Where to meet the group in Shanghai?
There is a pre-departure briefing at 1.30 pm on Day 1 of your trip in the rooftop bar of Shanghai Phoenix Hostel. Here you can meet your Adventure Leader and the rest of your group. Later on, you will transfer to Shanghai South Railway Station, for the train to Guilin. One Adventure Leader will put you on the train, and another Adventure Leader will collect you off the train in Guilin.
If you are going to be late to the pre-departure briefing, then please inform us of this, by emailing china@thedragontrip.com and calling our Shanghai office on +86 021 6150 3200 or our China Adventure Manager on +86 158 0074 0761.
Please bring details of your travel insurance along with you to the pre-departure briefing. In the event of an accident, we may need to contact your insurance company on your behalf, so we will need the insurance company’s name and phone number and your policy number.
Phoenix Hostel is located at 17 Yunnan South Road, near the junction with Yannan Road. You can take a taxi there by showing them this address: 上海市黄浦区云南南路17号, 老陕客栈. You can also take the metro there, getting off at either People’s Square or Dashijie Station.
If getting off at People’s Square Metro Station:
Take EXIT 15. Walk along the Middle Xizang Road (西藏南路) in the direction of the overpass. Cross over the overpass, and after you’ve crossed the road, take the first set of stairs down, leading left. After you’ve made the left turn, walk to the next corner and you will see Yunnan Road, where the hostel is located.
If getting off at Dashijie Metro Station:
Turn left when you come out from EXIT 2. Turn left again at the first corner (where you’ll see a bakery). Keep going along the road – you will see the hostel.
Taxi fares:
From Shanghai Pudong Airport – taxi for 170 RMB, for about 50 minutes
From Shanghai Hongqiao Airport – taxi for 65 RMB, for about 50 minutes
From Shanghai Railway Station (上海火车站 – taxi for 25RMB, for about 25 minutes
From Shanghai South Railway Station (上海火车南站) – taxi for 45 RMB, for about 40 minutes
China visa
Almost all nationalities require a visa in order to enter mainland China. Please ensure that you have obtained or are obtaining a valid visa for your trip.
If your flight into Hong Kong connects in mainland China (for example, in Beijing or Shanghai), you will need to tell the Immigration officer in the airport NOT to cross out a single-entry visa, as you are only transferring. If the Immigration officer crosses out a single entry visa, you will encounter difficulties when you start your trip with us and need to cross the border from Hong Kong back into mainland China.
Social media
If anyone doesn’t want photos of them published on our social media, just let your Adventure Leader know at the pre-departure briefing.
If you want to access Facebook and other blocked websites whilst in China, you will need to purchase a VPN, which allows you access via a proxy network.
Accommodation
Please note: accommodation is not included on the last day of your trip. If you need pre- or post-trip accommodation, feel free to contact us directly by email info@thedragontrip.com.
During your trip, we may stay at hostels different to those listed on your detailed itinerary, but equal or better in quality. This is most likely to happen when hostels have reached their maximum capacity or should there be an emergency where the hostel cannot provide accommodation.
For the purposes of the visa application, please write down the hostels indicated on your detailed itinerary.
Money in China
It is easy to withdraw money all over China at ATMs using Visa or MasterCard, but make sure you inform your bank that you will be travelling in China, so that they don’t put a block on your card.
There are so many different words for money in China, so you may see it referred to as yuan, CNY, Renminbi, RMB, dian (“chee-yan”) or kuai! If you want to avoid paying the international withdrawal fees at an ATM, then you can exchange money in most money exchanges around the world, as well as in Hong Kong and mainland China. We do not recommend travellers cheques, and finding a Western Union can be inconvenient, although is possible.
Passport scan
In order to receive your booking pack email, you should have already emailed us your passport scan. If for any reason you have not emailed us this, please do so as soon as possible, as we cannot confirm your booking without it. We need this scan in order to book your train tickets, as well as accommodation, in China.
Immunisations for the trip
As with any backpacking trip, before leaving home we recommend you visit a travel nurse in order to get fully up to date with the necessary vaccinations. If you take along your detailed itinerary, the nurse will be able to check what you need. We aim to enter no areas with tropical diseases on the trip. Usually Dragon Trippers don’t take anti-malarial drugs whilst travelling with us.
Illegal Substances
The Dragon Trip has a zero tolerance policy towards misuse of drugs. The Chinese government also take a very hard line on any recreational drug use and will impose severe penalties for this.
Terms & Conditions
Our Terms & Conditions are included in your booking pack email. Please read these carefully, as by making a booking with The Dragon Trip, you must adhere to these Terms & Conditions.
Feedback
We hope you have an incredible time travelling with us in China. If a problem occurs on your trip, please do let us know about it straight away, by emailing info@thedragontrip.com, and we will do our best to sort out the issue as soon as possible.