next »

[ericthered]

I used to live in a boonie town which also went kind of dead in the summer. I found it was excellent for enjoying something rarely experienced in China, namely silence and for reading...stay home, read and perhaps start practicing on some annoying instrument, like the violin. No neighbours to complain about the noise 

[latefordinner]

I hate to advocate drugs, alcohol, violence, or insanity to anyone, but they've always worked for me.

I can't think of a better role model for staying in a dead-horse town than Hunter S Thompson
TLD is right about the difference between soft and hard sleeper. If I'm going with my family we prefer soft, for the privacy. It's easier for our daughter to get to sleep. IF I'm by myself though I prefer hard; partly because I get to meet people, but mostly because its cheaper.
Your FAO will probably be happy to arrange train tickets and a ride to teh station for you. She'll know where you're going, what you're doing, roughly when you'll be back, and you'll be out of her hair for the time being. (FAOs often think of us as big teenagers, except that teenagers sometimes grow up)

[cruisemonkey]

I hate to advocate drugs, alcohol, violence, or insanity to anyone, but they've always worked for me.

FAOs often think of us as big teenagers, except that teenagers sometimes grow up)

I wonder what a Chinese court would think of my 350 lb. Samoan layer if I got busted for something? There seems to be some pretty good drugs around here - I'm sure the 20 kg. toothless octogenarian I was 'talking to' the other night didn't have tobacco in the pipe he was carrying!

I had a bad experience in a Chinese train station in Feb. 2009 when I booked a 'last minute' (super cheap flights from Busan to Shanghai, Pudong) 'holiday week' (get-the-Hell out of Korea for a while) in Shanghai. Booked the flights, a really nice boutique hotel and got an 'L' visa... just in time. The hotel's English language version of the website had directions to the hotel from Shanghai East Train Station. I flew into Pudong airport and took the Maglev Train as far as it went... no problem. I got on the subway and transferred lines... no problem. I got off the subway at Shanghai East Train station and went up into the station... no problem.

However, I could not find my way out of the station! There were what seemed like hundreds of lines of thousands of people that stretched for miles behind barricades... and nothing was in English. I'm sure the were signs in Chinese saying 'Exit, this way'... but I couldn't read them. I could see out of the station through giant arches/gateways... but they were barricaded and had guards... who wouldn't let me through/out. Gestures did no good - the guards 'couldn't be bothered' and weren't interested in helping a laowai to get pointed in the right direction... even though they knew exactly what I was trying to do. I must have dragged my luggage 5 km around that station trying to get out.

When I finally did get out (about two hours later), I didn't know what direction I was going because it was completely overcast and I couldn't tell where the sun was. Street signs had English... but the avenues are so wide you can't read them from 'across the way'... you have to wait minutes for the light to change and cross the road only to find it's not the street your looking for. I set up a 'search pattern' - expanding, one block, each sweep, concentric circles - and started dragging my luggage with the knowledge that eventually I would find the road the hotel was on. After about an hour, I saw a travel agency and when in to see if anyone spoke English... one woman did (sort of) and when she realized what I wanted, she phoned the hotel for me. It turned out I was two blocks away... and I was there within five minutes after being pointed in the right direction.

The friggin' 'kicker' was - there was a subway entrance/exit directly across the road from the hotel. If I'd stayed on the subway for one more stop, and known what exit to come up, I'd have saved myself about four hours (and about 10 km) of dragging my luggage around. Helen Keller couldn't miss the hotel!   Knowledge is priceless.

[MK]

I'm surprised you ever came back after that; Spring Festival train station chaos + Shanghai in dreary February...not the greatest intro to China!

[cruisemonkey]

I'm surprised you ever came back after that; Spring Festival train station chaos + Shanghai in dreary February...not the greatest intro to China!

(EDIT:  Haha, look at my post count...)

Yeah, the weather was crap all week... but the hotel was fantastic... and I spent most of my time drinking inexpensive (compared to the hotel) Tsingtaos in a tiny 'Mom & Pop' restaurant with pink walls and plastic tables & stools across the road where migrant construction workers went to slurp noodles out of a common bowl and get shit-faced on cheap baijiu - a real cultural experience!  I became friends with the hotel manager and he took me out drinking a couple of nights.

I'd been to China before, sort of - on my honeymoon cruise from Bangkok to San Francisco, Hong Kong and Shanghai were 'ports of call' (one day each). My wife (now ex) was born in HK and moved to Taipei when she was eight. When she was fifteen, she went to Canada to go to high school... and stayed for university (where we met). 

What the Hell is "Leet"?

[Subtitle]

but just getting to the train station in Zhengzhou presents a problem. ....  I don't know how I'd get a public bus from here to downtown Zhengzhou... they're not coming to the campus... it's summer vacation!

Use map.baidu.com. Under the search there are 3 tabs. The middle one is buses. Then click the nearest marked landmark to your school. Copy the location and paste into the starting location box. Then do the same for the train station. I looked for you, to make sure it would work, and it said you take the 553 and then transfer to the 19. Of course, the 553 might be the name of the shuttle, in which case you're SOL.

[gonzo]

Jesus wept.

[old34]

Here's what I would do in your situation given you have a lot of time to kill. Combine a "staycation" in Zhengzhou with a train trip to Guilin tacked  on.

Get on C-Trip or E-Long and book a cheap hotel room in the center of Zhengzhou. Pack a backpack with clothing for a few days and head to the nearest bus stop into town without having to lug a suitcase. Go to the hotel and check-in. (Taxi from the bus stop if the bus doesn't stop near the hotel). Ask the front desk where the nearest place to buy train tickets is-most big cities have train ticket outlets sprinkled around the city. Buy your train ticket for the next day. Then head over to the Henan Museum. That'll kill two hours and has some interesting stuff like the invention of the compass and the first earthquake detection "machine." Head to a bar or club or 4 that night and just chill out. Next morning, go to the Zhengzhou Holiday Inn for a nice big western-style breakfast. Then just chill out in Zhengzhou for the rest of the time until your train leaves. Visit a bookstore, a cafe, the electronics market, etc.Taxi from hotel to train station. Hop on train, enjoy the train ride. Enjoy Guilin. At any point after you leave your campus with only your backpack, pick up a cheap suitcase and fill it with other stuff you may need/stuff you pick up along the way. Upon your return to Zhengzhou, grab a taxi from the train station which will deliver you and your bags to the campus gate.