 Getting
Around in China: Transportation
Although foreign teachers are should probably live near
their school or teaching institution for convenience,
your still might need to use public or private means of
transportation to get around.
Capitals of provinces and other huge metropolitans
usually offer various safe types of transport: bikes,
motorbikes, buses, subway, taxis, trains, cars and even
planes.
One of the most popular ways of transportation in China
is a bicycle. It’s a good option for people with no time
for sports and little money. Besides, it is just a
perfect way to avoid traffic jams and you won’t have to
waste your time during rush hours. A lot of people in
China prefer to ride a bike to work for this reason.
There are lots of places selling bikes everywhere, and
even if you get a flat tire, you can easily get it fixed
in the street for a few yuan.
Buses are another cheap form of transportation in China.
Depending on the distance the fee can vary from only two
Mao (Chinese coins) to two yuan. You can find them
really stuffed with people in the morning and in the
late afternoon when everybody tries to get home after
work. Buses are very convenient and there are usually
many routes covering the whole city or town. Most all of
them are air-conditioned in summer and heated in winter.
On a bus stop signboard, you can find information such
as the number of the bus, departures, terminus, first
runs, last runs, and the name of the current stop. The
names of bus stops are written in Chinese characters.
The stops listed vertically on the board are under a set
of consecutive numbers. There is always a long arrow (→)
under the names of the stops, and the directions of the
arrows indicate the directions that the bus travels.
Also, some show the ticket fare of the bus on the board.
When a bus reaches a stop, the bus-stop name will be
announced by the electronic bus-stop announcement
machine, and then repeated by the conductor or the
driver. All announcements are in Chinese and in English
(due to Olympics there were many changes in public
buses).
You can enjoy comfortable double-decker buses and
beautiful scenery from your window when traveling
between cities.
Subways are probably one the most over-crowded means of
transport in China, though not all Chinese cities have
subways. Foreigners and visitors usually prefer this
form of transportation as it’s one of the fastest and
doesn’t require any knowledge of Chinese. Inside the
subway stations, noticeboards provide detailed
information and direct you to your destination. Station
names are broadcast on the train in both Chinese and
English. In Beijing the subway fee is ywo yuan for all
five Beijing subway lines (different cities will have
different fees).
Taxis are probably one of the most expensive ways of
transportation. There are public taxis and so-called
“black taxis” (with no license). It’s advisable that you
don’t take taxis with no license, as there is no
guarantee you will get to your destination. The fare
for a public taxi in Beijing (again, different cities
have different, but roughly similar rates) is by meter,
starting with an initial dropcharge of ten yuan. The
price includes an initial distance of three kilometers
(1.86 miles). After the initial distance is traveled, an
additional unit fare for each kilometer traveled is
calculated and added to the initial fee. The unit fare
is two yuan per additional kilometer.
There are several types of trains in China. If you want
to travel to another city and you don’t have much money,
it’s a good choice to travel by train, though the lower
priced services can be slow and tiresome. During Chinese
holidays and festivals, it can be very difficult to get
train tickets, because a lot of people will be traveling
to their home towns to visit their parents and families.
Book your tickets few weeks in advance for holidays
If you buy your own car or rent one , you'll need to be
very careful on the roads. Traffic in China can get
really heavily, especially during rush hours, when
people are in a hurry to get to work or on their way
home. Road signs and traffic rules also are a bit
different from those back home.
Planes are the most expensive, but most comfortable
means of traveling in China. The country is a huge
territory, so sometimes it might take you 18-24 hours or
even more to get from the north to the south, from the
east to the west and vice verse. Definitely, it’s much
faster to travel by the plane. There are many travel
agencies that offer seasonal discounts for round-trip
tickets - keep an eye out for those specials. It
will only take around 2-3 hours to get from one city to
another by plane.
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"Twenty
years from now you will be more disappointed
by the things that you didn't do than by the
ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines.
Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the
trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream.
Discover." -- Mark Twain |
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