josep_requena

Hi all. In August of this year I will be traveling in China and, among other places, I will move around the area of Zhangjiajie and Guillin. I would like to ask you if you know of any driver that makes cheap transportation in these cities (pick up from Zhangjiajie airport, movements through natural parks, visit if possible to Furong and Fenghuang, and then transport to Guillin with the typical visits to the river and fields of rice). We are only 2 people, so we do not need any large vehicle, with a small and modest vehicle we would have left over. I say this because we would also like it to be relatively economical. I know it will be more expensive than public transport, but I wanted to know if you could guide me as soon as the daily price of the transport service could be and if you have contacts. I insist that we look for affordable prices without special amenities. By the way, if the driver speaks some English much better, of course.

Thank you very much in advance and greetings,

Josep

CanadaChinaTraveller

These is nothing cheap about this plan. You realize that on top of his usual daily rate, you'll need to pay for his hotel and food.

josep_requena

Hi CanadaChinaTraveller,

thanks for answering! Yes yes I know, that's why I said relatively economical... We have done that in other countries and we know that we have to pay for it and thats why I would like to know about prices.

Thanks again!

CanadaChinaTraveller

You can check on synotrip.com. You may have some luck there.

temppeternh

Book such a service on some English-language site and you should expect to be taken so completely to the cleaners that you'll be absolutely spotless.

There are (fairly rapacious) taxis at Zhangjiajie airport that will take you to the park and then into town for the night. Use Google maps or similar to make a rough calculation of the distance to be covered, multiply by the km rate for the taxi (posted on the side), and the day rate should be well under that, although drivers will try it on asking for several multiples to start with.

Take public transport on to Furong, and again onto Guilin (China's epicentre of tourist rip-offs). Note that taxis rarely want to venture out of their own areas, knowing well they'll be stopped and 'fined' if caught in another jurisdiction with its own taxi services. Try negotiating for the ride to Furong as a separate venture if you wish, but you may be dropped at the edge, depending on local circumstances, while the driver hastens back to safety. A ride all the way to Guilin with the same taxi would be unlikely. You'd negotiate the next hop in Furong.

You might do considerably better than on-line by dealing over the counter with local branches of CITS or similar. But charges of three or four times what you actually need to pay are commonplace.