Originally Posted by
moondog
This idea did cross my mind (I think there G trains from Shanghai Stn to Nanjing Stn, as well). However, upon further reflection, NJ South is admittedly a nicer place than NJ Station. In any event, I'm liking this fly in from NRT more and more; I've had good luck getting airlines to comp hotels on forced overnights there, and Narita is an okay enough place to spend an evening.
Anytime the Chinese destination is served directly by an international flight, that's my first option as well unless price-prohibitive. Having to not deal with immigration/Customs and the domestic air connection shuffle and air traffic delays (especially at the usual suspects PEK, PVG, CAN) is worth some sort of premium for time and convenience, surely. I'm surprised at how many secondary inland cities like Chengdu, Changsha, Wuhan, Nanjing, etc. can be directly accessed from Japan or Korea on nonstops.