Shopping Trip to Guangzhou - Macau - Shenzhen

We flew AirAsia to Guangzhou. Our flight was leaving KL around 5.35 am. We arrived in Guangzhou around 09.35am. 

@ Guangzhou airport.... waiting our luggage... was exciting to walk out from the airport and started our Shopping trip \\(^_^)//

After asking direction from the hostel staff, we go to hostel by Metro. The destination station was Fangchun station ( 芳村站). The metro ticket was RMB 13 per person.

From Fangchun Station to hostel, it was about 20 minutes walking distance. Our hostel was Guangzhou Riverside Youth Hostel (http://www.yhachina.com/topic.php?channelID=13&topicID=75). We booked via email. The hostel staffs were nice and helpful. They can speak English, We saw many foreigner stayed in this hostel. The room rate was RMB 228. We applied membership (@RMB 50) and got RMB 20 discount per room per night.

Our bedroom had queen size bed, a television set, a clean bathroom with hot shower and River view. Not too far from hotel rooms. It could compete to some hotels which charge a higher price.

After check in, we went to Shangxia jiu Lu (上下九路）, started our shopping trip and planned to try the special Dim Sum in Guangzhou. We took metro and stopped in Changshou Lu (长寿路). Metro ticket was RMB 2 per person. 

We had Dim Sum for lunch. My husband's colleagues recommended us a famous dim sum restaurant, Lian Xiang Lou Restaurant (莲香楼). It is located along the Shangxia Jiu Lu. The menu is in Chinese... lucky that my husband can read Chinese =)

We ordered 4 types of Dim Sum, noodle and porridge. We didn't expect that the portion was big (*_*)

Special Guangzhou noodles.... recommended to try!

Xiao long Bao (小笼包)

Liu Shao Bao (流沙包)

Porridge  

Lo Mai Kai...

We couldn't finish all... had to tabao... lo ma kai and porridge. It cost us RMB 77,-

Spent our day in Shangxia Jiu Lu and met my husband's colleague in her office. My husband did online shopping in www.tabao,com and husband's colleague help him to order and pay. We had dinner in Porridge Shabu - Shabu. I don't remember the name of the restaurant.  

On 2nd Day... we went to Xiangjiang Safari Park (广州香江野生动物世界). We went there by Taxi (RMB 54). The entrance fee was RMB 180 per person.

The show schedules...

Safari on wheels.... you can ride a shift train from Asia to Africa. Ride is included in the ticket fare.

White tiger.... this photo was taken from the road train.

The Safari on foot is worth to see. A cute mongkey dressed.

Enjoyed feeding the giraffe.... we bought the giraffe food from the nearer stall, it was only RMB 15,-

Sleeping beauty panda...

The zoo is very clean and animals look well looked after. It's definitely A MUST TO SEE if you visit Guangzhou! We continued our shopping after the zoo. 


From the zoo, we took taxi to Shangxia jiu Lu (上下九路）and cost us about RMB 70,- (bargain prize ^_^)


Tried a fried crab in KFC .... It was really cheap... If i'm not mistaken It's only RMB 6,-

In Shangxia jiu Lu (上下九路）, we found food stalls... here we tried local food with cheap price.

Our hostel is near to the Pearl River Cruise. The ticket was RMB 60 per person for top deck (free mineral water and snacks). I recommend to buy top deck if you want to take a good photo shot.

We enjoyed the light show ... it was very pretty.

Next trip to Guangzhou, Macau and Shenzhen!

Our next destinations will be Guangzhou, Macau and Shenzhen.... and one day trip to Hongkong (if possible).

We booked our AirAsia ticket when there were Zero fare promotion.

Jakarta - Kuala Lumpur - Jakarta               Rp. 225.000,-

Kuala Lumpur - Guangzhou (MYR 124)     Rp. 359.600,-

Shenzhen - Kuala Lumpur (CNY 368)        Rp. 502.320,-

                                                                        --------------- +

Total                                                               Rp. 1.086.920,-

(inclusive Supersize bagage up to 15kg, per person)

Checklist for preparing and planning our trip :

1. China Visa :

Preparing our visa 2 weeks before depature  (Visa China Requirements). We prepared double entry visa since we are planning to visit Macau or Hongkong. The visa fee is Rp. 735.000,- (5 working days, inclusive travel agent fee). Visa on Arrival is also available at CNY 160 in Shenzhen, Zhuhai or Hainan but you can only visit the city where you get the visa. Visa on Arrival is valid for less than 5 days.You can access this link for further information about Visa On Arrival http://www.travelchinaguide.com/embassy/visa/service.htm.

Macau  Visa : US, Canada and other 53 nationality may visit Macao without visas. Other countries may apply visa on arrival. You can check on this webs :  Visa Macau.

2. Hotel or Hostel Booking :

For hotel in Guangzhou and Shenzhen, we got recommendation from our friend to stay in Guangzhou RiverSide Youth Hostel   and  Shenzhen LOFT Youth Hostel. It's one of YHA's hostel (Youth Hostels Association). My friend stayed in Shenzhen Loft Youth Hostel last year. It was clean and walking distances (about 5 to 8 minutes) to Metro Station. YHA offers member rate. By applying membership at CNY 50, you will get special rate in all YHA Hostels.You can apply membership at frontdesk and use the benefit at the same time.

Guangzhou RiverSide Youth Hostel   Private Dbl River View Room  -->  Member Rate : CNY 208/ Normal Rate : CNY 228

Shenzhen LOFT Youth Hostel Private Dbl Bedroom --> Member rate : CNY 178/ Normal Rate : CNY 188

Reservation can be done thru this email : loftyha@yahoo.com.cn or their website or phone.

Besides above hostels, we also do searching on www.elong.net (English version) or www.elong.com (Chinese version). It's an online travel in China. Thru this website, you can book hotel and China domestic air ticket. Payment can be done upon arrival and pay directly to Hotel. Some hotels need credit card guaranted, especially hotel in Macau and Hongkong.

For hotel in Macau, we are planning to book Ole London Hotel. So far, book thru Elong is the cheapest. Based on tripadvisor review, this hotel is considered OK even though the room is a bit small. I don't mind to stay in small room, the most important thing for me is the cleanness.Room rate in Ole London Hotel is HKD 550 (weekday rate), weekend rate is around HKD 700. Other hotel option within this budget is Victoria Hotel Macau, its weekday rate is MOP 590 (thru www.elong.net). If you book directly thru email (hotel@mo-victoria.com), the price will be MOP 610. If I see from the photo on Tripadvisor, the room looks old.

Other website for hotel booking : Agoda and Air Asia Go. For hostel booking : Hostel Bookers, Hostels, and Hostel World. On these website, you can find completed address, facilities, how to get there, room rate and hotel reviews.


3. Itinerary :


Day 01 :

•  Departure from LCCT airport to Guangzhou 
• Arrival at Guangzhou Airport 
• Check in at Guangzhou RiverSide Youth Hostel
• Lunch and continue with shopping in Shangxia Jiu Lu. It's a commercial pedestrian street in Guangzhou.
• Shopping in Beijing Lu. It's located in the center of Guangzhou.
• Shopping in huangyuan Fang (Number One Scholar Lane) on Renmin Nan Lu for hunting Korean and Japanese fashion.
• Dinner and back to hostel
• Pearl river cruise

 Day 02 :

• Breakfast
• Visiting : Yuexiu Park, Ancestral Temple of the Chen Family and Guangzhou Ocean World
• Lunch (Dim Sum... the most recommended food in Guangzhou)
• Shopping
• Dinner

Day 03 :

• Breakfast
• Go to Macau by Bus (http://www.cantontradefair.com/ticketing/macau_can_bus.htm)
• Check in at Ole London Hotel
• Lunch
• Visit : Senado Square and City of dreams
• Gondola a la Venice
• Dinner

 Day 04 :

•  Breakfast @ Margaret's Café e Nata (Macau - Egg Tart and Milk Tea) 
• Ferry to Shenzen 
• Check in at  Shenzhen LOFT Youth Hostel 
• Visit Window of The World, Splendid China and China Folk Culture Village
• Watch "Dragon and Phoenix" show  (IT'S A MUST)

Day 05 :

• Breakfast
• Shopping in Dongmen Shopping Streets
• Lunch
• Shopping in Lowu Commercial City
• Dinner
• Back to Hotel

 Day 06 :

• Breakfast
• Check out
• Go to Airport

 Our itinerary is still tentative, we still consider to visit Hongkong.