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D I Y Hangzhou, China from Shanghai


bcummin
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The Guangzhou one is interesting. China Southern is a major player and China’s best and business class cheapest airline. I use it a lot and will continue. I stop over on way. Ack to the USA for several days but I have my regular 10 year visa. Thanks for the info.

 

 

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Beijing is 144 hours and like Shanghai it covers various ports in nearby provinces such as Tianjin cruise port , Shujiazhuang, the Qinhuangdao port and the Beijing west railway station. At airports in Changsha, Chengdu, Chongqing, Dalian, Guangzhou, Qingdao, Tianjin , Wuhan, Xi'An, Xiamen the maximum transit time is 72 hours starting at 00:01 on the day following the day of entry, making it effectively more than 72 hours.

 

 

 

We arrived in Guangzhou at 5AM and my Australian wife was using the 72 hour. They counted from 12:01 that morning , not the same day. So they told us. You never know when there are so many different rules in different places.

 

 

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  • 4 months later...

We have returned from a wonderful cruise. I want to thank everyone who offered helpful information.

 

We succeeded in DIY to Hangzhou from Shanghai. It was an expedition. We took a taxi from the ship to the Hongqio? train station. It was a maze inside with nothing in English except for "Information" in the center. Got in the wrong line to buy tickets, but English speaking locals told us where to go. We had everything printed in Chinese, but ended up with round-trip tickets to the wrong train station. (two train stations in Hangzhou) The old station was the one with the tourist sightseeing bus outside. We went anyway to the new station in Hangzhou. Jack loved the high speed train, his only goal. Lunch at McDonalds in the train station. A local boy gave Jack a pie. We gave him a brochure about our home town. Tourist Information told us that the metro would take us to the old train station and the tourist bus. Found the line to the metro ticket machines and chickened out. We were exhausted and decided to wait for the train back to Shanghai. We never left the train station. I was heartbroken, but we did succeed in experiencing the high speed train to Hangzhou and back. Had to wait an hour for a taxi back to the ship. "Mario Andretti' fought the rush hour traffic and had us back to the ship in time for our 5:30 dinner. We spent $96 for the day.

 

A faster way to the train station might have been the metro, if you know how to use it. I wish that we had insisted on changing the "Hangzhou Dong" train tickets for ones to the old train station, where the tourist sightseeing bus was nearby. Not speaking or reading Chinese was our biggest problem. However, we did succeed in riding the high-speed train and returning to the ship.

 

We stayed on ms Volendam to return to Shanghai, when we did take a ship's tour to Suzhou. It was lovely.

 

Barbara

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  • 2 weeks later...

Wow, thanks to everyone for all the great information, especially from Peelboy. Our Ship, Celebrity Millennium will end in Shanghai and we are planning on spending three or four days in Shanghai and do some day trips from there. Want to see

Hangzhou and Suzhou - might even spend a night in Hangzhou. Appreciate all the information. Gives me a good start in my planning.

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Barbara,

What an adventure! You achieved two things, the ride on the high speed train and a story you can tell. With group excursions and group tours, one seldom experiences local culture directly. We've booked the Hangzhou excursion with HAL. After we went through 4 Chinese train stations on our land trip, we felt unprepared for another one completely on our own. :cool:

The modern Shanghai subway was comparatively easy with signs in English and a multiple ride day ticket.

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We also succeeded in returning to the ship in one piece. We have great memories.Saw not a single other American on our adventure. Most Chinese were not able to help us, but the ones who spoke some English were most generous and friendly.

Enjoy your shore excursion to Hangzhou. I still remember reading how much Marco Polo loved the place.

 

Barbara

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Possibly the reason that we were given tickets to the new Hangzhou train station instead of the old station that we wanted, is that more high speed trains go to the new station. Maybe there were no seats left on the trains we wanted in the time frame we wanted?

Possibly buying train tickets online to the station that we wanted would have worked better?? Or been more complicated???

 

Barbara

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No. Not more complicated. The CTrip app is wonderful. You buy the tickets from them and you pick up at the station. No need to speak mandarin. Just show the receipt to anyone info center at a station and they will print them out.

The main subway stations at airports and train stations have a booth that sells day tickets. Very easy to use.

Sorry you didn’t get to see the city.

 

 

 

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I really appreciate all of your good help, JIG.

Jack was thoroughly pleased just getting to ride the High Speed Train. And we have visited two other beautiful water towns, Suzhou and Z . . . Thanks for more precise information.

Barbara

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JIG, you had no way of knowing what I had not shared.

We do not like the price of the ship's shore excursion to Hangzhou, so DH announced, "We could do it ourselves!"

My research has uncovered many, many matters to consider. Yes, we will have Chinese money and Chinese Visas. We know which train station for Shanghai and for Hangzhou, and there is even a tourist bus system that I would not dare step off of in Hangzhou. We do not speak or read Chinese. We know a few words, and I do carry a little translator.

On the other hand, DH flies by the seat of his pants and usually lands on both feet. It could turn out well. Very well.

We watched a couple on U Tube exploring Hangzhou, but they had a car and he knew what he was doing.

I keep hoping to find someone who has actually done this and dealt with all of the many matters that are involved.

Thank you for helping.

 

Barbara

 

Don't worry too much about "stepping off the bus"

The main attraction is the lake and once you get to that as long as you are ok to walk she should easily be able to do it on your own maybe with a write-up about what you are seeing. Honestly I wasn't too impressed with the place. The crowds are oppressive (as in many tourist attractions in China) and honestly it is not strikingly beautiful. I assume you have (or will have) already spent time in Shanghai? I felt about the same of Suzhou though probably found it slightly more interesting if a bit more rundown.

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