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Heading to China/Korea....any help?

Baclueless

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Hello all on Coasterfriends,
Im back and ready for another trip! So next year we are planning another silly trip....We are planning on doing China, Korea, Taiwan, Malaysia and Singapore. But we are just planning on doing Quality this time around and not too worried about Quantity! Yeah, I know, hard to believe after we spent a month in Japan and visited over 58 parks....

So if anyone has visited any of these countries (I believe Andy has been to China..) I would appreciate any help...eg...train usage, air transportation, websites for hotels...etc...

Thank you so much for your help!

Take care
Matt
 

captain

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Hi Matt,

good to have you back.

yes, I`ve been to China last year and I`ll visit korea in four weeks. Also I`ve been to Malaysia and Singapore - but no Taiwan so far.

Before I can help you let me know some more details abour your next tour:
Do you want any special tourist suggestion or specific theme park hints?
How long are you planning for each country - f.ex. Malaysia and China is big!
Which cities are on your schedule?
Which month are you going?

I will try to post any information I`ve in my computer :D

Andy
 

Baclueless

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Hey Andy,

Its still in the beginning phase of planning. Ive been dragging my feet, since noone wants to help me plan this trip....Ugggh.

As of right now we are planning about 3 weeks in Sept of 2010.

Like I said earlier, we are just trying to do QUALITY parks....no hunting down some kiddie or Senyo looper. Been there done that (Japan) Looks like we are planning maybe 1.5 weeks in China, 5/6 days in Korea, 4/5 days in Singapore/Malaysia and 2/3 days in Taiwan.

Singapore is really for Universal Studios, Malaysia is really for the Intamin inside the mall.....and whatever else is near. Taiwan for the tilt coaster and some other parks.
I know that there are a bunch of new parks opening in China within the next few years, so Im sure that plans are going to change.

The real question is how did you get around? Japan was surprisingly easy! Not sure if China has a rail pass or not... Renting a car...out of the question? Cheapest way to get from country to country? Hotel websites?

Im sure more questions will arise as time passes....Thanks again Andy!
 

captain

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Okay here I list some of my suggestions:

China - Beijing:
I`m sure you already know about the four themeparks that are possible to visit
Beijing Amusement Park
Beijing Shijingshan Amusement Park
Happy Valley
Sun Park

I`ve done a big english trip report for themeparkreview (Captain`s Big CHINA / THAILAND Tour - LAST PART: BANGKOK - Theme Park Review)

I would suggest at least two more days for cultural credits. The forbidden city is amazing, the summer palace is great and of course a trip to the great wall. Don`t visit the badaling part of the wall - I would recommend the Muntianyu part. It`s not that crowded and there`s a fun tobbagan slide.
Plus there are some more temples to visit in beijing and you can choose to do a fun rikscha ride through the hutong quarter.
We did all the stuff with taxis or the public transport. But we booked a private guide and a driver for the day with the great wall, summer palace and the hutong tour. This was really cheap and the guide was amazing. If you want I can give you the number and e-mail address from this guide!

China - Shanghai:
I know that our coasterfriends club member tsomts66 will visit shanghai in two months - he`ll sure bring some photos and suggestions back from his journey and will post it here!

Do you also want to visit Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Hongkong?

Singapore:
This city is one of the greatest cities on earth! My last visit was ten years ago, but I`ll visit Singapore next april for the Universal Studios opening. You can do all the travelling with there great public transport. Singapore is a shoppers heaven, so be aware of your credit card. My most famous place is the Night Zoo - don`t miss that feeling. And of course for some great drinks and good food you`ll have to go to the clark quay.

Malaysia:
Kuala Lumpur is really a short jump from singapore. The city is nice, but not that cool. We only visited Sunway Lagoon, which we hit with a taxi ride.

All in all the above mentioned cities are easy to navigate and you don`t need a rental car. In all the cities public transport is easy and taxis are cheap. Singapore and Malaysia are an easy travel distance but there are a lot of non thrill airlines to choose from (f.ex. AirAsia).

Korea:
Okay, it`s only three weeks and I`ll visit korea. We`re staying five days in Seoul, travelling down to Daegu for one night and leave the country to Fukuoka with a last night in busan. I`ll report Live from korea/japan here at coasterfriends.de - so comeback for our photo stories beginning in april.
There`s a rail pass for the Korean Railway (similiar to the jr pass) and it`s really cheap. At the moment everything seems to be very cheap in korea (the won is so weak!). So we do our travel with public transport, train and taxis (they are not so expensive like in japan!).
I`ll let you know some insider tips after our homecoming end of april.

By the way - I did most of my research with tripadvisor.com
In Beijing we stayed at the penninsula, because we had a wonderful rate ( but I guess this hotel is now out of reach). In singapore are a lot of great hotels, but it`s not so cheap. For shoppers the best hotels are lined at there famous Orchard road. But I`ll look forward for a Sentosa Hotel for my next stay (if they don`t try to squeeze the last penny from me). Kuala Lumpur has real cheap five star hotels! In Korea we`re staying at the Ibis Myeong-Deong Hotel in Seoul, absolutely cheap and Nr. 1 at tripadvisor - a real bargain and good location for exploring Seoul!
In summary I don`t have any specific sources for hotels. Sometimes I use the hotel websites, expedia, booking.com or other reservation systems. But most of the time I prefer direct hotel and airline contact.

So keep asking questions and look forward to our reports in april and may (Shanghai).

Andy
 
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