takes a lot of my savings, and the flights are considerably more expensive. One flight costs as much as going one way to Xian from Guangzhou by plane. As for the train booking, can I do that in advance? I heard that I can only buy it 10-15 days ahead of train departure. Is that true? If so, can I buy online? I will be in Hungary 15 days in advance from departure, and in HK 10 days in advance, so an online purchase would be the only option, but I heard that online booking costs more. Regarding security, thanks for your comments, i didnt expect more nor less. I will always take my valuables with me, just like in any country in the world. If I can leave my stuff in the train while going to the rest room, I am more than happy. Do you think the trains' soft sleeper class will also be sold out so fast during that first week of October? It is considerably more expensive than other classes, and I would imagine a regular person will take the economical classes. Thanks again, and I am still open for any suggestions. I may ask for the Great Wall tour, just need to work out my budget. How much does it cost usually? I am still looking for information regarding GPRS coverage on trains for mobile internet. Also another thing would be pre-paid mobile card with a SIM card. Is that widely available in China? I will buy one for sure if I can, and use that instead of Roaming, and I would use that for the GPRS also. Really appreciate all the input, I am more than exciting to visit China for the first time of my life, Ben |
| Jun 19, 2007 11:17 | #5 |
| Hi Ben, Just a quick answer, Some trains, I think from Xian are available online. Siva might be able to help with that one. Soft sleeper are popular on the busy routes which you will be traveling. Hard to say if they will be booked too early but you have 10 days while you are in HK and as soon as you get into China you could pick up the others. Yes flights will also be expensive at this time. They do put on extra trains on the heavy use routes and if you do stuck with no trains, try hard sleeper it is not too bad if just overnight, you can always travel by bus, just traveling shorter distances that you can handle in a day. Around 6/7 hours and still see the countryside and meet the people. |
| Jun 19, 2007 11:18 | #6 |
| Sorry, Can't help with the GPRS |
| Jun 19, 2007 15:50 | #7 |
| Hi, Thanks again for your great advice. So you are saying that once I am in China (Guangzhou) I can and should book all my trains there? Can I for example go to the Train station and purchase all my tickets at once? If I succeed to do so, my seats will be reserved and I should take it for granted that my trips are solid? As for GPRS, I will wait for someone's answer who might know it. Its one of the most important part, as my job leaves no other possibility to me but to stay connected at all times. Few hours of downtime here and there are okay, but mostly I need to be available for calls and for internet. Does anyone have any ideas of the following hostels and their locations? I found them on www.hostelsweb.com Xian: Xiangzimen International Youth Hostel 16 Xiangzimiao Street, China. Single Private Ensuite 25USD/night Peking: Templeside house hostel NO.3 Liuhe Hutong 2 Tiao, Xisi, Xicheng District, China Double Private Ensuite 38USD/night Thanks for any help Ben |
| Jun 22, 2007 13:50 | #8 |
| Hi Things are working out okay little by little. I read more and more, and it all starts to come together. I have decided to order my tickets through http://www.chinatripadvisor.com/ It costs a bit more, but seems reliable. (If anyone has experience, please share) I am more adventurous usually, but the fact that all 1,2 billion people will be off work when I travel freaks me out a little, so I would like to book it in advanced. I really need to reach my flight from Hong Kong on the 10th, so no other options and no playing with the schedule. The Hostels I can also book. Does anyone have any experience on what Ensuite means? I thought it might mean there is a Shower a Private one in the room, as the Ensuite is the most expensive option, and the rest have Shared Shower noted. As for GPRS I will order a SIM from pandasim.com and be done with it. A few things still on my mind and have no idea about. Power outlets on Trains? I am most likely to take the T or Z trains and have the Soft Sleeper cabin with 4 berths. Does the first week of october mean that people who wont find a seat on the train will try to come to the Sleeper cabins, or to the corridors? ATM is available throughout China? I have a Master card, hope to be able to fetch money here and there, as I dont want to have the whole sum on me at all times. Thanks a lot, as I progress on, I will report back, but any advice is helping, Have a nice weekend, Ben |
| Jun 29, 2007 00:45 | #9 |
| Ben Yes ensuite means shower and or toilet in your room.With the mastercard make sure that you can use it abroad.I used a visa CIRRUS card and had no problem using this card with Bank of China.I was in China "Beijing "at spring festival time and WAS going to catch a train to Shenzhen,BUT when i saw that over 500,000 people had the same idea ;i decided to fly and it cost me then $225 AU dollars .Beijing-Shenzhen 3 hours.My tour of The great wall cost me around $50 Au booked from online website.Take a look at www.seat61.com because the website explains a lot about train travel in China and has pictures of the trains. Good luck and enjoy. |
| Jun 30, 2007 01:08 | #10 |
| Hi Dave, Great news, so now I know what to expect at hostels when they say Ensuite. As for the ATM, I have an international MasterCard, which I had no trouble using elsewhere, including shopping on internet, so in this respect, the card should work fine in the ATMs of Bank of China. Do these banks have a sign "Bank of China" that I can read to identify the bank for me? Thanks for your help, Ben |
Page 1 of 2 < Previous Next > Page:
Post a Reply to: Guangzhou - Xian - Beijing - Guangzhou - 7 days - Advice needed
Copyright © 1998-2024 All rights reserved.