The flight includes a stopover in Shenyang, located in the North-East of Liaoning province. With this, the tourism traffic between Canada and China will increase the service quality among the competing Chinese Airlines like Air China, Chine Eastern Airlines and China Southern Airlines and make the ticket prices cheaper, providing a gateway to the students, immigrants and travellers to Canada. On the other side, more Canadian travellers are encouraged to visit China more frequently. The increased flights will boost tourism as well as give travellers a greater choice which will have a significant impact on the economy.

The climb to the summit of Emei Mountain or 峨眉山, is extremely popular. It is important to take enough time for the climb and descend. Normally, it takes one day to climb up and one for coming down. Monasteries and at the summit, you will come across some reasonably priced accommodations for travelers. It is important to bring some spare food and wear enough warm clothes because the temperature is lower than at the foot.
The mountain can be reached by train as well as by bus. The “Chengdu-Kunming” line (train) will take you directly to the mountain. If you prefer by bus, you can get on the bus at Chengdu’s Xinnan Men Bus station or from Leshan to Emei Mountain.

The Giant Buddha of Leshan, the tallest stone statue of the world, is close to the Emei Mountain. For interested travelers, the bus at the Xinnan Men Bus Station will go to Leshan and will begin to operate at 8 am and the last bus departs at 7pm. For visiting the giant Buddha, a ticket is required. Furthermore, there are bus rides to Emei Mountain at Shiyangchang Transportation Center from 7.30 am. – 7.00 pm. Also, the Jinshan Station also offers buses to that area. Most buses to Leshan or Giant Buddha operates on a regular interval between 7.30 am. – 7.00 pm.

In Dujiangyan (都江堰), there is the oldest water conservation project in the world. The irrigation project was established around 250 BC during the warring states period. It is easy to get to Dujiangyan because there are regular bus rides.

Near the border of Yunnan, a four hours ride from south Chengdu, is the Yibin Bamboo Sea (宜宾竹海). This area can be explored by numerous ways from well visited paths which can be traveled within a few hours to small passages taking one day. The trip can be done in one weekend but for a more leisure visit, a four day travel is ideal. Take the train from Chengdu or Chongqing to Yibin city then transfer to the bamboo sea of CMB. It is about 2-3 hours car ride.

For all places mentioned above, an entrance ticket is required. The following table will show the entrance price for the respective places mentioned above.

峨眉山 – Emei Mountain:
150rmb/person

青城山 – Qingcheng Mountain:
150rmb/person

乐山大佛 – Giant Buddha of Leshan:
90rmb/person

都江堰 – Dujiangyan:
90rmb/person

宜宾竹海 – Yibin Bamboo Sea:
85rmb/person

In China, in order to be allowed to drive a car you will need a local driving license. Indeed, your home driving license is not enough as you will be required to obtain a Chinese license as well. Below you will find all the information you need to obtain this license in Chengdu and you can download it in pdf format.

For getting the driving license in Chengdu the Traffic Management Bureau has the following regulations:

Preconditions:

Foreigners should bring the driving license from their home country; if the driving license is not already in Chinese, the applicant should also provide the Chinese translation. For translations, please call local translation agency: 028-86283116.
Have your original driver’s license scanned(both sides) or photographed, send the pictures to

ClC lnterglobal:
E-mail: clc@clc-interglobal.com or quote@clc-interglobal.com

The Vehicle Management Bureau will execute the Vehicle License Protocols Signed with other countries and other related Agreements.

For the foreign driving license holders:

You need to have:

-physical test form filled and verified by hospital staff

-residence verification form by local police station 境外人员住宿登记表

- a visa which is more than 6 months from expiration

-your passport and one copy,

-four 1-inch photos;

-your driving license, one copy of the driving license and the translated version of the driving license from the Notary office, foreign affairs office or local translation agencies

-application form

Note: You can only apply to local driving licenses for the same kinds of vehicles, providing that you meet the application requirements. This means if you drive a car in your home country you will only be able to apply for a car license here, not one for large trucks or motorcycles. If you want to get a license for trucks/motorcycles you will need to attend driving school and complete all of the steps listed in the next section.

For those who do not have driving license:

You need to register in a local Driving School and get the training from the School before passing the examination.

Note: A Translator can be provided for those languages that are not available in the data bank;

Available foreign languages: English and Japanese

Getting the local driving license:

At the Vehicles Management Office, ask for the Driving License Application Form and Vehicles Driver Physical condition Form and fill them.

After that, you will take the physical examination. Hand in the two forms from the exam, and the required documents mentionned above before paying the related fees at the counter.

Hand in the bill in the hall and reserve the date for the examination;

Then, obviously, pass the examination to get your Chinese driving license.

Examination Fee:

Applying Car Driving License: 280 RMB / Person (Can take written test two times before having to pay again)

Applying Motorcycle Driving License: 140 RMB / Person / Times

Retake Examination Fee for Car Driving License: 140 RMB / Person

Retake Examination Fee for Motorcycle License: 70 RMB / Person

Driving License Issue Fee: 10RMB

Note: A translator can be provided for those languages that are not available in the data bank;

Available foreign languages: English and Japanese

Contacts:

Vehicle Management Dept, Traffic Management Bureau, Chengdu

Tele: 028-87850133/134

Information on how to obtain a Chengdu Drivers license –

Container transport will be authorized for the Yunkunmianyue international railway, which begins in Chongqing and runs through the provinces of Guizhou and Yunnan and the countries of Myanmar and Vietnam before ending at the Indian Ocean, according to Ma Zhongyuan, head of Chongqing’s customs office.

Ma said the railway’s container shipments will facilitate exports from Chongqing and west China to ASEAN member countries.

Another railway linking Chongqing with the city of Duisburg in Germany will be extended to the port city of Antwerp in Belgium, shortening the time it takes to ship goods from Chongqing to Belgium to about 16 days, 20 days less than the time on sea route, according to Ma.

China and Belgium also agreed to simplify custom inspection procedures, allowing goods exported from Belgium to China to go through just a single inspection in Belgium, Ma said.

The Chongqing municipal government has constructed multiple foreign trade ports and channels in recent years. The growth of the region’s foreign trade value, foreign investment and overseas investment rank first among the country’s provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities.

Source: China Daily

Not all stations have English translations yet for the Metro Map. Please see the attachment for both Line 1 and Line 2 full routes.

Si vous souhaitez visiter différentes régions de Chine, vous constaterez rapidement que le train est le moyen le plus économique pour circuler dans le pays, c’est aussi un excellent moyen de rencontrer et d’échanger avec des chinois.

Pour acheter son billet, il faut s’y prendre a l’avance, surtout si c’est durant les périodes de fête chinoise. Si vous ne parlez pas chinois, vous pouvez le faire par le biais de votre hôtel, d’une agence touristique ou d’un bureau d’information touristique (en échange d’une petite commission mais rien d’excessif). On peut réserver un billet jusqu’à cinq à dix jours à l’avance (selon les lignes). Pour les trajets courts, vous pouvez par contre acheter votre billet juste avant le départ.

Pour connaitre les horaires de train, vous pouvez consulter les sites suivants :

http://www.travelchinaguide.com  (en Anglais)

http://www.echinatravel.net (en Anglais et Français)

Il existe 4 classes dans les trains à longues distances:

1/La plus prisée, les couchettes souples (ruanwo). On compte normalement 4 couchettes par compartiment, qui est fermé par une porte. Elles sont plus confortables et certains compartiments ont même la télé et un petit salon. Ce sont aussi les plus chères.

2/Les couchettes dures (yingwo), c’est ce que la plupart des chinois prennent pour les longs trajets, donc ce sont celles qui sont le moins disponible à la vente. On compte 6 couchettes par compartiment, il n’y a pas de porte et sont moins confortables que les couchettes souples.

3/Les sièges mous (ruanzuo) sont des banquettes à deux places confortables et numérôtés. Les prix sont quasiment équivalents aux couchettes dures mais on peut y dormir assis à peu prêt confortablement.

4/ La classe la moins chère, ce sont les sièges durs (yingzuo) qui comprend une série de banquettes de trois places légèrement rembourrées. Pour un trajet de quelque heure cette catégorie est envisageable. En revanche s’il s’agit de traverser le pays, au bout de quelque heures cela deviens rapidement insupportable.

Here are 11 things you’ll want to know for train travel in China.

1) There are four classes when traveling by train in China. Most expensiveto least is as follows: soft sleeper 软卧 ruǎnwò, hard sleeper 硬卧 yìngwò, soft seat 软座 ruǎn zuò, hard 硬座 yìngzuò. Sometimes there is only one seat class on a train. Occasionally there are standing class tickets as well. For overnight train trips, be sure to purchase a soft or hard sleeper. The soft sleeper shares bunks with 4 people, while the hard sleeper shares with 6. The soft sleeper also has more room to sleep in. Getting a bottom bunk 下铺 xià pù (slightly more expensive) is much easier to get out at night if you have to go the bathroom. You also have much more headroom for when you want to read or use your computer. The other alternatives are middle or upper bunks, or just upper for a soft sleeper. Be sure to have your passport handy. If you are in asoft-sleeper bunk, a train employee will ask for your passport number.

2) You can purchase food on the train, but it is best to bring your own. Food on the dinner cart is small-portioned, overpriced, and not all that good. Make sure to bring drinks, snacks, a sandwich, and a few beers if you’d like.

3) Traveling around certain holidays, namely National Holiday (October 1st-8th) or Spring Festival (early February), can be a complete mess. You should prepare to book your tickets as early as possible, which is usually about 2 weeks. You may want to have a backup plan in mind because it is possible that all the tickets will have been booked out by students who are allowed to book even earlier than regular passengers.

4) Trains leave on time. I have never taken a train that didn’t leave within a couple minutes of its scheduled departure time. You will be allowed to board up to 5 minutes before departure time.

5) You can buy your tickets at the train station, or at kiosks around Chinese cities. The kiosks only charge a 5 kuai commission that is well worth it to avoid the sometimes horrendously long lines at stations. Tickets, as of now, cannot be purchased online. In non-peak travel times, 2-3 days before travel should be ample time to buy your ticket.

6) Bring some magazines, e-readers, iPod, ect. Traveling by train is not the most exciting thing. And because you will mostly travel at night, you will not even have a chance to see the country side. Make sure your batteries are charged for the trip!

7) If you cannot speak Chinese, there will often times be a ticket seller at train stations who can sell you a ticket in English. Don’t expect too much, though. It’s likely they speak just enough English to sell you that said ticket.

Don’t freak out! Chinese trains are mostly full of Chinese people, doing Chinese things. It’s likely you will see people spitting on the train floor.

9) Be very wary of your belongings. Theft is commonplace on Chinese trains
Always sleep with your valuable under your pillow or close to your head. You have less to worry about in a soft sleeper bunk, but still take precautions.

10) Don’t plan anything too important for the next morning. Even though you skip out on having to pay for a hotel for one night, you don’t often get the best night of sleep on a train.

11) When deciding to travel by train or airplane, consider that train stations are often much closer to city centers, and hence, closer to your hotelor guest house. Security for traveling by train is also very minimal, making it easier to get in and out of the station.

All aboard!

软卧下: Soft-sleeper bottom bunk ( most comfortable)
硬卧下: Hard-sleeper bottom bunk (second most comfortable)

La liaison ferroviaire entre Anvers et  Chongqing sera opérationnelle ce mois-ci. L’opérateur Hupac transportera des marchandises au départ et à destination de la Chine sur une distance de 10.000 km.

Taxi passengers in Chongqing used to pay additional fee for the taxi service, which often brought confusion and disputes.

According to the new regulation, the fee will start at 8 yuan in the daytime ( 6am to 10pm ) and 8.9 yuan during the night ( 10pm to 6am ).

1.8 yuan/km after the first 3km in the daytime and 2.25 yuan in the night.