NANJINGNOW

OVERVIEW:

Before we get started, let’s give us all a great headstart with some useful websites (in English):

1. ctrip 2. elong 3. chinatravelguide

All three will provide information on flights and hotels, but note that chinatravelguide will have a section that deals with train travel that’s very useful. You can do a search on train travel on this subsite.

AIR:

The above websites are a good source for buying airplane tickets. Discounts are available. What you do is book online and leave a contact number. Someone will contact you to follow up, and receive payment upon delivering the tickets to you. Very convenient!

Getting from the city to the airport: Nanjing Lukou International Airport is situated southeast of Nanjing city. You can get there by taxi (should come up to about 140 rmb) or by bus. These comfortable buses leave every half an hour from 中山南路客运站 [zhong1shan1nan2lu4ke4yun4zhan4] which is located at the junction of Zhongshan South Road 中山南路 [zhong1shan1nan2lu4] and 升洲路 [sheng1zhou1lu4]. When you’re there, just go there and get a ticket (25rmb). You may also meet taxi drivers who will offer you the same rate, but only after they get 3 other like-minded people to fill up the taxi. Take at your own risk. In any case, the buses will drop you at the door step of the airport’s departure hall. International Departures 国际 [guo2ji4] are to the far left (if you’re facing the airport entrance) while Local Departures 国内 [guo2nei4] occupy the central and right part of the departure hall.

Getting to the city from the airport: Upon exiting the arrival hall, you will not miss the place where these big buses stop. There is a ticketing booth right where they stop and tickets to 中山南路客运站 [zhong1shan1nan2lu4ke4yun4zhan4] costs 25rmb. I’d usually take a taxi (for upwards of 9rmb) to get to wherever I am headed for.

TRAIN:

There are two train stations in Nanjing: Nanjing Train Station 南京火车站 [nan2jing1huo3che1zhan4] and Nanjing West Train Station 南京西站 [nan2jing1xi1zhan4]. You can buy tickets at most 4 days in advance, and 10 days in advance for national holidays.

To Shanghai: The soft seat 软卧 [ruan3wo4] will cost 79rmb.

LONG DISTANCE BUS:

Buses are an alternative to trains. You can get to Shanghai in 3-4 hours by either bus or train. Same with say Yangzhou, which requires about one hour by bus or train.

There are 2 main stations in Nanjing that will bring to many of the places nearby:

1. Zhongyangmen Long Distance Bus Station 中央门长途汽车站: is located on #1 Jianning Road (which is close by Nanjing Train Station) and its buses go to the following cities: 浙江、安徽、山东、河北、河南、湖北、湖南、江西、广东、广东、上海、北京、辽宁、山西、江苏.

2. Nanjing East Bus Station 南京长途汽车东站: is located at #17 Huayuan Road 花园路 [hua1yuan2lu4]. It services the following cities: 苏南、扬州、三泰地区、浙江、福建、江西、河北、皖南.

For more information, you can use the following site (which is in Mandarin). The seven links on the left side are the seven long distance bus stations in Nanjing City. What will show on the right side is information related to these bus stations. By default, you’ll see Zhongyangmen Long Distance Bus Station. Using that as an example, 站址 refers to the address of the bus station. 到达公交 refers to the public buses that you can take to get there. And 主要班车线路 tells you which cities the buses service.

BOAT:

What about by boat? We’ve got a pair here.