China, Korea and a little bit (of Japan) on the side

[Justinf]

Another January passes and another JF trip report.
This one was a loooooong time in the making.
I’m a bit conflicted at this time of year as I like to travel to colder countries in their winter, but I am required to be on deck for work for the first few weeks of January, but then it’s my wife’s birthday on Jan 24 and our anniversary on Feb 10. We eloped to New York and got hitched at the City Clerk’s office in downtown Manhattan.
So I need to plan early if I want to travel between those dates.
And early I did plan.
I’ve always wanted to go to China. So I looked into going there and then thought I’d tuck in a quick trip to Seoul. Wife has always wanted to go, and I thought I’d suss it out in the hope of taking her at some stage. She’s not really up for travelling long distances due to several chronic illnesses, yet she never ever complains.
SQ seemed the best option for J even though it meant a stopover at Changi.
I’d done this last year and knew what to expect and although I really rate SQ’s soft product, I’m not overly enthusiastic about its hard product. I found it very difficult to sleep last time around due to the horrid footwells on the medium and regional haul aircraft. The bed is only 183cm long and I am 184cm. I like to get to sleep sleeping on my belly with my toes outstretched and arms up cradling my head (not sure how else to explain). That is a definite no-go on these aircraft. Foetal position is OK.
Still, a couple of 7 hour flights in J seemed perfectly ok.
I booked Melbourne to Singapore on January 25 at 12.35am. Arriving into Singapore at 5.15am.
Then Singapore to Beijing leaving at 8.45am and arriving in the Chinese capital at 2.50pm.
I’ll go into more detail about the other flights I organised a bit later.
China had me worried about the visa process and the fact that I am a journalist. A small-time country paper editor, but a scribe nonetheless.
A few months after, it was passed that Australian passport holders didn’t need a visa for stays of 15 days or less and then later on 30 days. That was a relief.
My plan was to get the high-speed rail from Beijing to Shanghai and then fly over to Seoul.
I planned on four days in each city and then four in Seoul.
Then a quick hop over to Sapporo in Japan for a night while the Winter Festival was on and then up to Wakkanai for two nights.
I’ve always wanted to go to the northern tip of Hokkaido. Don’t ask me why. I don’t know. But I just have. So I thought “why not?”.
Then back down to Tokyo flying into Haneda and then a limousine bus over to Narita for a night before flying out to Singapore the next day and onto Melbourne.
I reckon I changed my SQ Book the Cook orders more times than I have changed my AFL SuperCoach team this pre-season.
It’s important.
At this stage I think I have settled on the burger for the first leg, the Singapore style fried carrot cake (everyone has absolutely raved about this dish) for Singapore to Beijing, then biryani for Narita to Singapore and Nasi lemak for the final leg home.
Obviously I am still a few days away from departing but I thought I would drip-feed a few posts in the coming days and my reasoning into planning, including accommodation and any tours I will go on.

 

[VPS]

Looking forward to your always interesting TR - have fun

 

[I love to travel]

Looking forward to your always interesting TR - have fun

Enjoy

 

[drron]

Looking forward to the TR. I also wanted to go to Wakkanai and fortunately did so in July last year. i enjoyed it.

 

[Justinf]

Enjoy

Are you telling vps to enjoy the TR or me to enjoy the trip?

 

[I love to travel]

Are you telling vps to enjoy the TR or me to enjoy the trip?

Enjoy the trip and kudos for the TR

 

[Justinf]

After I booked the SQ flights, which were about $4500 return in J, I hurriedly started researching Shanghai to Seoul flights.
Not a whole lot of options here. Asiana and Korean were about the same in price.
I eventually settled on Korean Air economy from Pudong to Incheon leaving on February 1 at 11.20am and arriving at 2.25pm.
It was around $200, so I considered that a bit of a bargain.
Then there was the trip from Seoul to Sapporo and then up to Wakkanai.
Presumably because of the Winter Festival, flights were on the expensive side with most carriers charging around $500 in economy.
I checked out QF award flights and eventually settled on a JAL fare for 43,000 points in J, knowing full well the domestic leg in Japan would be seat only, but it was via Tokyo Haneda. Never mind.
After about a month or so I realised that they were only allowing an hour layover at Haneda, which required me to clear customs, get my luggage and get from terminal 3 to terminal 1 and check in again. After reading some opinions I realised that this was not nearly enough time and read reports that lots of people missed their connecting flight.
I decided to cop the 6000 point cancellation fee and rebooked with Korean Air, which had a direct flight to New Chitose. Rather than paying $500 in Y, I decided to pay an extra $300 and travel in J.
The things you do hey?
A one-way flight on ANA from New Chitose to Wakkanai on a Dash 8 was only $92 so that was sorted.
Then I booked the 1.10pm flight to Haneda for $163 on the penultimate (I just wanted to say ‘penultimate’) day. Limousine bus to Narita where I would stay the night before heading home.

 

[VPS]

After I booked the SQ flights, which were about $4500 return in J, I hurriedly started researching Shanghai to Seoul flights.
Not a whole lot of options here. Asiana and Korean were about the same in price.
I eventually settled on Korean Air economy from Pudong to Incheon leaving on February 1 at 11.20am and arriving at 2.25pm.
It was around $200, so I considered that a bit of a bargain.
Then there was the trip from Seoul to Sapporo and then up to Wakkanai.
Presumably because of the Winter Festival, flights were on the expensive side with most carriers charging around $500 in economy.
I checked out QF award flights and eventually settled on a JAL fare for 43,000 points in J, knowing full well the domestic leg in Japan would be seat only, but it was via Tokyo Haneda. Never mind.
After about a month or so I realised that they were only allowing an hour layover at Haneda, which required me to clear customs, get my luggage and get from terminal 3 to terminal 1 and check in again. After reading some opinions I realised that this was not nearly enough time and read reports that lots pf people missed their connecting flight.
I decided to cop the 6000 point cancellation fee and rebook with Korean Air, which had a direct flight to New Chitose. Rather than paying $500 in Y, I decided to pay an extra $300 and travel in J.
The things you do hey?
A one-way flight on ANA from New Chitose to Wakkanai on a Dash 8 was only $92 so that was sorted.
Then I booked the 1.10pm flight to Haneda for $163 on the penultimate (I just wanted to say ‘penultimate’) day. Limousine bus to Narita where I would stay the night before heading home.

Penultimate is a lovely word - up there with serendipity

 

[Justinf]

Just realised I can request a meal in Korean Air J.

 

[zig]

Have a wonderful trip. Following with interest.

 

[Justinf]

As far as accommodation goes, I didn’t realise I’d be in China pretty much smack bang right as Chinese New Year was celebrated. Nice one Justin.
I settled on Sunworld Hotel Wangfujing near the Forbidden City. For four nights it is $475.
I’d be travelling to Shanghai on Chinese New Year’s Day. I really wanted to get the high-speed rail, but me being me and needing to be in total control of things always, I abandoned that and decided to take to the skies again.
China Eastern had a competitive J fare on an A321 (much more expensive on the wide body jets) for $390 from Daxing to Pudong at the respectable time of 1pm. So I booked that as train bookings were not available until two weeks before travel. Yeah I took the easy way out. Shame, shame, shame.
Shanghai accommodation was expensive as expected and after several bookings and cancellations (by me) I eventually chose Crowne Plaza Shanghai Nanjing Road for $718 for three nights. This is in a king room on a ‘high floor’.
Both bookings were made through booking.com
Upon reading reviews, the main thing that concerned me was that a lot of hotels have the climate control set at a certain temperature. They switch off the air-con at the start of winter so it only blows out heat. A lot of reviews said that the room temp was at 27 degrees with no way of turning it down or being able to open a window. Many requested fans from reception. This bothers me. I HATE sleeping in a warm room. In fact I can barely sleep at all. I’ll deal with that when I get to it.
I always like to stay at an Air B&B with a washing machine mid-trip so I can travel with less clothes and do a wash. I scored a ripper right next to Hongik University station for $416 for four nights. This would come in handy.
In Sapporo I chose the Quintessa in Susukino for $217 for one night and as I know the town quite well nowadays, that is pretty much right near the ice sculptures, which I will have enough time to briefly check out, and not far from the train station.
For Wakkanai, it’s the Dormy Inn for two nights at a total of $164.
Then the final night at Narita at the Narita Tobu for $120. I’ve stayed here before and it’s a perfectly good option and quite walkable from hotel to the terminal although they do have shuttle buses. I wouldn’t have to wake up at some obscene hour for a 10am flight to Singapore.

 

[rbjhan]

A friend also went to Wakkanai because it's the northern most point, you are not alone!

 

[rbjhan]

Chinese New Year + travel, oh boy I hope you know what you're getting into....

 

[markis10]

I think you picked the most expensive of the 100 hotels in Shanghai! If your booking IHG, always worth checking out the family and friends rate: https://www.ihg.com/hotels/us/en/find-hotels/hotel-search?fromRedirect=true&qBrs=6c.hi.ex.sb.ul.ic.cp.cw.in.vn.cv.rs.ki.ma.sp.va.re.vx.nd.sx.we.lx.rn.sn.nu&qSrt=sAV&qDest=Shanghai, China&qErm=false&qRms=1&qAdlt=1&qChld=0&qCiD=29&qCiMy=002025&qCoD=01&qCoMy=012025&qAAR=IVFF3&qRtP=IVFF3&setPMCookies=true&qpMbw=0&qpMn=0&srb_u=1&qChAge=&qRad=80&qRdU=km

HI and HIX’s for $50 a night, Voco for $80 and the IC $150 at Pudong. I use Trip.com to get an idea of the locale of a hotel re transport ie Subway then book direct. The HIX at PVG was an unexpected stay for me late last year and its breakfast buffet was way superior to every other HIX I have stayed at.

The Chinese Accor Plus option is also a great way to save money, you could also probably clocked Accor plat as well, free breakfast starts at Accor Gold in China

 

[Justinf]

As far as activities go, I’m definitely not one to lock myself into things. I like to go with the flow with no pressure on myself to do anything.
However, I have booked two day tours so far. One, a Great Wall private tour that is going to the Mutianyu part. This wasn’t cheap, but I wanted to avoid a packed minibus situation and Linda’s Guide and Driver Service has great reviews. Cost was $280. I get picked up from the hotel and taken there in a private car with an English-speaking driver. And of course dropped back. My big reservation about this is that I am not good at small talk so I'd better get my listening ears on. I didn’t want to spend hours and hours at the wall. In fact, I probably could have missed it altogether such is my lack of interest, but it’s the one thing I knew I should do while I was there. Upon researching this a lot more in-depth I now realise I have basically paid $280 for a taxi service. It’s still not too late to cancel and get a full refund. The only advantage to doing it this way is that I get picked up and dropped off at the hotel and it’s not a full day, which I don’t want. I have heard of people getting Didi for around $80 each way, but it’s a slight challenge getting one back to Beijing.
The other tour is a trip to the DMZ in Seoul. A tour out to the demilitarised zone at the North Korean border. This is where my Air B&B came in handy. The pick-up point is a 2-minute walk away. This one was reasonably priced at $90.
The only other thing worth mentioning is that I think I don’t need a VPN to bypass the Great Firewall while in China. I’m with Optus and I find their roaming to be fantastic. $5 per day with calls and texts included as well as 5GB of data. Because roaming connects with Australian internet, it means the firewall doesn’t come into play so you can access all the apps and sites you normally would. That’s what they say anyway. We will have to wait and see.
That’s the back story.
I’m a few days out from departure, so as usual, if you choose to join me on this trip, please fasten your seatbelt, put your tray table to the upright position and pay attention to the safety briefing.

 

[Matt_01]

Just my my 2 bobs worth as we have been to Beijing during a major festival (golden week) I suspect Chinese New Year will be as busy if not busier. If you are planning to visit the Forbidden City there will be a good chance that the tickets will be sold out, I would suggest having a chat with the Concierge as they may able to get around the sold out ticket issue, they did in our case. Wangfujing is a pretty central area with a large shopping mall full of major brands and stores if you are interested 'snack' street runs off the mall and is worth a visit but some of the 'snacks' may not be to every ones liking. If you like duck the Quanjude Roast Duck Restaurant is not to far from your accomodation and is well worth a visit, we did not have reservations and it took around 20-30 minutes to get in for dinner in the standard queue.

As for the Great Wall I think Mutianyu was the same area we visited and that will most likely be busy as well. We used a driver service (private tour), yes it was not as cheap as other options you can book once in Beijing but we found it worth it and did not mind paying the additional cost as it was just easy.

As for the VPN and this is only from memory, I am with Telstra and while out the Great Firewall was not an issue when using data. If using the hotel wifi the firewall did come into play.

Have a great trip.

 

[Justinf]

Just my my 2 bobs worth as we have been to Beijing during a major festival (golden week) I suspect Chinese New Year will be as busy if not busier. If you are planning to visit the Forbidden City there will be a good chance that the tickets will be sold out, I would suggest having a chat with the Concierge as they may able to get around the sold out ticket issue, they did in our case. Wangfuing is a pretty central area with a large shopping mall full of major brands and stores if you are interested 'snack' street runs off the mall and is worth a visit but some of the 'snacks' may not be to every ones liking. If you like duck the Quanjude Roast Duck Restaurant is not to far from your accomodation and is well worth a visit, we did not have reservations and it took around 20-30 minutes to get in for dinner in the standard queue.

As for the Great Wall I think Mutianyu was the same area we visited and that will most likely be busy as well. We used a driver service (private tour), yes it was not as cheap as other options you can book once in Beijing but we found it worth it and did not mind paying the additional cost as it was just easy.

As for the VPN and this is only from memory, I am with Telstra and while out the Great Firewall was not an issue when using data. If using the hotel wifi the firewall did come into play.

Have a great trip.

Fantastic. Thank you.
I'm considering booking a Forbidden City and temple walking tour. Not sure about the Summer Palace. Some have said not to bother.
I'm not a duck fan. Made many of those in my cricket career.

 

[Matt_01]

Not sure about the Summer Palace. Some have said not to bother.

We went to the Summer Place as part of the tour to the Great Wall, we thought it was worth visiting. We were on a day long tour that included the Great Wall, lunch in a Chinese village and the Summer Palace. It was a longish day but made easier as it was a private tour. I like China and am heading back to China in a few months.