| Guangzhou - Xian - Beijing - Guangzhou - 7 days - Advice needed | |
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| Jun 30, 2007 01:26 | #11   |
 | Yes, of course. There are English letters and Chinese characters. |
| Jun 30, 2007 05:01 | #12 |
| Great, thanks. And the menu is also bilingual? I hope there is an option to select English. Cheers Ben |
| Jun 30, 2007 16:18 | #13 |
| Hi Just a report back, I reserved the following Hostels: Xiangzimen International Hostel 16 Xiangzimiao Street Xi'an 24.62 USD for Private Ensuite Beijing Downtown Backpackers No. 85, Nanluogu Alley Dongcheng District Beijing 17.78 USD for Private Ensuite Both of these are supposed to be in the Downtown areas with old traditional decorations, and English speaking stuff. I wish I didnt need to consider an english speaking person to assist me, but unfortunately I dont speak Chinese. Wish I would... The only (REAL) concern left is the train ticket. I am not sure I will have all tickets, so I turned to a company who provides the ticket online sales. The price is "considerably higher, but I just didnt want to take the risk and have my trip broken because of no trains, etc. However, the company could also only provide me with a 70% guarantee that my tickets will be okay. This is the email I got from them, again, I am travelling on the 1st week of October :( : "Oct 1 to Oct 7 is the busiest days, only 70% to get all tickets for you." Well, other than that, everything looks good, the only concern is the ticket, which will remain to be a concern until 6-10 days from my last train trip, which is the 8th of October. I guess by 2nd of October I will know everything. :( how comforting... Cheers, thanks again for the tremendous help, Ben |
| Jul 1, 2007 23:27 | #14 |
| Many banks will take mastercard in the ATM, most have English available though a few forget to have it on all screens! How about you skip Beijing? spend morer time in Xi'an for example? I am always advocating doing a little less and seeing more! Booking trains is a real pain. best to ask a travel agent here for help..such as in major hotels and pay their 25rmb fee (in my experience). But that week in October..that's when it's best to leave the travel to the locals! If there are any of the new D trains on your journey, they are less booked, faster and classy! |
| Jul 2, 2007 07:21 | #15 |
| Hi Paul, Thanks for the ATMs. I will keep an eye out for Enlish boxes only, as I wouldnt like to risk pressing the buttons in Chinese. As for Skipping Beijing, yes, that would be a wise thing to do, but unfortunately I dont want to take the risk of not seeing Beijing and maybe never coming back to China. My wife is a Japanese, so I often go there, but rarely to China. She has been to China some times, and not too keen on going back, specially not my way, taking trains, and staying in hostels. I just prefer this way of travelling, I believe I will have a more inside look to the culture even with my very-limited time frame. In Beijing I will hike an unrepaired section of the wall, that takes a whole day, so I also have only one and half day to spend in Beijing, just like in Xian. I will try to compress it as much as possible, and work at nights, which I also have to do while there. But I feel i may only do this once, so I better do it good, considering all my limitations. D trains are not on my routes, as I go long distances, and prefer to get some sleep on the sleeper car if possible. Thanks again, sorry for the long boring post, Ben |
| Aug 29, 2007 09:29 | #16 |
| Hi Its been a while, and my trip is coming closer. I just wanted to ask a few more questions. I have previously booked the trains with the China Trip Advisors, and they recently cancelled my bookings as its during the holiday period. Dont know why they couldnt tell me this at the first time I asked them, but this is what I have now. I am lucky to have some friends who are trying to arrange my tickets from China, and with some hope, I will have them all. However, I just thought about Flying from Beijing back to Hong Kong instead of taking the train, so I could save some time. I went again to China Trip Advisors, and they have a nice little Flight search application: http://www.chinaticketmaster.com/ There are a few things I would like to ask. What are the different Classes? I see like 5-6 Economy Classes, Economy(L) (G) (H) etc, and the prices are different also. The other things I see is an option to select Insurance from 1 to 10. Are those different levels of insurance, and do I need one? Also, it may sound like a silly question, but I want to make sure I am ready. These local cheap Chinese flights are okay for a foreigner who doesnt read or speak Mandarin at all? I am good at smiling and bowing, it got me around in other cultures, but havent tried China yet, so cannot guess. Thanks a lot, Cheers Ben |
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