Metropark Hotel, Hong Kong Island or Harbour Plaza Kowloon

Which hotel is the best and why.

Metropark Hotel, Hong Kong Island or Harbour Plaza Kowloon

Metropark Hotel HK island is popular among businessmen, and tourists. Convenient location, just border of Causeway Bay and Tin Hau. Small size rooms, but acceptable. No bathtub, just shower. Relatively new hotel on the island side in comparison to others.

Affordable prices and good service.

Harbour Plaza, no such name as Kowloon. There is Harbour Plaza HK (even though it is on Kowloon), there is Harbour Plaza Metropolis, and Harbour Plaza North Point, and Harbour Plaza Resort (Tin Sui Wai).

I will assume you are talking about Harbour Plaza Hong Kong, which is the BEST one out of the chain. Nice hotel, beautiful harbourview rooms, excellent dining options, and in a quieter area, Whampoa Gardens, residential area. No MTR is the only disadvantage. Must take Mini bus, Shuttle bus, Taxis to get out of the area.

Kowloon Hotel is part of the management group too. but Kowloon hotel is famous for their super small size rooms.

Katetam~ help again

Thank you again for the advices.

The hotel fee for the Marcopolo HK is $225 on 3/22 %26amp; 3/23

but the Renaissance Kowloon is only $ 158.

if it is really worth it, then I will book the Marcopolo HK, please let me know what you think. (this is Vicmom coming with 2 years old son) also could you please recommend the hotel booking wesite?

I tired the www.asiarooms.com

Katetam~ help again

vicmom,

wonder if u had looked at asiabesthotel.com coz I am looking into a visit to HK and I found the prices to be really good for HK hotels (i normally just use this site for SIN hotels for the past few years). Just checked your dates and they r offering Marco Polo HK for US$132/nite while Renaisssance Kowloong for US$147/nite

http://www.asiabesthotel.com/index.php

good luck

Katetam~ help again

Renaissance Kowloon%26#39;s location is not as good as MPHK. However, it depends on the price difference.

De Last one gave you great information. (do check it out)

I don%26#39;t use websites for hotel bookings, sorry I can%26#39;t help you.

For your information (I don%26#39;t know when you are coming though), it depends whether it%26#39;s high season or not. MPHK is usually about $ 1100-$ 1800 HKD a night, and Renaissance Kowloon is usually $ 800-$ 1500 HKD depending on the month you are coming, and the type of rooms. MPHK has beautiful harbourview rooms, the BEST view, in my opinion. Renaissance has no harbourview rooms.

Good luck.

I took my wie to HK for the first time and stayed in the MPHK harbour view room. To see the Harbour for the first time from the room was worth every dollar. First impressions are important and made the holiday for us so much more enjoyable.

finding duvet covers

Travelling in cars with young kids in China

My partner and I are travelling for 10 days to Shanghai and then HK with our 20 month old and 5 year old. We plan to do some short day trips with some other friends who also have older children.

We weren%26#39;t planning on taking a car seat for the flight from Aust. I can%26#39;t find any information about whether there are any regulations about restraining children (especially the 20 month old) in a child safety seat in China.

I was thinking about getting a saftey harness but they aren%26#39;t approved for use in Australia so it seemed a little pointless but perhaps better than nothing. I%26#39;ve also heard that its difficult to find taxis with seat belts in the rear, so a child seat or harness also seems pointless.

If we were taking day trips, can we hire a car in advance with at least a seat belt or even a car seat?

Travelling in cars with young kids in China

You will need to book in advance for a driver and a car fitted with the child seats. Try an international company such as Avis. They can offer airport pickup and chauffeur service with the car safety options. But the catch is going to be the price. No taxis will not be ';safe'; and it is going to be a risky. Also try the expat forums for a better insight.

Travelling in cars with young kids in China

thanks xiantraveller. will check out some other forums too.

you can try fto find some offers in this forum and sone memebers in this web will also can giive you the help ,not only information but also the good offers.

Jeff

Hotel room for 4?

My husband and I are planning to take our 2 kids to China this summer. They are 15 and 11. Do the major hotels in Xian have rooms for 4 people in one room? Some of the websites that I checked showed a max of 3 people per room. Really dont want to have to get 2 rooms. Looking for nice 4-5 star hotel. Thanks!

Hotel room for 4?

Perhaps, you can require the hotel to add a bed for you.

Cheers

Hotel room for 4?

i iwll check it with my friends and giv eyou the reply later !

what%26#39;s more,please tell me if you have any problems in Xi%26#39;an

Jeff

Train to Lhasa from Xi'an

Hi

I have heard that it is almost impossible to get train tickets from Xi%26#39;an to Lhasa because they are selling out in Beijing or Chengdu. Any info on this?

Thanks

Allie

Train to Lhasa from Xi'an

no, as far as i know you can get the ticket at Xi%26#39;an.

in xi%26#39;an stop , only have 4 tickets .

i wish the news is useful to you.

and if you go to Tibet and stay Lasha ,rom XIi%26#39;an ,back by air,it will cost 600USD or so.

Regards

Jeff

Getting a Shenzhen Visa in Australia

Hey all,

Basically I want to travel from Hong Kong to Shenzhen in February 2007 for some shopping.

I%26#39;m living in Australia and this will be my first trip overseas.

Basically, I know you have to obtain a visa to go across the border into Shenzhen. Just wondering where do I obtain one in Australia?

I%26#39;ve never gotten a visa before so I don%26#39;t know the process.

Any help would be great.

Thank you!

Getting a Shenzhen Visa in Australia

au.china-embassy.org/eng/ls/default.htm

You can apply in person or by mail(';Only under special situations when you are unable to apply in person'; ). You can also use a travel agent, especially those located in Chinatowns.

Getting a Shenzhen Visa in Australia

Thanks.

Is it possible to get a Visa at the border?

Thank you.

I believe so, at the Lowu/Shenzhen border. do a search on here.

AthlonXP,

Yes it is possible to get one on the border. Two reasons why I wouldn%26#39;t.

[1] You%26#39;ll skip a queue and a wait of possibly up to half an hour.

[2] The border visas are one-time, you may find you want to return (eg if you are having clotes tailored, for example), in which case a 5 day (? I think) will be a lot cheaper.

It may be slightly cheaper. in advance. There is a lot of detail specifically about getting a visa in OZ in some older threads, a search should find them quickly.

%26gt;%26gt;The border visas are one-time, you may find you want to return

A regular visa is also single entry, unless you opt for the double entry which costs ~50% more than a single

Thank you for your reply.

I have decided to get a visa at the border. This is because it allows me to change my itinerary once I arrive in Hong Kong if I wish.

Thanks again.

Check out the website but I understood that you dont need a visa from HK to Shenzhen.

Speak to the people at the Chinese Embassy in Melbourne.

I came thru HK and Shenzhen in July and i thought that there was info about going to Sz for no more than 5 days, no need for a visa but speak to the embassy.

Sorry heshan but you are incorrect. If you are travelling on an Australian passport and going into the Shenzhen SAR you will need to have either a Shenzhen only visa available at the border, or a pre-arranged Chinese visa.

The visa that you get at the border is a single entry visa only and costs around AU$35ish, can%26#39;t recall how much it was in HK$.

vtt.

A Shenzhen visa only allows you to visit the SEZ. You ';can'; be stopped at the border between Shenzhen %26amp; the rest of China if you try to travel further, although I take it you don%26#39;t want to. The regular 30 day visa costs $A50 from the Chinese embassy in Canberra %26amp; takes 3 days (plus postage time)

natural beauty

Tea Houses/Ceremonies in Beijing/Shanghai

Tea Houses/Ceremonies in Beijing/Shanghai

Could someone please give me some recommendations for good places to go to experience the Tea Ceremony.

Nice atmosphere/experience/reasonable price

Thanks so much

Tea Houses/Ceremonies in Beijing/Shanghai

Good option is to go to some of more popular theatres with in some hotel and see beijing opera show. If you take first class ticket, you will be placed on the dinning table, get some snack and before opera starts, tea ceremony will be performed just for your table. It is good opportunity to join 2 in 1.

Second class ticket for opera include only regular seat behind tables.

Have fun; )

Tea Houses/Ceremonies in Beijing/Shanghai

Thanks for the advice. Any places you recommend? and prices? Thanks so much

There are tons of tea houses in Beijing, but the tea ceremony is actually more of a southern custom. I always think of Chengdu as the place for this. Or Japan, where it developed into a high art.

If anyone approaches you and invites you to a tea house, don%26#39;t go, as they will disappear and stick you will be stuck with an inflated bill.

You can enjoy tea at teahouses in Purple Bamboo park (outside, so not a good option in winter!), in the Forbidden City and Summer Palace in Beijing, and also in the center of the lake at Yuyuan in Shanghai. You can enjoy the tea and the atmosphere, but there will not be a ceremony.

As noted above, there are performances where you can enjoy tea and snacks while you watch. Again, these are not tea cermonies. Venues are the Laoshe teahouse, Sanwei Bookstore (with music), or the Beijing opera performance at the Qianmen hotel (though tea is only served in some of the better seats, so ask.)

You can go to a reasonably well established place which sells only tea leaves and tea sets. (All sorts - and I literally mean all sorts) They will be only too happy to demonstrate a ';tea ceremony';. As other posters have stated, these are not the serious tea ceremonies (as in Japan). You get to taste the flavour of various types of tea, ( most of them are very good) and get to watch and learn the ';kung fu'; of making good tea. At the end of everything, they of course hope that you will buy some tea leaves/tea sets off them. (However, if you are travelling in a tour group, a visit to a ';tea ceremony'; is definitely on the agenda.)

Enjoy Beijing.

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