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.