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Part 1: Introduction
Overview and
overall impression
China is currently a country with a very dynamic economy going through
a high growth phase. The country in on track to becoming the next
economic superpower. At the same time China has a big pollution
problem, with heavily polluted skies. The situation is very bad
especially in the centre and east of the country, while it is
acceptable in the west. China has a huge number of interesting sights,
both historic, cultural and natural sites. Overall the Chinese people
are hard working, efficient and honest, but sometimes need to improve
their manners (they are unable to queue up for instance).
This trip has has been possible due to the availability of cheap
flights within China,
bookable on short notice. In Europe flights are more expensive and if
you book them on short notice, you have to purchase a business class
ticket.
Pre-departure
plan
This is the pre-departure plan for the overall
trip:
Sep 29
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MUC-BKK |
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Sep 30
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BKK - Guangzhou
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Arrive in Guangzhou at 7:15pm; find hotel and
take a rest
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Oct 1
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Guangzhou - Shenzhen by bus
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Arrive in Shenzhen by noon with the express bus;
explore Shenzhen
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Oct 2
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Shenzhen-Urumqi
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Flight CZ6882 15:40-22:15
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Oct 3
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Urumqi-Turpan-Urumqi |
by private car
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Oct 4
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Urumqi-Kashgar
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Flight CZ6813 19:05-20:40; spend day
exploring Urumqi
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Oct 5
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Kashgar |
Explore Kashgar
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Oct 6
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Kashgar-Karakul
lake-Kashgar -Urumqi |
By private car to the Karakul lake; back to
Kashgar; Flight CZ6802 23:10-00:45 to Urumqi; option to
spend one more day in Xinjiang by spending the night at the Karakul lake
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Oct 7
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Urumqi-Chongqing
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Flight CZ6949 09:20-12:45 to Chongqing;
Chongqing sightseeing; maybe take a later flight arriving in Chongqing
in the evening |
Oct 8
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Chongqing to Yichang |
Flight 3U8721 10:15-11:05 to Yichang; visit the
Three Gorges dam (option to spend one more day in Chongqing) |
Oct 9
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Yichang-Wuhan
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By bus or train? perhaps skip Wuhan??
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Oct 10
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Wuhan |
Wuhan sightseeing
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Oct 11
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Wuhan - Nanjing
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By plane? Explore Nanjing
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Oct 12
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Nanjing
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Explore Nanjing
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Oct 13
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nanjing - suzhou -
zhouzhuang - nanjing - shanghai
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Do everything in one day with a private car.
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Oct 14
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Visit Hangzhou?
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Oct 15
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Shanghai - Qingdao?
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Does it make sense to visit Qingdao or would it
be better to invest the time visiting the Huangshan mountains?
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Oct 16
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Qingdao-Shenyang
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By plane; explore Shenyang
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Oct 17
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Shenyang - Dalian?
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Oct 18
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?
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Oct 19
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?
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Oct 20
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Beijing
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Oct 21
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Beijing - Bangkok
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Flight TG615 17:25-21:10
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Oct 22
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BKK-MUC |
Flight TG924 12:50-19:10
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The trip is ambitious, but doable. In the end however I end up skipping
a number of locations and modify the itinerary.
Costs
While the strong Euro made the trip more affordable, this was in not a
low cost journey, mainly because of the large distance I covered and
because the standard of living in China is rapidly rising. Costs
in the cities in the developed east and south of the country are higher
than in the rest of the country.
Hotels in China are good value if compared to hotels in Europe, with
four star rooms available for 200-600 yuan depending on the location.
Flights are cheap and cost around 1 yuan/km or less. While it is
possible to have a meal in some places for less than 10 yuan, most of
the time you will spend in the 20-50 yuan range for a meal. Taxi trips
in major cities are cheap, costing around 5 - 15 yuan for a short trip
(up to 3km).
Money
/ Exchange rate (October 2006)
1 Euro = 10.1 yuan; largest note is 100 yuan.
For current
exchange rates
check
the Universal Currency Converter.
It's easy to get cash with a Maestro/Cirrus ATM card all over China,
except in Xinjiang, where you (October 2006) can only get cash from
ATMs with a credit card and PIN number in Urumqi (Bank of China). But
you can always get a credit card cash advance in branches of the Bank
of China.
Mobile
phones and prepaid cards
Prepaid cards (GSM) are available everywhere, and can be bought without
showing a passport or ID card. Costs have come down recently and it is
no longer necessary to pay 100 yuan only for the telephone number (part
of these 100 yuan can be used for calls). The network of China Mobile
is very good and there is coverage almost everywhere. International
calls cost 8 yuan/minute and you have to pay 1 yuan/minute for incoming
calls if you are outside your home city (where you bought the prepaid
card).
Internet
access
While Internet cafes are everywhere, I mostly relied on hotel rooms
with fast Internet lines. Well, sort of fast and actually painfully
slow sometimes, as some hotels probably share a dialup line among all
rooms. Where the hotel rooms had no Internet line I used to connect via
dialup (telephone number, used id and password are all "16300"). This
ISP did not work in Qingdao and Dalian.
Weather
October is overall the best month to visit China, as it is no longer
hot, still not cold and the weather is stable. During these three weeks
it only rained once in Dalian and on the day I left in Beijing.
Health /
Vaccinations
I didn't do any additional vaccinations, relying on the immunity gained
from the vaccinations in the past years. Overall China is a quite safe
country (which does however not mean that you don't have to refreshen
your vaccinations).
VISA / Entry
requirements
A valid VISA is required for nationals of most countries.
Security
The country overall is very safe, as Chinese people are very honest. I
felt a bit unsafe in Urumqi (Xinjiang) on an evening when suddenly
heavily armed Chinese police forces showed up on the square.
Getting
around
I covered the large distances with flights - cheap
and easily bookable on short notice everywhere in China. Chinese
airlines mainly use e-tickets, which reduces the costs. There is a
discont system: for each flight there is a list price on which
discounts are applied (up to 65%) which depend on the time of the day.
Train tickets are easily bookable. Simply buy the ticket at the train
station. The same holds for long distance bus tickets, also easily
bookable. The road infrastructure is good, allowing you to travel
around fast.
Taxis are cheap and should be used to travel around in cities. A
car+driver can be rented for around 400 yuan/day.
Copyright 2006
Alfred
Molon
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