Traveling from Shanghai to Beijing?
 

My husband and I are going to Shanghai from May 12 to May 26 .We are wondering what is the best, economic and safe way to go from Shanghai to visit the best of Beijing and perhaps go to the Tibet. We are open for all possibilities!

There are just two ways to go from Shanghai to Beijing. Fly or take the overnight trains.

1st class "soft-sleeper" with 4 berth in a cabin is about 500 yuan each way, per person. (~US$62) I believe some trains have "deluxe soft-sleepers" that has just two lower berths in each cabin. Cost a little more, of course. 12 hours.

Flights are about the same price. Lowest published rate is also about 500 yuan. Numerous flights.

To go to Tibet, most first go to Chengdu and fly from there. Foreign visitors are supposed to go only in approved "tours" (note the quotes), which a travel agent in Chengdu will arrange for you.

Thanks rkkwan for the hints, I think we will take a flight.
Any recommendation where to stay in Beijing?

hi what local airline would you suggest looking into the flight from shanghai to beijing? thanks

It really doesn't matter which airline to fly between Shanghai and Beijing. Short flight, and all are similar. Unless you're flying first or business class - then some flights on Air China uses the Boeing 777 with international seats.

As for recommendations on hotels in Beijing. I don't have any, but one should look for a hotel in the Wangfujing district, where there are lots of restaurants and shops, and transportation is convenient.

can you give me some names of local airlines that fly the route in between china that's cheap? thanks

There are fierce competition for the Beijing-Shanghai market and all the airlines are cheap. Really no difference. Just find a local travel agent in town, tell them what date and time you want to fly, and they'll give you the best fares.

But in case you need to know, 5 airlines fly the SHA-PEK route. (SHA: the older Shanghai Hongqiao airport). The three airlines broken up from the old CAAC: Air China, China Eastern and China Southern; plus two newer airlines: Hainan (the 4th largest in the China) and Shanghai.

Looking at a timetable, I count over 50 flights a day each way among those 5 airlines.

From PVG (Pudong), only Air China has flights to PEK, and only a few a day.

Check out flychina.com. It will give you all combinations of flights within China.

thanks so much, that was very helpful info! sounds like it's better to book from china as opposed to here in the states. thanks again!