Kachjc

Hi

Family is planning a trip to HKG then onwards to Hangzhou then Shanghai and we would like to cover Guangzhou and Shenzhen

we were thinking - use HKG as the base to Hangzhou- train to Shanghai, back to HKG then train to Guangzhou/Shenzhen

is that a smart move? never been to China before so help would be appreciated

percysmith

Off the top of my head:

- If I'm going to CAN/SZX anyway, I rather CAN/SZX-PVG rather than HKG-PVG - more frequencies and lower costs.

- If one way doesn't cost a lot more then consider SZX-PVG and HGH-CAN (or SZX-HGH and PVG-CAN) (sorry I'm really not interested in playing with ctrip.com for a trip that's not my own, and only reluctantly even if it is)

- If you intend to visit Shenzhen then simply enter PRC from the Lowu rail crossing. Or (since Lowu is a zoo a lot of the time) check out China Travel Service's shuttles for cross-border dropoff to your Shenzhen hotel.

- From Guangzhou by far and wide my preferred way of travel is the cross-border train. You leave PRC at Guangzhou East station and enter HK at Hung Hom station so you don't have to alight and cross the border mid-journey. Get the HK-operated train rather than the PRC-operated one (the ones marked "ktt" http://www.it3.mtr.com.hk/B2C/frmSch...sp?strLang=Eng) (newer cars - sorry the High Speed Rail is not available on this line yet, and the PRC trains are getting *very* aged)

Kachjc

thank you so much for your Quick and useful reply- hmm flying intra china is cheaper maybe we should not use HKG then!!- are the flights on time though- cause thats most important -else does not matter frills or no frills

Unterwegs

Depending on your nationality check if you need a multiple entry visa if you enter china more than one.
OW flights in china are relatively inexpensive. I usually book online on elong.com *they have an english website, take credit cards and have a good english speaking customer service.

My suggestion would be: Go from HKG to Shenzhen (easy, take MRT and subway or ferry). Fly SZX to Hangzhou, train to Shanghai, fly to CAN, take the train directly to HKG (or same in opposite direction).

percysmith

Well going into PVG nothing's on time - either from HKG or SZX or CAN.

Other PRC airports are better but not by much.

bg26892

check out spring airlines for intra china. PVG is their hub. And yes be PREPARED for delays!

cxfan1960

The topic is not CX-related. It belongs to TravelBuzz, China or HKG forum. I am moving the thread to the China forum.

cxfan1960
CX Mod

jiejie

You don't say how long you have for this holiday, but that might have bearing on methodologies of train vs plane.

Also, HK is not considered part of China for immigration purposes so unless you have at least a double-entry visa, do not go in and out multiple times. In other words, once you enter the PRC, do all parts of it before returning to HK. This may also be cheaper, as already stated above. Are you trying to hub out of HK on CX to use an airpass or award of some sort?

If I were flying in/out of Hangzhou and Shanghai, my choice would be fly into SHA (Hongqiao) and out of HGH.

Finally, is there some special reason you want to spend time in Guangzhou and Shenzhen (family, business, etc)? If not, these cities are hardly the best uses of China time for most visitors.

frenchie2

Why would you want to zigzag like that? a more straight forward route would be:

HKG cross the boarder to Shenzhen, then onto Guangzhou.
Flight or train from Guangzhou to Hangzhou, then train to Shanghai, then fly back direct from Shanghai to HKG.

Like the previous post said, there isn't much to see in Shenzhen or Guangzhou.

percysmith

"onto Guangzhou" is actually an intercity high-speed rail trip of approx 52 mins on the Guangshen railway, dep Shenzhen Luowu station arr Guangzhou or Guangzhou East station.

Furthermore a PVG-HKG one way is something like HK$1,570 (per priceline.com.hk). Domestic one way can be had for much less.

moondog

Spring charges $46 for PVG-HKG, which is less than any SHA-SZX fares I've seen during the past 5 years.

frenchie2

That's correct. But it will avoid all the zigzags and only require one-entry visa (though two-entry visa costs the same).

moondog

As do multiple entry visas.

percysmith

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i think you mean Us$, the nearest rmb price i see was rmb526. the nearest ctrip price i see is rm600 (CZ).

can give spring a try, but read the TRs on spring here first.

moondog

I've written one, and I don't recall seeing any others. In summary:

-the seats are the most uncomfortable I've ever experienced
-check-in takes far longer than KA (with OW Emerald)
-the cabin crews are really good (they know we are in pain, so they try their best to make us happy)
-they use T1 at Hongqiao, which is simply awesome if you need to go some place on Line 10

But, the main reason to use Spring is because their cheapest PVG-HKG fare honestly is the same price as KA's taxes.