Gongxi (area 2)

[peacefuldove]

Do you know if there is a hotel there? I am taking the CKSP ferry from Hong Kong to Gongxi - nearest place to my ancestral village, but i am not sure there is overnight accommodation there. Should i instead embark in Taishan and find accommodation there, and find alternative transport to go back to Gongxi? Does hotels in these places requires advance booking? Anyone have heard of risks for walk-in guests?

p/s presumably taking the CKSP ferry is the best option of transport to this place?

[twoupman]

Like in Malaysia where you come from, any Chinese city has lots of accomodation. There is no need (how can you do this as most of these small town hotels do not have websites) to pre-book. Just be brave, walk up to a hotel you like, approach the desk, ask for a price and then haggle for a discount. That is all it takes!

Taking the ferry will save a lot of hassle since you get on and then off. Do not forget to ask for a customs form as all foreigners need to clear Customs and Immigration when you disembark in Gongyi. Also do not forget to get a visa.

[peacefuldove]

OK! thanks for the advice.

[Henry]

Peacefuldove,

As a gentle person - my suggestion would be for you to take the ferry just one more stop to "Sanbu", a riverport of Kaiping (Hoiping) and then take a taxi to the 5 star Everjoint Hotel at $53 USD a night, and you can book this hotel via the following URL - very nice hotel and you will be able to hire a hotel car or local taxi to take you, about 10 km (6 miles) to your ancestral villages in Gongxi:

www.freehotelsearch.com/international/China-hotels/Kaiping_City-hotels/Everjoint_Peninsula_Hotel_Kaiping-hotel.html

I have included a map of southern Guangdong province to see where these places are and their location relative to Hong Kong - Taicheng (Taishan city ) is twice the distance that Kaiping is from Gongxi.

mysite.verizon.net/vzepzaui/Southern Guangdong 2003.jpg[/img]

Also, as I recall - since you are from Malaysia - you do not need a visa to enter China.

I checked the Village Database for your ancestral villages and have included the Chinese characters below - so the driver will know where you want to go. Please do not think I can read or write Chinese, I am just an old ABC who would want these Chinese characters with me in self defense:

mysite.verizon.net/vzepzaui/Peaceful Dove.jpg[/img]

Good luck and if you can call ahead to your relatives in the ancestral villages - you may even be able to get copies made of your family genealogy books.

[laohuaqiao]

The direct ferry from HK to Gongyi or Sanbu runs only every other day. On the other days, the ferry goes only to Doumen and a shuttle bus takes you to Gongyi or Sanbu. Make sure to check the day if you want to avoid the trouble of a bus transfer.

One advantage of going by ferry instead of through Shenzhen is the line for customs is much shorter in the ferry terminals than across Shenzhen border, just my 2 cents.

[peacefuldove]

Henry - thanks for the map (and advice to bring the chinese characters! good defence)..sorry for my typo error - the town should be spelt Gongyi (not Gongxi). Malaysians are still required to apply for visa to visit China - i've got that done already. The hotel that you have recommended must be very popular, because all the dates that i keyed in came with the result - not available. I even tried putting a september arrival = still not availabe.

and thank you to laohuaqiao's very valuable advice. how careless of me. i just assumed it is a daily route. i would have got into much trouble as i was only planning for a weekend get-away to snoop around the place, since i have a connecting flight from hong kong to north china.

[Henry]

Peacefuldove,

Thanks for the spelling correction. Some of my Malaysian friends told me that a China visa was not necessary for a Malaysian - sorry. These on-line hotel booking services may only have a couple rooms available to them - try calling their toll free 1 - 800 359 4827 or the hotel directly for availability of September dates.

If your time is limited - take the Chu Kong Passenger Transport Company (CKS) ferry directly from the HKG airport instead of from the China Ferry terminal in HKG.

www.cksp.com.hk/eng/home.html#

[Henry]

Peacefuldove,

BTW, if there are no rooms available at the Everjoint Peninsula Hotel, try the 4 star Holiday Sanbu Hotel for $55 USD per night , just a couple minutes from the Sanbu port:

www.asiarooms.com/china/kaiping/holiday_sanbu.html

[tyuti1668]

NO DIRECT ferry from HK airport!!!
BUS already "eaten up" the market share of ferry.

TO/from SZ ~3 Hr 254km [every 50 min between 07:00-19:10]
LoHu Bus station: [phone]
-
DIRECT bus from HK Airport (hongkongairport.com /Home>Transport>Connections with Guangdong>Mainland Coach Services)

Time Route
No. Terminus Stop Coach
Services Price($HK) Approx.
Duration
07:30 - Taishan Shuikou Che Zhan TIL $250
Gong Yi $250
Dajiangqun Xiang Bing Jia $250
Shuibu Che Zhan $250
Taishan Qiche Zhan $250
08:00 - Taishan Taishan Qiche Zhan CTS $298
Gong Yi $298
TaiShan DaJiang $298
13:45 - Taishan Shuikou Che Zhan TIL $250
Gong Yi $250
Dajiangqun Xiang Bing Jia $250
Shuibu Che Zhan $250
Taishan Qiche Zhan $250

CTS - China Travel Tours Transportation Services HK Ltd.
TIL - Trans-Island Limousine Service Ltd.
-
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[peacefuldove]

Henry,
Thank you for your research on accommodation in Sanbu/Kaiping. Could you tell me if you do know or aware of, the reasons why i should not try to find accommodation in Gongyi instead?

[Henry]

Peacefuldove,

Sorry for my error in telling you that you could catch the ferry directly from the HKG airport - my apology, however, on your trip in - check to see if you can catch a ferry on the return that goes directly to the HKG airport.

Personally, in my travels - you usually get what you pay for - the 1 or 2 star hotels in Gongyi will probably be cheaper, but, is there air conditioning - if so, does it work? I doubt if there will be a buffet breakfast that you would feel comfortable in eating.

Gongyi, as a smaller town, will probably not have hotels with websites like Everjoint Peninsula Hotel [ AirGorilla.com] or Holiday Sanbu Hotel [ asiarooms.com ]. You can probably do as "Twoupman" suggested and just rent a room on a walk-in basis, however, if you just have limited time and want to be sure that you will have a decent room reserved in advance - which is clean, safe and at a level which you are probably accustomed to - I suggest these websites for the 5 & 4 star hotels. I have included a larger scale map of Kaiping and you can see that the Sanbu Holiday Hotel is quite close to the Sanbu port - and also close to Gongyi. Also, at these hotels, you'll have people that can speak English and can charter a taxi or hotel car for you to go to your ancestral villages.

mysite.verizon.net/vzepzaui/Sanbu Hotel.jpg[/img]


Good Luck and have a great visit !

[peacefuldove]

Henry,
Many thanks for your counsel.

Also many thanks to everyone who have contributed to this thread and given me the information. hope to report my experience when i return (hope this trip will crystallise and not get cancelled....)

[peacefuldove]

found this map in the taishan website...could see my grandfather's village too (¶«Í·), even the old village (ËÉÁÖ)-not sure when the move starts~more history to unravel~. with twoupman's help, found my grandmother's heung~ ´óÏï~. no idea what is her village though (there are 22 listed in the village DB) as i dont know. :-(
www.taishan.com/jrts/images/map/dajiang1.gif

henry - do you have any maps to share on these areas? i am wondering whether dajiang is considered a big city or not - of which i can find a hotel to stay.....because the big main road runs right through all these villages....the road from sanbu (presumably that light red line is a motor vehicle usable road) would be further away compared to dajiang....<<by the way, how do i print out the maps you have provided above in full~even with an A3 paper, the print could only capture part of map, and not whole>>

(thank you tyuti1668 for the chinese dajiang website - but as i cant read chinese characters, it is very much remains a mystery to me - though it gave me leads to search for dajiang english materials in the internet and that is how i found the map. It is so cool to see that my grandfather's village and my grandmother's village are not far apart, just like what my gf said. So Thank you. Oh, also i manage to get my colleague to translate the article on ¶«Í· for me. all these information are like a treasure to me. :-) a treasure hunt ~ another jigsaw puzzle found~

[peacefuldove]

henry,
sorry - i realised that there was a bigger red line road linking sanbu and gongyi. i guess sanbu would be good. i've a reservation for US$39 at the hotel you have suggested. fingers crossed it is ok. i did a search for dajiang hotels, but could not find any.

[Henry]

Peacefuldove,

I am including a map that will show you Sanbu and Dajiang - looks like a distance between them is about 9 or 10 miles following the road. Sanbu seems closer to Dajiang than Gongyi. I would not worry about the hotel you booked - it is a 4 star hotel and probably better than any hotel you'll find in Gongyi or Dajiang. You can't beat the price of $39 USD - not even with a stick.

I put my mouse over the map and did a right click and saved the map to my desktop - as a JPG image and then just printed it out on an A size page.

mysite.verizon.net/vzepzaui/Kaiping Environs.jpg[/img]

Ciao,

Henry