China itinerary

I%26#39;ll be in China for 8 days with a friend, and then I have 3 days by myself before heading to Bangkok. We%26#39;re flying into Shanghai so I figured we%26#39;d stay there for 2 days plus a day for a side trip (I heard something about a water village?), then 2 days in Xian and 3 days in Beijing. Does this sound ok? Once my friend leaves I still have to decide what to do...is there enough to do in Beijing for 3 more days? I was also thinking of going to Hong Kong, since I know there is a flight to Bangkok from there. I%26#39;m pretty open to any ideas, I don%26#39;t know much about China, but I thought a less metropolitan place could be fun too (I know, the opposite of Hong Kong). I%26#39;d love any help!

China itinerary

First,wherever Shanghai,Xian or Beijing, there were a very perfect service system whatever you need private/join in group optional tours bassed on daily.

Secondly,Xitang and Wuzhen(water town) would be collected in Shanghai zone using one day time. On each city, you had better to take seat-in-coach tours,supposing you must need English speaking.Duration you will stay in China looks like good,but do not ignor the time use of airplan/train/car.

China itinerary

3 days is the absolute minimum to see the major sites in Beijing.

I%26#39;d recommend Guilin Yangshuo, but you probably won%26#39;t have time. So you could go to Pingyao and Datong as a small side trip from Beijing.

Panda makes a very important point about allowing travelling time. (Don%26#39;t know what he/she is saying about ';perfect service system';??) Even if you fly this can still waste half a day. Fewer stops for longer is better. If you are after a cheap flight to BKK you could look into Air Asia from Macau %26amp; see if PEK-MFM (or CAN) + MFM-BKK is cost-effective.

Pretty rushed. I would give Beijing at least 1 more day.

If you have only 11 days then you don%26#39;t have much choice to play with.

Quite a number of Chinese cities have flights to Bangkok -- among them Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Xiamen and Hong Kong. Would you perhaps be flying out from Shanghai? If you would, then I would suggest that you spend only 2 days in Shanghai at the start, 2 days in Xi%26#39;an and then 4 days in Beijing. Then after your friend leaves, overnight train Beijing -- Hangzhou and spend a day there, mosey up to Xitang (members.virtualtourist.com/m/1d57/f2e9f/t/) for the 2nd day then back to Shanghai to fly out.

cream treatment

The Fontain Resorts - Fountain Suites and Golden Beach

We will be travelling to Shenzhen in late December of this year. We have booked the The Fountain Resort Suites in the city of Shenzhen. We are contemplating switching to the The Fountain Resort Golden Beach on Dapang? Bay. Has anyone stayed at either of these resorts?

The Fontain Resorts - Fountain Suites and Golden Beach

Correction: The ';Fountain'; Resorts.

The Fontain Resorts - Fountain Suites and Golden Beach

Hi Gail

Just back from 1 week in HK, been to many places however this was the biggest rip off , with poor quality, and thieves everywhere.

Not even worth the experience, nor the cost of the visa. Camera discs were corrupt, DVD%26#39;s did not work, shoes and bags fell apart.

Best shopping proved to be markets parallel to Ladies market, in Mongkok. About 5 mins walk from Ladies market

Also good quality in mall, next to Big Buddha, with factory outlets such as Nike, Adidas, jeans , bags etc.

Your choice but Shenzhen proved to be an expensive learning experience for our family.

Safe travelling ( only if you miss the above)

Regards

BW

Oh, no! I%26#39;d better do a little more research before I venture forth. Thanks for the info.

Do not worry Gail.

Go ahead with your plans. I do not know what deal beaverwillows got.

Do some research on this site, from other travellers, or check out my posts.

When you buy things you get what you pay for. Do you want quality you pay a bit more. But then only about 50% of the price in the west. Do not go for the cheapest things. I buy my DVD at Wal-Mart or at the library (bookstore) latest releases for about 22 Rmb. But you need to have a region free DVD player at home. China is region 6 You can switch the language to English, with a bit of guesswork in the menu.

Thieves? I feel confident to sleep on a park bench in Shenzhen. I am only afraid of the polis, it is not allowed. And I do not fit in with my 6 foot, blond hair and big nose.

Shenzhen is as big as NY 9.6 million. Things happen in big cities. But I think it is safer here than in many other places. Normal precaution .

I have been to Shenshen 10 times in the last 2 years 9 month total.

Happy travel :-)

We have stayed at the Golden Beach resort. It looks really beautiful and is beautifully landscaped. It is on the hillside about 30 minutes above the beach. Not within walking distance. There is a bus that costs about 5RMB that stops outside the resort that will take you to Xiao Mei Sha beach or Da Mei Sha beach. I recommend Da Mei Sha for its many ammenities.

The resort has no ATM. Could find no ATMs that accept US debit/credit cards that worked until we drove back to the airport which is about an hour and a half away. None of the employees at this resort speak any English. Only some Mandarin and mostly Guangdong dialect. Although they are sweet and very willing to help if you don%26#39;t speak Chinese don%26#39;t bother. They have a very nice restaurant however many of the dishes listed in the menu are not available. ;-)

This is a typical Chinese resort. They haven%26#39;t quite caught on to the sort of services that Westerners expect. This will change with the rapid rate of growth in China. Actually, I think that Shenzhen is much larger than 9.6 million. More like 20 million.

What's a good price Beijing to Shenzhen?

I have one more leg of our trip to book - Beijing to Shenzhen. Ctrip is showing a ';discounted'; price of 1400rmb ($197USD) but that seems expensive compared to other flights we%26#39;ve booked for earlier in the trip. Once they post a disounted price, does it come down again? We need to fly to Shenzhen on April 17th. I%26#39;ve heard that doing the bookings just two weeks before departure works well, is that true?

What's a good price Beijing to Shenzhen?

Prices change everyday. Go back to that site and check prices for that flight next week and even tomorrow and you%26#39;ll see the kind of prices and availability you can get at the last minute.

What's a good price Beijing to Shenzhen?

I%26#39;m asking if there is a point where the fares bottom out but there are still seats available.

I%26#39;m used to dealing with airlines like Southwest here in the States where they put their flights up 6 months before departure and after awhile the best deals are gone and you can pay full price or it%26#39;s completely sold out. I can tell you that $300 is about the norm good price for Philadelphia to Denver, I%26#39;m hoping someone can do the same for me regarding PEK - SHZ.

This isn%26#39;t an intellectual excercise - we would like to get to Shenzhen Thursday afternoon in order to spend some time with our daughter and see a bit of the city where she lives. BUT, I really, really don%26#39;t want to pay almost $200 if the flights will be going down (but not disappearing) to $100 in a week or two. So, I%26#39;m just asking if anyone else does this flight often enough to know what the expected low price is.

And this board just moves so darn fast that this post will be on page 2 before someone that knows something will reply. :)

The best value on the 17th is 440RMB plus 150taxes and fees

www.shenzhenair.com

flight no ZH9822

yes the price varies everyday. It is a bit early to book the tickets now. rather try 2 weeks in advance

Thank you, that%26#39;s just what I was looking for.

Is there an english part to the www.shenzhenair.com site?

I just did a google search because I was wondering the same thing and came up with this webpage

ehow.com/how_2024516_shenzhen-airlines.html

with this note at the bottom:

# Shenzhen Airlines%26#39; Web site is not available in English.

# There is no English booking phone number for Shenzhen Airlines.

# To make reservations, English-speaking travelers are advised to get in touch with a travel agent.

Shenzhen Airlines is my least favourite airline in mainland China though.

Yeah try China Southern. They have an Englsih component, but you can only use Chinese CC to book. But it will give you an Idea about pricing. It%26#39;s the biggest airline in China. The flight attendents are almost always beautiful, and my flights from Shenzhen to Changsha usually run from ~480-800RMB with only a few days notice. Changsha is about halfway between Beijing and Shenzhen. So around $100-$200 US is reasonable.

http://www.csair.com/en/

lock file

Golf Clubs in Shenzhen

Hi All

We are travelling for the first time in April, to Hong Kong. We have our visa%26#39;s and are off to Shenzhen for just a day.

We want to buy Ping golf clubs in Shenzhen.

Does anyone know the best place to get them and how much we should expect to pay?

Does anyone know if when we fly back to Korea, if we will be hit with a tax of somekind?

Any help before 3.4.07 appreciated as this is when we leave.

Thank you!!!

Golf Clubs in Shenzhen

I also want to buy golf clubs in Shenzen, leaving Australia on

Sunday, wanted to get Callaway where did you end up

getting yours and how much

thanks

Karenann

Golf Clubs in Shenzhen

Hi

Golf clubs are available at the Lo Wu shopping centre.

The Callaway clubs are around HK$800 a set including a bag. They also have other brands but not sure what they were.

Thanks Crusaders for your help, :)Karen

Dear Crusaders,

Can you advise which floor you bought the clubs on.

also did you buy and golf shirts.

Thanks

Hi

Im not a golfer (thank god), there are a few shops selling this gear.

I only know the price because every time I%26#39;m leaving Shenzhen there is a bunch of Aussie women with golf clubs for their husbands standing in the queue at the boarder.

One of the ladies on the last trip did tell me that these clubs are the real mccoy but that they are seconds shipped out the back door of the factory .

She said she had bought some on a previous visit and was buying some more so they must be OK.

The shops from memory did have other stuff but dont ask me what.

Hope this helps.

Cheers

You can get it at LuoHu Commercial Centre fifth floor... a few golf shop there...

My husband has bought from Lo Wu b4 but though they carry international brand names, they are all imitations. Definitely not factory overrruns and we buy them knowing fully well they are imitations. However they are as good as the real stuff though it all depends on the golfer as well. You just have to use them on the course to know whether they are suitable for your kind of swing. Given the cheap prices, its worthwhile to get a set while you are there.

Can you have the golf clubs shipped back home from the stores with added shipping costs of course?

Calloway clubs are not made in China. The heads or shafts are, but the assembly is done in Carlsbad, CA. I live in San Diego, interviewed with them a year or so ago, and met some of their people on a flight into Hong Kong. Real clubs are available, but expensive. 800RMB is almost assuredly a fake.

electrical stuff

heard that there is a building in Hong Kong where you can get all those computer/ electrical stuff? anyone can advice?

electrical stuff

there%26#39;s the golden computer arcade in sham shui po, wan chai computer center and 768? i 4got the number but the mall%26#39;s name is a number.

electrical stuff

Yes there are a few buildings around.

Computer centres that I%26#39;ve been to are located at Wanchai (on HK island), Mongkok (Kowloon side) %26amp; Sham Shui Po (Kowloon side).

See the links below for some further info on each of these.

www.hong-kong-travel.org/ComputerCentre.asp

12hk.com/area/鈥anChaiComputerCenter.shtml

12hk.com/area/鈥ongkokComputerCentre.shtml

12hk.com/area/鈥oldenShoppingArcade.shtml

Sometimes though you are better off just getting stuff at Fortress or Broadway (electrical chain stores) as you know they will be reliable and give you a warranty.

Having said that, I havent had any problems with the stuff I%26#39;ve bought from computer centres - but you have to be careful!

Plant Questions

Can anybody who has been in Guilin recently confirm for me that the tall trees with the large white flowers are Paulownias?

Also who knows why the trees along the road to the airport (which appear to be Eucalypts) are dying - is it the cold? They are evergreens so should not be brown, esp at this time of year.

Plant Questions

Bump - anyone?

Lord Stow's vs. Margaret's

Okay, okay, don%26#39;t want to start a debate between people on either side of these two ex-couple. :)

Having visited Macau several times and enjoying egg tarts from Lord Stow%26#39;s each visit, i wondered why have I not tried Margaret%26#39;s?! To think that her cafe is in the center!

Visiting one of my favorite places in Asia again soon, just for a day, and was wondering if I should give Margaret%26#39;s a try this time. What is the best time of the day to go there, considering it may be packed at certain times of the day? And more importantly, which is the best way/route to get there from Senado Square?

Lord Stow's vs. Margaret's

The two egg tart recipes are near enough to identical, as are their lemonades and raspberry yogurts, but each side has also developed their own bakery lines.

During school term times, Margaret%26#39;s tends to be taken over by students from the nearby Portuguese school, so it%26#39;s safest to come while school is in session.

To get there from Senado Square, walk back towards the Lisboa on the left side of the street. Cross directly over the next intersection with the traffic lights and keep walking straight ahead. After passing the bank and a couple of other shops there is a small lane going to the left - go in there, and just behind the first building on your right there is a narrow alley with brick pavement. Margaret%26#39;s is only a few metres along on your left (the first T-junction in the pedestrian zone).

Lord Stow's vs. Margaret's

Try both.

The expresso and egg tart is a great way to start the day at Margaret%26#39;s.

Lord Stow is already in Manila-Ortigas Ctr.

Anyway, depending where you are in Macau--all the way for Lord Stow,if one is in Macau Peninsula-economically does not make sense.

Nevetheless, the tarts aside,it is the ambiance of the place that may decide.

As mentioned,Senado Square,one must determine a landmark to start from,so best to use the fountain,and yellow bldg of the tourism office,from here,with fountain to your back, take a left turn.

You are walking along ';San Ma Lo';(Ribero).

well, here is a good map:- http://www.augusters.de/location-e.html

Cafe Nata is Margaret. Pay first, take the receipt to another lady in this small shop show the receipt,and you will be given your tarts, beverages(and well, you can try the cheesecake also).

Lord Stow%26#39;s has been in Manila for almost a decade. Yet everytime I go to Macau I just have to get me some! Believe me it%26#39;s different! And yes I still buy some here in Manila at times (they have outlets at the Podium, Market Market, Glorietta 4, and SM Mall of Asia).

Will make sure to visit Margaret%26#39;s soon. Actually in 2 days! Hahaha!

hey guys, i happened to stumble upon a lord stow%26#39;s outlet right here in hong kong! it%26#39;s at the lobby of excelsior hotel at causeway bay! i dunno how it measures up to the original one at macau though cos i haven tried the one in macau. i feel that the one i had at excelsior was good! sweet, egg-y, and baked to the right texture! =)

cream treatment