Travel Info
You need to purchase the flight tickets on your own. Cheaper flight tickets and hotels than from your home country can often be found on this travelling website. From your home country, we recommend you to travel either over Beijing, Shanghai or Guangzhou. From there, there are 3 ways to get to the academy.
By plane:
There are two airports close to the academy. The first one is Xuzhou Guanyin Airport which is the further from the Academy (1.5-2 hours), pickup service costs $60; the second one Lianyungang Baitabu Airport which is closer to the Academy ( 1-1.5 hours), pickup service costs $50.
By train:
There are two types of trains with two different sets of prices. There are the slow regular trains with beds, and a traveling time of 10-12 hours from both Beijing and Shanghai to XInyi. It costs approximately 190-230yuan (28$-35$) for a hard sleeper and 280 yuan (40$=50$) for a soft sleeper. Once you arrive at Xinyi station, we will pick you up for free from there to our academy.
Beijing – Xinyi, K1613, 09:15-21:42, a hard sleeper-230 yuan.
Shanghai-Xinyi, K8356, 20:52-06:40, a hard sleeper-190 yuan.
The other option is the fast bullet trains that will take you the same distance but in only 2.5-3 hours in a speed of 300km/hour. The prices for those trains are a bit higher but the time is reduced and the comfort is increased. It costs 280-310 yuan for a second class seat, and 475- 519 yuan for a first class seat. Second class in the fast bullet trains are recommended.
The fast bullet trains travel from Beijing South and Shanghai Hongqiao to Xuzhou East station. There is one available every 15 minutes every day from 7am to 8pm. Please make sure you go by the West Exit when you arrive at Xuzhou East.
From Xuzhou, you can also easily get to Xinyi either by train, bus or taxi.
We can also pick you up there if you wish, pickup service costs 60$.
There are two ways to buy a train ticket. You can just take your passport at the train station when you arrive and buy the ticket straight at the station, most likely you will just have to wait a few hours and then you will be on your way. However, this method will not work during Chinese national holidays where train tickets are completely sold out several weeks in advance.
The other option is to book a ticket in advance on this biggest Chinese traveling website, it has multiple languages available. You can also ask a Chinese friend or the academy to help you book the train tickets. If you book a ticket in advance make sure you have at least 4 hours from your plane lands until your train departs. It takes time to get from the airport to the stations, and at the stations you need to collect your ticket at a ticket office where the line very often is long and you need to check in for your train up to 40 minutes before your departure.
You can call our consultant (+86 159 5219 3919) for help if you have trouble purchasing a ticket or you meet any other problems in your traveling.
By bus:
There are also buses available from Shanghai and Beijing to Xinyi (8 hrs), or from Xuzhou to Xinyi (2 hrs), but bus stations and information can be more difficult to understand if you do not speak Chinese, so going by train might be easier for you.
Packing
This is not a complete list but it might help you when packing your suitcase. You can check out this packing list for reference. Please also remember to bring two passport photos for registration at the academy and the local police office.
Summer:
Bring plenty of training t-shirts and shorts. It can get very warm and most students sweat through their clothes in every training so 2-3 sets of clothes can be used in a day. High factor sunscreen to use in the first 1-2 weeks until your skin is getting used to the sun, most training is are outside.
Winter:
It can be very cold in winter so warm sweaters for both training and free time, a warm jacket, thermal underwear or a track suit is recommended. Hats and gloves are very used items as well. A fat cream for protecting hands and face from the cold is recommended as well.
Money
Our Academy provides students full room and board, so it’s not necessary to bring a lot of extra money for spending unless you want to buy souvenirs, shop or plan to travel in China. All you need is some pocket money for food (snacks), a massage in the weekends, some clothes, etc. Students are likely to find that food and many other things are much cheaper to buy in China than in their home country. 100-200$ pr. month for long term students and 200-300$ pr. month for short term students are sufficient for most students.
China-Yuan-Kungfu-training-travelYou should bring your credit card or debit card to withdraw cash from the ATM’s at the local banks. There are many of them, e.g. Bank of China, ICBC, Bank of Construction, Bank of Communications, etc. It’s possible but unnecessary to open a Chinese Bank Account, if you need to transfer money from your home country to China, you can use the Academy’s account, and we will get the transfer in cash for you. Traveler checks can be cashed at the Bank of China, but may take a little while to process. It is a good idea to talk with your bank before traveling to ensure that your card will work in China and/or maybe to get an extra card with you as an extra safety precaution.
In China credit cards are only used very few places so you should always carry cash with you. When arriving in China it is a good idea to have around 1000 (150$) yuan on you, some in small notes, for “just in case” and so that you do not need to go to an ATM as the first thing. ATM´s can only be found in Xinyi where students go mostly on the weekends.
