Bilboblue
Well-Known Member
Thank you.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an alternative browser.
You should upgrade or use an alternative browser.
Chinese OSCs, Shenzhen Blues + Sun Jihai + Shenzhen Peng City FC
- Thread starter Oystercatcher28
- Start date
M14Exile
Well-Known Member
http://www.travelchinaguide.com/china-trains/
Internal flights will be the best option for anyone considering attending more than one game.
I'm hoping to get to the Bird's Nest in Beijing again but I won't be going to Shenzhen or Shanghai. Shenzhen is the closest mainland city to Hong Kong btw, there is a border crossing point there at the railway station (having said that, it's six years since I was last there, things may have changed).
There is a good ferry service from Shenzen (Shekou) to Hong Kong airport or downtown Hong Kong. I have used this service several times for work.
Colliahhh
Well-Known Member
I've been living in Beijing for the last 2 years and will be around on the date of the derby if there are any blues that want to meet up and get drinks etc.
Out of the 2 I'd recommend Beijing over Shenzhen because it's a better match and a better city.
I visited Shenzhen last year and its a nice enough place but there isn't much happening there except that it's next to Hong Kong. If you do go to the Shenzhen match I'd recommend staying in Hong Kong and crossing the border for the match on the day, it's easy enough transport wise as long as you have the correct visas sorted out. Another thing about Hong Kong and Shenzhen is that they are both quite expensive places (think roughly London prices) compared to most of the rest of China its massively expensive.
With regards to Beijing, great place with a very good expat scene and a ridiculous amount of tourist and cultural attractions to see. It's also not difficult to get to other big cities by train from here (Shanghai is about 3 hours, Xi'an with the terracotta warriors is about 5, Tianjin about 40 mins). I'll post a more in depth guide closer to the match day about the dos and don'ts and places to go for food/drinks etc and what to prepare. There's a lot of bad press about the pollution too, I'm not going to lie, it can be shit sometimes but this is usually in the winter months. Over the last year or so the air quality has improved massively now there are maybe a few very bad days per month and blue skies for most of the summer. The cost of accommodation and food and drinks can be as cheap or as expensive as you want it to be, this can vary between the sort of prices you'd see in a lot of south east asia (50p for beers, 1-3 quid for a decent meal, £5-10 a night for hostels) and as expensive as central London if you want that sort of thing (theres lots of millionaires in Beijing) unfortunately for me I can't give too many details about the flashier places to visit if that's what you want.
Another thing to consider when booking is that a lot of tourists who come will recruit tour guides to help them. There is trouble with the language barrier, no taxi drivers will speak English, only some of the more expensive restaurants will have staff who speak English, however most of the bars have english speaking staff (At least enough to order a drink anyway). If you are prepared before hand with maps on your phone and a good understanding of what sort of prices you should be paying/ you're pretty experienced travelling it shouldn't be too much of an issue to get around, however if you don't have much experience with this sort of thing it may be worth considering doing this.
If anyone wants to know specific questions about getting around here or what to expect feel free to PM or reply on this and I'll get back to you when I can. Like I said I plan to post a bigger advice piece on Beijing alone closer to the time.
Does anybody know when they will go on sale roughly and what is the best way to buy? I've never been to a pre-season friendly in another country so this is all new to me. Is it the same as regular tickets through the official site?
Out of the 2 I'd recommend Beijing over Shenzhen because it's a better match and a better city.
I visited Shenzhen last year and its a nice enough place but there isn't much happening there except that it's next to Hong Kong. If you do go to the Shenzhen match I'd recommend staying in Hong Kong and crossing the border for the match on the day, it's easy enough transport wise as long as you have the correct visas sorted out. Another thing about Hong Kong and Shenzhen is that they are both quite expensive places (think roughly London prices) compared to most of the rest of China its massively expensive.
With regards to Beijing, great place with a very good expat scene and a ridiculous amount of tourist and cultural attractions to see. It's also not difficult to get to other big cities by train from here (Shanghai is about 3 hours, Xi'an with the terracotta warriors is about 5, Tianjin about 40 mins). I'll post a more in depth guide closer to the match day about the dos and don'ts and places to go for food/drinks etc and what to prepare. There's a lot of bad press about the pollution too, I'm not going to lie, it can be shit sometimes but this is usually in the winter months. Over the last year or so the air quality has improved massively now there are maybe a few very bad days per month and blue skies for most of the summer. The cost of accommodation and food and drinks can be as cheap or as expensive as you want it to be, this can vary between the sort of prices you'd see in a lot of south east asia (50p for beers, 1-3 quid for a decent meal, £5-10 a night for hostels) and as expensive as central London if you want that sort of thing (theres lots of millionaires in Beijing) unfortunately for me I can't give too many details about the flashier places to visit if that's what you want.
Another thing to consider when booking is that a lot of tourists who come will recruit tour guides to help them. There is trouble with the language barrier, no taxi drivers will speak English, only some of the more expensive restaurants will have staff who speak English, however most of the bars have english speaking staff (At least enough to order a drink anyway). If you are prepared before hand with maps on your phone and a good understanding of what sort of prices you should be paying/ you're pretty experienced travelling it shouldn't be too much of an issue to get around, however if you don't have much experience with this sort of thing it may be worth considering doing this.
If anyone wants to know specific questions about getting around here or what to expect feel free to PM or reply on this and I'll get back to you when I can. Like I said I plan to post a bigger advice piece on Beijing alone closer to the time.
Does anybody know when they will go on sale roughly and what is the best way to buy? I've never been to a pre-season friendly in another country so this is all new to me. Is it the same as regular tickets through the official site?
Dalian Blue
Well-Known Member
I've been living in Beijing for the last 2 years and will be around on the date of the derby if there are any blues that want to meet up and get drinks etc.
If anyone wants to know specific questions about getting around here or what to expect feel free to PM or reply on this and I'll get back to you when I can. Like I said I plan to post a bigger advice piece on Beijing alone closer to the time.
Does anybody know when they will go on sale roughly and what is the best way to buy? I've never been to a pre-season friendly in another country so this is all new to me. Is it the same as regular tickets through the official site?
Hi mate,
Which part of Beijing are you in? I'm mainly familiar with Dongzeman / Sanlitun District, I only get to Beijing for a couple of days either side of travelling to and from Manchester, two or three times a year.
I was in Beijing for the 2012 friendly against Arsenal, I don't think that the tickets were available on the OS, I don't know how others got the tickets but if I recall correctly I found the website for the promoters - it had a stadium layout online similar to the City OS Ticketing, I identified where I wanted to be, told my stepdaughter (she's Chinese), she phoned them and an hour or so later a guy on a moped rocked up at the hotel with the tickets, I handed over the cash and that was it.
I'd be interested if you could point out any decent watering holes, the Den has closed down, Paddy O'Shea's is OK but very raggy, even though the Irish rag has sold the place to some French bloke. The only other decent place I know of is the Blue Frog in Sanlitun but it isn't a football kind of place.
I was in Shenzhen around 6 years ago, as you say it's OK but of the two I prefer Beijing myself. There were a couple of reasonable Irish bars in Shenzhen and a decent German bar on a concrete encased ship, there was a night club / disco sort of thing in there but I didn't go in, my missus was suggesting it was some sort of den of iniquity...
Oh yes, Shanghai from Beijing in three hours by train? I don't think so mate, more like 5 hours give or take.
This is a good website for making travel arrangements in China, I've posted the link on other China related threads but here it is again: https://www.travelchinaguide.com/china-trains/
squirtyflower
Well-Known Member
Hi mateHi mate,
Which part of Beijing are you in? I'm mainly familiar with Dongzeman / Sanlitun District, I only get to Beijing for a couple of days either side of travelling to and from Manchester, two or three times a year.
I was in Beijing for the 2012 friendly against Arsenal, I don't think that the tickets were available on the OS, I don't know how others got the tickets but if I recall correctly I found the website for the promoters - it had a stadium layout online similar to the City OS Ticketing, I identified where I wanted to be, told my stepdaughter (she's Chinese), she phoned them and an hour or so later a guy on a moped rocked up at the hotel with the tickets, I handed over the cash and that was it.
I'd be interested if you could point out any decent watering holes, the Den has closed down, Paddy O'Shea's is OK but very raggy, even though the Irish rag has sold the place to some French bloke. The only other decent place I know of is the Blue Frog in Sanlitun but it isn't a football kind of place.
I was in Shenzhen around 6 years ago, as you say it's OK but of the two I prefer Beijing myself. There were a couple of reasonable Irish bars in Shenzhen and a decent German bar on a concrete encased ship, there was a night club / disco sort of thing in there but I didn't go in, my missus was suggesting it was some sort of den of iniquity...
Oh yes, Shanghai from Beijing in three hours by train? I don't think so mate, more like 5 hours give or take.
This is a good website for making travel arrangements in China, I've posted the link on other China related threads but here it is again: https://www.travelchinaguide.com/china-trains/
In answer to the tickets question, City did sell them on the official site. I stupidly hurried down there on the first day of sales as they said they had a very limited number. They were £60 apiece, £300 to add to an already expensive away day!
I seem to recall the tickets in the Chinese sections were a lot lot less than that.
Either way, China is one of my favourite places to visit and I would be over there like a shot if my daughter wasn't getting married the week after.
Van Gaal not happy with the China trip
here's an extract from what he said taken from the Guardian http://www.theguardian.com/football/2016/apr/02/louis-van-gaal-manchester-united-china-trip
here's an extract from what he said taken from the Guardian http://www.theguardian.com/football/2016/apr/02/louis-van-gaal-manchester-united-china-trip
Colliahhh
Well-Known Member
Hi mate,
Which part of Beijing are you in? I'm mainly familiar with Dongzeman / Sanlitun District, I only get to Beijing for a couple of days either side of travelling to and from Manchester, two or three times a year.
I was in Beijing for the 2012 friendly against Arsenal, I don't think that the tickets were available on the OS, I don't know how others got the tickets but if I recall correctly I found the website for the promoters - it had a stadium layout online similar to the City OS Ticketing, I identified where I wanted to be, told my stepdaughter (she's Chinese), she phoned them and an hour or so later a guy on a moped rocked up at the hotel with the tickets, I handed over the cash and that was it.
I'd be interested if you could point out any decent watering holes, the Den has closed down, Paddy O'Shea's is OK but very raggy, even though the Irish rag has sold the place to some French bloke. The only other decent place I know of is the Blue Frog in Sanlitun but it isn't a football kind of place.
I was in Shenzhen around 6 years ago, as you say it's OK but of the two I prefer Beijing myself. There were a couple of reasonable Irish bars in Shenzhen and a decent German bar on a concrete encased ship, there was a night club / disco sort of thing in there but I didn't go in, my missus was suggesting it was some sort of den of iniquity...
Oh yes, Shanghai from Beijing in three hours by train? I don't think so mate, more like 5 hours give or take.
This is a good website for making travel arrangements in China, I've posted the link on other China related threads but here it is again: https://www.travelchinaguide.com/china-trains/
I'm in Dongzhimen at the moment but I've been all over the place the last few years, mainly near Wudakou and way out in west Beijing too.
Paddy's is the only real option I know of at the moment for decent football coverage cause they will show all of the matches at the same time with their million TV's, also it's not too far from me so I don't really head out further. I've heard 'The Local' in Sanlitun is okay too but I've never been there to watch the footy. Whenever I've been in there seems to be a good crowd of British people compared to some other places.
For non-sports bars, there is the Arrow factory tap room, which isn't too far from Paddys which has a good selection of beers and really good food- it's run by the same guys who run Stuffed if you know that place? 4 corners in Gulou is another good bar with lots of good bands on at weekends and a good selection of beers. Then there are the various Jing A and great leap tap rooms for their craft beers and decent enough food too. Harping on about the craft beer places a bit but they're better than drinking room temperature Yanjing! Also for quite late at night if you're still standing head over to Cafe De La Poste in between Beixinqiao and Lama Temple. Its a nice french cafe in the day but after midnight it can get a bit mental and will stay open pretty much until everyone is gone. If you're ever in town and at a loss for what to do you can check out: http://www.thebeijinger.com/ and it will have good coverage of most of the events
MillionMilesAway
Well-Known Member
Van Gaal not happy with the China trip
here's an extract from what he said taken from the Guardian http://www.theguardian.com/football/2016/apr/02/louis-van-gaal-manchester-united-china-trip
He's right though, isn't he?
High humidity, quite probably pollution problems, tiredness.
I think soHe's right though, isn't he?
High humidity, quite probably pollution problems, tiredness.
We are a football club not a brand but Soriano thinks we are both. Pre-season should be about preparing for the new season and getting that ground work done that prevents injuries. Even if you were the marketing man, you'd find it much easier to market a successful club than one that falls just short because its best players spent the season injured.