Originally Posted by
adamak
Any idea how much a car /hiring driver will cost? This is not a vacation trip, so dates are relatively fixed, and we will be carrying more luggage than we normally will.
A lot more than public transport. I have no idea about
these guys but you can get the idea--see the section on Intercity Transfers. A bigger problem might be finding an available driver willing to do the trip over Chinese New Year weekend. And I'd expect the roads to be really busy with traffic all the way up to New Year's Eve. Will you be staying at a hotel in Qingdao? If so, you might contact them now, and see if they can scare up a car and driver and what the price would be. If they could luck into a Jinan native heading home anyway, might be able to offer something more reasonable than a commercial car service. Guaranteed point-to-point private travel without dealing with public transport and ticketing uncertainties--especially with a lot of luggage--would certainly be worth paying some sort of premium for over the train or bus tickets.