This is part 14 of a series on my trip to Austria, Germany and China.
- Austria, Germany, China 2014: Part 1 – How I am going to Timewarp in Germany AND Beijing in Business Class for $184
- Austria, Germany, China 2014: Part 2- 12 Amazing Places I want to see on my trip to China. The last one is terrifying!
- Austria, Germany, China 2014: Part 3 – How I got paid to take a free trip.
- Austria, Germany, China 2014: Part 4 – 9 Hours in Vienna
- Austria, Germany, China 2014: Part 5 – Frankfurt, Robert-Johnson, and Timewarp
- Austria, Germany, China 2014: Part 6 – The Flagship Austrian Airlines Business Class Lounge
- Austria, Germany, China 2014: Part 7 – Vienna to Beijing Business Class on an Austrian Airlines Boeing 767-300
- Austria, Germany, China 2014: Part 8 – Beijing, Tian’anmen Square, The Forbidden City
- Austria, Germany, China 2014: Part 9 – The Great Wall of China at Jinshanling
- Austria, Germany, China 2014: Part 10 – How my Discover Card saved my life in China
- Austria, Germany, and China 2014: Part 11 – Bullet Trains and Zhengzhou
- Austria, Germany, and China 2014: Part 12 – Xi’an and the Terracotta Warriors
- Austria, Germany and China 2014: Part 13 – Zhangjiajie, Monkeys and Avatar
- Austria, Germany and China 2014: Part 14 – Changsha, Wuhan, and Hefei
I received 40,000 of the 100,000 miles I used for this award ticket by getting the US Airways® Premier World MasterCard®! This is a great card and one I still carry. These miles will eventually become American miles which are some of the most valuable. Click here to apply now for one of your own!
As I sat in the rain in my hotel in Zhangjiajie, I looked at my different options on where I could go. I knew that I had to be in Hangzhou in 3 days for my free pointbreaks nights at the Intercontinental Hangzhou, but I wasn’t sure the best way to get there. I also knew that I was one Saturday night stay away from picking up 74,000 IHG points in the Big Win promotion. Looking at the rail map, I knew I had to get to the High Speed rail portions as quickly as possible to make the most of my time. A route from Zhangjiajie to Changsha then high speed rail from Changsha to Wuhan(Wuchang on this map) to Hefei to Hangzhou would do the trick.
Since Zhangjiajie is kind of in the middle of nowhere, I had to take a conventional train to Changsha and boy, what a difference in comfort! They sell all the seats and then sell standing room only as well! I didn’t realize I bought a standing seat until I guy came and asked me to move! Luckily that was 4 hours into our 5 hour journey so I only ended up standing for the last hour or so.
Continue reading “China: Changsha, Wuhan, and Hefei”