hello fellow mongerers

all you punters have inspired me and i might have finally finagled a china/hk trip sans the SO.  i've kinda asked this before but dont think it was  fully answered and i wasnt able to find that thread throught the search so....
trip will be based in hk but definitely will want to sneak down to DG for a day or two or three.   if i take the hunghom train to cp, will my passport get stamped with a donguan stamp?  SO is a native so she knows the scoop.  having dongguan stamped on my passport will not be be cool.  or will it be better just to go to SZ first. and take bus/train from there.   i can say i went shopping there at least.   convenience/time is important bc i have to squeeze lots of family shit in with as much mongering as i can.   So what is the best way to mask a DG visit?  I'm coming from the US..  Don't have the HKID yet but plan on getting this visit.

depends on what passport you are on, also it will just be a chinese visa stamp, and you may have to pre-arrange getting that visa with your consulate to enter into china but other wise it wont say changping or dongguan etc

Sorry - wrong.
If you arrive in Lowu, it will say Lowu and worse, if you arrive at the Dongguan station on the direct train, your passport will actually get chopped Chang Ping!

And to answer BSD - yes, IMHO it would be best to "mask" your visit if you go through Lowu or another Shenzhen entry point - but you gotta be also careful about the DATE of your entry/exit - and come up with a good reason why you needed to stay in SZ so long.

And BTW - not much time difference between going via the direct train (70 minutes plus the 2 customs/immigration that will take another 40 minutes approxd) and via MTR, cross the lowu border, and then on the CRH train which is only 30 minutes. Depends on if you're travelling during rush hour or not - and thus not spending too much time at the Lowu border formalities and obtaining your CRH ticket.

SEAJ

Does the through train from Hunghom stop at DG? I thought it was nonstop to GZ? Anyway, for me it's easier to go thru Lowu then get the train up to DG.

Good point about the exit stamp date!

Yes out of the 12 journeys each way HKG-GZ east, 10 of them stop at Chang Ping Station. (HK$145)

Northbound the 2 leaving HungHom at 11:28 and 12:14 does NOT stop in CP, whilst South bound, its the 12;12 and last train from GZ at 21:32 that does not stop in CP.

If you only need to get on the MTR from an intermediate station on the old KCR line (say Shatin or further up north,instead of HungHom) it is faster to just go via Lowu as the trip SZ to CP on the fast CRH train only takes 29 minutes. (RMB 45 or 50 First class)

The whole journey Hunghom to Lowu takes approx 45 minutes. (HK$31.80)

SEAJ

Ps edit:
If you're interested in the various modes of travel to/from CP, I've got a summary on post #2097 on the Idle chat thread.
http://forum.sex141.com/eforum/v ... extra=&page=105

[ Last edited by  SEAJ at 20-11-2011 21:19 ]

I know i've travelled on the CRH trains maybe hundreds of times and 99% of the time it is a ball-ache to
queue up for the tickets and it usually takes a while. I've never experienced it when it has been quick
to get the ticket and i've gone at all different times of the week/day.

Yes, definitely since this new requirement that all ticket buyers must produce their ID card (passport or HK ID for foreigners) the queue has been horrendous. This though only applies for journey Northwards from Shenzhen, whilst the line at Chang Ping station is nothing.

But of late, it has been better if you go Mid afternoon or Mid Mornings, or after 8:30 at night. Worst during the morning and evening rush hours. In fact even last Friday night at 8:30, I managed to get my ticket from Shenzhen within 5 minutes of arriving at the ticket area - whilst in the past I've even had to line up for over 45 minutes just to get in to the ticket selling area. (that's in August(?) just before the Universiad games when they first started this nonsense ID requirement - when I guess they were still understaffed/not used to the new requirement).

But yes, you gotta time your arrival at Lowu and actually get lucky NOT to have to line up for too long to get the CRH ticket

SEAJ

[ Last edited by  SEAJ at 21-11-2011 00:01 ]

thanks SEAJ.  this was what i was looking for.   so to summarize i should go to sz first right?  and leaving i should leave via sz too?   it gonna suck tho.   gonna be hard explaining overnight shopping trip.

is there an alternative way go through maybe guangzhou first?  how much longer would it to go through there first?

thanks in advance.

Hey this might be the way to explain the time you need to spend in China; go up to GZ East by the direct train from Hung Hom (which should be about 115 minutes) go next door at GZE to take the CRH down to CP (approx 35 minutes), spend the time in CP, then leave via CRH to SZ (30 minutes) and exit via Lowu

SEAJ
Ps edit:
Guangzhou to go to the various wholesale markets and SZ for Lowu Commercial Centre and the fakes etc

Pps edit:
LOL! to CL - but if you want "extremes" - OK, here goes!
A friend of mine pulled this one on his SO and her "permission" to go up to GZ overnight;
early evening the next day, he "called in sick" to his SO - claiming that the crap he ate here must have given him food poisoning etc.  He stayed an extra 2 DAYS!! LOL! I told him he was nuts - what if his lovey dovey SO got so worried that she would go up to nurse and accompany him???

[ Last edited by  SEAJ at 21-11-2011 17:14 ]

Who are you trying to hide it from. If it is your SO, you can have business meetings all over China and Shenzhen is as normal to start with as any other. From there you can take train, bus, taxi to many factories... It is a pain to go back and forth to HK (you must have multiple entry visa and it will costs you a lot of extra travelling time). Just go to Shenzhen and from there to DG.

i have NO business or any pretense of any business dealings in china.  My excuse for going there is to get my HKID and to accomapny my parents back to my dad's village to visit.  (toisan)
i coould just bundle up the trip and head straight from there but my friends are in HK and it would be harder to coordinate from there and more importantly probably harder to explain my leaving to my parents from there.

hey SEAJ the route via GZ would be like close to an hour longer right?  (115 min-70min=45)+35min -30 min=5)  total 50 minutes more?
if it is only approximately an hour more it might be worth it!

just curious as to why i would exit via SZ?   my exit date would be stamped with Sz if i exit thru there no?

Exit via SZ is no biggie. I never wait for the through train from Guangzhou if it means I need to wait longer than 20-30 minutes. Then the SZ route is just plain faster.
Going from Hung Hom via GZ will take you around 3 hours (incl. roughly 20 minutes transit time in Guangzhou East).
Going direct to DG will take you around 75 minutes.
Going via Luohu will take around 95 minutes.

As above, Please read post #2097 on http://forum.sex141.com/eforum/v ... extra=&page=105
to figure out what you want to do; and yes, Hunghom-GZE is approx 115 minutes - but you gotta add the times to get your CRH ticket/wating for it etc.

And you're the one who came up with the idea about entering via GZE, and I figured that if you exited via Lowu (as you need to go to both places to do "stuff" at each location) then it would give you an excuse to stay in China a bit longer.

SEAJ

do you have any known friends in china? like Guangzhou or shenzhen??
that way you at least have an excuse to go into china - for friends.
And I agree with SEAJ that you can go into GZ first - that way you have the ticket to prove it too.

AND, most importantly, GZ is NOT known for its mongering environment, in fact its almost known for its ANTI-mongering environment (at least to the locals here) so to pretend staying in GZ for a few days would be the safest excuse. And it would hopefully prevent any suspicions from being raised either.

Food for thought - If you happen to like golf then say you are staying in Shunde for a couple of days but it may be a pain in the @ss if you have to bring your clubs.

Great idea!

And NO - you do NOT need to lug your golf clubs around; most golf courses in GZ will have "Club Rentals" or will have a deal with a nearby golf shop to rent you a set of golf clubs.

And Hey - Another idea; one can buy a pretty good FULL set of fake golf clubs including 3 woods, 9 irons, 1 putter, All club covers, 1 golf bag, 1 travel bag, umbrella for a grand total price of......RMB 1,000!!

Great deal - and a helluva excuse for one to travel into China - just to buy this!

Just another idea

SEAD

thanks for all the advice guys.  i don't play golf.  in fact can't stand it.  but might pick it up just to have an excuse.  shude was actually the first place i mongered in in china.   still have fond memeories of that place.   the ktv chicks there are in general fresher than say Shanghai or BJ.

anyways i will probably stop over in GZ.   its likely a 2 hour detour but will be worth it if if will save me some grief when i come back.

this trip is not happening til late next year but man i couldnt sleep last nite thinking about it.

yeah i know.going into GZ is the only for way for me to disapear from hk for a couple of days.  unfortunately all my friends now are in hk and SO knows 'm up to no good if i hang with them.

in fact i'll have to take pics hanging with friends' SO so she wouldn't nk i hung out with alone with them.