Getting to Xinchang Town

I understand there are several ';watertowns'; in the Shanghai region. I%26#39;ve been told that Xinchang is an interesting one to visit. But I%26#39;m at a loss as to how to get there. I will be in Shanghai in March and have 3 days, so would like to take one day or less to visit Xinchang Town on my own. Can one take the Metro? or a train? or hire a car? What is recommended? Thank you!!

Getting to Xinchang Town

Also, is Xinchang the same as Xitang? Thank you!

Getting to Xinchang Town

Xinchang is definitely not the same as Xitang (http://www.xitang.com.cn), the latter was where scenes of Mission Impossible 3 were filmed. From what I%26#39;ve read, Xinchang doesn%26#39;t sound like a water village at all. If you read Chinese, take a look at http://www.xinchangtour.com for more information.

Hiring a vehicle to get you there would be possible, but it would be really expensive, Xinchang is 375 km from Shanghai!

There%26#39;s no train station there AFAIK, so you%26#39;ll have to take bus. There aren%26#39;t that many departures from Shanghai, so my recommendation would be to take a train to Hangzhou East train station (around 25-33/40-50 RMB for hard/soft seat) and transfer to a bus there. Buses for Hangzhou East -- Xinchang depart around every 20 mins 0600--1830 (approximate), fare 48 RMB. Hangzhou -- Xinchang is roughly 132 km.

XinChang is not Xitang....though they are both located in Zhejiang province.

XinChang is much farther from Shanghai than Xitang.

I agree with ellyse

Rent vehicle,

It%26#39;s about 450-750RMB/100km or 8 hours. The distance beween Shanghai and Xinchang is about 382km! Too expensive!

But there is another way, you can take long distance bus.

Long distance bus,

about 105RMB to get there, you can take bus in Shanghai Long Distance Central Bus Station. But you need to check the schedule first.(info about the schedule oflong distance bus: http://www.cgbchina.com/ )

Enjoy your trip =D

Thank you! Then perhaps I should go to Xitang instead? The point is to visit a water village, not necessarily Xinchang. Xitang is a water village? Would that be a possible and worthwhile day trip from Shanghai? Again, should we hire a car, take a train... I very much appreciate all your replies! Thank you!

Xitang would be fine for a daytrip though I would much rather do it as an overnight (or at least half day + half day) as the most beautiful moments are early morning and sunset/evening.

I%26#39;ve just posted quite extensive info about getting to Xitang from Shanghai and back, on another forum. Would appreciate if you could read thorntree.lonelyplanet.com/messagepost.cfm… so that I don%26#39;t have to post all over again. Not trying to be lazy but it just doesn%26#39;t make sense to double-post.

Sorry, if that link doesn%26#39;t work properly, try this one: thorntree.lonelyplanet.com/messagepost.cfm…

Ellyse you are a gem, thank you so much for all the great info!!!

No problem, glad to be of help. :D

Hey, if you%26#39;re open to meeting up sometime in Shanghai, email me at ellyse99@yahoo.com and put ';VisitorTraveller'; in the subject line. I%26#39;m studying in Shanghai, have travelled extensively in mainland China for the past few years and frequently meet up with travellers coming through town.

Thank you, Ellyse!