Guangzhou Draft Itinerary (6 Days)

As promised, this is my draft itinerary for Guangzhou. :) Hope this helps!

Day 1

1. Ancestral Temple of Chen (陈家祠)
Subway: Line 1 to Chen Clan Academy Station (陈家祠) (Exit D to the main entrance)
Recommended time of visit: 45 mins
Operating Hours: 8.30AM - 5.30PM
Fee: CNY10

2. Shamian Island （沙面岛）
Subway: Line 1 to Huangsha Station（黄沙) (Exit F - 走到天桥对面通过去沙面岛的小桥）

3. 6 Banyan Temples (六榕寺）
Subway: Transfer station of Line 1 and Line 2 Gongyuanqian Station (公园前）(Exit B - walk 5 mins from subway to temple)
Recommended time of visit: 1 hour
Operating Hours: 9.00AM - 5.20PM
Fee: CNY5 (temple); CNY10 (6 Banyan Pagoda)

4. Shangxiajiu Pedestrian Street （上下九路）
Subway: Line 3 to Changshou Lu （长寿路）
(Exit D1 - turn right and you will see the signal board about how go to the Holiday Inn Shifu Hotel. Walk along the street to the McDonald’s at the end of the street and turn left. This is Di Shi Fu Road that is next to the Shangxiajiu Pedestrian Street.)
Operating Hours: Till 10.30PM

Estimated Total Admission Fee Day 1: CNY 55

Day 2

1. White Cloud Mountain (白云山）
Subway: Line 3 to Meihuayuan Station （梅花园）
(walk about 1200m to 白云山梅花园)
Recommended time of visit: Half-day
Entrance Fee: CNY 5
Other Fee:-
1. Cable Car: CNY 25 (upper); CNY 20 (lower); CNY 45 (round-trip)
2. Sightseeing Bus: CNY 10
3. Other places:-
 CNY 10: Yuntai Garden
 CNY 10: Bird Spring Valley Park (Mingchun Valley)
 CNY 5:   Moxing Ridge (Star-Scraping Ridge)
 CNY 5:   Guangzhou Forest of Steles
 CNY 5:   Peach Blossom Brooklet
 CNY 3:   Xinghai Garden

2. Tee Mall
Subway: Transfer Station of Line 1 & Line 3 - Tiyuxi Lu (体育西路）

3. Canton Tower (广州塔）
Subway: Line 3 to Canton Tower Station/Chigang Pagoda Station (广州塔/赤岗塔) - (Exit A)
Recommended time of visit: 1 hour
Opening hours: 9.30AM - 10.30PM
Ticket Price:-
1. Zone A-C (Ground – 32F) - CNY 50
2. Zone D (33F-67F) - CNY 100
3. Zone E (68F-107F) - CNY 150

Bundle Ticket Price:-
 1. Zone D + Spiderwalk - CNY 190
2. Zone E + Spiderwalk - CNY 230
3. Zone E + Ferris Wheel - CNY 260
4. Zone E + Mega Drop - CNY 260 
5. Zone E + 488 Lookout - CNY 280

Estimated Total Fee Day 2: CNY 50

Day 3

Chimelong Resort (Chimelong Paradise & Chimelong International Circus)
Subway: Line 3 to Hanxi Chang Long Station (汉溪长隆)
(Exit A - cross the overbridge to take free shuttle bus to the Chimelong Resort)
Free Shuttle bus: Every 10 minutes from 08:30 to 19: 40, and every 15 minutes from 19:55 to 22:15.
Park hours for Chimelong Paradise: 9.30AM - 10.00PM
Circus show time: 7.30PM - 8.50PM
Chimelong Paradise: CNY 250
Circus: CNY 280
Paradise + Circus: CNY 475

Estimated Total Fee Day 2: CNY 475

Day 4

1. Guangdong Museum (广东省博物馆)
Subway: Transfer station of Line 3 and Line 5  - Zhujiang New Town Station (珠江新城）(Exit B1 - walk 10 mins to the museum)
Opening hours: 9.00AM-5.00PM
Entrance fee: FREE (need to show passport)

2. Grandview Mall (正佳广场）
Subway: Transfer Station of Line 1 & Line 3 - Tiyuxi Lu (体育西路）
(Exit B - Intersection of Tianhe Road and Tiyu Road East)

3. Sun Yat Sen Memorial Hall（孙中山纪念馆）
Subway: Line 2 to Sun Yat Sen Memorial Hall Station (纪念堂）(Exit D)
Recommended time of visit: 45 mins
Opening hours: 8.00AM- 6.00PM
Fee: CNY 10

4. Yue Xiu Park (越秀公园)
Subway: Line 2  to Yuexiu Park Station (越秀公园)
(Exit B1 - to the main entrance of the park)

Estimated Total Fee Day 4: CNY 10

Day 5

1. Nansha Tian Hou Palace (南沙天后宫）
Subway: Line 4 to Jiaomen Station (焦门）
(Take bus Nansha No.4 to TianHou Palace East Entrance)
Opening hours: 8.30AM - 6.00PM
Fee: CNY 20

2. Lingnan Impression Park (岭南印象园)
Subway: Line 4 to Higher Education Mega Center South Station (大学城南站）
(Exit B - walk along Daxuecheng Zhongwu Road for about 800m to the park)
Opening hour: 9.00AM - 5.00PM
Fee: CNY 60

3. Beijing Road (北京路）
Subway: Transfer station of Line 1 and Line 2 Gongyuanqian Station (公园前）
(Exit C - walk along the road for 5 mins)

Estimated Total Fee Day 5: CNY 80

Day 6

1. Sacred Heart Cathedral (耶穌聖心主教座堂)
Subway: Transfer station of Line 2 and Line 6 - Haizhu Square (海珠广场）
(Exit B2 - walk west along Yide Road （一德路）to find the cathedral)
Opening hours: 8.00AM - 5.30PM

2. The Western Han Museum of Nan Yue King (西汉南越王墓博物馆）
Subway: Line 2 to Yuexiu Park (越秀公园）
(Exit E - turn right and walk 100m to museum)
Opening hours: 9.00AM - 5.30PM
Fee: CNY 12

3. Site of Nan Yue Kingdom Palace
Subway: Transfer station of Line 1 and Line 2 Gongyuanqian Station (公园前）
(Exit E)

4. Taikoo Hui Mall (太古汇)
Subway: Line 3 to Shipaiqiao Station (石牌桥）
(Exit to BRT Taikoo Hui -follow the sign)

Estimated Total Fee Day 6: CNY 12

Total Estimated Admission Fee for 6 Days: CNY 682

Websites which helped me in my process of planning are as follows:-
http://www.travelchinaguide.com/cityguides/guangzhou.htm
http://www.guangzhoutravelguide.com/about_guangzhou

Also remember to download the app 'Guangzhou Metro' from the App Store. Not sure if this app is available for Android though.

Researching about Guangzhou makes me fall in love with that place already but sadly I'm not going there this time. :( Read this somewhere, 'You're not in China until you get cheated once by a Chinese'. It was hilarious. I actually couldn't stop laughing for several minutes after reading that statement. I've only been to China once and that was to Xiamen. It was a business trip so I couldn't comment much about the culture there.

That's all for now! My confirmed upcoming trips are Langkawi and Krabi. I really can't wait! :)

(Important) Steps to draft a travel itinerary

Hello. It has been awhile since I wrote anything here. I'm doing good so far. :) By the way, the bf suggested that I should start a new blog to record down all the places that we have been to and also for the purpose of sharing our itineraries with people whom rely on blogs to get information on the places that they're going *cough. me. cough* My reaction was like, "Nobody is going to read what I write" and "I don't have the time to blog" and "I am a lazy pig". However, I was quite surprised to see my Bangkok Itinerary post and Bangkok Day 1 & 2 post to be viewed so frequently; 164 and 211 counts respectively. That is like, woah. So yeah, maybe I could start sharing more of food and travel posts in my blog. :)

I remember mentioning about updating about my drafting of Guangzhou itinerary for the bf but sadly the itinerary is in my laptop. Will share it here when I have the time. Promise! I have a hard time drafting Guangzhou's itinerary because I'm a half-banana. Haha. I know a little bit of Chinese but researching about something in Chinese is quite difficult for me. But I really like researching about new places and then put these pieces of puzzles together. It's fun! So how do I draft out my itinerary? I follow a few easy steps to get a draft out and then update my draft accordingly as at when I have new details to add in. Here are the basic steps that I follow:-

Destination

1. List down a few places/countries which you would like to visit. 
2. Choose a destination. (this is quite obvious, I know. Haha.)
3. Wait for cheap flights. (seriously this is what I usually do. I'd wait. Hahaha)

Flight Ticket

1. Choose the travel date with the cheapest flight ticket. (I am a budget traveler, so no choice but to fly with Air Asia almost all the time and I usually buy my flight ticket during promotional period)

*To save cost, I usually don't purchase travel insurance, baggage and in-flight meals when I'm traveling within Malaysia. 

Drafting Itinerary

1. Find the list of attractions for the place you're visiting.
2. Find a hotel nearby the subway station (very important)
3. Read on lots and lots of reviews especially on Trip Advisor and Agoda before proceeding with your hotel booking. (extremely important)
4. Find the subway map (applicable only if there's subway of course)
5. Look for reviews on the places of attractions which you have listed down and eliminate whichever unnecessary (some places are really not worth your time if you have a tight schedule)
6. Finalise the places which you're going to visit and search for the directions to those places. (how to go there?)
7. To also jot down the admission fee (if any) and the operating hours for each place. 
8. After you have all the information as stated above, start to draw up a plan as to which places you would like to visit on Day 1, Day 2 and etc.
9. Estimate the known cost which you would have to incur for this entire trip i.e. total admission fee and total transportation fee. (at least you'd know how much you have to set aside when you're there)

A very important note:-

To ALWAYS know how much you have spent before the trip (on your flight ticket) and during the trip so that you won't overspend the next time you're there. 

But remember that your itinerary is only meant to be a guide. You can always choose not to follow it during the trip. I'm speaking from experience on this matter. I was so excited before my Korea trip to the extent that I spent too much time on my travel itinerary. So when my actual plan deviated from my planned itinerary, I got so fed up and it slightly ruined my mood for the entire trip. To stay calm when your plan is not being followed is difficult for people like me. However, staying calm is very important especially when you're traveling in a group. There is no point in being moody if other people refuse to follow your plan. The main objective of the trip should be to enjoy yourself and also to relax and not just to realise your itinerary.

I really hope that this helps some of you who are in the midst of planning your upcoming trip. :) Till next time!

林俊傑《只要有你的地方》

This is my favourite song for the time being. Meaningful song lyrics; touching movie trailer. You guys should really check it out in the cinema next year. The title of the movie is 消失的情人 (The Secret).

你是我肩膀堅定的力量
聽不到你的迴響 還真說不出晚安
懶洋洋 因為互相在依傍
時間怎麼過去 有你也不會冤枉
為誰辛苦為誰忙 只為了和你分享

只要你的淚光 照耀著我胸膛
只要我的生命 你肯讓我安放
不管外面風雨有多煩亂 日子過得再緊張
我的情緒 你的表情 就能釋放

只要在你目光 看得見的地方
我會永遠記住 要活得更堅強
要是人生難免有遺憾
有你在身旁 已經是最好的補償
你是我身影流浪的方向
汗水找到你的臉 世態炎涼也無妨
我抬頭 看你像看到月亮
你低頭 會不會想我 像思念故鄉
為誰辛苦為誰忙 眼中有對方不慌不忙

只要你的淚光 照耀著我胸膛
只要我的生命 你肯讓我安放
不管外面風雨有多煩亂 日子過得再緊張
我的情緒 你的表情
我們再不用隱瞞 卸下武裝

只要在你目光 看得見的地方
我會永遠記住 要活得更堅強
要是人生難免有遺憾
有你在身旁 試問我們還想怎樣
艱苦又怎樣 有你的地方 
人生就不需要什麼答案

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