China Travel Forum

[Scott]

Does anyone know about the Shanghai -Wuhan ferry - any info or tips - or is another form of transport to Wuhan better? Wuhan will be our base as our son and daughter in law are working there.
Any tips on booking travel within China in terms of
hotels (we're not very good at or comfortable with bargaining - yet!!)
small independent tours e.g. to Xian or Hangzhou or Suzhou or are these best done on our own?
are local travel agents generally okay to book with or only the large CITS offices? Are these set prices or is bargaining recommended?
Which is the "best" area/precinct of Shanghai to stay in for walking and transport to "see the sights" and to get a meal at night or doesn't it matter?
We have visited Beijing & surrounds previously so are not going there this trip - but any tips for must see trips (day/few days/few weeks) much appreciated.

[Max]

the train is very convienient. There are a few trains go to or pass Wuhan. Take the ones start with T, such as T23 T34 ... I do not remember the exact number. The T trains take 17 hours to Wuhan. I think there is a T train leave Shanghai around 2:00pm arrive Wuhan the next morning. hard-sleep cost about 250 yuan. In shanghai, you can stay at puxi around peoples square. From there, you have very easy access to everything including raiway station and Both airport. There is not much bargin in Hotel, you can ask what is the discount ? Is there any promotion rate etc. It they do have they'll tell you. Does not hurt to ask. But no bargin. The train ticket is one price, no bargin no discount. Againit does not hurt to ask if there is any discount.. But absolutely no bargin in train ticket. If you bargin on train ticket, people probably will dislike you. When you buying stuff in ShangyangLu flea market, it is a totally different story. You bargin for EVERY THING!! and bargin real hard. They say 100 you say 10 , generaly you can bargin for every THINGs you buy. but not much on service.
ZhangJiaJie is a VERY beatiful place to go, especially if you stay in Wuhan. It is not very close to Wuhan, but it is even further away from other well know cities. You can go Xian from Wuhan by train. If you go hangzhou or shuzou, you should plan go there from Shanghai.
Have good time in China.