Félix An
Félix’s Guide to Travelling in China
Here is a guide to travelling in China. I’ve compiled tips and tricks on how to get around and where to stay.
Note: This guide assumes you can read and speak Chinese. Most of the establishments here do not see foreigners very often, so you will definitely be travelling like a local by reading this guide!
This guide is currently under construction. More will be coming soon.
Guide to Train Travel
- Always book through the official 12306.cn website or the official 12306 app whenever possible. All third parties have to go through 12306 (they use automated web scraping to perform the booking for you as if they logged in to 12306 by hand with your password, using OCR to get past any CAPTCHAs that appear, so by giving them your 12306 username and password, you are giving them full access to your account).
- If you must book through a third party, avoid the top search results when you search “how to book train tickets in China” on Google. These services are intended to gouge foreigners who don’t know better. Ctrip, Tongcheng and Feizhu/Fliggy all seem to work fine, and a lot of Chinese people will use these services. These services simply take your 12306 username and password and use web scraping to automatically login to the official 12306 website on their server using your credentials in plain text, so there may be a privacy risk in case the servers that store your plaintext credentials are breached. DO NOT pay for 快速/加速/光速/X速 抢票 (ticket-grabbing) services, as they simply put you on the official 12306 waitlist, no matter what “speed” you select. Most of the time, using the official 12306 waitlist is sufficient. However, if you want to snatch tickets as soon as the pre-sale period starts, these third-party services might come in useful for very popular trains (such as green trains between Shenzhen and Guangzhou).
- Tickets are electronic and tied to your ID. There is no need to pick up tickets after purchasing them - simply enter the station directly with the passport you used when you were booking the train. If you want to collect the blue reimbursement slip (ticket) as a souvenir, it is recommended to do so after your journey, as you will have to return the ticket if you want to change or cancel your trip. To pick up the ticket, simply go to a ticket counter with your passport and provide the order number (starting with the letter “E”).
- More coming soon…
Budget Hotels That Accept Foreigners
These days, many hotels will not accept foreigners. Supposedly, I was told by someone that all hotels are able to accept foreigners, but this is not the case apparently. Many hotels, no matter how much arguing you do with them (in Chinese), will stubbornly refuse to accept foreigners. Below, I have compiled a list of budget hotels that I have stayed at that will accept foreigners. Most are ￥200 or less for a two-bed room. When booking, please compare prices on the three major platforms (Ctrip, Tongcheng, Fliggy/Feizhu) to get the best price. Always use the Chinese versions of the websites/apps to book, as they will sometimes inflate prices on the English versions of the websites. Same goes for Didi. (Chinese people don’t scam other Chinese people, they only scam foreigners. /s)
This list is not sponsored in any way. I have personally stayed at all these hotels, and they are unaware that I am putting them on this list.
| City | Hotel Name | Approximate Price for Two-Bed Room (CNY, including discounts) | Address | Link | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beijing | 速8酒店(北京学院路北沙滩地铁站店) | ¥255.00 | 北京海淀区志新西路3-1 | Link | Close to Beishatan Station. The adjacent 桔子酒店 run by the same management is also very good, but the prices are higher. |
| Guangzhou | 维福顿公寓(广州环市路小北地铁站店) | ¥227.00 | 广州越秀区麓湖路5号岭湖大厦一楼大厅 | Link | Close to Xiaobei Station on Line 5 and probably the best 银记肠粉 restaurant I’ve eaten at on Xiaobei Rd. Washing machine available in the room (buy your own detergent). |
| Guangzhou | 丽景公寓式酒店(广州琶洲会展中心店) | ¥206.00 | 广州海珠区琶洲新村蟠龙新街6号18栋A座一楼大厅 | Link | Located in apartment building. Direct access to Wanshengwei Station through the Poly Plaza shopping mall on the first floor. Close to the Haizhu Tram stop, which allows for a scenic ride to the Canton Tower. Washing machine available in the room (detergent provided). |
| Hangzhou | 曼居酒店(杭州浙大紫金港店) | ¥220.00 | 杭州西湖区紫金花北路137号 | Link | Located near Zhejiang University’s Zijingang Campus. I stayed here before renting an apartment and starting my journey at Zhejiang University. |
| Harbin | 卡兹青年拼游旅舍(哈尔滨中央大街店) | ¥145.00 | 哈尔滨道里区通江街27号 | Link | Youth hostel that also offers shared rooms for as low as ￥75. Close to Zhongyang Street. Right across from the Zhongyang Street metro station. |
| Harbin | 哈尔滨甜蜜邮局青年旅舍 | ¥235.00 | 哈尔滨道里区通江街155号 | Link | Youth hostel. Farther from the metro station than the other Harbin hostel on this page, but also close to Zhongyang Street. The barbecue on the first floor is NOT recommended! |
| Huangshan | 黄山老街口酒店(屯溪老街景区店) | ¥128.00 | 黄山屯溪区老街1号 | Link | Next to the Tunxi Old Street, which has a very nice shop that sells “hairy tofu”, a delicious type of fermented tofu that is exclusive to the Tunxi area. I strongly recommend you try it if you are staying here! |
| Luoyang | 美景豪泰酒店(上海市场地铁站店) | ¥76.00 | 洛阳涧西区青岛路15号 | Link | Typical hotel. Used to be a GreenTree Inn when I stayed at it. |
| Ningbo | 锦江之星(宁波天一广场江厦桥地铁站店) | ¥153.00 | 宁波鄞州区中山东路501号 | Link | Typical hotel. |
| Shanghai | 青季酒店MINI(上海金山城市沙滩店) | ¥82.00 | 上海金山区卫零路368号 | Link | Located in Jinshan District, which is a 1-hour train ride away from central Shanghai on the Jinshan Railway (ticket price ￥10). Direct access by bus from Jinshanwei Railway Station. Good for going to the Jinshan Beach. |
| Shenzhen | 深圳万世昌安顺快捷酒店 | ¥115.00 | 深圳龙华区民治街道民治大道24号横岭五区2栋 | Link | Small hotel. No heater in winter, so bring a small heater if the temperature concerns you. Very good Harbin-style barbecue across the street. Easy access to Baishilong Station on Shenzhen MTR Line 4, which is just one shot down straight to Futian Checkpoint (20 min away) to access Lok Ma Chau MTR Station in Hong Kong, so this hotel is recommended for a Hong Kong day trip, as it is easy to go to Hong Kong in the morning and return in the evening. I would strongly recommend staying here if visiting Hong Kong rather than staying in Hong Kong itself (hotels in Hong Kong are very pricey). |
| Wuxi | 格林豪泰(无锡深港天地店) | ¥166.00 | 无锡新吴区纺城大道299号深港都会广场13号楼 | Link | Typical hotel. Some rooms have a mahjong table. |
| Zhengzhou | 郑州曼哈顿商务酒店 | ¥93.00 | 郑州金水区升龙大厦12号楼18楼 | Link | Small home-run hotel in an apartment building. Owner is very friendly. |
This work by Félix An is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
