Travel Sites

Travel Sites

FlyChina.com
http://www.flychina.com
A long-standing and consistent source of low-priced air travel to, from, and within China. Highly recommended

USChinaTrip.com (contributed by tstuts4679)
http://www.uschinatrip.com/index.cfm
Readers in the USA might find some particularly good airfares on this site!

The Lonely Planet World Guide- China page
http://www.lonelyplanet.com/destinations/north_east_asia/china/
The online presence of the terribly famous travel guides. Of course, they'd take it right kindly if you'd buy their books (which isn't such a terrible idea, IMHO), but there are some basic facts and tips available here. Also has access to the China sections of the Thorn Tree travel forums. There are also similar pages available for Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong, and Macau.

China Travel Service
http://www.ctshk.com/english/index.htm[/url]
CTS is the official national travel agency operated by the Chinese government, so you know it's really efficient, honest, and customer-focused. A veritable catalog of major tourist destinations in China. It's possible to book a number of things online ranging from hotel rooms to Yangzi River/Three Gorges cruises, but the prices here are not so good. At the very least this site can serve as an excellent idea cookbook and basic information source for travel within China. I'm listing the Hong Kong office site here, but there are also branches in the USA, Canada, Australia, and elsewhere.

Travel China Guide's English-Language Railway Timetable
http://www.travelchinaguide.com/china-trains/index.htm
Not direct from China Railway, but about as good as you're going to find in English...the China Railway site is just hopeless. You can search two endpoints, or all trains passing through a certain point. A few quirks....for example, if you want train info for 'wulumuqi', you have to enter the Anglicized 'urumqi'.

Airport Guides (contributed by Newbs)
Beijing: http://en.bcia.com.cn/
Shanghai: http://www.shanghaiairport.com/en/index.jsp
Useful guides to China's two biggest airports. Note the Ground Transportation links on both sites that just might improve your chances of getting into town from the airport without being lost, robbed, or eaten.

The KCR site (contributed by Dr. Gonzo)
http://www.kcrc.com/en/index.html
The official website of KCR, the Kowloon-Canton Railway, which offers train service between Hong Kong and the mainland. A menu of services and information that will seem helpful and efficient to the point of bizarre to those accustomed to life on the mainland.

Elong.com (co-contributed by Edges, Yenny, and Raoul)
http://www.elong.net (English version)
A great free travel service for China. Yes, these are the obnoxious people waiting at the train stations and airports to hand you a little red booklet with a blue card glued to the cover, but it really is a good thing. They will help you book airline tickets, hotels, rental cars, tour packages and more...all totally free! Within China you can call them and tell them the city you are visiting and the specific area you want to be near and how much you are wanting to spend, and they will find a match for you and book the room. We call them at 800-810-1010; one extension gives you the English-language service. The website lists other domestic and international phone numbers. Confirmations come in the form of an SMS to your mobile phone. Membership is required, but is free and consists of giving them your name and mobile phone number. Highly recommended