About China blogosphere, travel, and entrepreneurship

Two of my college friends are visiting us in Beijing right now, so we’ve been making the tourist rounds. Climbing the Great Wall, exploring the Forbidden City, eating Beijing duck and haggling at the Silk Market are all on this month’s agenda.

It’s still a bit bizarre for this Jersey girl to be a guide to Beijing attractions, but I’ve been noticing subtle changes in tourist spots over the past few years. In preparation for the Olympic visitors, Beijing is getting better English signage (or perhaps I’m adjusting, since my visiting friends saw plenty of photo-worthy Chinglish), more restrooms, more rubbish bins and some attempts at lining up. There have been changes everywhere, but when we visited Tiananmen Square, I was stunned at the difference.

On my first visit to Tiananmen, in 2006, I was mobbed by sellers of paper kites, postcards, bilingual maps. It was sensory overload, but in a delightful, uniquely Beijing kind of way. Hawkers offered discount tours to the Great Wall, pulled Mao watched out of their jackets, or quietly offered my male friends special services. Families munched on dumplings or fruit as they walked around. I spoke to lots of “art students” who really really wanted to take me their exhibit.

But yesterday’s visit was much quieter. The sellers of postcards and Mao paraphernalia are all gone, from the square itself and the pedestrian access tunnels under the street (I bet transit guru David has a much better word for those!). It seemed like no one was eating, although there were a couple parked vans selling chips and drinks. No one tried to drag me to an art show… ok, i didn’t really miss that bit. A smaller, milder crowd milled around taking photos.

This wasn’t the first time I’ve seen guards posted at every entrance to Tiananmen, but last time they waved us through, and only stopped a few people with large bags, probably to make sure they weren’t carrying in kites and postcards and maps to hawk in the square. Yesterday, we were all stopped, and our camera bags and purses were examined by a polite guard. There was nothing invasive or unpleasant about the process, one of the guards saw my Mandarin phrasebook in my purse and put my Chinese conversational skills to the test! But it’s a huge change from the Tiananmen carnival three years ago.

A trip to the Great Wall is planned for the next blue sky day, and I’m really interested to see if the Badaling vendors have been moved on as well.

Part Two: Shanghai PVG May No Longer Suck

After passing through for one reason or another, I’m often compelled to express my disappointment with the sheer inanity of mainland China’s international airports. For all the overwrought grandeur of their exterior architecture, they’ve repeatedly let me down with senseless interior design, poor construction quality, and the lack of confidence-inspiring, waiting-passenger-amusing, branded amenities like…I dunno, Starbucks. Reassuringly, I’m not the only one who feels this way.

Let’s take Shanghai’s Pudong International Airport (PVG) for example. I mean, Shanghai has been a pretty happenin’, cosmopolitan city for awhile now, right? PVG itself is pretty darn new too, having only opened less than 9 years ago in late 1999. So…what’s with the wrist-slitting interior lighting? Why do the grimy, smelly Terminal 1 restrooms remind me of mental asylums? And just why the hell are they located in the basement level anyway?

In contrast, you have the mega-mall that is the Hong Kong International Airport (HKG), where it is more about shopping Bvlgari, Cartier, Prada, Fendi, Gucci, Coach, etc. etc. etc. than about flying anywhere. Seriously, does anyone really need to buy a 6.4 carat Tiffany & Co. diamond engagement ring right before their flight?

In contrast, there’s also the spit, polish, shine, and arigato gozaimasu of Tokyo’s Narita International Airport (NRT)…where the most retarded questions you could possibly ask are cheerfully answered, with the utmost respect for your ancestors, by the cutest Japanese airport personnel.

Both airports are fantastic examples of what an international airport hub for a major international city should look like. Up until now, Shanghai’s PVG Terminal 1 just didn’t cut it. It might look nifty from afar but for anyone who has travelled, it was an embarassment for a major Chinese metropolis like Shanghai.

However, the new Terminal 2 at PVG opened earlier this year and lucky for me, my Air China ticket to America meant I would finally get a chance to check it out. Accordingly, I didn’t have high expectations and frankly, I didn’t have any expectations whatsoever. I’m pretty jaded. Therefore, and fortunately for PVG, I was completely surprised to find something so utterly remarkable that I not only called my friends to share my sudden delight, I’m also writing about it.

Like Terminal 1, there’s plenty of cold steel, concrete columns, and marble expanses in Terminal 2. Unlike Terminal 1, however, there was an abundance of natural lighting, warm wood surfaces to break up the bleak white and grey, and (see above) a huge zen-like indoor waterfall. HoMedics, anyone? The latter was honestly revolutionary enough that everyone walking by took out their cameras to take pictures of this most incredibly inspired airport design feature…in of all China. Oh, and the restrooms not only had comfy baby-changing rooms with seating for weary mothers and weary fathers, I daresay there was even a pleasant scent about them. Lastly, the ultimate coup de grace for any modern traveller: free wi-fi internet and plenty of easily accessible electrical outlets for our laptops and gadgets.

Shanghai’s international airport is finally half-way respectable.

Of course, its not as good as HKG…yet, but it definitely has potential…so long as no one screws it up. As with so many things in post-Mao mainland China, the bar was simply set so low that basically any half-decent improvement results in–and deserves–ecstatic praise. This was a half-decent improvement and we should give them credit where its due. Now, it still has a lot really random, low-quality retail and dining (like Hope Star Coffee & Cate), but there were some known brands and even an Ajisen Ramen. Now the KFC by the Maglev Station won’t have a monopoly on my dining patronage.

Bravo for Shanghai PVG. Next up: Beijing Capital International Airport.

UPDATE:The wifi is frustratingly unreliable, consistently hanging every so often and resulting in serious disruptions to any effort at productivity. In better news, there are a lot more respectable dining and shopping than I previously noticed and mentioned (though still not more than HKG). They have a Burger King.

After a long spell in Shanghai, and aside from a few trips to Hong Kong and Taipei here and there, I’m now writing from beautiful Los Angeles. Officially, I’m here to visit family and friends. Unofficially, I’m here to get a healthy helping of good old American mad-cow. Neither In-N-Out nor Claim Jumper will know what hit them (unless I can somehow make it to the House of Prime Rib).

Of course, I’m not here to bore you with my culinary misadventures in the States. Instead, I wanted to take this opportunity to share my random observations as I made my way out of Shanghai and transferred through Beijing before collecting my luggage at Los Angeles.

Part One: Shanghai Metro Pat-down

After the recent bus explosion fire that had quite a few Chinese friends wondering if the Shanghai Metro system was safe from those dastardly Xinjiang terrorists, I actually wondered: just what sort of security does Shanghai have to stop random terrorists from running into People’s Square and creating an unfathomable disaster. That is, other than the logic disaster of trying to board before letting people off…during rush hour. Rarely have I seen any reasonable security in Shanghai’s metro stations, and it honestly looks all too easy for someone with hidden explosives and malicious intent to just walk on in and obliterate the mob of humanity that uses the metro system daily. With the Olympics quickly approaching and Chinese domestic media scaring the populace with occasional reports of terrorism threatening to derail (heh) China’s rightful ascension to international glory, I thought they’d ramp up security or something. It never felt that they did…

…until I, of all the harmless-looking people in the world, rolled my luggage into the metro station this past Tuesday afternoon.

As I fumbled to stuff my 10 kuai into the ticket vending machine, a station attendant immediately and briskly walked over to me. At first, I actually thought she was coming to offer, gasp, customer service! Pleasantly flattered, I quickly tried to politely wave her off to let her know there’s no need as I understood how to use the machine. But no, she neither cared where I was going or whether I knew how to pay for fare; she just wanted me to open my luggage to show her the explosives I was surely hiding. Oh.

I, of course, complied. I set my luggage down and flipped it open. Interestingly, she didn’t seem too bothered by the brick-like bulk hidding in one corner of my luggage wrapped mysteriously in yellow graphing paper and a baijiu giveaway bag. I mean, national product or not, it could’ve been flammable baijiu, a fatty amount of explosive C4 plastique, or something equally dangerous, like 6 month F visas. No, instead, she poked warily at my Calvin Klein Escape deodorant. I quickly explained its purpose for masking unpleasant, women-luring, body odor. Confounded, she had no choice but to let me continue with my journey.

Four kuai ticket in hand, and suitcase zipped shut again, I quickly entered the station. I glanced back only briefly, you know, to make sure I wasn’t being tailed, due to my pleasing aroma, and made my way towards Shanghai’s Pudong International Airport.

There is an utterly amazing perk many American expats or travellers in China can enjoy so long as they’re customers of Bank of America (whom are legion, despite the fact that Bank of America is somewhat widely despised amongst many in the States): BofA customers can use their BofA ATM card to withdraw the USD in their accounts back home as RMB cash via China Construction Bank ATMs throughout China…for free.

No ATM fees, no currency exchange fees, no credit card cash advance fees, and no need to set up a CCB bank account either. Just cold, hard, delicious cash converted at the day’s exchange rate.

I used this a year ago and, embarassingly, I didn’t think to write about this useful tip until Dan over at China Law Blog just recently discovered and posted about it earlier today.

Now, the daily ATM withdrawal limit in China was raised from 5,000 RMB to 20,000 RMB in mid-2007. Accounting for the current exchange rate (6.94 RMB per 1 USD at the time of this posting), this means you can effectively move up to about 2,880 USD into China each day, barring any daily withdrawal limits you have on your BofA account. If your limit is lower than the converted amount you want to access in China, you’ll need to call Bank of America in advance to raise your limits appropriately, lest you get confounded at the ATM. There’s also the current 2000 RMB per transaction limit at CCB’s ATMs, so you’ll need to repeat the withdrawal process 10 times to get the full 20,000 RMB daily limit. After making everyone behind you wait, however, you can walk smugly past them carrying your fat stacks of 100 RMB bills. Baller.

Now, 20,000 RMB is a decent sum of cash for the vast majority of transactions. That’s about 5000 street-cooked fried rice meals in China or 714 Starbucks cappucinos. Being able to freely access and convert your USD into RMB cash should be particularly useful for business travellers and other short-term visitors. You no longer need to hassle with carrying large amounts of cash, getting cashiers cheques, using wire transfers, or going through the hassle of setting up a Chinese bank account (which would require you to bring money in first anyway). Not only do you save money on fees and exchange rates, it is downright convenient.

The free ATM withdrawals perk has been available since April 2006 and you can thank BofA for opting to buy a stake in CCB and partnering with them instead of pursuing the retail banking market on their own. I, however, only learned about this service in mid-2007 when I needed to quickly move several thousand USD over to cover development costs for my startup, adex360, without fussing with wire transfers. In fact, BofA required me to physically appear at a US banking center just to wire my own money to myself in China. Yeah, like I’m really going to buy a round-trip airplane ticket just so I can pay them an additional 45 USD fee for a wire transfer to myself. I ended up withdrawing over several days to accumulate the RMB bricks I needed.

So yes, you can certainly make withdrawals over several days (or weeks) should you need to move more than 20,000 RMB. Of course, going to the ATM each day isn’t the most graceful way of moving large chunks of money, but it may be less annoying than having to set up, pay for, and then wait for a wire transfer that can sometimes take longer than you prefer. As with my example, you often can’t actually initiate a wire transfer of your own money to yourself from abroad anyway, thereby necessitating that you have someone abroad who can wire funds to you. Moreover, for many expats and travellers, trying to communicate with Chinese tellers when their English is about as good as your Chinglish can be a hassle as well.

There may be more good news too, as it appears that BofA and CCB has had a free wire transfer pilot program in place since late 2006 also. This allows BofA account holders to wire transfer money without the 45 USD fee or the 20,000 RMB daily limit to CCB account holders. But, before you think this is a better option than making 10 withdrawals a day over several days to move larger chunks of money, remember that you need a BofA account, a CCB account, and you’d still need to initiate the transfer at BofA in person in the United States. Therefore, as far as using this to wire your own money to yourself, it would only be useful if you’ve already set up your CCB account and you’re doing initiating the wire transfer right before you fly over from the States to China. The actual target market for this service are family members, friends, and businesses that need to move money between themselves and have the people to initiate and receive wire transfers on both sides. If you’re just one person in China trying to access your money in your US account, then the free ATM withdrawal service is still what you’re looking for…if you’re a BofA customer, that is.

18 days of free ATM withdrawals and you’ll be able to transfer the yearly maximum of 50,000 USD. Heh, how’s that for hedging against RMB appreciation and USD depreciation?

One final note: Despite the conveniences afforded by this partnership, don’t expect any service from CCB banks and representatives regarding your BofA account. The most they’ll know is that you can access your BofA account balance through their ATM. They are not there to help you with managing your account otherwise or answering any BofA questions.

Shanghai Railway Station (Shanghai Huoche Zhan, 上海火车站, a.k.a. Shanghai Station, 上海站) is also known as New Passenger Railway Station (Xin Kezhan, 新客站) by Shanghai residents to distinguish it from the old North Station which retired in 1987. 刘建春 (Liu Jianchun) described the history and development of the history of Shanghai railway stations in a book《火车老站地图》(Map of Railway Stations) published in 2007. The earliest railway station in Shanghai was put to operation in 1876. And there have been 7 railways stations existing in Shanghai in the past 130 years, including the existing ones. It is very interesting to see how these stations were built and moved or changed or disappeared. I marked them on the map below for your quick reference, check here for an interactive version. (The site of an old South Station in Luwan District is not included.)

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Happy Labor Day!

I remember I stayed at home (Shanghai) for 7 days watching all the Desperate Housewives episodes last year. LOL. It is not that I don’t want to explore our beautiful western provinces - Yunnan (云南), Sichuan(四川), Tibet (西藏) and Qinghai (青海), I was afraid that the overwhelming crowds would ruin the beautiful natural scenery. Year 2008 is the first year that the eight-year-old “7-day-Golden-Week” is cut to 3 days. Still, I can’t go out to explore the far-away Wild Wild West. What’s worst, my friend from Suzhou told me that a nice hotel in Suzhou is very difficult to book (= more expensive) in the coming few days. So, I guess I will have to stay at home to watch LOST this time (like other Chinese fans of US TV shows).

According to a news report from Qianglong(千龙网), tour bookings are only 50% of what they were in year 2007, especially long distance tours to more remote destinations, such as Hainan (海南) and Lijiang Yunnan (丽江，云南). Self-driving packages are most popular.

So, if you are coming to China, I suggest you schedule your trip to avoid our public holidays. My take is: avoid visiting big cities in 3-day long weekends, and avoid the remote destinations during national holiday and Chinese New Year. Check out the calendar below and bookmark it.

In Summary:

1. We have 11 days public holidays, and minimal 5 days paid leave according to Labor Contract Law.
2. The government wants us to take advantage of the public holidays to drive travel industry, so a holiday usually make a 3-day long weekend. For example, we will have to work in the coming Sunday (May 4) because we are off on Friday (May 2).
3. So, What are these holidays?

• Jan. 1 : New Year Day (元旦)
• Chinese Calendar Jan. 1: Chinese New Year (春节)
• April. 5: Qingming (清明). People usually go to ceremonies to “sweep the tomb” (lit 扫墓) of their ancestors. The act of clean-up the tomb, and bringing some flowers, food and wine to the tomb is to show respect and memory to our passed family members. So you don’t need to say “happy holiday” to your Chinese friends on Qingming.
• May. 1: International Labor’s Day (劳动节). I guess it is a public holiday in all “communist” countries (though it originated from a labor dispute in the United States).
• Chinese Calendar May. 5: Duanwu (端午). It is a day to memorize one of our ancient patriot Quyuan (屈原). People eat a kind of food called zongzi 粽子(sticky rice “cake” wrapped with leaf). That day, dragon boat races are also held.
• Chinese Calendar Aug. 15: Mid-Autumn Festival (中秋节). A festival to appreciate the most rounded moon in a year and eat moon cakes.
• Oct. 1: National Day (国庆节). The day Chairman Mao announced that People’s Republic of China was founded in front of Tiananmen Square in 1949.

Baidu Data Research Center (百度数据研究中心) released a Online Travel Report 2007 on April. 10, 2008. It provides some very interesting data about online travel industry in China. [Note: all data are for year 2007 if not specified; all Baidu data are collected from browser cookies in Q4 of 2007 Q4.]

1. Market Size

• Total Revenue of Travel Industry of China: 1,090 Billion RMB -> 155.7 Billion USD (data from China National Tourism Administration, 中国国家旅游局);
• Total Online Travel Booking: 2.25 Billion RMB -> 0.32 Billion USD, increased 65.4% from 2006 (data from a report by Data Center of China Internet 中国互联网调查);
• Estimated Online Travel Booking in 2008: 3.84 Biilion RMB ->0.55 Billion USD (中国互联网调查).

2. Travel Theme/Category

The categories are analyzed from the key terms. One interesting category for English speakers would be “红色旅游“ (ranked at #2 ) which literally means “Red Tourism”. People usually visit China Anti-Japan/ Liberation War (1920s-40s) and Chinese Communist Party development related historical places in a Red Tour.

3.Top 10 Most Searched Information Categories

I wasn’t surprised to that “Air Ticket” is the most WANTED key terms in travel related searches, but a little surprised to see only 3.57% terms are about “lodging/accommodation”. This is very different from the United States market where “hotels” is a hot term. A large percentage of people are searching for “itinerary” (旅游路线) which I will understand as “deciding where to go”.

4. Top 10 Travel Booking Sites

Top 3 players are: Ctrip, Elong and MangoCity.

5. Top 10 Travel Information Sites

I have personally used Go2EU (穷游网) and knew it was very hot, but I didn’t expect it to be Number 1. Go2EU’s Chinese name can be understood as “Travel though you are poor” or “How to travel even if you don’t have much $$$.” It is a portal and community for budget/independent outbound travelers. All the information (in Chinese) focuses on overseas travel: from how to get a visa, where to buy cheap ticket, to tips on when and where to take great pictures. I am a little surprised to see only Travel Channel of Sohu on # 10 but no other major portals.

6:Top 10 Domestic Travel Destinations for Shanghai Residents (most searched)

The top 10 destinations are: Hangzhou, Suzhou, Beijing, Nanjing, Guangzhou, Huangshan, Wuxi, Hong Kong, Shenzhen and Chengdu. Except of Huangshan (黄山) which is a natural park, all others are cities. I haven’t been to 2 of them.

7. Top 10 Oversea Travel Destinations for Shanghai & Beijing Residents (most searched)

Shanghai: Japan, South Korea, Thailand, Singapore, Australia, Bali, Sin-Ma-Thai, North Korea, France

Beijing: North Korea, South Korea, Singapore, Thailand, South Africa, France, Vietnam, The United States, Finland and Japan.

An interesting finding: North Korea is a in the “Top 10″ lists of both cities. Very funny! I can’t believe people are actually travel to North Korea, or maybe just it is just a MOST Interested country that people search for general purpose rather than travel. How do you think? I bet the United States will be in the list of 2008 for Shanghai residents.

There are some other interesting charts in this 44-page report, such as top 10 most searched hotel brands, airlines, travel agents, cities. It can be easily download here.

UPDATE from Elliott:

CNReviews.com Trivia Question: On Twitter, I tweeted the trivia question: “When asked if the French Revolution was successful, which Chinese statesman said “it is too early to tell?” JPostman of SocializedPR answered the question correctly–Zhou Enlai. The lucky winner gets a link to his blog at SocializedPR! Now I have to reread Alexis de Tocqueville’s Old Regime and the French Revolution to contrast it with Marx’s Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte (also on Amazon)to even be able to understand what Zhou Enlai was thinking when he said this. Thanks JPostman!

1kg More (多背一公斤）was four years old on April 18, 2008.

Happy Birthday, 1kg More! And congratulations on the great progress in the past year, Andrew!

I chatted with 1kg More founder/blogger/travel enthusiast Andrew Yu (my previous interview with Andrew is here) a few days ago and got the latest updates on 1kg More:

1. 1kg More is in Shanghai taxis: If you are taking any taxi that is running Touch Media, who recently announced to receive RBM 1000 million VC funding on Mar. 28, 2008, advertising, you will see 1kg on the screen. As I know, Touch Media is currently running in Qiang Sheng Taxi (强生出租车, the brown/deep yellow color cab).

2. 1kg More has a new website: With this new version, a user now can:

• Search schools that need help by typing in the destination name .(I gave a try and found 10 schools in Guilin (桂林) area, and 26 schools in Lijiang Yuman (云南丽江) area, very nice!)
• Upload the school information online. 1kg volunteers will then contact the school to make sure the information are accurate.
• Share photos with other members.
• Join any other 1kg activities.

Volunteer Suave Su is using various open-sourced technologies to build the website, and the 1kg.org site is open to any volunteers to contribute. You can email Suave (suave.su at gmail.com) if you want to help. It is not a rocket-science project, but I am very impressed by what Suave has done by himself.

3. 1kg More has more schools: In the past 3 months in 2008, there are 120+ added into the search-able database (the number for the year 2007 is 98).

4. 1kg More is now a registered entity: As a grassroots NGO in China, Andrew told me it is impossible for 1kg More to get a non-profit organization registration. And the only way to have a legitimated identity is to register 1kg as a commercial entity. Andrew and I have chatted about this before, and the reality is that there is hardly a way for a grassroots NGO to get an official recognition from the government at present due to a serial complicated concerns. I am looking forward to 1kg More’s Chinese characterized NGO model.

Read 1kg More annual summary from Andrew Yu in Chinese here.

If you’re coming to Shanghai, you’ll most likely be arriving through Pudong International Airport (PVG). Located 30 km east of downtown, it took over most international flights from the older Hongqiao Airport (SHA) when it first opened in 1999. It is big, it is modern, and the architecture is, uh, big and modern.

It is also remarkably unremarkable.

You really do not want to hang out there.

Yes, you’d think such a cosmopolitan first-tier city like Shanghai would have an impressively cosmopolitan airport like Hong Kong’s, filled with name-brand shopping and palatable dining options for the legions of travelers passing through each day, but as far as major international airports go, Shanghai’s PVG sucks (so does Beijing, but that’s a story the Imagethief tells best). Get past immigration, head for the exits, and make your way to downtown Shanghai, where it is far more interesting.

If you’re foreign to Shanghai, and no one was sent to pick you up, there are three common methods for getting from the airport into the city center, which is where you’re most likely headed. Each of these options are detailed below, with pros, cons, instructions, and some useful tips.

Method 1: Taxi

Why: Convenience. Unless there is a long line of people waiting to get taxis, this is your option for door to door service, and especially useful if you have a ton of luggage. The major drawback will be the cost, and the risk of dishonest drivers intentionally taking a less-than-direct route from the airport to your stated destination. Unfortunately, this risk gets higher the more foreign you appear and the less familiar you are with Shanghai’s roads/geography.

Typical rates during the day to the Puxi side of downtown Shanghai will be around 150-170 RMB. To the Pudong side, around 100-130 RMB. As long as you’re certain your destination is in the city center, you should get worried if the fare hits 200. A vein on your forehead should pop if you see 300. (more…)

Tom Mercer from Simple Green Choices (this blog might not be accessible in China if you don’t have a proxy server) has great resources in green travel. And his post about travel options has been my self-justification of not owning a car - not environmental friendly, especially when I am in Shanghai. Here are the numbers of how many “greenhouse emissions“ created by different transportation methods.

Total Emissions Per Person

• Average Car/Single Driver - 1.39 lbs/mi
• Average Car/Family of 4 - .34 lbs/mi
• Train - .32 lbs/mi
• Bus - .48 lbs/mi
• Plane (250 mi trip) - .85 lbs/mi**
• Plane (600 mi) - .69 lbs/mi**
• Plane (3500 mi) - .56 lbs/mi**
  

So last weekend, we decided to take train instead of to rent a car to a nearby city Hangzhou (杭州, Hángzhōu). The later option will be environmental friendly if I have a family of 4. But not now. It was a great riding experience and I’d like to share with you how to enjoy “train riding” to Hangzhou from Shanghai.

1. Buy train tickets: Unless you buy the tickets at train station ticket boots, there is always a small sub-charge on buying a train ticket from agents. The best way is to go official ticket vendors/offices and it will cost you only 5 RMB/ticket. If you call a travel agent, the max. amount could be 30 RMB even in non-national holiday period.

2. Go to railway station: There are two major train stations in Shanghai: Shanghai Railway Station (上海火车站) and Shanghai South Railway Station (上海火车南站). Both of the stations are connected to Metro Line 1 and Line 3. South station is a very new and modern architecture and was open on July 1, 2006. A lot of trains to southern provinces (Zhejiang Province, Hunan Province and Jiangxi Province) are departed here, so was the high-speed train we took was departed here as well. Make sure you know which station you want to depart from and arrive at. The taxi fee from South Railway Station to Jing’an Temple is around 30 RMB in daytime non-rush hour.

3. Take the train: I have the experience of spending 24 hours in the train when traveling from Shanghai to Beijing around 10 years’ ago. But it only took me 12 hours last year. So the train travel experience becomes more and more enjoyable (except of Chinese New Year period) in China. But I have to say the toilet condition is still a big challenge for most western travellers in a long distance trip.

4. Buy return tickets：The only benefit of buying return ticket at your destination is to SAVE the transaction fee since you are at the train station! We saved 10 RMB! ^_^

Here is a image tour of our train-riding experience:

We traveled from Jing’an Temple direction and arrived at North West Entrance on level 2.

There is a layout map on the left-hand side near the entrance. B1- Arrival; Level 1 & 2 - Departure.

A grand architecture! Definitely not a traditional train station you see in China!

Highspeed trains CRH (which means “China Railway High-speed”) to Hangzhou are all departed at A1 lounge on level 1. We took the stairs on our left hand side and went down one level, then followed the sign to the waiting room. CHR has a “funny” Chinese name “和谐号” (Hexie Hao, 和谐 means “harmonious”).

This is what you want to look for.

Double confirm that you are not going to the wrong waiting room. This sign at the entrance tells you the numbers of all the trains that depart from this room, including to Hangzhou: D653, D657, D663, D667, D675, D681, D683; to Changsha (长沙): D109. “D” trains (train number started with letter “D”) (动车组，DòngChē Zǚ) are the fastest trains in China railway transportation system. If you take “D” train to Beijing, it takes you only 10 hours.

Hangzhou is a very popular spring travel destination for Shanghainese, people (and us) are desperated to see the spring green in Hangzhou!

Our train departs at 9:30am.

On the platform. There are 16 cabinets in a CRH.

The cabinet of CRH is very clean and spacey, 5 seats in a row and luggage rack overhead.

Even though the toilet condition has room for improvement, we can’t complain about the “hot” and “cold” FREE water on the train. I believe all the trains in China provide free water today.

Three minutes after departure, the train was at a speed of 130km/hour. The highest speed is around 170km/hour, avg. 140km/h. It only takes 75 minutes and costs us 54RMB/person to travel from Shanghai to Hangzhou.

The bullet train CRH 和谐号。

This is a used ticket from Hangzhou (杭州) to Shanghai South Railway Station (上海南).

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