Thank you for such a lovely trip report.

wonderful report...how many days would you say would make a perfect trip to shanghai??

Thanks :) I would say at least 5 days so that I could spend the time really exploring the older buildings, temples, etc. to get a good feel for the way the city has been transforming (degree in architecture hence the interest), visit the museums, oh and of course eat!

Thanks for a delightful trip report!

sounds good to me thanks....i will plan on 7...

marksfour,

Again mahalo for taking us on the ride. We really enjoyed it.

Your classmate says aloha.

Aloha!

Thank you, thank you for such a charming report! I had to wipe the corner of my eyes because of the praise heaped on and your enthusiasm of my birthplace! rhkkmk, you will enjoy it too!

I guessed correctly you have professional knowledge of architecture, I have 6 of them in my family (EK has met one), feel free to ask related questions and I'll find the answers from them for you.

Thanks for a great report.

We're returning to China this fall, but it will be our first time to fly domestic. You mention 5 suitcases for 3 people. Everything I've read says 1 suitcase per person. Were you able to check the 5 bags without paying overweight? If anyone else reading this was able to check more than 1 bag, please let me know.

Twofortheroad - we had pretty good sized suitcases and 3 bags were just hovering at 50 lbs. when we left the States. Now we had a few additonal items so I know they were not within their weight limit...but we were not charged a thing. We may have just been lucky that day.

Shanghainese- Can one of the family architects accompany us next time? :)

PS. We did check in all 5 bags and no extra fee for that either...

Mr. & Mrs. HT - Aloha back at you...do we have to wait for a GTG in Hawaii or can we round up Lcuy & Mr. Lcuy too?

Marksfour,

I just finished reading your report and really loved the second part as much as the first!

I do have a question regarding Hangzhuo -- how did you find getting around the town? Did you take buses or taxis or were you able to walk everywhere? As non-Mandarin speakers, we are going to do our best to manage on our own, so I'd be grateful for any tips.

If your daughter or any of her friends would like to "hang out" with us for a while (we'll be there on the weekend of April 4-6) doing touristy things, we'd be happy to treat her (or a friend) to some good meals (but not pizza or McD's)... since I've got a list of Chinese places to eat there (of course!) If she knows a Chinese student who would like to practice English and eat with us, I'm a retired teacher and that would also be great. My husband and I are going to travel independently for 23 days and I'm sure we will crave some company along the way (plus my husband has zero interest in Chinese food,if you can believe it, so sharing meals would be much more interesting if we had another person or two with us!)

Thanks again for such an informative and entertaining report.

Linda

Hi Linda,
I'm glad you enjoyed the report:)We walked from hotel to all the West Lake attractions and used a taxi for all other travel in Hangzhou. D says the bus system is very efficient and I am sure your hotel can tell you which bus to take where. Not as big a city to navisate as Beijing or Shanghai.

To talk more about your weekend in Hangzhou, you can email me at
marksfour @ gmail dot com

Delightful! What a wonderful report! So glad you are all right from the run-in with the car!

Aloha, marksfour, let me know when you go next to China and we'll chat about the arrangements. I'm not sure if HT has my e-mail address but MelissaHI has it and I give her permission to forward it to you.

Linda -- There are motorized golf carts seating 4 that circle the lake, and you must take the lake cruise by covered motorized boats, so dreamy in the rain. You can take a taxi to Dragon Well tea plantation in the hills, you'll feel like you are on the Dragon Back rice paddy terraces above Yangshou.

Thanks for the information and address/email.

Monica ((F))

Marksfour - Thanks so much for the
information. I, too, am glad you were ok from your collision. My husband got hit by a car when we were in Mijas (Spain) last December. We were crossing a street and a taxi, which had been parked, suddenly backed up into us... a huge
surprise! My husband, who is quick, jumped up and avoided too much of an impact and as he jumped, he banged on the car. As a result, I think the taxi driver was more frightened than the rest of us (although some friends from Wales, with whom we were traveling, gave the taxi driver quite a lecture.)

Shanghainese - The gold carts sound like an efficient way to navigate if our feet get tired, however, I'd prefer to do the lake boats without the rain, thank you! BTW we had discussed the Wanghu, but I ended up making the reservation at the HNA Huagang after consulting with Ellyse. I'll let you (and everyone else) know how that works out! Since we are going to Hangzhuo first, I may feel as if I'm in Hangzhuo when I get to the Longsheng Dragon Back Terraces (not the other way around). At any rate, we definitely plan to take a taxi over to the Dragon Well village.

Again, thanks all!

Linda

marksfour -- don't mean to tamper with your thread on my response below to Linda.

Linda -- I cannot find any reviews on HNA Huagang, eLong says it's quasi 4 star hotel (which means 3.5*) and it's 3 km from the lake. And who is Ellyse, please?

Shanghainese- I love the extra 'hits' to the post :)

marksfour - You mention the D-train to Hangzhou took 1 hour, 18 minutes. Would Hangzhou be doable as a day trip from Shanghai? I'd like to avoid having to pack up and move to another hotel but not sure if one is sufficient for the West Lake area. Are there trains all day long to/from Shanghai?

Thanks!

Monica ((F))

Monica -- If you get up early enough you can do Hangzhou in a day in a whirlwind tour around the lake and fit in a lake cruise too. I've been to Hangzhou at least 3 dozen times in all seasons and I rate it above Suzhou and Tongli. Did you know an emperor (I think it was Kang Xi) commissioned the Summer Palace in Beijing to be designed as a replica of Hangzhou after his trip from Beijing by imperial boats down the Grand Canal? No trains or planes in those days!

Can someone copy the D-train schedule for Monica?

Linda -- I don't know if the emperor rode in a gold golf cart but you are certainly worth it, hee hee!

D train from Shanghai-South to Hangzhou:

7:25, 7:45, 9:30, 11:45, 13:07, 13:12, 15:05 (from Shanghai main), 15:50, 16;40, 17:03, 19:59.

Takes between 1:16 to 1:23.

The 7:25 and 15:50 goes to Hangzhou-East, not the main Hangzhou station.

Return, Hangzhou - Shanghai South:

7:40, 8:25 (to Shanghai main), 9:55, 10:58 (from Hangzhou-East), 11:32, 13:21, 14:55, 17:25, 18:18, 20:41.

If you take the 7:45 down and the 20:41 back, you will have about 11 hours there.

Thanks Shanghainese and rkkwan! Could you please provide the link where you got those times?

Now I just need to decide whether to spend 2 nights there or do this as a day trip. :)

Monica ((F))

Monica, I use a Chinese language site:

http://oklx.com/cn/train/search_station.aspx

but you can also use this one:

www.travelchinaguide.com/china-trains/

rkkwan, thank you very much!

Monica ((F))

Monica - spending more time in Hangzhou would let you visit Lingyin Si, the Temple of Inspired Seclusion, as well as West Lake. The temple was packed with people when I was there (National Day!) but would be worth a visit any time, especially for the grounds and the Hall of Five Hundred Arhats. You would also have time to just stroll along the shore of the lake, or across a bridge, or through one of the parks.

rkkwan -- I knew you'd come thru, thanks!

Thanks Rkkwan, Shanghainese and Thursdaysd for getting the info :)

Marksfour - thanks for a great report. Six of us (three adults, three kids) are going to Beijing and most likely Shanghai in August. I have been assuming we will be taking two taxis a lot. You mentioned a "van" line at Shanghai airport. Did you see many vans that could accept six people, the odd time with one small suitcase each?

Thank you.

Marksfour - thanks for a great report. Six of us (three adults, three kids) are going to Beijing and most likely Shanghai in August. I have been assuming we will be taking two taxis a lot. You mentioned a "van" line at Shanghai airport. Did you see many van taxis?

Thank you.

thursdaysd, thanks for the comments. I think we'll go ahead and spend 2 nights there. I'll just make sure we pack as light as possible for ease of movement between hotels.

Monica ((F))

Colduphere- There is one long serpentine line and when we got to the front of the line with all of our luggage, the taxi "police" directed us to the far lane that had all vans lined up. (It really is so orderly and the line moves very quickly.) The van can easily fit 6 people but I am not sure about 6 bags too.
A family in front of us were traveling with 4 children and they were sent into 2 separate taxis.
Have a wonderful trip!

Hi Marksfour,

With regard to Shanghainese's comments,

1) I'm sure the gold golf card would not be in my budget. Of course we are worth it, but maybe we'll take the regular golf cart, and if the weather is nice, we'll either walk or cycle.

2) As for the Huagang, I am checking on the distance from the lake since it appears on the maps to be located adjacent to the area by the causeway. Maps can, of course, be deceptive, although the grounds and the small lake on the property look lovely in the photographs. If it's a hike just to get to the West Lake I think we'll switch to another hotel.

3) Ellyse regularly answers questions on these message boards and is the Shanghai and environs "expert" for Trip Advisor. This was one of four hotels she recommended for us.

Thanks for your help. I have written to you in more detail and will report back here on how this all works out.

Marksfour, thanks, too, for all your help!

Colduphere- I think I didn't really answer your question....In terms of being able to hail van taxis around town, we didn't see any. If there are any they are not as abundant as the small green taxis.

Linda- Got your email and will reply via email.

marksfour - It would be nice to find them everywhere in addition to airports but that doesn't seem to be the case (it isn't even where we live). Thanks for your answers.