Update: I’m going to China in April but will miss SMX China. Xiamen was harder to get to than I’d originally thought given the rest of our schedule and China contacts are popping up in other places, so the new trip is Hong Kong April 1-4, Shanghai April 5-8, Beijing April 9-15, home to Oregon.
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Still planning the trip to China for SES SMX China 2008 in Xiamen, Beijing, Hong Kong, and Shanghai. I am running into the internet challenge of really old information though. For example I’d heard about a really cool ocean ferry that goes from Hong Kong to Xiamen. It’s listed in my very new guidebook but some online sources say it’s not running anymore. I got hopeful with this online blurb:
Hong Kong – Xiamen 1400 0800 Weekday 7245 from China Hong Kong City Pier Xiamen – Hong Kong 1500 0900 EveryMon, Wed, Thu, Sat to China Hong Kong City Pier
Only to find the page was last updated…in 1997!
Google’s travel listings are pretty challenged in the USA so I should not be surprised that finding accurate China info could be trouble. I’m online most of the day but have to admit the best sources of general China travel information so far have probably been word of mouth and my guidebook rather than online, though I’ve been using all of them together for best results.
The plan as of now is to fly to Hong Kong and spend about 3 days, then Train to Shanghai (20 hours, sleeper) for about 2 days, then to Beijing (13 hours by train) for about 3 days, then to Xiamen for Conference (which I’m hoping will be at the Xianglu Grand Hotel because it looks simply awesome!) then back to Hong Kong for the flight home. But we are coordinating 3 schedules so we’ve still got some logistics to go.
China Visas appear to be a bit of a challenge as you can’t get them by mail. I think most travel agencies will do this for you, but we are not planning to use one so somebody may need to go to San Francisco Chinese consulate. Not a big deal as Charley lives down there and I’ll be near there later in January at the Web 2.0 Conference.
Joe Duck 
testing – there should NOT be ads showing
Dude, didn’t know you were coming to Xiamen. Sounds like a great trip. Too bad the China Search Marketing Tour is off. I passed it off to someone else cause couldn’t manage from Singapore. Wow that’s a lot of train time, good way to see the country side though. Make sure you get a “soft sleeper”. See you in Xiamen. Oh I found this by searching for Xianglu Grand Hotel. That is indeed where the conference will be, nice hotel, stayed there last year. See ya soon
Hi David – well, the latest and final plan does not include Xiamen. We’ll be in Hong Kong, Shanghai, and I’ll leave from Beijing. I keep hearing stories about not taking trains but want to do it.
I’m sorry I’ll miss you in China but hope to see you at SES San Jose this year. Wow, with Google stock heading south I hope they can afford the normal extravagance of the Google party!