TRAVEL ROUTE

Air :

Most visitors flying into China arrive at Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen or Guangzhou. The first three of these have brand new airports, and Guangzhou is due to open a new one soon. A host of international airlines have connections to these and other mainland cities, or one can fly to Hong Kong and then travel by train to the border at Lo Wu, just south of Shenzhen. All passengers must buy airport tax, which costs 50 Rmb for domestic flights and 90 Rmb for international flights (including Hong Kong).

Train :

Hong Kong. The most common entry route by train is from Hong Kong. Travel time to Beijing is about 33 hours and 29 hours to Shanghai. Prices are competitive. A one-way ticket to Shanghai in a four-berth soft sleeper compartment costs HK$875. Luxury two-berth compartments are also available on trains to Beijing and Shanghai. Budget travellers tend to travel in hard sleeper, which comprises six berths to an open compartment.

Russia. Another popular route is from Moscow on the Trans-Siberian Express, a weekly Russian train which runs right across Siberia before heading south to Beijing. A Chinese train, known as the Trans-Mongolian Express, chops a day off the six-day trip by cutting down from Siberia through the Mongolian capital of Ulanbaatar. The Trans-Mongolian also runs weekly. Both trains are comfortable and clean but tend to be full of Russian traders laden with heavy baggage. Bear in mind that they also often object to having their photos taken. First-class compartments have two berths and a private shower.

Central Asia. Trains now run twice weekly from Almaty, the capital of Kazakhstan, to Urumqi in western China. Journey time is 35 hours. Almaty has daily trains to Moscow, a trip that takes three days.

Travel Information