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[teacheraus]

Now that I know that I will definitely be coming to Harbin for September I would like some advice from people who are more familiar than I am in travelling into and around China.
I will be flying in from Sydney and need to end up in Harbin. I know that it will mean changing once or twice. What I don't know is where is the best place to make the change for the plane that will get me to Harbin.  Options I am aware of so far are Shanghai and Beijing. I am assuming that making the change there will mean changing from International to Domestic terminals (or airports). I have no idea how easy or hard the change will be in those cities (or if there is a better option) Ideally I want to not have to get my luggage for as long as possible.   I would appreciate any advice anyone can give. 

[Wags]

I've only had the experience of transferring from Pudong International to HongXiao domestic in Shanghai and it was fairly easy. There are English signs pointing the direction (correctly too  )to Buses which head directly there. They're regular and quite convenient in my experience.  My flight from Sydney to Shankers took 13 hours, and after the collection of luggage much longer than that (There was a delay on the baggage for some reason.)

I believe chances are, you're gonna have to lug your luggage to Hong Xiao yourself. Taxi cues are long and all those helpful people offering you a ride in the terminal (you'll soon see  ) are gonna rip you off. From my experience the bus is really cheap and quite a decent form of transfer, though at that time my luggage load was light. Having said that, I should also point out that the bus only accepts RMB , so best have some on you by the time you leave the terminal. Taxi's also are only interested in RMB but those pirate private car drivers would be more than eager to remove fist full's of $100 notes in exchange for their services.

Still, I'd suggest not trying to make a connecting flight the day of landing, rest up in one of the hotels near either airport and hit Harbin the next day. Timing is a wondrous thing, till it goes wrong, and airports are known for throwing curve balls on times, especially the ones around this neck of the woods. 

Oh. One more thing is, make sure you have some clean underwear in you hand luggage, cos after your first road trip here you need it.  Well, I did at least 

[Raoul F. Duke]

It might be easier to fly to Harbin via Beijing. You'd only have to move from one terminal to another, all within the same airport.

The problem with Shanghai is that it has two airports: Pudong International, which handles international traffic but is WAY east of the city; and the old Hong Qiao airport, which is almost entirely for domestic flights and is near the main part of downtown Shanghai. Travel between the two airports can be slow, uncomfortable, expensive, and possibly even hazardous. There are shuttle buses between them, but hours of operation are limited.

If your travel agent can connect you via Shanghai all through one airport (Pudong has some domestic flights, too), then Shanghai would be fine. Otherwise, stick with Beijing.

And if you'll look in the Links pages' Travel Info section, you'll find links to sites for all these airports and can get more info there.

[LaowaiSaosao]

Just to say that I think if you went through Shanghai Pudong you would have no trouble getting a connection up to Harbin, I fly for business quite a lot and regularly fly from Chengdu into SH Pudong and they seem to have lots of domestic flights. But the advice to leave a night between arriving in China and making your connection to Harbin is a very good one for obvious reasons. Happy travels.

[teacheraus]

Thank you for the advice.  It helped me decide how to do it.  I had not really considered staying overnight in Beijing before catching the plane to Harbin the next morning ... But it is great advice.  It removes all the questions about how long a gap you need between flights, allowing for possibly running late and not knowing how long it will take to get through customs/immigration and means I can arrive after a good nights sleep rather than totally exhausted. 

[dragonsaver]

Just before the Olympics they opened the new International terminal. It is a long way from the domestic terminal in Beijing.

However there is a free shuttle bus taking everyone from the new terminal to the domestic terminal.  I've done it twice and it isn't a big deal.  It is in some ways easier then the 5 mile hike we used to have to do inside the old terminal.

[wOZfromOZ]

I reposted the message that was here in the "living in China with a family" thread where it belongs...R

[George]

Tiny bit confused Woz??

[non-dave]

teacheraus, That's what I did when I first arrived. I flew from Brisbane into Beijing, had my travel agent in Aus book me into (and prepay) a reasonably priced hotel in Wangfujing (I think?) relaxed for a couple of days in Beijing and then got the airport bus that does the rounds of the hotels and flew from Beijing to Harbin. I was met at Harbin airport by my employer and we got the Harbin airport bus to the downtown area.

Let me know when you are arriving and we can arrange suitable celebrations, parties and perhaps a small parade...

[psd4fan]

The free terminal shuttle in Beijing is frequent and easy to find. Transferring from International to Domestic and back is super easy. If you aren't sure what terminal to go to there is lots of English speaking help in Beijing. I would also second the advice of refusing help from those arseholes that offer it and then charge you 100 rmb or thereabouts.