Lodging 1: Dansuao Hotspring Resort

We checked in at a hotspring resort located about 45minutes away from Teochew city. The hotspring resort is located midway between Shantou and Teochew.

It is not easily accessibly via public transport. You'll probably need to drive to get to the location. Here's how the outside and inside look like.

Side of the resort facing the main road where we entered. Though the water is murky, there are turtles and fish living in it. During good weather you can see turtles coming on shore to get a tan.

Main lobby of the resort. Take the lifts to go up to the rooms! Reception is on the other side. Though it looks nice but people don't stay on the corridors. Because the resort allows smoking, the smell always linger in the air. Carpets are poorly maintained too. The mould smell is strong. Luckily the odours don't follow into the rooms.

 Teaset is available for tea drinkers:)...

It was mostly foggy for the two night we were there.

It's a pity that none of us tried the hotspring. We were sick - travel flu bug. It'd be nice to soak in water on the outdoors. There are two restaurants in the resort - one sells Western food and the other Asian. We had Asian food the first night we arrived at the resort.

 Pipa soup - they claim it to be a new dish, and it was nice.

Some vegetables to go with it.

So the second night we went to the Western food restaurant, which doubles as the resort's breakfast buffet place.

 Western restaurant sells asian cuisine too. The noodles are nice.

 I didn't really like the beef burger. Thought the patties don't taste right.

 Curry mutton rice is alright, and a little spicy too.

So in fact the Western food restaurant isn't too Western. If you are a fan of hotspring, this is the place to go. Otherwise, staying in the cities makes it easier for you to get to other places. We would have stayed in the city actually.

Teochew (Shantou, China) Introduction

I just returned to Singapore with my grandma, wife and sister last week. It was a trip to Shantou, China, to the hometown where my granny came from. Travelling with an elderly aged 92 isn't an easy task - things have to move more slowly and there are concerns in the selection of diet and places to visit. To make things worse, the amount of information available on the Internet about Shantou is very limited. Hence, I am sharing what I know here and hope it'll help my fellow travellers find some direction.

Currently Shantou is accessible by plane via the Jieyang Airport. Travel China Guide provides a fair amount of information on the attractions, accessibility and weather in Shantou. The visitors on this guide are very helpful - you can see other tourists helping to answer questions on the weather regularly.

From Singapore, Jetstar flies three times a week to Shantou - Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. Arrival time to Shantou is around 6.45pm; return flights to Singapore are available on the same day. Ctrip is a good website which can help you find lodging in this region, though other hotel booking websites (Expedia and etc) provide suggestions too.

Generally speaking, Shantou is considered to be a third tier city. Although you can still see tall buildings and busy streets, and toilets are reasonably clean (yes, most places in China have generally clean toilets now), city planning and hygiene on the streets are generally poor. There is also a lot of construction and development going on. So compared to Beijiang or Shanghai, there is a huge lag in development. We were warned about this on the flight to Shantou by fellow travellers, so our expectations were pretty much managed.

Travelling within the cities can be a challenge. Taxis usually do not take you if you're going short distances, and the other way to go by public transport is using the bus. Alternatively, you can hire a local car and driver to bring you around for the entire day, say from 8am to 5pm. For a 5-seater car, it costs between 500RMB to 700RMB. If your group is bigger, it can cost about 1,200RMB for a MPV. It is, however, expected that you should treat the driver to lunch. The driver will be useful to recommend you places of interest and local delicacies.

More information on our trip on the upcoming posts.