fiogf49gjkf0d Baiyun international airport
lies 6km and a A?40 taxi-ride north of the city centre - there's also an
airport bus
to the CAAC offices on Huanshi Dong Lu for A?8. Nobody is too sure when, but eventually the airport will also be on Guangzhou's north-south metro line.
The city has two major train stations. At the northern end of Renmin Lu,
Guangzhou train station
is definitely the most daunting place to arrive in town, the vast
square
outside perpetually seething with passengers, hawkers and hustlers. A few trains from Shenzhen wind up here, as do main-line services from all over the country, particularly from central, northern and western destinations. This is another eventual north-south metro stop, but for the moment you'll be reliant on a
bus
into town from the western side of the square: #5 and #31 will take you down to the waterfront near Shamian Island, while #272 heads east along Huanshi Dong Lu to the new and giant
Guangzhou East train station
, 5km east in Tianhe. This is where most trains from Shenzhen terminate, along with
express trains from Kowloon
, and the majority of central and eastern traffic - due to increase considerably once the line into Fujian and the east coast is completed in 2001. A taxi to the centre will cost A?30-40, or catch the
east-west metro
from inside the station.
The main
long-distance bus station
is just west of Guangzhou train station on Huanshi Xi Lu, with the
Liuhua depot
opposite handling short-range traffic, mostly from northern and western Guangdong. A variety of services from central and western China also use the
East bus station
on Baiyun Lu or the
West bus station
on Huangsha Lu - neither is far out, but taxis are your best bet on arrival for reaching accommodation.
Boats from Haikou
put in at
Zhoutouzui wharf
, across the Pearl River in Honan. Taxi and minibus drivers will be waiting; alternatively, a short walk straight out of Zhoutouzui's gates brings you to
Gongye Lu
, where you can pick up bus #31 heading north across Renmin Bridge, past Shamian Island and up Renmin Lu to Guangzhou train station. With little luggage, it's an easy thirty minutes on foot from the wharf to Shamian, if that's where you're planning to stay. Ferries
from Hong Kong
arrive at least a forty-minute taxi ride south of Guangzhou, either at
Panyu
or
Nanhai
(Pingzhou); not very convenient, given the alternatives. Arriving down the Xi River
from Wuzhou and Zhaoqing
lands you at
Dashatou wharf
, on Yanjiang Lu in southeastern Guangzhou. The most useful buses from here are #7 up to Guangzhou train station and #57 to Liuersan Lu.
Other useful information
for tourists (each section contains more specific sub-sections):
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