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I recommend you never do a trip like this in 12 days, we got done what needed to be done, but don’t try and squeeze while in China, it’s just to big to crazy, but still glad to have done it and survived.
- Auckland (Flight) 12hrs
- Guangzhou (flight) 3hrs
- Shanghai (Bullet Train)
- Shijiazhuang (Bus)
- Hengshui (2017 Mercedes 4 wheel drive) ( 15 coarse meal) this town rocked.
- Shijiazhuang (Bullet Train)
- Beijing (Bus)
- Great Wall ( Bus)
- Beijing (Bullet Train)
- Zhengzhou (Bullet Train) ( Client would not see us) (were not allowed to stay in Chinese Hotels, had to stay in Sheraton, nice but costly, got out of this town as quick as possible.
- Shenzhen (Bullet Train) this train travels 100 km slower, they are finishing the fast track now, looks a few years away from being finished, the mainland train goes 320km
- Shanghai (Flight)
- Guaugzhou (Flight)
- Auckland (Home) never been so tired or happy to be back home. will fill you in on my findings and what to look out for in the next update. Cheers Greg
You kept very busy – that’s a lot of travel in a short amount of time! The challenge is that China is a massive place and if you need to visit lots of places you can spend a huge amount of time getting from A to B.
China trip tips.
Metro Trains.
Most cities have amazing Metro systems, which are safe cheap and easy to navigate. Collect as many dollar coins as you can if you are going to use the Metro as notes often don’t work, and there will be hundreds of people all in a hurry waiting to buy tickets behind you. also look for a English translation button on top right hand corner of the screen, or go and get a map from the station office, then simply line up the stop on your map with the stop on the screen if there is no English translation, then push the station you want to stop at on the screen, it will then ask how many tickets, then start putting in the coins, don’t try booking the return trip just get a one way ticket, then repeat the process at the other end. the key is to be ready, don’t go to the machine then try and work it out, the locals will not appreciate it. Also don’t panic if you miss a train they come every 5 mins, be aware even the big city Metro’s close around 10.00 pm, so it’s not a 24hr service.
Bullet Train.
There is often no free drinking water on the train, but there is always boiling hot water for Noodles. if you don’t want to spend a small fortune on drinks and snacks bring your own, also be aware the train waits for no one, you must be on time, so allow an hr to buy your ticket and at least and plenty of time to get to the station, everything takes time in China.
Taxi’s
Avoid if possible, or book via Uber, if you do have to use them, make sure the meter is running for all passengers in the vehicle, the rat bags will suddenly point to all parties and cry out in plain English, Each! when you arrive at your destination, you just have to say no and hand the amount showing on the meter, they will usually only try this when there are no police around, just try to avoiding putting bags in the boot, that makes it harder for a quick exit. Good Luck
I am going to China soon too
I enjoyed visiting China. Are you doing for work or a holiday? Which airline will you be flying?
China is an amazing place. I visited Beijing for a quick 4 day trip in 2016 and really want to head back at some point. The only problem with Beijing was that it really just felt like any big Western city with the amount of money around.
Traveled to Shenzhen for work last year.
I know there is a heap of options for VPN’s but the one i found the easiest and best was ExpressVPN it allowed me to install the client on all devices and then use up to 3 at a time so that was great for work. good speeds as from it as well.
An alternative to using a VPN to access services like Google, Google Maps, Facebook, Twitter, etc is to use your mobile phone and pay for roaming data – I used Vodafone’s $5/day roaming on my visit instead of local Wi-Fi most often and that worked well.
I like travelling, it’s kind of a hobby. I have already visited 10 countries and soon I am going to add China to my list. I took a loan for this trip on http://www.loanplus.co.nz/our-loans/travel-loans/ ($3,000 for 2 year term). I am going to Hong Kong. I even started learning some general phrases in Chinese. I am very excited I want to try their famous Cheese Butter Lobster and their snacks.
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