Image credit: Baycrest – http://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Baycrest – ?????? License: CC-BY-SA-2.5

Following successful high-speed test runs on 24 December, the latest extension to China’s high-speed network opened to passengers on 26 December 2012.  The average speed over the route is 300 km per hour, with peak speeds of up to 350 km per hour.

The 2298 km line runs from Beijing down to Guangzhou in the south and cuts the travel time from 22 hours (see our article An Epic Rail Journey Across China) down to just eight hours.  While this takes more than twice as long as the same journey by air, the train is cheaper (even if you move up a class) and you get to experience the countryside close-up.

Investment in China’s train service slowed after the Wenzhou accident in July 2011 but has picked up again after the introduction of new safety measures.  More than half of the projected 16,000 km modern rail network has now already been built.

It is planned to extend the line to Hong Kong by 2012 and the underpinnings of the underground West Kowloon Terminus have already been completed.  This is intended to increase competition with the regional airlines.  Despite the large area of the country, there is considerable air traffic congestion over China as the airlines are restricted to narrow flight corridors.  Weather conditions also result in frequent flight delays.

A first-class ticket on the Beijing/Guangzhou high speed line costs 1388 Yuan.  (By comparison, an economy class ticket over the slightly longer Hong-Kong/Beijing route on China Southern Airlines costs 1620 Yuan.)

Image credit: TristanB, August 2004

There are tourist traps in every country that work in pretty much the same way.  We believe in letting your buck go further and in line with that, here are a few suggestions for saving money.

Airport duty free shops

There is no automatic saving in duty-free shops, and in many cases we have found that the prices are the same as in high-street shops.  (In some airports such as Heathrow, direct price comparisons are regularly conducted to ensure that you are paying no more than you would at a shop in the city.)

The bargains that are to be had in duty-free are on articles with high levels of duty, which are generally in “luxury” goods such as alcoholic drinks, and fragrances.  If you are a devotee of luxury goods then duty-free is probably going to work out well for you.

Airline duty free

When you are flying with Emirates and Qatar you have an option to put a sticker on your seat-back top which has a sleeping face, then they will skip you when they come around with the duty free cart.  If you want to save money, that is the way to go.  Airline duty-free prices are not usually all that wonderful because their profit margins are often fatter, but if you know the price elsewhere then you may be able to score a rare bargain by comparing prices.

Tourist attraction curio shops

These are often the worst offenders in charging top dollar.  One way that you can tell if a place is a tourist trap or not is by finding out if the locals buy there.  For instance the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul is supported mainly by tourists.  By contrast, however, the Egyptian or Spice Market is frequented by locals buying their spices for use at home.  The quality is spoken of (positively) in hushed tones, and the prices are keen.

If you want to support the local economy by buying trinkets you will often get the same thing from a local supermarket, or even a street vendor, at substantially lower rates than at the shop at the airport.

Of course, you may have forgotten to get gifts for relatives or friends, in which case if you remember in time you can buy them a present at the airport, but then you should be prepared to pay for the convenience.

Restaurants

If you eat the local cuisine you will pay less than if you go for foods that are exotic in that location.  For instance, in Hong Kong there is a wide variety of fare from all over the world.  But even in a touristy place like Victoria Peak you will pay Yuan 50 for Chinese food, and probably over Yuan 100 if you want an Italian-style meal.

The author also experienced this in eating at a German-themed restaurant in Dalian, Northern China.  Expensive!  If you want more bang for your buck, get your teeth into the local cuisine and enjoy what the country you are visiting has to offer your palate.  After all, if you wanted to eat food from home, you could simply have stayed at home!

The key to not being caught as a tourist is to shop and eat where the locals do, where it is safe to do so.

This file is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 License source http://flickr.com/photo/62653960@N00/25464305

It is an oft-stated goal of the government of Hong Kong to make the city a New York or London of the East.  In our view they are succeeding and the British heritage in architecture and infrastructure gives it a unique western appearance among Chinese cities.  Taxis, buses, trucks and pedestrians interact in frighteningly close proximity.  (See “Pedestrian Safety”, below)  It is excitingly chaotic with a profusion of smells, a constant hubbub of sounds, and busy, busy, busy people constantly about their business, seemingly 24 hours a day.  If you feel that the purpose of a city is “so that you can get what you want any time of the day or night” then “Honkers” is the place for you.

The tailors of Hong Kong are highly skilled, and while even they cannot make a shirt or a suit while you wait, once they have measured you up, they can run up a bespoke shirt, suit or pants in astonishingly short times.  (Once they have your measurements a number of them will even accept orders and forward the finished garment internationally).

Pedestrian Safety

Your safest way to cross a road is to ‘go with the crowd’.  Over the border in mainland China you find it even more hazardous to make an impromptu crossing and following the crowd is very strongly recommended as the motorists get up to high speed and are pretty lawless.  (Add to that the fact that the majority of mainland Chinese motorists are very inexperienced, and that trucks, cars, taxis and bicycles all use the same roads and it adds up to a lot of daily accidents.)

Stanley Market

Stanley Market is an absolute must for the shopaholic.  Shops in the market sell everything from the tacky (T-Shirts with ‘I love Hong Kong’ across the front) to high-quality, gorgeous silk clothing, scarves, ties and souvenirs.  And a great deal more, besides!

The prices at Stanley Market represent good value and amazingly are pretty similar to Shenzhen and Guangzhou on the mainland, which are known for their inexpensive prices.  As is true in most Far East markets, bargain, haggle, negotiate!  Usually you can drop the price to half of the asking price without much difficulty.  You can do even better if the shopkeeper is keen for a sale, and you haggle with some skill.

Victoria Peak

The views from up here are definitely worthwhile.  Do not be put off by the prospect of mist – we found that instead of putting a dampener on our day, it gave the tops of the buildings craning through the mist, a mysterious and somewhat spooky appearance that was appealing in its own way.

Artists selling colourful seasonal depictions of Hong Kong do a roaring trade up around Victoria Peak.

Take a break at a pub

The ubiquitous Irish-themed pub can be found in Hong Kong.  They tend to serve hearty fare and a selection of imported and local beers and spirits.  We found Delaney’s in the Wanchai District much to our liking – it has a vibrant atmosphere with a variety of sports constantly shown on their screens.  There is also a sister pub in Peking Road.  (The Dublin Jack pub is a part of the same group too and the experience across all three of them is consistently good.  But one would need to have heroic liver capacity to try all three in one day!)

Hotel Accommodation

There are a great number of hotels in Hong Kong ranging from the particularly dubious through to ultra-luxurious.  You get what you pay for.  On my last visit I wanted to be in the Wanchai District, where we found the JJ Hotel – a budget hotel within comfortable walking distance of some good restaurants and nightlife.  The rooms were clean, en-suite and included the slippers that are de rigueur in Chinese hotels (seemingly independent of the star rating or price).

“Key deposit”

All hotels in Hong Kong (and Mainland China) require a ‘room key’ deposit on check-in.  This is not necessarily a set price, and can often be negotiated.  In Hong Kong a budget hotel may require a deposit of 500 Hong Kong Dollars.  At a particular hotel in Beijing they eventually accepted a payment of 300 Yuan, where their original request had been for 100 US dollars.

Make sure you get a receipt.

How you choose to pay for this will depend on how much cash you have, and how much credit is available on your credit cards.  Our preference is to pay cash because then when you leave you get paid out in cash and the books are squared.  If you pay by credit card you are likely to find that the amount will only be refunded some weeks after the reversal was due, so you may well have to settle the amount with your credit card company yourself before finally receiving the repayment.

Turbulence

In June 2009, on an overnight flight from Hong Kong to Perth, passengers were injured when the plane hit severe turbulence over Borneo.  Although treated on-board, they were also taken to hospital on arrival in Perth.  One of those severely injured was directly related to her not wearing a seatbelt.  This is just one example.  The way to try and prevent injury?  Keep your seatbelt on throughout the flight.

Service cart injuries

Some of us ‘spread out’ when we sleep.  Doing that while enjoying the benefit of an aisle seat can be hazardous.  Elbows and ankles have been knocked, due to not-so-careful cabin crew and in some cases, the travellers have sustained fractures.  Means of prevention?  Best to keep your feet out of the aisle and don’t let your arms protrude too far over the armrest.

Added to the above is careless passengers who bump you with either their limbs or bags as they make their way up the aisle.

Hot liquid spills

These do occur, mostly when a cabin crew member either through misfortune, carelessness or turbulence, spills hot liquid on a passenger while pouring tea or coffee into a mug on their tray table.  Or spills it while passing it over the aisle seat passenger to one of the other passengers.  The only cure that comes to mind for this one, is not to sit in an aisle seat.  Or request that it be poured while on the service cart and not when on your tray table.

Intoxicated neighbour

If the person next to you reeks of alcohol (or any bad odour for that matter), you can discreetly request a seat change after take-off.  Most airlines allow this, although if the flight is chock-a-block, you may be out of luck.

If you cannot do the above and you are threatened in any matter, get up and find a member of the cabin crew and alert them.

Overhead luggage bins

As most well travelled globe-trotters are aware, luggage is often displaced during landing and take-off.  Overhead bins are often overloaded and if insufficient care is taken, luggage can fall onto the passenger sitting beneath.  I have been hurt in such a manner when a fellow passenger opened the bin and failed to ‘catch’ their lead-heavy bag as gravitational attraction took over.