Thorn Tree travel forum

1

tolerable?

it's more than tolerable, it's really the most comfortable way to travel between the two cities.

check out seat61.com for details and photos.

There's plenty of posts in the FAQ about both cities, it's a bit difficult to recommend highlights unless we know your budget and interests, but this is a good place to start for Hong Kong

The FAQ and your Lonely Planet (or Rough Guide or Moon Guide or *Wallpaper if you have that kind of cash) are good places to start.

he'll defend us, he'll defend us,
the amazing astroboy!

2

Train from Hongkong to Shanghai, there also is K99B(timetable is 15:00-15:38) ,directly arrive in shanghai.

Just a suggestion.

3

Astroboy is quite right.....the train is very comfortable, though I found the trip to be rather long (26 hours) and for the last 6 or 7 hours got pretty fidgety. If you have only six days, you will be spending a rather high proportion on that train. But if you're a train travel fan, it might be worth it.

There are three classes of travel on that train. Hard class (pullman-type open sections), soft class (four berths in a compartment, comparable to a European 1st-class couchette) and deluxe class (two berths in a compartment, comparable to a tourist twin wagon-lit). The deluxe class is almost double the cost, as I recall, and in my opinion not worth it, as the soft class was eminently acceptable.

When I took the train, the food was quite good in the dining car, and the beer was good, and cold. But there was no menu in English, so be prepared to be adventurous......

4

If you only have 6 days for the two places, you will not have enough time for a relaxing trip. Two days will be spent getting to, getting off of and on the train.
You will want to fly one way.
You also may need a visa for China which involves more time and money.

Suggestion...stay in HK for your time. There's more than enough to see there. And if you have a spare day, go to Macau.

cheers from Ruth

5

If you do fly, use the domestic flight from Shenzhen, rather than the international flight from Hong Kong. I paid around 900 yuan one way Shanghai to Guangzhou a few years ago with China Eastern Airlines. Prices direct from HK are doubled. It's easy to get from HK to Shenzhen either by train to Lo Wu & just walk across into Shenzhen, or take the ferry bus combo to Shenzhen airport from HK.

............. III\\//III
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6

Hi there,

For those who have done the train, how much did it cost one way in yuan? I'll be traveling between the two places, or specifically Guangzhou and Shanghai and looking for the cheapest way.

7

Price for Hong Kong -- Shanghai and Guangzhou -- Shanghai isn't the same. Guangzhou -- Shanghai is usually 355/367/379 RMB for hard sleeper upper/middle/lower bunk, and 558/584 RMB for soft sleeper upper/lower bunk. There's a train which's marginally slower costing 331/343/355 RMB for hard sleeper upper/middle/lower bunk, and 534/560 RMB for soft sleeper upper/lower bunk.
Or, if you get a really good discount on a ticket, the price could just be about 100 RMB more than the soft sleeper, or even comparable.
Cheers!