Correction to Beijing 9 City Guide

It’s come to our attention that there’s an error in the Beijing city guide. (We printed the map from page 291 on page 293.)

We’ve fixed the ebook and the digital chapters, but if you’ve bought a copy of the book already you can get a corrected copy of pages 292 and 293 here.

New train service between Kunming and SE Yunnan

I rode this train yesterday and thought it might be of interest to some of you planning to travel from Kunming to the SE of Yunnan, for example to Jianshui, Yuanyang, and Hekou (Vietnam border.) Up until the beginning of this month (May, 2013) the only public transport to that part of Yunnan has been by bus. But there is now limited train service, which presents another option.

There is one train a day in each direction between the main Kunming station to Mengzi Bei Zhan 蒙自北站, which is a few kilometers north of Mengzi. Mengzi is a regional bus hub, and you can easily catch a bus there to Hekou, Yuanyang County, or other remote parts of SE Yunnan.

I rode the train from Jianshui up to Kunming, on my way back from Vietnam. Hard seat 硬座 only (no soft seat or sleepers.) It was full but not packed, by which I mean all seats were taken in the cars near mine, but people were not standin... more »

Chinese visa

Hey folks.

My friend and I are travelling around Asia this summer, and we're looking into the best way to get from Vietnam to Hong Kong. Flight prices from Ho Chi Minh (in Vietnam) are working out at around £150 (and more from Ha Noi), so I looked into travelling overland. It seems it's doable, but takes around 3 days, and takes you right into China and you go to Hong Kong from there. So, I was wondering if, since we're only gonna be passing through China, we could perhaps get a different visa to the normal (expensive) tourist visa?

Thanks for any help you can give.

Mark.

Shanghai accomodation with good atmosphere

Hello,

We are looking for a verry nice hotel/ B&B/ hostel in Shanghai.
What we are after is:

• a good atmosphere
• rooftopbar
• rooftop swimming pool
• in or near the centre (the bund)
• welness/spa

Guangzhou - Beijing transit visa

Hi all,

I have a flight booked from Sydney to Istanbul, via Guangzhou and Beijing (PEK)
I have looked at the chinese embassy page and have seen that if I have a connecting flight and don't leave the airport then I dont need a transit visa, however I am concerned about the Guangzhou-Beijing as it will be a domestic flight which would require me to leave the international section of the airport.

I have emailed the embassy and always the airways ( china southern) but was wondering if anyone has experienced anything similair to this and could help me out?

Cheers

Route around china

So i land in Beijing on Sunday 7th July and Exit Hong Kong Saturday 27th July.
I understand this is a short trip in terms of a country the size of China but its as much time as I can get off work.
I plan on spending at least 4 days in Beijing to take in the Wall, Forbidden city and to get lost in the city. After this I plan to get the over night train to Xien to see the Terracotta warriors. After this im not that sure which way to take my trip I would like to go to YuanYang and see the rice terraces. would this be possible and where would you stop along the way from Xien. Or would it involve to much traveling, for the time I have?
At the end of the trip I want 3 preferably 4 days to split between Hong Kong and Macau.

Inner Mongolia / Mongolia tour

Hi

I'm looking for recommendations for Inner Mongolia and / or Mongolia tours. Family of four with 2 young children so staying in a ger would be a highlight. We live in Beijing. Does anyone have any recommendations?

Many thanks!

Where to stay in Beijing

I'm traveling to Beijing and will be there for a few days mid June. Basically, it's a huge city and I can't even start to figure out where to stay. Can someone recommend a good area close to lots of good food/bars and easy access (not necessarily close, just easy/quick bus/cab/subway) to tourist spots like temple of heaven and forbidden city?

Thanks!

Chinese tourist visa for canadians

Hi there, this is a probably a simple question but after being on hold for more than an hour with the chinese embassy well this could be a bit quicker...

So if you are a canadian ( probably the same for most other commonwealth countries) and you want to travel independantly in china you need to provide your intinerary and hotel bookings...

So my question is do I need to book all the nights or just a few in the start,,, I guess I could use some online site like hostelbookers but I'm guessing i would loose quite a bit of cash doing so...

Can you buy an invitation at a travel agency....

Any tips on making this a more simple process would be appreciated.

Thanks
Have a nice day