Internal flights in China

Z

zag

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I hope someone can help . . .

After spending about 6 weeks at the start of the year organising our trip to China with a number of cities and connecting flights and matching each city with the places we could fly on to direct, the agency finally got around to telling us last week that one of the flights has been cancelled and we now have to go via another city.

This really does not suit.

It basically means getting a 1 hour flight at 0900 and then waiting in some airport for 6 hours (plus having to pick up our bags and check in again in Chinese) for another 1 hour flight and eventually arriving at our destination in the late evening. Try doing this with two young children . . .

So, here's the pitch (I know it's a long shot) - does anyone know of any airline that flies from Guilin to Sanya (specifically on 29OCT), or else an airline that will at least allow us to check through our bags from one end to the other while flying via an intermediate city ? At the moment we are booked on two different airlines that don't support interlining, so we have to pick up the bags.

Any help greatly appreciated.

z
 
Found this on www.kayak.co.uk - only problem is 2 flights involved and is not much better than the option you already have :(
China Southern
Flights 3239 Departs: 9:00 Guilin (KWL) Arrives: 10:00 Shenzhen (SZX)

[ Stopover in Shenzhen, GD, China (SZX) for 5h 25m ]

China Southern
Flights 6758 Departs: 15:25 Shenzhen (SZX) Arrives: 16:50 Sanya (SYX)

ANOTHER OPTION FROM CHINA EASTERN AIRLINES
182.90 GBP tax inc. at Expedia » Guilin TO Sanya 29/10/2007 Depart 14:30 Arrive 22:55 China Eastern Airlines

Source: [broken link removed]
 
miselemeas - thanks for those details. The China Southern one is the flight we are currently on. For some reason I didn't realise that it was the same carrier for both legs. Our agent indicated we would have to pick up bags and check-in again so I guess they are a point-to-point carrier.

I think we are going to move the departure to the next day - China Southern have a direct flight that day.

z
 
Agree with you that the direct flight is always the best option, particularly as you are travelling with children. Am thinking of doing the Beijing trip in the Spring, so if your travels take you there would appreciate feedback.

Have fun and hope all goes well!
 
@miselemeas,
I am heading to Beijing on Dec 19th, booked a trip with Trailfinders for the first few days then staying in the hotel that goes with the trip for an extra few days (Xmas eve and Xmas day). We are heading on to Shanghai on St. Stephen’s day so I will post up here about how we get on.

Not sure whether or not to book a trip for Shanghai or go ad hoc, anyone got any recommendations on decent hotels that don't cost a packet as well as the best places to go see?

Cheers,
Mark
 
madmoe???...(odd coincidence) I think you will find Shanghai quite different to Beijing. Think more like Hong Kong. Hotels are of a much better standard, more marriots/hiltons rather than the great wall lodge etc. Don't have a specific recommendation but value for money is good anywhere.

The city is great for sightseeing, you can do it all by yourself, no need for a guide. The centrepoint is called the bund, the curve in the river where the old part of town is. You have the TV tower observation deck (withmuseum in the basement), the park Hyatt with its cloud nine bar, a bizaare tunnel under the river and plenty of boat trips up and down.
For culture a short walk away is yuan gardens plus plenty of old back streets to wander about.

To be honest the place is really great as a shopping destination and for nightlife (honest!) Lots of fake but good products. Best buys are golf clubs and mountain bikes! At night go to the face Thai/chinese restaurant, get along to the bund for the lights (bar rouge has a very good viewing platform but considers itself trendy) The chinese acrobat show was a good laugh too, http://www.era-shanghai.com/index2.asp

I suggest you grab a guidebook for the rest.. enjoy!
 
I could write a book on what we learned in China over the last few weeks . . . but I'll just try to address some of the questions above.

miselemeas - Shanghai, Beijing, etc . . . are all very manageable on your own without a guide. Taxis are straightforward, plentiful and cheap and they all have to give you a meter receipt so there's no mucking about with off-meter charges. Pickups cost about €1 to €1.20 (depending on the city), but after that the meter clocks up very slowly. We took loads of cabs and our most expensive one was €3.40 after about 30 minutes driving through heavy traffic.

We found Beijing to be just a tad . . . boring. There's something about it that makes it look too clinical. We did the great wall, Tiananmen Square, Forbidden City, Temple of Heaven, etc . . . and they all looked like they had been rebuilt in the recent past. The net effect was that the 2-300 year oild buildings we looked at were just too 'clean'. You really didn't get the impression of age from these places. Shanghai is a different kettle of fish altogether - the city is on a different scale (human instead of Communist) and has a lot more to recommend it.

If you are bringing kids then PM me and I will give you more pointers.

madmoe - we stayed at the Astor House Hotel in Shanghai. It is within spitting distance (2 mins walk) of the Bund. It is very definitely old-style and gives you an idea of what colonial hotel life was like. I would suggest just going to Shanghai and taking it from there yourself. There is plenty to do and if you pre-book a trip you may find your plans have changed by the time you get there.

madmoe1013 - agree that Beijing and Shanghai are like cheese and chalk. Hong Kong was in a different league again - it is the only place I plan on revisiting in China. Due to a change in schedule we only had a few hours there, but it looked amazing.

z
 
Also, our experience with pre-booked guided trips was that we flt we ended up with not-great guides.

We reckon that the most senior (i.e. best English, best knowledge, etc . . .) guides nabbed the tour coaches because they yielded the best tips. The less senior guides ended up taking the small groups like us.

Instead of feeling we were getting a premium service as a small group we felt the opposite.

z
 
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