Need info about travelling to GZ

[mari]

Hi all, I'm planning a trip to Beijing for New Year's Eve, but now my SO told me that maybe he"ll move to GZ before then, it all depends if he gets a transfer from his current company. Í always book my flights with American for the convenience of accumulating mileage, but when I tried GZ as the destination, it shows no flights available on that date. Any suggestions on this matter?

[Guest Long_strider]

Probably the best option is Northwest Airlines who just opened flights to GZ and have been running some specials. Other option is Delta/China Southern (code share). However they are expensive. You might also consider flying into Hong Kong and taking ground transportation to GZ via bus/rail/boat. GZ is about 4 hours from HK. The cost is considerably less to fly into HK, but there is the added hassle from HK to GZ, crossing the border into PRC.

 

long_strider

[nousername]

Yeah, i second Long_strider's advice... NWA is a great option now, but it depends upon your dates of travel.

 

My folks are coming to visit my honey for part of the trip, I got tickets for them for less than $700. But i should mention that my ticket was more than $1200... (this was because the dates were different)

 

Just be flexible with your dates if you want to take advantage of the Northwest special offer. There website has the details.

 

Ryan

[nousername]

I should add that my tickets were from Minneapolis to GZ. The prices are even better from the west coast.

[mari]

Thanks guys, I"ll look into both options. Do I need a visa to Hong Kong? For one thing I don't speak any chinese, do you think it might be a problem to go from HK to PRC using a bus? I'm still not sure if GZ will be the destination, but I want to be prepared in case it is. I don't feel comfortable with going to HK first, as I've never been there, so I need some advice from the experts here.

[turtle]

Ah yes, I was asking the same questions 1 month ago about this. I've been all over northern china, but never to hk or gz, so I was pretty worried. Actually it's quite easy! At the hk airport, there are several booths set up for buses to take you to gz, shenzhen, and other places in china. All I did was go to one of these booths, pay some money (200 hkd for a trip to shenzhen), then they stamped a sticker on my chest and my bag, and loaded me into a car. The car took me to the border crossing, where I just walked though a passport control. On the other side, someone saw my sticker, grabbed me, and put me on the bus to shenzhen. Very easy. No visa for hk needed, btw.

[mari]

Do they speak english in those booths? What's the exchange rate for hkd? Do you know the time they close?

[Jason+Joanna]

I second turtles post. I have been doing the whole fly to Hong Kong, take bus to Shenzhen thing for a few times now. The bus trip will cost $100 HK - $170HK depending on where you want to go.

 

The exchange rate is : $1 = $7HK.

 

They speak prettty good English. The Boths are open while there are buses scheduled. Checkout www.eebus.com for the bus schedule for one of the bus lines there.

[mari]

Thank you so much to all, now I feel more comfortable about travelling to HK. I"ll look for air fares tonight in the web.

[mari]

Anyways, I still would prefer to visit Beijing again, there's so much to see there. And I was hoping to eat that tasty Peking duck again.

[turtle]

Well, actually gz food isn't too shabby. But I'll take Chengdu spicy hotpot over both!

[awch]

Hi mari

actually you probably could still fly into bejing and then buy a seperate ticket to guangzhou on a chinese airline. that is how i flew into my city, it can be a lot cheaper than going to beijing then guangzhou on your originol ticket. check the prices for both. check out the website http://www.flychina.org for info on prices from beijing to guanzhou.

 

amber

[oregonknl]

Hey Mari ~!

 

I've been to HK and GZ many times.. Actually, Hong Kong is sort of like "China lite" --- very civilized and many if not most people speak English --- no problem.

 

But Long_Strider has a great point ---- why go though HK?

 

NorthWest Airlines has expanded to Guangzhou, and are DEEPLY discounting the air fares from the US ---- For instance, Fei has her interview on 12-10, and yesterday I booked a round trip flight from Portland to Guangzhou (with a lay over in Narita) for $590.00 ~! (that is only $90.00 more than her one-way trip on the same flights to the US ~! ) ---God willing!

 

If you do decide to go through HK, TAKE THE DIRECT TRAIN TO G~! (AVOID THE BORDER CROSSINGS !!)

 

--Kim

[mikem]

Thanks guys, I"ll look into both options. Do I need a visa to Hong Kong?  For one thing I don't speak any chinese, do you think it might be a problem to go from HK to PRC using a bus?  I'm still not sure if GZ will be the destination, but I want to be prepared in case it is.  I don't feel comfortable with going to HK first, as I've never been there, so I need some advice from the experts here.

You'll love the security people at the airport there, with sub machine guns!!

I was impressed..

English no problem!! No Visa needed(use to be a British colony) so very westernized..You can stay I believe for Ninety days on your passport..

You do need a VISA for China though. I'm sure you know that.

You can also get a bus(these are the very modern double decker British type they drive on the wrong side of the road there) to Kawloon train station in the center of HK from the airport.. Bus has a display (LED board above driver)in Chinese and English that tells you each stop as you get to it. Kawloon is generally the last stop. Go into train station you will see people there in dark gray uniform they speak English and will escort you to the ticket counter and then show you to the train platform.. Very nice ride of about 45 minutes to Schenzhen.. At the last stop on the train Luwoo or Wuloo I always get reversed,, you cross into mainland China into Schenzen..Carry the phone number to all the different places you want to go to.. ALL Chinese taxi drivers have Cell phones(along with everyone else in China).. So even though you do not speak the langauge show the phone number they will call and take you to where ever you need to go. You can get a ride in Chinese cab which is a modern car(a little on the small side) for about $1.25/1.50 to just about anywhere.. However you can hire the driver to take you to GZ just ask. And negotiate a price if they say 500 ren min bi (the peoples money)offer 400 about 35.00 this is normal to negotiate for everthing I do not know ther current rate for taxi to go there but they are very competitive and it will be like your own privite driver. AND they do not understand TIPs.

I have flow into HK on Cathay Pacific, sometime they run speacials.

Keep in mind the Lunar New year is coming up in January and seats are tight as everyone wants to get home for the month long holiday..I believe my SO told me it is Feb 2 this coming year.

Do not worry its real easy to get around get the phone numbers you need hotel etc most speak English in there too. Relax and enjoy the experiance you will be pleasantly surprised. China is very safe to travel in, in my many trips there never had or saw a problem.