rebostraveler

I have a couple of odd questions regarding travel in China: First off, all advice on message boards and in guides seems to point to making arrangements for interior travel and accomodations as we go, to save money. We are traveling May 12 through May 26th LAX to Shanghai to Xian to Beijing to Hong Kong. 3 adults, including my (healthy) 80 year old father, all willing to be adventurous. So far have only booked transpacific flights and am planning to book first two nights in Shanghai either at the Sofitel on Nanjing Road to be in the heart of the action or the Crowne Plaza Fudan (#2 on trip advisor) but outside of the city proper. Here are my questions:

1) Safe to plan as we go in May versus having interior travel and accomodations pre-planned?

2)How far from the action is Crowne Plaza Fudan? Sofitel (Nanjing Road) or Crowne Plaza Fudan?

3)Any ideas on how to get a deal at the Mandarin Oriental in Hong Kong?

4) How easy/difficult is it to do one's own laundry while traveling in China and/or how expensive is it to have the hotels do it?

5) Mesaage boards have mentioned not wearing sandals in China, because of dirt and dust, but Mephisto sandals in May are my travel shoe of choice. Any comments? And, don't the Chinese wear sandals anyway?!

6) I am lost when it comes to having a cel phone in a foreign country. I am aVerizon customer--what do I do to carry a cel phone in China?

7) I also posted a message 2 days ago asking about China Eastern Airlines LAX to Shanghai, unfortunately having booked this prior to reading all the horrid reviews on multiple message boards and rating sites. Any comments?

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

rkkwan

You won't have problem booking the internal flights. But Beijing - Hong Kong isn't internal, and you should have that prebooked. Unless you want to fly Beijing - Shenzhen and then connect to Hong Kong by road or ferry.

Verizon's network protocol here is incompatible with China (and most the world's). If you need to keep using your US number, you need to contact them, and they probably can rent/sell you a GSM 900/1800 phone to use with. If you don't need your US number, then you can either buy an unlocked GSM phone with at least 900 and 1800MHz frequencies, and then buy a SIM card once you're in China. Or buy both after you arrive. There have been plenty of threads about this here, so do a search.

What class are you flying LAX-PVG?

LostinChina

I had some of the same questions as you. I posted those and got some good responses. You can check the posts:

Cell phones in China

and

Laundry in China?

Hope that helps.

Cilla_Tey

Beware of their golden weeks. I think there is one in May but not sure when exactly.

Neil_Oz

The week-long May Day holiday is held as close to the first week in May as practicable - you'll be OK on that score.

I gave up trying to work out how far the Crowne Plaze is from downtown Shanghai - their website is suspiciously coy on that point. I suspect it's a fair way and that you'd spend a lot of time in cabs, which are cheap but still eat up time. On that basis somewhere on or close to Nanjing Lu (as long as it's east of People's Park) sounds the safest option. If you're contemplating staying at a Sofitel it sounds like money isn't a big consideration anyway.

rebostraveler

to rkkwan: We, unfortunatly, are flying economy on China Eastern LAX-PVG. Thank you for the help with cel phone and booking the Beijing flight.

to Neil_Oz: Was considering the Crowne Plaza Fudan because it is #2 of 447 on tripadvisor and a smashing price...but have made the mistake in other cities of getting wonderful hotels too far from the action--too difficult to return to the hotel during the day if needed, and difficult to stay out late at night and/or change attire or freshen up for the evening...so I have been considering the Sofitel because it is in the heart of the action, but I am a little afraid to spend a lot of money for not great accomodations...I have even been looking into Le Parker Meridien Shanghai...if I am willing to go Sofitel, why not Le Meridien...It's a tough decision, especially since I have to either get a suite for three or two rooms...This is going to be an expensive trip any way you slice it, I guess...

Does anyone in China know exactly how far and how long a taxi ride from Crowne Plaza Fudan to city center?

rebostraveler

Oh yes, any ideas of how to get a deal at the Mandarin Oriental in HK? I read a Travel & Leisure article that really made me want to top off our trip with a luxurious stay at this fine old hotel...does anyone think it might be better to call them directly and try to bargain?

rkkwan

Fudan is about 4 miles north of the Bund. I don't think there's a subway line there. Pretty inconvenient unless you have business to do at the Fudan University.

No idea how to get deal at the MO. People staying there usually don't care too much about cost. Really.

Nanners

After reading some of the previous posts, I am now confused about booking flights within China-

My husband and I will be traveling to Hong Kong the first two weeks of April and then on to Beijing. Everything we have read says to wait and book our flight to Beijing after we get to Hong Kong for the best rates. Is this not true?

Also- has anyone out there taken the Hong Kong to Beijing overnight train? This could be another option for us. Would you do it again??? Any regrets? Many thanks for any information. thanks! Nancy

rkkwan

First, HKG-PEK is not an "internal Chinese flight". Second, it's now a lot easier to book discount flights within China and between Hong Kong and China now.

For example, for most dates in March, you can book HKG-PEK flight on China Southern on zuji.com (Travelocity company) for HK$1,361. I doubt you'll get a much cheaper fare if you wait to buy it in Hong Kong. May save a tiny bit, but not much.

For internal Chinese flights, zuji.com can work, or try elong.net.

adamsguo

I am lost when it comes to having a cel phone in a foreign country. I am a Verizon customer

You can buy a China Mobile card,it is cheap, only if your cel phone is GSM system

Nanners

Thanks RKKWAN for the flight site. I also saw your screen name reporting Houston weather today . I'll look into getting our flights booked on youar suggestion of elong or zuji.com. BTW- I'm a fellow Houstonian!