Hello fellow budget travellers...

I was wondering if some of you were able to tell me the cheapest way how to get from China to Korea, ICN preferably. I have been seeing prices around ~350 euros (475 USD) for one ways from PEK or PVG to ICN for May next year (its far away I know..research never hurts! :D)

I am unable to check the Chinese websites due to my lack of Chinese... and the English versions of the sites just dont/wont do it.

Has anyone here got any ball park figures or knows of the best way to book something? I would just like to know the cheapest... I cant swim that far either..and I cant flap my arms fast enough... so.. dont bother typing those suggestions either ;)

For trips originating China, you can try the websites of ctrip (http://english.ctrip.com/) and elong (www.elong.net). These websites are in English, but not perfectly user-friendly; however, the prices are a lot lower than what you were quoted. Prices generally tend to be lowest just a few weeks before departure, so don't book way ahead.

You might want to look into crossing by ship instead of by air. For example, there are ferries from Tianjin (near Beijing) to Incheon. They take ~24 hours, but the prices are quite cheap, especially if you're willing to slum it without a cabin. Some pointers:

http://wikitravel.org/en/South_Korea#By_boat

Seconding that you don't want to buy your tickets until a couple weeks ahead. The pricing in China works differently and there are often very good last minute deals.

Also, the ferry is an option as mentioned above. I believe there are also ferries from Yantai and Qingdao in Shandong.