Wednesday, July 2, 2008

Public transportation in China

Since we've been in China we've taken many taxis and a high-speed train from Nanjing to Suzhou, and today we take a bus from Suzhou to Hangzhou. We'll also take a bus from Hangzhou to the Shanghai airport when we leave China. About the only thing we've not used is local buses; taxis are easier for us. Some things stand out about this transportation:

1. it's inexpensive. The high-speed train (up to 206 kph) cost $10 per ticket, the bus to Hangzhou costs about 50 cents more, and we've never spent more than $6 on a taxi (and all our taxi trips in Suzhou have been less than $2).

2. it's efficient. Things run on time and move pretty well. You don't always want to watch the taxi driver in traffic -- but (s)he knows how to get around in traffic. The train was one of the smoothest we have ever taken, and that includes many of the European trains including the TGV.

It doubtless helps that Judy speaks some Chinese, but between hotels and friends we have not had any problems in arranging transportation. I think the US could learn some things!

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