TravelMore&More

Whatever you choose, avoid jeans.

You can't bet the speed of the Maglev to get to town.

For the hotel, it will be very hard to get a hotel in the prime locations that I mentioned for this price. The Marriott on People Square is a great location and has amazing views but is more in the $400+ range.

Look at some of the properties of these chains near the train station (it says so in their description).

I am not sure how one defines "city centre" in Shanghai.

By train from Pudong, I assume that you mean the Maglev. This train only makes one stop in the city and it is not a convenient nor interesting place to stay. When you get off the Maglev, you get on the subway in the building adjacent to it.

Shanghai is divided by a river. On the east (dong) side of the river is Pudong, on the west (xi) side of the river is Puxi. Pudong is more modern and is mostly the business district. Most tourist attractions are on the Puxi side (although there are a couple near the river in Pudong). You probably want to stray around People Square, along the Bund (riverside in Puxi) or in the Former French Concession area. The subway goes everywhere so you want to stay close to a subway stop.

Here is a good subway map: https://exploreshanghai.com/metro/

If you want a specific hotel suggestion, you need to give us a budget range.

There is no tipping in China. Please do not import this bad habit. Others who live there will be the one who will suffer from this bad habit.

I would not recommend this hotel for tourists. The location is not convenient and not interesting. It is better to be able to walk around at night close to the hotel and some some interesting neighbourhood.

I have been there and it is certainly no Hawaii. It is the best beach area in China but that doesn't say much. Very expensive by Chinese standards.

Not much there. Other than the beach, not much of a tourist destination.

Which card an ATM accepts is based on networks that the ATM owner is part of and network of the card, not country of origin of the card.

How did you visit those places?

Sorry, I previously misread your question.

I just book my transportation (flight or train) online and book my hotels myself. Most are easy to get to. If you are not comfortable you can always book as much as you can yourself and hire a local guide on a daily basis. Cheaper and more flexible than taking a tour. In some cases you need a driver more than you need a guide.

Personally I never go on tours. They isolate you from the local reality. serve inferior food, take you to shopping stops where everything is overpriced and you can't control the pace of visits. I prefer to do it myself and get the occasional local help from guides or the hotel. I have yet to find a place in the world where this does not work.

As much as I enjoyed China, traveling there has its issues. On our 21 day tour in 2012, the air pollution is terrible, of course, many of the places listed above were not in large cities, which had less pollution.

 

Also, our tour manager, who was Chinese advised us never to eat in a restaurant unless it was one of those approved for tourists. Apparently, eating in some places could be harmful to your health.

 

Traveling between cities, that would require rail or air travel could be stressful, not being familiar with the language and the huge crowds that we encountered on our trip.

 

Also, if we got sick and had to be hospitalized, I would want to have a tour manager that could assist us in getting proper treatment. Even if we had trip insurance, medical evacuation, etc., getting proper treatment in China could be problematic, after hearing about what the average Chinese person has to do to get medical care.

 

Having been to Japan since China, we found that we could handle internal travel in that country rather easily. Also, the Japanese people are very friendly and polite. In China there are no queues and it is every person for themselves, which is very frustrating.

 

Japan has some sites that we missed that are just as fascinating as when I saw on the list.

Wow! Where to start?

There is no such thing as a restaurant approved for tourists, There are restaurants that specialize on tour group. They take you there because they have a deal and it is cheap. Unfortunately the food is bland and repetitive. The 300,000 expats that live in Beijing and Shanghai would never set foot in such restaurants. Reminds me of my Chinese friends going on tours in the US and complain about the poor quality of the food as Americans only eat pizza and hot dogs (!).

If you are sick and need to go to the hospital, it can be daunting if you don't have someone to help you. I am not sure what you mean by "given what Chinese have to go through" as I have used Chinese hospital a couple of times. Pretty simple (with someone to help you for the language. I had to deal with a urine track infection. went to the hospital emergency (as it was evening), paid $2 to see a doctor, saw a nurse at triage who send me to a doctor that I could see right away. He gave me the papers for a blood test and an urine test, which I did across the hall, Went back to the doctor who gave me a prescription after reading the results. I had the prescription filled at the pharmacy hospital. The whole thing took a grand total of one hour. I could not dream of such speed in Canada.

Without help for the language issue, one can also go to an international hospital such as Family United.

Finally, no queues? sure it can happen in rush hour when it is impossible to queue but it is generally pretty good . I tried to post my photos of people lining up for the subway, lining up to purchase train tickets, etc but I can't make them smaller than the 19k limit of the site.

but Japan is nice too.

Right, train or plane between Shanghai and Beijing is about the same except that trains are a lot more reliable. Read this: https://www.thebeijinger.com/blog/2014/09/18/top-10-reasons-you-should-never-fly-shanghai-again

This is what the high-speed train looks like:

Book now and keep monitoring prices.

How did you visit those places?

Yes I have been to all these places (and several others) but not the one in my last post (hopefully later this year).

Thanks for the information. Looks like some great places to visit. Is there a tour that would take us to most or all of those places? If not, how would we manage to visit them? I see that many of these places are in the NE as well others to the mid and south.

 

Our Li River cruise was darn nice and I thought pretty peaceful. The Yulong river looked interesting, but not sure we would want to do the little rafts.

I have been to all these places without tours. Most get a lot of tourists and not difficult to visit. I could expand this list quite a bit, for example, It does not cover the Yunnan province which has both minority ethnic groups and beautiful landscape. For my next trip I plan to go here, a place not so easy to visit but rather unspoiled by mass tourism: http://www.mafengwo.cn/i/700467.html

If you want to visit places that you feel not easy for you, you can hire a tour company to organize a private tour. Usual suspects would be http://www.chinahighlights.com/ or https://www.travelchinaguide.com/

So true, I would be interested in your list of those 50 places. While the Yangze River cruise was not at the top of my list, it certainly was not 51st.

 

Did you do the afternoon Li River cruise and see the Karst formations? That was pretty nice as well.

Rather than the Li river, it is better to go to the Yulong river, less busy and more quiet (no motors). On the Li river, boats are zooming down at high speed. Look and HEAR the difference on the 2 YouTube videos:

Li River:

Yulong river:

About my 50 places, some are easier to get to than others. Maybe some are already on your list. Typical places includes the following examples: the old town of Pingyao (http://shanxi.chinadaily.com.cn/pingyao/2013-06/01/content_16486008.htm), Datong ( ), Luoyang (http://www.jacekphoto.com/china/china75.htm), Chengde (http://www.china-tour.cn/China-Pictures/Chengde-Pictures.htm), Huangshan (http://www.absolutechinatours.com/Huangshan-attractions/Huangshan-Mountain-A-World-Heritage-in-China-251.html), Zhangjiajie (http://www.mostbeautifulspots.com/2016/10/03/zhangjiajie-national-forest-park-china/), Xiamen particularly the Gulangyu island (http://iheartchina.com/location/Xiamen-Gulangyu-Scenic-Tourist-Attractions), the Tulou near Xiamen (http://www.oddcities.com/fujian-tulou-china/), any of the many small villages in the province of Guizhou such as this one: (one of my favorites) http://sarajaaksola.com/langde-miao-village/, and then you can head west to places like Dunhuang (http://sarajaaksola.com/langde-miao-village/) or Kashgar (https://www.wildfrontierstravel.com/en_GB/community/blog/post/exploring-kashgar), Xiahe (https://mirincondelabahia.wordpress.com/2011/06/02/artista-invitada-ana-perez-estampas-tibetanas/), etc...... You get my point...

"Worth" is a matter of personal opinion. Mine is that I could list 50 places in China that are more interesting.

On a side note, you say that you are doing a 30-day trip in China in September. Are you aware that one should absolutely not be in China for the week of October 1 as it is their national holidays. For one week, just about everybody is on vacation. It looks like this:

http://www.thatsmags.com/shanghai/post/15647/photos-october-holiday-crowds-swarm-tourist-sites

OK, so you drink your own wine, then I understand. Because they do sell wine in Singapore.

Good allowance by the airline but you still have to carry this around.

I go on 4-5 week trips with less than 25 pounds of luggage. I always wonder what people carry in these numerous big suitcases :-)

It's PER PERSON. You say "we" have 3 bottles. Do you have 6 bottles between the 2 of you? Even 4 would make your luggage very heavy.

I am surprised that you put you on such an early flight. You'll arrive in Shanghai at 9am for an early evening cruise.

You should leave your hotel 2 hours ahead of your departure, just in case. The taxi ride is probably 40-45 minutes at this time of the day, You need to check-in for your flight one hour ahead (check-in usually ends 45 minutes before departure). So you have a good cushion.

Flight cancellation are not much of an issue as there is a flight to Shanghai every 15 minutes. Flights delays are more of an issue. Beijing is one of the worst in the world. This is why a lot of people prefer the bullet train as it is very reliable. In any case, you have a ton of time before your cruise. You main worry will be what to do with luggage during the day as your visit Shanghai.

Try to get the phone number of the driver who will pick you up. If he is late showing up at the hotel, you can call him. If he is too late then just take a taxi. By the way, Air China will be in Terminal 3.

I am surprised that you put you on such an early flight. You'll arrive in Shanghai at 9am for an early evening cruise.

You should leave your hotel 2 hours ahead of your departure, just in case. The taxi ride is probably 40-45 minutes at this time of the day, You need to check-in for your flight one hour ahead (check-in usually ends 45 minutes before departure). So you have a good cushion.

Flight cancellation are not much of an issue as there is a flight to Shanghai every 15 minutes. Flights delays are more of an issue. Beijing is one of the worst in the world. This is why a lot of people prefer the bullet train as it is very reliable. In any case, you have a ton of time before your cruise. You main worry will be what to do with luggage during the day as your visit Shanghai.

Try to get the phone number of the driver who will pick you up. If he is late showing up at the hotel, you can call him. If he is too late then just take a taxi. By the way, Air China will be in Terminal 3.

I am surprised that you put you on such an early flight. You'll arrive in Shanghai at 9am for an early evening cruise.

You should leave your hotel 2 hours ahead of your departure, just in case. The taxi ride is probably 40-45 minutes at this time of the day, You need to check-in for your flight one hour ahead (check-in usually ends 45 minutes before departure). So you have a good cushion.

Flight cancellation are not much of an issue as there is a flight to Shanghai every 15 minutes. Flights delays are more of an issue. Beijing is one of the worst in the world. This is why a lot of people prefer the bullet train as it is very reliable. In any case, you have a ton of time before your cruise. You main worry will be what to do with luggage during the day as your visit Shanghai.

Try to get the phone number of the driver who will pick you up. If he is late showing up at the hotel, you can call him. If he is too late then just take a taxi. By the way, Air China will be in Terminal 3.

It is actually called Xitang.

Ok, what you are now saying is different. So one is allowed, under the rules, to do a ship-ship transit and enjoy the 144-hour visa waiver. There will be no problem with the Chinese immigration guys.

What you are saying is that some cruise companies will not let you board unless you have a visa or you join one of their overpriced tours. I agree with this statement. But rules say that you are ok.

Read this forum and other travel forums and you'll see reports of some cruise companies advising their clients that no visa is required for a transit.

"You would not qualify for this 144 hr waiver unless you were leaving the ship in Shanghai and flying to a third country. If you are sailing in and out and using a ship tour Or staying on board) then the 15 day visa waiver is the one that will be applied. This one started in Oct."

Where in the official rules do you see that you cannot arrive and leave by ships if you are going to a 3rd country?

http://www.sh-immigration.gov.cn/listPageEn.aspx?lx=40&id=4421

and

http://www.sh-immigration.gov.cn/listPageEn.aspx?lx=40&id=4421

Host Bonjour - "Every single tour operating in China actually ends up being run/authorized/sanctioned (what would the word be in a dictatorship?) by the Chinese government - there's no such thing as free enterprise in China - not as we know it though there are "joint ventures" with capitalist companies and there has been more progress lately." - you have to be kidding, right? Have you actually been to China?

In any case, someone using the 144-hour exemption does not need to join a tour in any case.

On another note, about the 144-hour visa exemption, 39,000 visitors took advantage of it last year. Not so special anymore. But still a few cruise companies that have not figured it out or don't want to bother..

Understand that taxis in Shanghai will not charge you dollars. Not sure what sort of dollars the posters above are referring to (US, Can, Aus or HK?) but as you are from Scotland, it is really not useful.

A taxi from the airport to the Bund will cost about 150RMB (plus night surcharge between 23h and 5am). Between the Bund and the Wusongkou terminal, expect about 80RMV in daytime.

Charge can be a bit higher when traffic is bad. There is no tipping whatsoever of taxi drivers. Have you destination in writing in Chinese as drivers will not speak any English.

Also, you may not be able to fit 4 with luggage in a taxi.

While you can buy this in China, you'd save time to bring your own.

There will no problem as this is allowed.