Easy question. Well......should be

[Ricky]

So, Heading to china in march.  Getting the flight squared away.  Going to Changsha.  Did an orbitz search, and i'm not seein a changsha airport.  So.......silly question, but rather important, how do I get there?  Thanks

[Bee964]

Here is a link to the airport codes. Changshas' code is CSX. I hope that this answers your question and enjoy yourself there.

http://www.photius.com/wfb2001/airport_codes_alpha.html#C

Dave C

[Philip]

Hi Ricky,
there is a shuttle bus outside the airport, which takes you to the Aviation hotel, which is close to the main railway station in the centre of Changsha, for about 16 rmb. The alternative is to get a taxi for about 150rmb, or if you are meeting someone from an agency , they may charge 300rmb for a car to a hotel. The airport is roughly 15 miles from the centre of Changsha (I think).
Changsha is a great city. Let us know if you need any more info.

[RobertBfrom aust]

Ricky , Philip answered your question , but in your short note you do not say from where you are flying as it can make big dollars difference in cost verses time travelled , you are hitting Changsha just at the right temp as it gets bloody hot in mid summer , but it is a fun place and watch out because as a foreigner you may have to return to Changsha to get married , regards Sujuan and Robert .

[Ricky]

Ill be flying out of Denver.  Landing in LA to connect for the flight across the water. Bout a grand round trip.  Not even sure how much a wedding in Changsha runs.   But she's hopping for one.  So we will see. :-) I

[auburnkp]

You need to fly into one of the major cities such as Shanghai, Beijing, or Guangzhou. Then transfer to a inter-China airline to fly into Changsha. I looked a Ctrip.com and a round trip flight to Changsha from Shanghai is about 200 rmb in March. Ctrip is a good website to book plane tickets and hotels within China. Usually your sweetheart can help book the hotel room at the best rate. I've noticed that no reservations are usually needed and a person can just walk off the street and get a room. There are hotel rooms all over the place from cheap hotels to more expensive ones. Have a great time!

[auburnkp]

I apologize, it is about 200 rmb each way, not roundtrip.

[Willy The Londoner]

Depends if she is hoping for a wedding or a marriage?

 A marriage will cost a few hundred RMBs at the Changsha marriage bureau.  ( plus about the same amount in candy and cigarettes for the staff there).

A wedding, which can come before or after the official paperwork at the marriage bureau, can cost thousands and thousands of rmb depending on expectations.

Changsha is the place in Hunan Province for foreigners to marry as they have the facilities for marrying foreigners.

Fly into Guangzhou and you can always catch the high speed train to Changsha as an alternative inland travel facility.

Willy

[Ricky]

Oh, I'm pretty sure she is wanting a wedding.  I'm old enough I'm more of marriage kinda Guy.  So,I'm,planning on spending a bit of money.  I've done alot of searching on the internet but I have yet to find any websites for the companies so I,could research on my own.  Kinda frustrating actually.  Looks like I will have to wait til I get there and research in person.

[Peter]

I had a wedding cermony in a restaurant with about 70 guests and I doesn't regret it. For my wife it was a way to get a "Good face" and this is something that is very importat for both you and your wife to have..
Don't forget to have your wedding photos taken by a fotografer. It is a bit expensive but if you go to the big pedestian street in the center there are a lot of companies that offer you help with this. You can't miss them...
For getting the "Red book" we didn't have any celibration at all..

Peter

[Philip]

My wife and I got married last April in Changsha. We spent the few hundred yuan at the marriage office. It was my wife's second marriage. Our priority was to build a solid future for each other. We went to a photographer (Roseclassical, I can give you the address if you like) for some nice wedding photos for 1400 yuan. We spent about the same on a 3-day honeymoon to Zhangjiajie. Then I focussed on getting to Hong Kong, where we now live, providing for her, her two children, who are still in Hunan, and buying some nice jewellery in Hong Kong, when I could afford it. She knows my financial situation, and the fact that we need to save for her visas to come to Hong Kong, her passport, stuff for her children, a trip to England to meet my family in the summer, and her medical bills for a recent operation. She is more money-conscious than I am, and she would always rather walk than spend 1rmb on a bus. So, we haven't gone down the traditional wedding route. The important thing is that we talked honestly about what was important. I don't think she regrets not having a full-blown wedding with a meal and hundreds of people. But, practical person that she is, she accepted the situation and we have had a very happy few months of marriage after our rather low-key wedding.
The best thing you can do is ask your girl what she wants and work out if you can make it happen.

[Arnold]

Ricky , I also think you should wait til you there and both of you should plan getting married ( Red Books ) and the Celebration Party after ( Which you can have when it is best for you ) . I will give you an Idea of what my Celebration has cost me , doing it through a Wedding Co. . This is the best way , as they take care of most everything for you two ... but paying for the Dinner part . On my first Trip in May '08 , we got married and got our Red Books on my second day there . After that we set up our August Wedding Celebration before I left to go back Home . Three months later , I was back and all was taken care off ..  but the money part .
Things went almost 95% smoothly ( the 5% was a personal mishap ) as they took us through it all real professionally . So here is a run-down of what I paid for the Wedding Party of fifty People .


Like I have posted in the other Forum , I spend about $4,000 for our Wedding . 50 people , open Bar , 14 course Meal , wedding company with five people taking care of everything and I mean everything , but the Location you want to have it .
3200 yuan for each table of ten ,times five .
1700 yuan three dresses for Qing and chinese outfit for me .
300 yuan for food for the wedding crew .
900 yuan for wedding candy ,two boxes for each guest .( expansive japanese Chocolate's ) .
5600 yuan for wedding company .
$ 500 dollar's for Qing's Parent's as a Gift .
1700 yuan would have been fior a wedding Car , but we used Qing's brother's BMW .
I think a wedding like this here in LA , would have been between $30,000 to $35,000 dollar's .

[Willy The Londoner]

That was some wedding then Arnold.

Me I did the same as Phillip.  Went to Changsha Spent a few hundred rmb at the official wedding office and about the same amount on Candy and Cigarettes etc.

Cheap to the end that's me - but what can you expect from a couple who are regularly spoken of, derogatorily,  by one person, as a Old Willy and his 'countryside' wife.   

Willy

[Ricky]

Thanks Arnold.  That's a big help.  I was expecting 5k dollars.  So my expectations weren't to far off mark. 

[Martin]

My wedding in Hunan had around 240 people (I think) and cost under $3000 CDN (If I recall).  Like others have said, most of us let the women organize the wedding.  There are wedding shops...kind of a one stop shop for all the wedding needs.