Thanks for your Comments

I want to thank everyone for commenting on my blog. I didn’t expect that so many people were involved. At the very begining, when I have about 50 blog entries, I got about 10 comments. Later, when I completed my first 100 entries, there were about 100 comments. Now this is the 198th article in this blog and I got 478 comments, doubling the number of the blog entries. These comments shows sparkling ideas and timely information about the world. I appreciate everyone’s contribution on this blog which is the source of my passion to continue writing.

Top 10 commentor

I’d like to thank the following top 10 contributors for commenting in order of comments posted.

cuanyu 16

Yizhong 7

Raymond 7

John 7

David 7

Bethune 6

Shanghai Knight 5

Ryan 5

Reader 5

Mainlander 5

Totally, 216 persons (distinguished by display name) participated in the last 5 months.

My principle on comments

I insist not to delete any comments as long as it is reable – I did saw testing posts before – about one or two. I will leave it for several days to give the poster some time to verify that it really works and delete it for sake of ease of reading.

I don’t change the content of any comment although the system provide the function. If I disagree, I will post my comment under it. I did receive such comments that I wanted to delete but I hold firm against it. Here is one example.

However, I cannot bear anyone writing flaming comment against my other readers. Unfortunately, Wayne, who has posted before, gave me a surprise by leaving this comment. I have to say, no matter what you think, just give out fact and your thoughts. Do not simply give us such comment, please.

P.S. Update on SARS

Take these precautions:

(i) Try to keep your hands away from your face.

(ii) Wash your hand often. If you go out, wash your hand when you reach home.

(iii) Soap and water are a good defence. Cornaviruses cannot withstand any sort of detergent.

(iv) Alcohol-based hand rubs are effective, too.

(v) Keep away from crowded areas.

Thanks Shanghai Knight to share with us about these good tips.

93 thoughts on “Thanks for your Comments

  1. It is very intereting to know that I am the top commentor of your blog, considering the strange way we know each other. I hope you can keep going with your web site and make it even better.

  2. do you have a category for the most paranoid about sars contributor? i think i would be amongst the top 10.

  3. Thes pop ups are driving me crazy..But my problem is that I use my messenger service quite often to talk to my family…Anything else I can do to get back at them?????

  4. MSN Messenger and the Messenger service are completely two things. You may be using MSN Messenger to chat with your friends – . But the Messenger service in Windows that NET SEND SPAM used is seldom used by common computer users. So just use the steps to stop it and your MSN Messenger you are using will not be affected.

  5. Very lovely and instructive pictures for someone who is preparing a trip to Shanghai. Thank you so much! Iolande

  6. Very lovely and instructive pictures for someone who is preparing a trip to Shanghai. Thank you so much! Iolande

  7. Dear Jian Shuo,

    Greetings to you and your family! Thanks for your website; it is very informative.

    I was very excited to see someone also interested in cycling.

    I live in Portland Oregon USA and I am planning a bicycle trip from Shanghai to Tsingdao to Beijing in late September, 2004.

    Do you (or any of your commentors) know of any websites similar to MapQuest that provides free online driving directions in China?

    Have you done any bike trips along the eastern coast northward from Shanghai, and do you have any suggestions or tips for traveling safely on a bike in this part of China?

    (I have toured long distances on a bike in USA, Western Europe, and Taiwan, but not yet in China.)

    -Steven

    paceliner_x@hotmail.com

  8. In sept05 im planning to take a long term mandarin program at one of the universities here in shanghai. I have narrowed my choices down to the following: East China Normal University, Jiao Tong University and Shanghai International Studies University. I will not live on campus as i have my own place. I live in Changning district so i do favor one closer. Do you know anything about Dong Hua U or Shanghai Institute of Foreign Trade’s programs? Well whatever comments would be appreciated. Thanks guys and girls….

  9. Hello Jian Shuo,

    I like your website, very informative and helpful! Could you please confirm that the ‘nicer way’ to get to SuZhou from PuDong Airport, is still “Airport bus 1′-> HongQiao Airport then a bus to SuZhou? I read this suggestion on your website posted 2003. Just want to confirm that is still the right way.

    Thank you!

    Kai.

  10. I’m flying over to Shanghai in alittle over a week and am currently planning to take the train up to Beijing and travel around to xian then back down into shanghai before teaching English for a month.

    the question I have is are there any lockers at the airport where I can lock up text books, notes etc for two weeks before I travel north? if not can you recomend anywhere where I could safely leave these?

    Also are there any towns/cities or sites that you would recomend I vist while traveling around china. I am planning to travel up to beijing the same day I fly into shanghai, what whould be my chances of being able to get a ticket on the day to travel that night? basicly would I need to arrange this before I arive in China or could I do it on the day?

    Many thanks

    Michael

  11. Your blog is excellent and interesting. Thanks.

    My wife and I have booked two return tickets to Shanghai (Pudong) next march and we are staying for 3 weeks.

    We are brining our bicycles and we are going to cycle around Lake and then return on the ferry from Ningbo.

    We plan to go to around Lake Taihu via Kunshan, Suzhou, Wuxi, Dingshan, Huzhou, Hangzhou, Shaoxing, Cixi, and Ningbo.

    Are there any Chinese and Pinyin maps of this area?

    Any advice?

    Many thanks -Geat map of Shanghai as well.

  12. Hello Jian Shuo

    Your web site is fantastic

    I am travelling to China on a business trip (approx 2 weeks) next week and it is really difficult to find information about internal travel – your site is a great help

    Stephen

  13. Hi, Jianshuo,

    This site is interesting. I happened to hit into here and found many things amazing. Good work.

    I guess you work for Microsoft, right? hehe.

  14. Dear JianShuo:

    Really like your blog/website. I read your article/entry about web cam with particular interest. Yesterday, I bought a Logitech web cam and tried to do real-time instant video messengering (video chat) with my cousin in Shanghai. I am in Los Angeles. Both of us use MSN messenger to chat. However, my cousin could not see my web cam and I could not see his web cam either. Wonder if I was blocked by the national firewall or just our computer settings were off. Wonder if you have ever tried instand real-time video chat with somebody in the U.S. (outside of China)? I know video chat within China is O.K. Please advise. Thank you.

    Donald

  15. 你好,

    看到你写的在a610cl添加256M内存的文章。

    我也刚买了这台机器,想了解添加内存有没有特殊要求,是DDR 333还是DDR 400

    什么品牌的比较合适?

    望能提供帮助,

    非常感谢!

  16. Dear Mr Wang;

    I’m planning a trip to Shanghai in November. Since I’ve never visited China before I’ve done some web surfing to learn a little about the city, geography, culture. I must say, you seem to have the best website for “real” information on the web.

    I don’t know how you have the time to keep your blog up to date, but I’d like to thank you for providing the information that you do.

    If you ever visit the Atlanta, Georgia USA area, please contact me via my email address. I’d like to return the favor.

    Thank you!

  17. Hi there:

    Found your blog by accident. Love it very much. As a shanghainese myself, everything about shanghai is sweet and heartwarming. Thanks for allowing us to share part of your life and thanks for allowing more english-speaking visitors to know, and potentially visit, our beautiful city. I am planning on going back to shanghai next april, and hopefully we can get togehter and have some fun.

    Alex

  18. Hi there, (greetings from Maryland, USA)

    I ran into your website accidently and enjoyed it greatly–even though I was not supposed to do that while working (LOL).

    As a person from Henan (shangqiu), China, I am really proud of you and your wife. She writes brilliantly too! What a couple!

    Hope someday I can meet you in Shanghai/anywhere.

    Yihua

  19. Hello Jian Shuo Wang,

    Want to thank you for an informative and very useful website. It must be some task to keep everything up-to-date and respond to comments.

    I’m currently teaching and living in Suzhou. I moved here three weeks ago from San Francisco and my wife will be joining me this Saturday.

    We want to take the bus you mention in your blog to Suzhou. It appears the last bus leaves PVG @ 18:50. My wife’s plane is scheduled to land at 17:55. I believe the connection time may be inadequate. Are there any other alternatives?

    If we can take the bus, where would we buy the tickets and where would we board the bus? Any help in identifying the bus would be helpful too.

    Thanks for your help in advance. Again, I want to thank you for the terrific resource you are providing.

    Best regards, Scott

  20. Hi, Jianshuo:

    I have browsed your weblog for a long time. It gives me a lot information I needed. I found that you moved to a new house in Pudong and it has a beautiful garden. I am wondering where it is and how much per square meter for that apartment? Since the real estate is going crazy in Shanghai, it is more and more hard to find a good place. I bought an apartment in HongKou district in the year 2000 and cost me 570,000 RMB for 146 square meters. It is a good deal from today’s perspective. After we got our daughter, my parents in law moved in and help us to raise the child. The apartment becomes a little bit smaller (the residents number is from 2 to 5). I’d like to find some apartments of 170 to 200 square meters. It is better to be “Fushi”. Besides, I pretty much like a garden like you have right now. Can you give me some more information on what I needed?

    BTW, I don’t bother travel a little bit far as long as the infrastructure is OK for car.

    Thank you!

    Zheng

  21. Hi Jian Shuo

    Great website. I am visiting Shanghai this on 25 Oct and am looking forward to enjoy. A suggestion: more pictures will give a better view of the things you want to communicate to sufers.

    Xie Xie

  22. Thanks very much for the helpful comments on installing PERL on WinXP. I need to run Latex2html and was having trouble downloading PERL. Now I’m rolling.

  23. Hi. I will be visiting shanghai sometime next week. Do you know how far or how near the Ramada Plaza Shanghai and Plaza 66? Can i reach both places on foot? I tried looking at the map but i can’t read chinese. I hope you can help me. Or show it to me on the map…thanks

    Rob

    PS. You have a great web page. very informative. keep up the good work.

  24. Ramada should be in Jin Qiao while Plaza 66 is in Jing An. That means, one is on the east-most area of Pudong and the other is at west part of Shanghai. You cannot get there by foot, or bicycle. Taxi should be OK, and I guess it takes about 40-60 RMB.

  25. THANK YOU FOR YOUR WEB PAGE

    I WILL BE VISITING SHANGHAI IN THE NEAR FUTURE IN A BUSSINES TRYP AND I WILL BE VISITING DANDONG FOR BUSSINES

    I WILL LIKE TO HAVE A TRANSLATER TO ENGLISH SO IF YOU ARE AVALIABLE FOR A FEW DAYS PLS CONTACT ME

    THANK YOU AND BEST REGARDS

    JAVIER LOPEZ

    CANARY ISLANDS

    SPAIN

  26. Hi, I am being interviewed soon for a job in Shanghai for an Interior Designer. The firm is international, I am in the senior level would you know how much the wage rate would be for such? Please e-mail me your answer. It would appreciate it if you could reply soon.

    Best regards and more power

    Christine

  27. I happened to drop by your blog by clicking a link of another website. Then I stayed over an hour after that. Just would like you know that you have a great website, and I like your design especially the photo’s part.

    Kevin

  28. THank you so much for your website! I looked up Shanghai Pudong Airport on MSN Search, and there it was. Very, very helpful! est regards,

    Laura

  29. 您好:

    在一次的搜寻中见到您的网站计划,感到非常有趣,我本身是作艺术创作,跟您的计划非常相关,我的计划是在台湾为范围,利用台湾特有的地理坐标(电力坐标)为据点,由使用者去添加数据在网络地图之上,结合blog,但是信息能力无法作的如本身所想要的效果,所以想跟您请教您是如何制作的。

    台湾 叶于圣 敬上

  30. Hello Jian Shuo,

    I, like many of your site visitors, bummed into your website by accident and found it extremely interesting.

    I have not read any of your articles yet but I did take a quick browse of your photo album and I must say you have a great collection of pictures. I was wonderig what type of camera do you use? Specific “make” and “model” will help a lot. Have your processed your photos by any software or those are originals? I may contact you privately if you don’t feel it is apropriate to make it sound like a commercial anouncement. :-)

    I am a Chinese American lived most of my life in the US (Boston and Seattle areas mainly). I have been flying between N. America and Asia a lot in the past 10 years. My record is making 8 trips in one calendar year. That means flying across pacific for 16 times in that year. I wish I have taken more pictures than I actually did.

    I run a regional business for a San Diego based high tech company and I have based in Shanghai since two years and a half ago. I am actually writing this in San Jose, California, where I am visiting my mom & brother and his famiies for the holidays, as I had landed in Seattle on the xmas eve and drove all the way from Seattle to San Jose yesterday. I am not sure but it is probably similar to driving from Guangzhou to Shanghai (distance-wise)?

    Anyway, just like to say hi and I envy your energy and skills in making such efforts in sharing so much about your life. And perhaps I will see you and your lovely wife when I return to Shanghai in early January, 2005.

    Great job on the photos and I am sure I will be back to read and enjoy some of your articles.

    Have a safe and prosperous new year. May peace with everyone on earth.

    yangr

  31. I read your experience to Daocheng – the last Shangrila. We are very keen to see for ourselves.Can you direct me or provide me with some contacts -local company that organise/operate on this trek?

    Thanks.

    LiuPH

  32. Hi Jian Shuo,

    I want to say “thanks” for putting this website together. This is by far the most informative website regarding life in Shanghai. I will be moving there in only three weeks to begin a new career there. I hope to read all of your articles before I go! And thanks for the pictures of Seattle – ’cause that’s where I live right now!

    Go Starbucks,

    Ron

  33. Ron, welcome to Shanghai. I am happy that my site helped one more person who’s going to relocate to Shanghai. I know hundreds of people relocate to Shanghai from outside China everyday and if I can help you, I guess the same information is helpful to others. That made me feel great.

  34. I had such a terrible day at work. Mean people. I was just drifting along on the web. Good Site, nice man. Thanks

  35. Came across your site from shanghaiexpat.com. I also enjoy cyclyng, and would like to take a ride down to JinShan, on the edge of Shanghai Municipality. Which route should I take? Any advice would be welcomed.

    Thanks,

    Sean

  36. This fantastic coffee table of a website where we can all gather and exchange the most closely held views on the world is a tonic for my soul. I sit here, the moon glistening off my greasy thumb, staring blankly at the keyboard, yet I know that on the other side of these hard rubber keys there’s a universe of tests and patterns that fortify my love of love. I speak for us all when I say, these are the times we’ll never forget.

  37. Dear Jian Shuo,

    I was looking around http://www.bonhams.com and saw that in an upcoming auction the authorities of San Francisco are selling a gift given by to them by the Mayor of Shanghai. Bloody rude if you ask me. It is the magnificent painting Grapevine by master Zhu Qizhan. It was in the SF airport and is great. They want USD30,000, probably to spend on modern rubbish that could be painted by a chimp. If they don’t want it, maybe we should ask for it back.

    Disgusted.

    Martin

    http://www.bonhams.com

    Lot No: 2226W

    Property of the San Francisco Arts Commission, sold to benefit future acquisitions Zhu Qizhan (1892-1996): Grapevine. Monumental painting in ink and color on paper, framed and glazed in UF3/ultra-violet screened frame; the upper right with a poem of Qingteng (Xu Wei, 1521-1593), dated renxu (1982), inscribed ‘painted at Meihua Caotang in Shanghai’, signed ‘Zhu Qizhan at the age of ninety-one’, with four artist’s seals reading Loujiang Zhushi, Qizhan, Meihua Caotang and xinbi zhihui.

    Dimensions 140 x 53in (356 x 135cm)

    Estimate: $30,000 to 50,000

    Footnote:

    Provenance:

    this painting was presented by Wang Daohan, Mayor of Shanghai to Diane Feinstein, Mayor of San Francisco in 1983. It was installed on July 12, 1983 at San Francisco International Airport and was exhibited there for about ten years.

    Since January 1980, San Francisco and Shanghai have been Sister Cities. In 1981, the Shanghai Friendship Committee, with the encouragement and endorsement from the Mayor of San Francisco, recommended to the joint committee of the Airport Commission and the Arts Commission that paintings by Shanghai artists be commissioned for the International Terminal at the San Francisco Airport. This marked the first formal association between cities in China and the United States.

  38. Hi,

    I am not familiar with “blog” at all. I have never done a “blog” before so I am not sure I am doing this right.

    I stumbled across your website when I was searching on google for information on salary and cost of living in Shanghai. The information you have is great and I was wondering if you had any more recent information. Also, do you know of any other good sites that provide information on living in China?

    Thank you in advance for your help.

  39. Jianshuo:

    hi,

    I drop in your blog when I use google.

    I’m surprised how you can get this domain name ? same as your name, envy…:)

  40. I can do a stop over in Shanghai in Dec and am wondering is it worth it and how long should I stay – am on my way to Bangkok? I have about 5 days available to me and wondered what I could see/do in that time.

    Would it be worth getting an internal flight to Beijing or Hongkong? How much would this cost and how long does it take?

    Any information you can give me will be much appreciated.

  41. Greetings,

    Thanks for the site. I will be flying into either Shanghai or Guangzhou in January 06. After reading your log,it appears to me that I can get an airline to take me directly to Luoyang from either of these 2 places.Would that be correct? And, how often do these flights leave? Thank you…Bill Jacot

  42. Greetings,

    Thanks for the site. I will be flying into either Shanghai or Guangzhou in January 06. After reading your log,it appears to me that I can get an airline to take me directly to Luoyang from either of these 2 places.Would that be correct? And, how often do these flights leave? Thank you…Bill Jacot

  43. Hello Jian Shuo,

    I just got to your weblog because i was searching, through Google, for the shanghainese regulations/costs about the car plate number.

    I found your articles very interesting but, they are dated 2004.

    Do you have any update or can you let me know where can i find the complete regulation list i.e. buying a non Shanghai number which kind of restrictions/costs will i get?

    Thanks a lot for your kind support,

    Arthid

  44. Hi Jian Shuo,

    Your website is so helpful – you should be proud. It has more information then most of the dedicated tourism sites, I have one question for you though, which I haven’t been able to find an answer to anywhere no matter now hard I look!

    I really want to know where the new Qi Zhong Tennis Stadium will be located. I notice it is in the Minhang district (Forest Sport City) or something similar. The most I can find is that it is in the southwest corner of Minhang.

    Problem is I can’t find any maps of this area. Is it near the metro 5 line? Also I have read that the Minhang district borders the New Pudong area. Is this the best place to stay if it is not near the railway (catch a taxi instead?)

    If you can help me with a map of this area (or direct me to a site with a map) I would be so grateful!

    PS) I have read that you have tennis lessons yourself – my husband is a tennis coach, so it seems we have something in common.

  45. Terrific website! You are really the person who enjoy the life journey!

    I find your bolg by chance when I searched Shanghai Map in google. Your experience, the photos and your ideas are your treasure! go on…:)

  46. Nice information about the two airports:

    Many of our engineers get sideways in Shanghai these days and the airports are one item of concern.

    Within the bus between the two airports, is there room for luggage? A lot of us have up to four suitcases (with all the equipment needed) and it’s always fun in the taxis there in China.

    Myself I travel with one and a half so to speak, but the wife brings along an extra three (with summer, winter, clothes and this an that.

    Best regards and keep up the fine work

    Bruce

  47. Hi! you wrote on your site that you could buy a cheap mountain… that would be a perfect birthday present for my mom! I just wondered how much it costs and can I buy it? that would be great!

  48. Hi i hope you can help to get some information about shanghai, I wont to open a little store with som china lamps…. and I heard about Shanghai exhibition hall and there a lote of store who sell all the thing i need, can I see what they offering, do you have a site who I can see all the shanghai store Thank you

  49. We will be staying in China for one week then heading down to Thailand for almost two weeks. We will have winter clothes for China that we do not want to carry during the warm-weather stay in Thailand. I can only find information for 7 day locker storage at the Beijing Airport as we have to pass through Beijing on our trip home. Do you know of a place in the Beijing Airport where locker storage accommodates up to 2 weeks. Thank you so much

  50. Hello,

    I just visited your blog for the first time. Nice work.. I am learning a lot about your city!

    (I live in Hollywood CA, USA)

    I noticed that your “Shanghai Local Time” graphic is actually showing me MY local time, (16 hours behind you)…. Somthing is not working right..

    Cheers for now.

    –Chase

  51. Who is peter “the sheriff” yoon and why’s his thumb greasy? This is a good site. Keep up the great work.

  52. A very nice website. very neat and informative. Just a couple of comments,

    1. You need to pay more attention to your English. I know your English is good. But since you have a lot of international viewers, you’d better make it better. For examples, in your self-introduction page, grown –> grew. Also I found some tense mistakes here and there.

    2. I will post this comment later after I read more of your blog.

    Good luck and keep working hard on it!

  53. Hello Jian Shuo!

    This is the very first time I contribute to your comments and I`m very happy to do so. Your site gives me a very good glimpse onto China and the Chinese people`s way to live. Your photos are extremely fine to me and I also have a lady – friend in the city of Changzhou, China, who I`d also recommend your site to see. Your site clearly shows the precious values of China all about and – if you`ll allow me and I`ll find enough time – I`ll even contribute more to your site, so, lots of congratulations to you for your nice site!

    Greetings from Duisburg, Germany

  54. BBC INTERVIEW – it is always good to see aspects of British life from the perspective of a foreigner. It is clear that there is a cultural difference between people relating to critical comment or “reading between the lines”. I suggest that you go to the BBC Web site, select the “Have Your Say” link and tell the BBC what you think about their interviewers! It may not get published (they have millions of comments) but it will be read. I hope you do not mind being called a “foreigner” – after all, I do not mind being called a “foreign devil” or a “red-haired monkey”! I often joke about it with my Chinese friends who are helping to teach me Chinese.

    nide pengyou

    Vernon

  55. Just want to wish you and your wife a happy and sucessful new year.

    I’ve been visiting your blog for almost 2 years. Enjoy reading your writing, they are infomative, interesting, honest and very real.

    Hope you can continue find time from your busy schedule to maintain the blog.

    Regards.

    Loretta

  56. Hi Jian Show,

    You really have a good blog, very complete, that’s what i like.

    I have a question, i see that you have an empty section called “Vietnam Visa Shanghai”, which interests me. I’ve been living in Shanghai for less than 2 months and i’m going to Vietnam soon, i have no idea whatsoever of how to get a vietnamese visa from Shanghai. Do you have any tips or information to give me??

    Thanx in advance

    Soysoy

  57. I am preety appreciate your work and what u have done. Though i hav so much ideas about to serve to those who want help and are in hot water, sparing salary and poor work let me out. Hence, for now, i am eager to find a good job . then let my mind go with !

    i taught myself english since i have graduated from middle normal school. so i hope my english won’t make u confused. Good luck 2 u , good luck to me!

  58. hello wang jian shuo

    really enjoy your blog and lots of useful information for me

    i am from australia and my wife is shanghainese

    we live in shanghai about 4 months of each year

    i am looking for someone [freelance operator] in shanghai who could do

    part time web site design and update work on the two web sites we have and also prepare art work for adverts, circulars, catalogs etc

    as you are in ‘it’ industry thought you may know someone. need to speak and read english.

    keep up the good work

    Xujiahui

  59. I like your blog.

    Just want to discuss with you about the following sentence.

    I am not native resident of Shanghai.

    I think it should be

    I am not an native resident of Shanghai.

  60. Hi wang, thanks for your clues ! Today I have been able to open my hotmail account after a long time…No idea on why this is happening???

    regards

    Benny

  61. Hi Jian Shuo

    Thanks for such a great informative website. I am looking forward to my first visit to Shanghai next week. I am hoping to have time to visit Chongming Island and see some nature. Do you recommend a place to stay there since I think it is difficult to do as a day trip from Shanghai?

    Thanks again for your wise advice and best regards,

    Michael

    New York City

  62. It is really interesting to come across you bolg when I search “go back to China” on Google. The pictures you posted about luoyang are so familiar to me. I enjoy them very much. That is the place I spent more than ten years. I lived there and once worked in the factory behind the statue. But I haven’t been there for a couple of years. Probably we gradulated from the same high school.

    Your blog is really good!

  63. Hello Jian Shuo Wang. I am from Romania and I have a Alcatel mobile phone, ALCATEL 715.

    I’ve noticed that you have on your page Alcatel 715 Pc Suite. I can’t find it aniwhere else on the net, and when I tried to download it, it said: An error occurred!

    Error: HTTP Error: Unsupported HTTP response status 502 Bad Gateway (soapclient->response has contents of the response).

    I hould really appreciate if you(or enebody else) COULD HELP ME get that software. My e-mail adress is loverboy20_2006@yahoo.com, messenger id: loverboy20_2006.

    Thank you, please help me. anyone!

  64. Hello,

    I found your blog while doing research on SMS services in China. I was interested in your post, http://home.wangjianshuo.com/archives/20030316_micropayment_with_mobile_sms_in_china.htm.

    This article was posted a few years ago. Now that it’s 2006, I’m curious to know what news, information & entertainment SMS services in China do you find the most useful and/or interesting? And what commercial SMS services do you use the most these days (besides texting friends, of course!)?

    Thanks for sharing!

    JT

  65. Jian Shuo, I need your help!!! My husband and I will be travelling to China in November, but we need more information on trains and flights between cities (specifically, the times and prices). We only have 2 weeks to visit, so we need to travel as effciently as possible.

    We will be visiting my Spanish friends who will also be in Shanghai on November 12th to the 17th when we take a flight to Beijing. While in Shanghai, we plan to make a small trip to Suzhou for a few hours, and then possibly another to Huangshan. Do you think Huangshan is definitely worth the visit (I understand that it is 3 hours outside of Shanghai)? Of course, we would like to invite you and Wendy to join us for dinner on one of our nights in your city :) Don’t worry, we are a fun group of people – all in our 20’s. Also, could you tell me the place in Shanghai to buy tailored shirts and suits for the best price?

    From Shanghai, we will take the earliest flight to Beijing and stay until November 19. That leaves only 2 days to visit the Great Wall and the Hutongs. Then, we will take the last flight of the day to Xi’an. We plan to rent bicycles to ride along the city wall early in the morning, visit the terracotta warriors and the Shanxi Lìshi Bówùguan museum, and then take an overnight train (16 hours or so) to Yichang. In Yichang, we plan to take a “peapod” boat along the Shénnóng Stream (off the Yángzi River) for the 2-hour journey through a long, narrow canyon past the famous suspended coffins of the Ba people, howler monkeys, waterfalls, the Dàníng and Shénnóng gorges, and the Three Gorges Dam. After that small excursion, we plan to take another overnight train to Changsha, where we will take an early morning bus for 2.5 hours to Nan Yue Heng Shan mountain to take a cable car to the top and visit the monasteries. Following that, we plan to return to Changsha during the late afternoon in order to board a plane to either Lhasa or Hong Kong. This is where I most need your help. In mid-November, will it be too cold to visit Tibet? Are there daily flights to Lhasa from Changsha? How much do these flights cost? The alternative is Hong Kong. Are there daily flights to Hong Kong from Changsha in November? How much do these flights cost? Finally, we will need a return flight to Shanghai to catch our 17:00 flight back to the USA on the 26th.

    I plan to purchase our airplane tickets once we arrive in China (as you have advised in your blog). Where is the best place to do so in Shanghai? Will it be possible to make all of our flight arrangements at the same place in Shanghai (although some will be between other cities outside of Shanghai)?

    I appreciate any help you may be able to offer as well as any additional pointers you may think of!

    Thank you,

    Amber

  66. Jian Shuo, since I posted my last question/comment, I read some more of your blog entries regarding Hong Kong and CTrip. You gave great advice on how to travel to Hong Kong. It definitely appears to be much cheaper to enter Hong Kong via train from Shenzhen than to fly directly into Hong Kong.

    I reviewed CTrip’s website, but I’ve found that they do not accept foreign credit cards (like mastercard, visa, american express, etc.) at this time. I really wanted to buy the discounted fare of only 450CNY (+150CNY tax/oil) to fly from Shanghai to Beijing on November 16, 2006. It listed the normal fares as 1300CNY (+150CNY tax/oil).

    Since I can’t buy the discount tickets online (I don’t have a Chinese credit card), I have to wait until I arrive in Shanghai’s PVG airport to buy all my plane tickets for travel in China. What desk do you suggest I go to in Shanghai at the PVG airport? I know CTrip has a desk there. Do you know if I can find discounted fares like that on CTrip’s website? My main concern is that I will be charged a lot more money as I will only be able to buy the tickets a couple of days in advance.

    Finally, I have a question about the trains. If I can’t find discount plane tickets for these trips, I plan on taking overnight trains for the following: Beijing – Xi’an; Xi’an – Yichang; Changsha – Shenzhen. I found a good website that gives train schedules and prices: http://www.travelchinaguide.com/china-trains/

    I see that this schedule will change on 29 October 2006. In the winter months (primarily when I plan to travel in November), are there still daily overnight trains between the cities I mentioned?

    Thanks again for your help. I hope you had fun on your vacation!!!

    Amber

  67. Hi Amber,

    I believe CTRIP.com accepts all major credit cards. Technically speaking, to accept foreign credit card does not bring additional trouble to ctrip.com since Visa or mastercard organization will do all the additional work for foreign credit card for them. Please let me know if they have a page to clarify this.

    Regarding train, I don’t have updated train schedule. However, a good guess is, it will remain the same or very similar after Oct. People always book near the travel date, so it won’t be a big problem.

  68. Amber, this is the answer to your questions left at October 4, 2006 10:18 AM. As you may konw later, that I was in Australia in the last ten days and was not able to answer your questions earlier.

    You seem to have a very good plan in your China tour. Very nice plan. here are my personal suggestions (disclaimer: only personal suggestions)

    1. Huangshan. Huangshan is great. It worth the time and trouble to get there. However, you have to be very lucky to see the most beautiful part of the mountain. Othertimes, it is just froggy and you can barely see nothing. I have been there twice, and both are bad luck for me. You can checkout my Huangshan articles.

    2. On Tibet trip, I am afraid Nov is not the good time to visit – it may be very cold. I visited the area in Oct, and it was already starting to get cold. Nov is still acceptable, I guess, but be well prepared.

    3. Flight tickets and cost. As you may already found out, ctrip.com is always my recommendation. Hope you fix your international credit card problem soon.

    Have a nice trip to China!

  69. Hi Jian Shuo,

    many thanx for your hp. As a manic HongKong-lover & visitor I´m actually planning my 1st Shanghai trip April / May 07 and already now you gave me huge support.

    Keep on going!

  70. Hello Mr. Wang, people of KQED radio gives me your contact. Well, i am a photographer who lives in madrid, Spain and i work for several magazines here. I would like to find want to meet local chinese people in Shangai in the business area, ( sucesfull, big, and specially YOUNG people).

    I am planing to go in february to Shangai.

    I have some ideas to do for the magazines where i work, one of this ideas is make an article about business young people (men and women) who are making very nice stuffs there. You are perfect for my article if you don´t mind to appear. can you help me with this?

    Thanks for your time

    Luis Cobelo

  71. Dear Jian Shuo,

    Thank you for providing us with such an informative and interesting website. As an English Teacher, I’ve been here in China now for about 3 years. I teach in Nanchang, located in Jiangxi Province. I commend you on your kind efforts to inform people about your lovely country. I know this takes time to do, so again, thank you very much for your service to your fellow man (and woman). But changing the topic somewhat, I have 2 short, but very important questions to ask you:

    1. First, where is the nearest place (Bank or otherwise) to Nanchang, where I can use my VISA card to withdraw money from my account in America? I don’t want to go all the way to Shanghai to do it, and I cannot seem to find a bank here.

    2. Second, I see that you are a computer guy like myself, so perhaps you can answer this for me: I am trying to purchase Sony’s new, and very small, VGN-UX90 portable computer: The black one that has the flash memory, Windows XP Pro, and the optional remote control. I plan to use it to help me manage the great number of Chinese students that I am teaching each term. Do you know where I can get one? Spring festival is coming soon, so I may be able to take a vacation and go to Shanghai to get it, but I don’t really want to travel that far just to buy this thing. I tried to buy it online, but hardly anyone want’s to ship it to me here. I did find a Sony store here in Nanchang that had one, but they only had it with the Chinese Operating System, not in English. I know Shanghai has a better selection of technology, and they probably have it there, but it seems so far to travel just to buy it. Nonetheless, I will come there if that is my only alternative. If my only choice is to come to Shanghai to get it, can you please find out exactly where I need to go to buy it? If you can, I would be so very grateful to you for this. PS: I realize this is not a place for shopping, so if this comment is offense to anyone, you have my most sincere apologies, and I can assure you that it won’t happen again.

    Thank you Jian Shuo,

    Max.

  72. Jian Shou,

    I want to thank you for the wealth of information on your site. I’ve had the pleasure of travelling to China around 6 times in the last 3 years for business and got to spend a brief vacation of 4 days in Shanghai as well. I frequently look up information about China on the web and it’s amazing to me how often I end up back at your site for some of the best information. Today I was reading up on the Hangzhou Bay Bridge project and also the Yangshan Deepwater Port. Your post on the port was great and provided me with more information than any other investment, China national, or general information site did. I’m commiting myself to reading your entire site now. It may take me quite a few years to catch up but I’m sure it will be worth it.

    Best Regards,

    Jon

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