Great! There'll be three of us (you, chchkiwi and myself) at Le Meridien at the start. ^ We could organise something for 10th if you like.

According to what I've read in the China visas thread, a one-year multiple entry visa for US citizens seems to be standard. Unfortunately UK isn't such a favoured nation. A double-entry visa at least only costs 50% more and I'll save on the service charge and shipping.

I was also undecided about the Flight Training Facility tour but thought we would get to see something ordinary tourists don't see.

Update: My visa status has now been upgraded to
Package released to courier company or postal service!

Update 2: Saturday morning - got my passport back with a double-entry visa valid till April 2012! ^

Who is Attending Dinner Saturday Night
 

The following folks have indicated that they will be attending Dinner on Saturday 12 November at Di Shui Dong

Count me in for the dinner!

I see from the first post that the tour of Shanghai has moved from Friday to Sunday.

That is true. Unfortunately bschaff1 is not getting in until sometime on Friday and not available to lead the herd until Sunday. If someone else is interested in taking the ball for Friday we are certainly open to any help or suggestions.

Well, there are the Chinese tour buses that leave from the stadium for day trips to various water cities and things. I was thinking of such a trip on Sat or Sun, but haven't any leadership skills. Below are some interesting and cheap ones that probably won't overlap Brad's Sunday tour.
http://www.travelchinaguide.com/city...n/town-bus.htm scroll down to Tourist Bus Lines. There is a description after each tour that tells what you will see.

Tourist Bus Lines
The ten tourist bus lines all start at Shanghai Stadium and cover almost all of the famous attractions in the city center, the suburbs and those in neighboring areas. Each tourist line represents an option for a one-day tour. Schedules can be arranged in accordance with the timetable information on the ten lines given below:

Tourist Line 1
Bound for attractions in Songjiang District in a southwest suburb of Shanghai.

Frequency: every 20 - 40 minutes
Price: CNY2 - 8
Tel: 021- 64265987

Tourist Line 2
Runs between Shanghai Stadium and Huinan Town of Pudong New Area.

Frequency: every 15 - 20 minutes
Price: CNY2 – 12
Tel: 021-62701674, 021-64265986

Tourist Line 3
Terminates at the Huaxia Beach Tourist Area in Shanghai's east Pudong New District. This route takes in many of the modern sights such as the Lujiazui Finance and Trade Center, the Oriental Pearl TV Tower, the Jinmao Tower and the Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park.

Frequency: every hour
Price: CNY2 - 12
Tel: 021-64648536

Tourist Line 4
Operates between Shanghai Stadium and the Grand View Garden in the southwest Qingpu District, covering numerous places of interest in Qingpu, including the famous Zhujiajiao Ancient Water Town.

Frequency: every 30 - 60 minutes
Price: CNY2 - 16
Tel: 021-64265991, 021-56052581

Tourist Line 5
Runs between Shanghai Stadium and Dongping National Forest Park in Chongming County, the largest offshore island in Shanghai. The tourist bus need to be transported by a ferryboat operating between Baoyang Port on the mainland and Nanmen Port in Chongming. The ferryboat departs from Baoyang Port at 8:30, 9:00, 13:00, 16:45, and 17:00.

Frequency: every 40 - 90 minutes
Price: CNY2 - 12
Tel: 021-64265989

Tourist Line 6
Operates from Shanghai Stadium to attractions in the western Jiading District.

Frequency: every 45 minutes
Price: CNY2 - 10
Tel: 021-64265990

Please count me in for dinner too. :)

My visa is currently in the hands of www.mychinavisa.com . I have requested multiple entry, 12 months. :)

Printable taxi directions (in Chinese) to Saturday dinner at Di Shui Dong. Includes map.

I'm very impressed, lili. Chinese characters too. :) I note this is in the French Concession, close to the Shaanxi Nan Lu subway station.

That should not be a problem. In the US they seem to issue the visas valid for 1-year with MULTIPLE entries; EVEN IF YOU DID NOT REQUEST IT :)

At the iTunes App store for your iPhone: DianHua translator for Pinyin, Traditional, Simplified, English. You can set up flash cards of your choice: (grape, as opposed to chrysanthemum) wine, bathroom, French fries, pizza, Kentucky Fried Chicken, and it's free.

Sadly Bu jian jiao or Bu la are going to be my phrases of the week. Can someone advise if that really means no chili pepper and no hot pepper? I am a wimp, planning to survive on rice, beer and great companionship.

Also note the restaurant is on the second floor :)

Here's the restaurant's website. They have three branches and this is the one we are going to. ;)

http://www.diston.cn/showcontent.asp?id=14

And some of their specialities.

http://www.diston.cn/dish.asp

I'm in for Saturday dinner.

I don't know what the first phrase means - it might mean
"not seeing pockets" or something. "Bu la" means "not hot,"
so that could be handy. "Bu yao la" would mean "don't want
hot." "Bu yao la jiao" would mean "no hot pepper." I'm sure
there are a lot of folks more Chinese than I who could help
(after all, I'm only somewhat Chinese).

I plan to attend the dinner on Saturday.

For that matter, my intention is to attend all scheduled activities.

Knowing you, you might want to remember Wo (bu) xihuan chi yu which means "I (don't) like to eat fish" or you might try "Wo bu yao la de cai which means " I don't want anything Spicy". Now I am not going to guarantee what they consider not spicy vice us :)

I will also be attending dinner on Saturday night. I did a Google translation of the menu - "acid beans mess" sounds interesting!

Seriously though, the food looks terrific.

The following is a description of the restaurant, per Google translation -

Maoming South Road

Author: diston Add time :2008-9-19 Visit: 139




A very modest signs hanging in the street, a turn into the stairs, started feeling a little unique: "earth"; and then further to go, the more "soil": the yellow brick walls, with eaves hanging wall, directly on the You can see the kind of brick, which is probably not rare in Shanghai, but unique; blue plaid printed fabric tablecloths, blue cloth surface bench, sit soft honking, wood window lattice, deep roof is dark, more show off more and more bright chandeliers, the restaurant has four large central concrete pillars, such as pepper and hung like a large straw basket, quite game and return to nature feeling.

Address: 56 Maoming Road South, 2nd Floor (near Changle Road)

Tel :021 -62,532,689




Original Text:一个非常不起眼的招牌挂在路边，一拐进楼梯，开始有点独特的感觉：“土”；再往里走，越发“土” ：黄色砖瓦的墙，带屋檐的吊壁，直接就可以看见砖瓦的那种，这在上海恐怕不是极为少见，而是绝无仅有；蓝印 格子花布的桌布，蓝印花布面的凳子，坐上去软乎乎的，木头的窗格子，屋顶深处是一片漆黑，越是衬出吊灯越发 的明亮，餐厅中央有4根大的水泥柱子，挂有诸如辣椒和大之类的草编的篮子，颇有野味和回归自然 的感觉。


Just not sure about sit soft honking....

It's my problem, not theirs. I just wish they didn't consider shrimp a vegetable :eek:

Rice will keep me alive, although I've heard it's not a staple in Shanghai. Spicy - again my problem, not theirs. I'll be fine. Looking forward to the trip!

I+1 are likely to show for dinner.

I'd be up for this. We tried to do this on my trip last spring but failed (for our own reasons). At least I know how to get to the bus station now :)

Not true for the NY consulate :( 6 month double entry max for your first one.

Guess I was lucky by going to the Embassy in DC. :)

I may or some of my friends may join in for the tour. How certain do the organizers need us to be? We will not be joining in for any of the meals.

May I suggest going to the Acrobatic show? I've been and it is quiet amazing and very cultural.

Heads up: Air China considers beef a vegetable in its business class domestic meals.

We have to give the folks at China Eastern Training Facility a firm count no later than 1 November.

Update on China Eastern Flight Training Facility Tour
 

First and foremost, for those of you who have not yet responded with your intensions whether or not to attend -We need to provide them with a final firm count no later than 1 November

Secondly, we do have the opportunity to give them some special requests. So please take a look at their website (http://www.ceaftc.com/CeaftcWeb/Intr...nyInfo_En.aspx) and if you have any specific requests please let us know.

Please add us to the China Do
 

Spaceman:

Please add myself + 1 for the weekend.
We intend to do all the activities.

I will pm our flight schedule to you shortly.

Thanks in advance.

Since gvdIAD mentioned a day trip to Suzhou upthread I've been looking up the place on the web and am quite interested. Shanghai to Suzhou is only 25-35 mins by train. Then I found this thread in the China forum which made me think a day trip by train wasn't a good idea.
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/china...-purchase.html

But I jumped to the end of the thread and found that rail tickets for bullet trains (which serve between Shanghai and Suzhou) can now be booked online and it seems possible to get the hotel to book a ticket if they have a copy of your passport as ID.

I've checked the booking website 12306.cn where I found the timetable (I can recognise enough Chinese characters to know I want a train from 上海 to 苏州. :)) A question to China experts is if they think this will work?

I'm not volunteering to lead but I wonder if anyone else is interested in a day trip to Suzhou on Friday and possibly getting lost together? ;)

Some of lili's bus tours also sound interesting but information is a little sketchy, e.g. duration of the tour. Some may be quite short (if not stuck in traffic!) but some may be a whole-day tour.

Right behind you Newbie!

Spaceman and I have been talking about talking a half-day, full-day, bus tour to the famous Zhujiajiao Ancient Water Town. on Friday. Yes, it has become an ancient tourist town, but I am an ancient tourist. It’s also the closest water town to Shanghai.

Definitely a no-host adventure, just show up at the meeting point or bus station, get on the bus, and like a band of gypsies we go down the highway. RT Express bus is 24 CNY.

Admission fee toZhujizjizo attractions:
1. CNY 80 for cruise boat and nine scenic spots (including Tongtianhe Medicine Shop, Qing Dynasty Post Office, City God Temple, Yanyi Hall, Shanghai Handwork Exhibition Hall, Imperial Academy Stele Museum, Shanghai Quanhua Art Hall, Yuanjin Meditation Room and Kezhi Garden)
2. CNY 60 for eight scenic spots (including Tongtianhe Medicine Shop, Qing Dynasty Post Office, Yanyi Hall, City God Temple, Yuanjin Meditation Room, Shanghai Handwork Exhibition Hall, Shanghai Quanhua Art Hall and Kezhi Garden)
3. CNY 30 for four scenic spots (including Tongtianhe Medicine Shop, Qing Dynasty Post Office, Yuanjin Meditation Room and Kezhi Garden)
4. English-speaking tour guide available 3 hours 100 CNY.

So a full-day adventure for between $4 and $32 USD plus lunch, beer and shopping.

There are two bus routes to Zhujiajiao, one departs from the bus plaza at the stadium and takes 2 hours and a transfer and continues on to other places. The other is Huzhu Express Line at People's Square Pu'an Road Jinling Road and arrive in Zhujiajiao one hour later. There is a bus every half an hour.terminating at Zujianiao, slightly reducing the chance of getting lost.

If anybody is interested, PM me or post here and I will get firm information and arrange a meeting spot. Keep in mind I got this information from the internet, so it is true and accurate.:) I plan to back it up with the concierge at Le Royal Meridien. Also be aware this is a group project – I’m just looking for company and somebody to keep me from being more lost than usual.

Please speak up if you are local, have tried this before, or have information that will keep us from making silly mistakes.

If you prefer luxury, enforced stops at tourist shops, and hand-holding, try this day trip: http://www.chinatourbuilder.com/tour...out.php?id=410.

Only the sunday activities would be suitable for me and my friends.

Some comments on tripadvisor about Shanghai Tourist Bus Lines. I wonder if these tours mostly cater for Chinese tourists.

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic...-Shanghai.html

http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowTop...-Shanghai.html

Where did you find anything about a transfer necessary on this run? According to the travelchinaguide.com it is direct and this seems to agree with what in the Frommer's Shanghai day by day

Not sure about the transfer but here are the description on http://www.travelchinaguide.com/city...n/town-bus.htm

Zhujiajiao is a stop and the bus goes on to the Grand View Garden.

Of the two, the bus departing from People's Square Pu'an Road sounds more attractive. I've found this photo blog (in Japanese) by someone who took the tour a year ago. It was on Saturday and after waiting for 1.5 hr at the stadium they decided to take a taxi to Zhujiajiao instead. They took the Huzhu Express bus back to Shanghai. You can see the pink bus if you scroll down.

http://4travel.jp/traveler/chizuka/album/10516068/

It's on the Wikitravel link I posted, along with other sites. (Scroll down to Get In / By Bus. It doesn't mention the transfer, but my friend did and I saw that somewhere else I think.

There is a transfer with the buses going from the Stadium. My friend and some others were dumped on the side of the road by the driver after his ticket was checked. New bus came along and took them to Zhunjiajiao. He was a bit stunned and had no idea what was happening, but it all worked out well. It's a two hour trip, and there is one bus going in the morning and one in the afternoon. Not something I want to do.

The Express bus from near People's Square runs every half hour, and is an express. That's the one to take. BTW, there aren't tours exactly. The bus (either one) gets you there, then you go to tourist office to arrange tours locally if that's what you want. You will have to pay something to see the sights like temples etc. There are also regular tour companies that shuttle you around for larger costs.

Any info on how often the trains run? I'd really be up for a more flexible schedule, like the Express bus or the train. That also means you don't have to take a bus to the Stadium. However, the buses from the stadium are cheaper than the Express bus - probably because they make more stops. They are listed at 2 CNY and up, and the Express bus is 12 CNY, obviously a first class kind of ride rather than economy!

Yes, the Express bus (it IS pink!) is the way to go from what I've read. It's Option 3 on the TravelChina page http://www.travelchinaguide.com/attr...zhujiajiao.htm as well as mentioned as the best way on Wikitravel.

Whatever, however, let's do it! I suggest train or pink express bus and forget the ones from the stadium.

I have to agree with you that we would probably be a lot better off using the Express bus (2USD should not break anyone) and sure don't need to spend 2-hours each way sightseeing when I would have no idea what I was looking at. And besides which if you fall asleep on the ride your stop is the end of the line in both directions.

Wikitravel also has a great info page on Shanghai http://wikitravel.org/en/Shanghai

Sounds like some good extra activities are being planned!

Unless something unexpected happens, you can count on my participation.

I'm new here, but this sure sounds like fun. I'll keep my eye on the dates.

A Wave from SF...
 

Sorry to miss the China DO. -- We returned from a cruise in Europe on 10/2. While catching up with the mail and chores, family issues have cropped up that need hands on attention. --Fortunately, I had not gone ahead with a visa request. ==Will be content with reading about other FTers' adventures.:)

I went to Zhujiajiao last year, it's a cute place, a little touristy but cute. The tourist buses don't include any kind of tour just transportation. You can walk around the place on your own if you like and you'll be fine, there's enough English signage and you can walk the whole thing in less than an hour not counting stopping at any sites. If you decide you do want a guide, you can always go back to the entrance to get one.

If you do want to go to Suzhou or other places by train, your hotel will usually get the tickets for you for a nominal fee. If they won't, there are lots of little agencies that will do it for you, your hotel can write down what you want. Though you might want to do it a day or two in advance.

China-wide ground pork is a spice, therefore a vegetable.

Count me in for dinner on Saturday. Note that the decor is pretty basic unless they've remodeled since my last visit.

As for dinner on Friday, how about South Beauty at XinTianDi?

As for the China Eastern tour, any chance of: driving a jetbridge simulator? time in a flight simulator? going down the emergency slide? Looked at the website though not really sure what the options might be.

As we get closers to the 11th of November things are starting to fall into place ^. Keep your eyes on Post #1 in this thread for new information.