Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
BOAT
The best-known river trip is the three-day boat ride along the Yangzi (Chang
Jiang) from Chongqing to Yichang (
Click here
). The Li River (Li Jiang) boat
trip from Guilin to Yangshuo (
Click here
) is a popular tourist ride.
BUS
Long-distance bus (
changtu gonggong qiche
) services are extensive and
reach places you cannot reach by train; with the increasing number of intercity
highways, journeys are getting quicker.
BUSES & STATIONS
Routes between large cities sport larger, cleaner and more comfortable fleets
of private buses, some equipped with toilets and hostesses handing out
snacks and mineral water; shorter and more far-flung routes still rely on rattling
minibuses into which as many fares as possible are crammed.
Sleeper buses (
wopu keche
) ply popular long-haul routes, costing around
double the price of a normal bus service. Bunks can be short, however, and
buses are claustrophobic and impossible to escape if there is a fire.
All cities and most towns have one or more long-distance bus stations (
changtu qichezhan
), generally located in relation to the direction the bus
heads in. Most bus stations have a left-luggage counter. In many cities, the
train station forecourt doubles as a bus station.
TICKETS
Tickets are getting more expensive as fuel prices increase but are cheaper
and easier to get than train tickets; just turn up at the bus station and buy your
ticket there and then.
Tickets can be hard to procure during national holiday periods.
DANGERS & ANNOYANCES
Breakdowns can be a hassle, and some rural roads and provincial routes (es-
pecially in the southwest, Tibet and the northwest) remain in bad condition.
Long-distance journeys can also be cramped and noisy, with Hong Kong films
