China Romance
General Discussion and Useful Links => Newbies Corner => Topic started by: brett on August 21, 2009, 04:21:39 am
-
Hi all,
I'm starting to plan a trip to China. My lady lives in Hubei province, which is more or less in the middle of China.
I was wondering if you guys have any tips as to what the best airport is to fly into if you need to get a connecting flight?
I think Yichang Sanxia Airport is about 2 hours from Shanghai (but uses a different airport), Beijing and Guangzhou.
I'd really love to visit Xi'an as well, but again there don't seem to be any direct flight from the UK.
Also does anyone have a recommended travel agent who can book flights and hotels? I usually use Expedia but they don't seem to know where Yichang is. Should I use one of the agencies in London's Chinatown? Or is there somewhere else that is good?
Cheers!
-
Brett,
There are virtually no direct foreign international flights into China apart from Shanghai and Beijing. If there are , they would be from close-by Asian countries that China has ties or agreements with, like Malaysia, Japan, Philippines etc. So unfortunately you will have to fly into one of those two international airports in China or to Hong Kong, for any onward flights within China's interior.....
-
Hi Brett.
I flew with Air China, direct from Heathrow to Beijing. I went straight to their website and got a ticket for £360 all inclusive (no extra charges) and booked it only two months before my travel date. I believe they also do connecting flights from Beijing to all over China, so you can book it all in one go. Also, there is the new high speed train (like the Japanese bullet train) I took it from Baoding (hebei) to Beijing west train station, 300km in 40 mins! very roomy, there was much more legroom than on the plane. (i'm 6'4) Air con and comfy. i'm pretty sure it goes to Hubei, but don't know about the town you need to get to. It could be worth looking into, as you will see more of the country than looking out of the plane window.
Andy
-
Out of Singapore, Tiger Airlines (the China arm of Singapore Airlines) does flights to dozens of Chinese Cities....velly cheap too !!
DavidE
-
Brett
you should base your journey on going through Hong Kong. There are so many flights every day from London - Hong Kong you will probably pick up a few bargains. The onward flight is likely to be more expensive than the 6000 k flight from London. So shop around. I usually go by Qater and change flights in Doha as it is cheapest to Hong Kong
Willy
-
Qatar Airways also flies from London to Guangzhou via Doha
-
Thanks all.
My lady has agreed to meet me in Guangzhou which is great as Expedia can be used for flights and hotels. You can also fly there from a few European cities like Paris, although unfortunately not from the UK.
-
Brett,
That's good news if you can Fly to other Cities in China apart from Beijing and Shanghai from Europe. This must of changed a bit, and China's opening up even more.
Well Paris shouldn't be much of a problem for you, but i'd still hunt around, for cheapo tickets. At the right time of year and on the right airline you can get some fantastic deals out to China and Hong Kong....
David....
-
Yes it's good that you can fly to Guangzhou from Europe, the good thing about that is that the flight times are usually quite shorter than changing in the middle east or somewhere else in Asia.
I wish you could fly directly to Xi'an or somewhere in Northern China though, it would be more convenient than having to fly all the way to Hong Kong then back again.
I'm not too worried about flight costs, as I went to Japan last year, and a holiday in China is much cheaper! If you have to change planes in Europe the flights are usually quite cheap anyway.
I think I will book a good ***** hotel to help impress my lady, but there are some extremely cheap ** hotels on Expedia, although I don't know what sort of crazy experience you would get in a ** rated chinese hotel lol :icon_cool:.
-
Brett,
If this is the first time your going to meet your Lady, get her to book the hotel for you, you'll get it much cheaper than from any agency on the net. The other thing, ... don't try to impress too much, they may well get the idea that your wealthy, and that can/will cause you big big problems later on!! Get her to book a 4star hotel maybe, ...just depends on the comfort level you want while your there. There's not an awful lot of difference between a 4 and 5 star, but the costs can be substantial, even for that cup of coffee in the lounge haha!
There is no comparison between costing of holidays in Japan and in China. Japan has to be one of the most expensive place's to stay as far as hotel accommodation is conserned ....in fact everything else too, when i come to think about it!! ...hahaha!!
David.....
-
There is no comparison between costing of holidays in Japan and in China. Japan has to be one of the most expensive place's to stay as far as hotel accommodation is conserned ....in fact everything else too, when i come to think about it!! ...hahaha!!
David.....
Trust you to bring the price of dumplings in it David.
Willy
-
Willy,
Trust me, i'm not a dumplings man, .... well not of the edible kind anyway!!
David....
-
Actually, I found Tokyo hotels pretty cheap, but then I base that on London hotel prices, which are outrageous for what you get.
Decent Tokyo salaryman hotels are generally < £50 a night on Expedia, which is expensive for Asia, but cheap by European standards. Once there you can survive on very cheap food in stations (well provided you can read the vending machines or find a place with plastic food models in the window) and travel is also cheap - I went from Shibuya to Mount Takao (distance roughly equal from London to Brighton) and it cost about £1.50.
-
Brett,
That wasn't my experience when i was in and out of Tokyo, i remember the train ride from the airport being something totally ridiculous, and virtually everything i bought was also expensive (i was very thankful i was on an expense account in Japan). Maybe i had been spoilt too much by other countries in Asia!!...haha!! But i do remember the hotels where i stayed ( company policy for my seniority was 4 star) being hyper expensive, but the company paid, so i wasn't that bothered...
David....
-
Hmm, maybe you were scammed on the train ticket? It costs around £14 on the non-stop N'EX train, a veritable bargain compared to the Heathrow Express.
Yes the 4 star hotels are expensive (like the place featured in Lost in Translation) but I stayed at the Shinagawa Prince Hotel, which had perfectly decent rooms with LCD tellys, big double beds, electric toilets and a teeny bath. And if that wasn't enough the hotel also has an aquarium lol :s.
But I do know that people on company expense accounts see a totally different city whereever they go - my brother in law went to Hong Kong on business and remarked how expensive the place was, whereas I thought it was incredibly cheap. Mind you, he did stay in the Conrad and dined in fabulous restaurants, whereas I did most of my food shopping in 7-11's :icon_cheesygrin:.
-
Brett,
Be careful about going overboard with spending. You will find that you lady and her family regardless of there staus in life will be more impressed with someone who knows how to save money rather than spalsh out on un needed items and services. They will not think that you are well off. They will think of the old maxim 'a fool and his money etc' Show prudence and you will win the day.
If you do not believe me then go to any big supermarket in China and watch even the best dressed women search out each individual tomato, each grape even , to ensure they are perfect and one will not be wasted.
Willy
-
Brett,
I lived in Hong Kong, for just over 3 years, ..yes it's pretty much a cheap place to live and work. The one area of being Expensive, is ''property'' which in turn reflect downwards thru to rental and hotel room tariffs. They are in most cases much more expensive than the rest of neighbouring Asia, yes you can get cheaper rooms, but they were generally not in the best of areas etc... The general standard of most of the available better hotels were 3 stars and above. I can still remember the rental cost of my 3 bed apartment in Yau Yat Chuen garden city, to my company from that time in the late 80's, early 90's as being 19000 hk dollars a month, which was then around 10 hk to 1gbp so around 1900 gbp. what that cost would be now?? ...god only knows ...hahaha!! When i couldn't be bothered to cook at home, i used to frequent my local Spaghetti House outlet, great Spaggetti and Pizza's and other Italian fare...
But at that time, you could clothe yourself for a year, for around 150 gbp, at the fabulous markets, and it would be all good clobber. ...haha!! I used to take advantage of the factory outlets too, in and around Lai Chi Kok too, getting huge savings on top designer clothes. ...Alas most of those factories have now moved operations to mainland China now.
Hahaha, ... you just brought back a lot of memories there Brett. ...lol!!
Oh, one more thing, it wasn't Nerita i used to fly into, for Tokyo, it was the other one!! ...If anyone was scammed it was the company, My travel arrangements were all pre-arranged and pre-paid, i just looked at the price on the train tickets... haha!!
David....
-
David5o, if you flew into Haneda rather than Narita then you probably paid more. I've heard that flights from other Asian countries to Japan are expensive though.
Willy - I'm quite thrifty so I will think of ways to make this show. I'm aiming for thoughtful gifts rather than expensive gifts. And I'll stay in a 3 star hotel in Guangzhou and take the subway to the agency, that way I'll have enough money left to get ripped off by taxi drivers, translators etc.
I've also bought a lovely top notch new camera for the trip, but I'll buy my SD cards on eBay for peanuts lol.
-
Hello Brett ,
I have just read your post , maybe it is a little late to give you a reply ,because other brothers told you more ideas here . yes, I am gald you have already found the flights to Guangzhou and the hotels there , if you meet any other questions about the domestic flights or hotels in China , I would love to give you my help as I can . Wish you have a nice trip !
-
Hi Mr. Knot. I need to apply for my visa first so I haven't booked anything up yet.
If you have any tips for flights and hotels in Guangzhou then let me know. I'm intending to go there in early October.
I'd be interested in knowing what the best flight is from Heathrow (i.e. where to change planes for Guangzhou).
Also let me know if you have any hotel tips.
I'll be booking this trip on Expedia, but when I'm more familiar with my lady I'll maybe let her book something for subsequent visits.
-
Hi Mr. Knot. I need to apply for my visa first so I haven't booked anything up yet.
If you have any tips for flights and hotels in Guangzhou then let me know. I'm intending to go there in early October.
I'd be interested in knowing what the best flight is from Heathrow (i.e. where to change planes for Guangzhou).
Also let me know if you have any hotel tips.
I'll be booking this trip on Expedia, but when I'm more familiar with my lady I'll maybe let her book something for subsequent visits.
Hello Brett
Firstly you can compare the cost and time of the flight from Heathrow to Beijing ,Shanghai and Guangzhou , then you can decide which international flight you will take . As for the internal flight and hotels here , yes, I would love to help you find the economical ones for you . But you need to make sure which international flight you want to take , if you want to land in Yichang airport finally , it will be flexible for you to choose the international flight . And you don't need to ask your lady to meet you in Guangzhou , I think you can ask her to wait for you in Yichang . I want to know is it necessary for you to land in Guangzhou firstly ? Anyway , wait for your news and I will do my best to help you .
-
Bit of topic but its really nice to see Chinese knot is one of the good guys so willing to help good on you mate.
-
Well we were going to meet in Guangzhou as her agency is there. I have since found out that her English is better than expected, so we don't really need a translator after all. But I think I would like to visit the agency anyway in case we decide to progress things, it's good to put names to faces there.
I think it is good to spend a couple of days in Guangzhou anyway as getting 3 flights in a row is too much. It's my first visit to China, and I'd rather visit a Westerner friendly place like Guangzhou first rather than go straight to the country's interior.
Fortunately I have no money worries so I'm not worried where I fly to. But Guangzhou is a pretty cheap destination.
-
Well we were going to meet in Guangzhou as her agency is there. I have since found out that her English is better than expected, so we don't really need a translator after all. But I think I would like to visit the agency anyway in case we decide to progress things, it's good to put names to faces there.
I think it is good to spend a couple of days in Guangzhou anyway as getting 3 flights in a row is too much. It's my first visit to China, and I'd rather visit a Westerner friendly place like Guangzhou first rather than go straight to the country's interior.
Fortunately I have no money worries so I'm not worried where I fly to. But Guangzhou is a pretty cheap destination.
Hello Brett
Very glad to know your lady can speak better English , that is good for your relationship , after all , communication is very important for the two people . Truly speaking , Guangzhou is a large city , if you like , you can spend more time there . But I suggest you make a tentative plan for your trip , that will be more useful . Apart from Guangzhou , Beijing and Shanghai are also international cities where there are a lot of foreigners work and live , as for as I know ,more and more foreigners choose to live and work in China , some of them even doing business here for many years . So Brett , please don't worry about the places where you want to go , you will be safe as long as you abide by the local laws , hehe Well, now if you still want to land in Guangzhou first and want to find the hotels and flights information , please send me a message anytime , I will do my best to help you . Wish you have a nice time !
-
I'll be heading Guangzhou (Zhuhai) too at some point, probably March (penciled in a this stage).