Transportation in Guangdong

Getting There

By Air - Guangzhou's main airport is the Baiyun International Airport in Huadu District opened on August 5, 2004. It replaced the old Baiyun International Airport, which was very close to the city centre and failed to meet the fast-growing air traffic demand. The new airport is located between Renhe Town of Baiyun District to the north and Xinhua Town of Huadu District to the east, 17 kilometers (10.6 miles) away from the old airport and 28 kilometers (17.4 miles) away from Haizhu Square, the center of Guangzhou City. Airport Expresses are available. Fares range from CNY10 to CNY30 by distance.

There are direct buses heading for Zhuhai at CNY80 per person, running approximately every two and a half hours. The last bus leaves at about 20:30.

Flights from Guangzhou New Baiyun International Airport (CAN) connect Guangzhou with more than 70 domestic cities and over 20 international cities. Direct international flights are to Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Sydney, Melbourne, Bangkok, Osaka and Hong Kong.

Since March 22nd, 2007, passengers who pass directly through the territory of China on an international service or stay in Guangzhou less than 24 hours do not need a visa. They must however have a connecting flight and a booked seat.

It is known that starting from July 9th, 2007, a new international service will begin operation to some countries in Southeast Asia. In that case, the passengers can fly to Yangon, Vientiane, Angkor, Phuket without changing plane. Now, the passengers can look up the specific scheduled flights and reserve tickets on the computer sales system. Getting the tickets in advance is also feasible.

Airport Inquiry Number: 36066999 (Mandarin, Cantonese and English languages are available.)

By Train
Guangzhou Railway Station located on the Huanshi Xi Lu, northwest of Guangzhou, can be reached easily by public buses. Jing-Guang (Beijing-Guangzhou) Railway Line is the main transportation trunk line between south and north China linking Beijing and Shenyang, Beijing and Chengde, Beijing and Baotou, Shijiazhuang and Taiyuan, Shijiazhuang and Dezhou, Lianyungang and Lanzhou, Hunan and Yunnan, Hunan and Guilin. Now the trunk line arrive at the Hung Hom KCR station in Kowloon, Hong Kong. You can take the train either at Guangzhou East Railway Station or Guangzhou Railway Station. The route is approximately 182 km in length and the ride takes less than two hours. The ticket fare is about CNY200.

In addition, railway lines Guangzhou-Maoming and Guangzhou to Shantou connect Guangzhou east and west. Yuehai Railway has been running since December 5, 2004 offering service in addition to planes and buses. A train departs at 22:26 every day from Guangzhou, arriving 12 hours later at Haihou at 10:26 the next morning; ticket prices vary from CNY138 (hard seat) to CNY400 (lower soft sleeper).

Guangzhou Railway Station
Address: No.159, Huanshi Xi Lu, Guangzhou
Hotline: 020-61357222, 86661789, 86682043

Guangzhou East Railway Station
Address: Linhe Zhong Lu, Tianhe District, Guangzhou
Tel: 020-61346222

Located in Zhongcun Village in Panyu, the Guangzhou New Railway Station under construction now is scheduled to be finished in 2007 and put into operation in 2008. At that time, this station will be one of four railway passenger transport hubs in China.

By Road
Expressways have been built linking various cities and in the downtown area of Guangzhou, viaducts, a tunnel under the river, and so on, have been constructed. A long-distance bus station provides buses from Guangzhou to neighboring areas and a direct bus from Guangzhou to Hong Kong.

Guangdong Provincial Long-distance Bus Station
Location: No.145-149, Huanshi Xi Lu, Guangzhou
Buses here are generally bound for Hunan, Jiangxi, Fujian and Guangxi and cities in Guangdong Province.

Yuexiu South Bus Station
Location: No.2, Dong Yuan Heng, Yuexiu South, Guangzhou
Buses run to Guilin in Guangxi, Nanchang in Jiangxi, Nanjing in Jiangsu, and Zhengzhou in Henan Province.

Tianhe Bus Station
Location: No.633, Yanling Lu, Guangzhou
Buses run between Guangzhou and Hunan, Jiangxi, Guangxi, Guizhou and Jiangsu.

The first Tourist Bus Line between Guangzhou and Hong Kong Disneyland has been opened. Now tourists can get to Hong Kong Disneyland from Yitai Square, Jiefang Bei Lu of Guangzhou.
 

Getting Around
By City Bus - The public bus in Guangzhou charges CNY1 to CNY2.
The first tour-bus line has been opened in Nansha District which is located at the south end of Guangzhou City center. It is good news for tourists in Guangzhou as they can spend just CNY15 to take this bus line traveling anywhere in Nansha at weekends (Sat and Sun). One ticket may be used an unlimited number of times within the same day. As the bus departure station is at Nansha Jinzhou Station of Metro Line 4, it is convenient for tourists to use this bus line. At weekends, the first bus departs at 09:30 and then once every 20 minutes. This bus line passes through two popular scenic spots in Nansha District -- Panyu Sunflower Garden and Nansha Wetland Park, making the one-day tour in Nansha much easier for visitors.

By Taxi
Guangzhou has very convenient transportation with public buses, trams, special bus lines and subway lines.
A Guangzhou taxi charges CNY7 for the first 2.3 kilometers (1.4 miles), and CNY2.6 for succeeding kilometers. You can bargain with the driver if you take a taxi at night.

By Ferry

There are daily ferry services including an overnight ferry service, which takes eight hours, as well as high-speed catamaran service which takes three hours, to the China Ferry Terminal or Macau Ferry Pier in Hong Kong. The Nansha Pier, located in the distant Nansha District outside the city centre, is also operating six daily 75-minute catamaran services to Hong Kong.

Guangzhou water transport is made up of Suigang Passenger Port, Zhoutouzui Passenger Port, Zengcheng Xintang Passenger Port, Panyu Lianhuashan and Nansha Passenger Port, all operating direct ships to Hong Kong. In addition, Dashatou Passenger Port and Xidi Passenger Port run ships to other areas.

On April 10, 2007, six water buses began to run along the channel of the Pearl River in Guangzhou, supplying residents and tourists with a more convenient transport service. There are four ports along the line - Zhongda Passenger Port, Tianzi Passenger Port, Xidi Passenger Port and Fangcun Passenger Port. The whole journey only takes 25 minutes - the ticket is CNY1-CNY2.

By Subway
With the first line of Guangzhou Metro opened in 1997, Guangzhou is the fourth city in Mainland China to have an underground railway system, behind Beijing, Tianjin and Shanghai. Currently the underground network is made up of four lines, covering a total length of 116 km, while another four lines are under construction and due to be completed in 2010 before the Asian Games. A long term plan is to make the city's underground system expand over 500 km by 2020 with 15 lines in operation. The existing four lines of Guangzhou Metro network:

Subway Line 1 of Guangzhou has been in operation since 1999. It runs from Xilang in the Fangcun District in southwest Guangzhou to the East Railway Station. Ticket prices range from CNY2 to CNY5.

Subway Line 2 runs from Sanyuanli in the Baiyun District to Wanshengwei in the Haizhu District. The ticket prices vary from CNY2 to CNY6.

Subway Line 3 runs from the East Railway Station to Panyu Square; its branch runs from Tianhe Bus Station to West Tiyu Road. The ticket prices range from CNY2 to CNY8.

Subway Line 4 runs from Wanshengwei to Huangge including the Daxue Cheng (University Town) Special Section which has only five stops from Wanshengwei to Xinzao. The ticket prices range from CNY2 to CNY8.

Coins are convenient for you to buy tokens through the TVM (Ticket Vending Machine). You can get coins at a bank or a changemaker. Banknotes are also acceptable.

Shenzhen Transportation
Shenzhen can be reached by air, train, sea, or road.

Air
Shenzhen Bao'an International Airport is 35 kilometers from central Shenzhen and connects the city with many other parts of China, and serves some international destinations. It is normally cheaper for people based in Hong Kong to fly to Mainland Chinese destinations from Shenzhen rather than from Hong Kong, and it is usually cheaper for those based in southern Mainland China to fly out of Hong Kong to international destinations.

Train
Shenzhen Railway Station is located at the junction of Jianshe Lu, Heping Lu and Renmin Nan Lu and provides links to different parts of China. There are frequent high speed trains to Guangzhou, plus long-distance trains to Beijing, Shanghai, Changsha, Jiujiang, Maoming, Shantou and other destinations. The train from Hong Kong's Hung Hom MTR station to the Lo Wu and Lok Ma Chau border crossings take 43 minutes and 45 minutes respectively. Trains depart East Tsim Sha Tsui for Lo Wu every 6–8 minutes from 5:36am to 11:13pm. The border crossing at Lo Wu is open daily from 6:30am to midnight. The Lok Ma Chau border crossing closes around 10:30. The border crossing at Lok Ma Chau often is much less busy than the Lo Wu crossing and so Immigration lines are usually much shorter. Returning trains from Lo Wu to East Tsim Sha Tsui depart every 6–8 minutes from 6:38am to 12:30am. The Lok Ma Chau Trains run at 10 minute intervals.

There is another railway station located in Nanshan District, Shenzhen Xi, which is used for a small number of long distance trains, such as the one to Hefei.

The Shenzhen Metro system opened on 27 December 2004. It has two lines, one from Luohu (Lo Wu & Shenzhen railway stations) to Window of the World, and the other from Futian kouan to Shaonian gong (youth palace). A new line is under construction and is expected to start service in the second half of 2010.

Sea
Shenzhen is also connected by fast ferries linking Shekou, on the west edge of the SEZ with Zhuhai, Macau, Hong Kong International Airport, Kowloon, and Hong Kong Island.

Shenzhen has shorelines in its southwest and southeast and the city is home to some of the most popular and best beaches in China. Beaches like Dameisha and Xiaomeisha are often crowded with locals and tourists. One of the best beaches of China, the Xichong beach, is just one hour drive from downtown Shenzhen, and it still retains its age old natural beauties.

Road
Since February 2003, the road border crossing at Huanggang and Lok Ma Chau in Hong Kong has been open 24 hours a day. The journey can be made by private vehicle or by bus. On 15 August 2007, the Lok Ma Chau-Huanggang pedestrian border crossing opened, linking Lok Ma Chau Station with Huanggang. With the opening of the crossing, shuttle buses between Lok Ma Chau transport interchange and Huanggang were terminated.

Taxis are metered and come in three colors. Red taxis may travel anywhere; green ones are restricted to outside the SEZ, and yellow ones are restricted to inside the SEZ. There are also frequent bus and van services from Hong Kong International Airport to Huanggang and most major hotels in Shenzhen.