8/15/2017 Changzhou - Wikitravel

Changzhou
From Wikitravel

Changzhou (常州; Chángzhōu) is a city in Jiangsu.

Most travellers will breeze through Changzhou on their way to

Suzhou or Nanjing but those with a bit of time can spend a
pleasant day exploring the city's somewhat agrestic charms.

Understand
Settlement here stretches back to at least the Spring and
Autumn period (770-426 BC) when Yancheng, a city
surrounded by three concentric moats was established.

Changzhou has been visited by many people over the years

including Song dynasty poet DongPo, Emperor QianLong, and
the Japanese Army on their way to destroy Nanjing.

Get in
By train
By train Changzhou has two railway stations: Changzhou
Station (常州站） and Changzhou North Station (常州北站).
Changzhou Station, located near the city center, is divided into
two separate plazas: one which faces north (bei guangchang,

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北广场), and one which faces south (nan guangchang， 南广

场). The north-facing plaza serves the high speed G-trains and
some of the slightly slower D-trains on the Shanghai-Nanjing
high speed line. The south-facing plaza handles the long
distance T and K trains and the overnight Beijing-Shanghai D-
trains (1 each way, every night). The two plazas are connected
by an underground walkway. The Changzhou North Station,
addr: 江苏省常州市新北区, handles the Beijing-Shanghai
high speed rail line. If you already have a ticket, just show it to
your taxi driver. The two complexes are served by the B10
bus, but takes just over an hour. A taxi ride is 25 to 35 min.
The most frequent services are high-speed G and D-trains
going to or from Shanghai or Nanjing. The journey from either
end takes around 1.5 hours. Services include:

From Nanjing – (¥80) Departing from the main station.

From Shanghai – (G train: ¥80 second class; ¥128
business class. D train ¥51 second class; ¥61 business
class.) Departing from the Shanghai central or the
HongQiao station.

The slower and lower class T- and K- services from other

provinces stop at Changzhou but tickets are only available for
destinations outside of Jiangsu.

Tickets

The new station has touchscreen ticket machines with English

menus to buy tickets G and D train. A ticket to Shanghai on
the G train costs ¥80 for second class and ¥125 for business
class. The D train is ¥51 for second class and ¥61 for business
class
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Buying tickets for the long distance T or K services have to be

bought from the ticket windows in the building on the far right
of the entrance. There aren't any ticket machines but most
clerks can speak at least simple English or will find someone
who does. For services other than the high-speed trains, it's
wise to book outbound tickets a few days in advance as they
fill up quickly, especially during public holidays.

By bus
The northern bus station on Xinmen Lu (almost opposite the
train station) has frequent services to Wuxi, Zhangjiagang,
Suzhou (¥34, 2hrs), yixing ¥21 and Kunshan.

By plane

There are flights in and out of Changzhou to over 10 cities.

Get around
The cities main attractions are within a walkable radius of the
train station, with the outlying spots on the main bus routes.

By bus

The Changzhou bus network fleet comprises of speedy modern

buses and a bunch lumbering rattlers. The BRT bus network,
operating in lieu of a subway, features frequent services of
large shiny buses that rapidly traverse mainly inner city routes
stopping at enclosed BRT stations located in the centre of the
main thoroughfares and at the curbside on smaller roads. All
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 main thoroughfares and at the
8/15/2017 curbside
Changzhou on smaller roads. All
- Wikitravel

BRT bus numbers are prefixed with a B, followed by the route

number. Service frequency is almost excessive, to the point
where it's not uncommon to see two or three same numbered
buses following each other caterpillar style with only a few
passengers on each.

The services start and terminate conveniently near the train

station. Fares for all buses are ¥1, regardless of distance.

B11 - Runs down Heping Lu and past the main shopping

district.
2 - Starts at bus terminus attached to the new northern
train and long distance bus station and rattles down
almost the entire length of Heping Lu and around the
university town in the south.
B1 - Stops in front of the YanCheng complex.

A double-decker tourist bus numbered Y1 can be seen about

town but locals are somewhat secretive about its routes and
timetable.

By taxi
Metered taxis charge ¥9 for the first 4km and then ¥2.9 for
every additional kilometre.

See
Dong Po Park (Dong Po GongYuan), YanLing Middle
Rd. A diminutive but pretty park named after Song
dynasty, poet, artist and gardener, Su Dong Po - who
died in Changzhou. One side of the park runs against the
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Grand Canal and the others sides by smaller canals,

giving the impression of being on an island. A second
islet connected by a arching bridge has a large DongPo
academy hall, fronted by a statue of the man himself,
makes a good place to watch boats run on the Grand
Canal. In the main garden is the remains of an imperial
palace built for a visiting Emperor QianLong, though
what remains can be seen indeed are very few, except
for the foundations and a few fragments of carved stone.
Free.  edit

HongMei Park (HongMei GongYuan), Cnr GuanHe

East Rd and XiaoDongMen Rd. A large park with an
assortment of lakes, pavilions and gardens. At the rear
of the park is Writing Brush Pagoda (WenBi Ta) and
Red Plum Pavilion (HongMei Ge). Less sedately are
goldfish in transparent tubes, a flamingo pond and a
elevated walkway among trees.  edit

Song Dynasty pillars, YanLing Middle Rd (100m south

of Dong Po Park). Fragments of a pair of pillars from a
long ago destroyed temple sit next to a minor canal
parallel to the YanLing Rd. Dating from 979, they are
estimated to have once been 5m tall but the ravages of
time have reduced the tallest to about 2m and the other
only a base. Somewhat weathered carvings depict layers
of clouds, the ocean, mountains, rivers, protective
deities and Buddhas.  edit

Tianning Temple (Tian Ning Si), YanLing Middle Rd.

A Buddhist temple with a 13 story wooden Pagoda said
to be the tallest in the world. Claims aside, has an
impressive presence nonetheless. The temple is fairly

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new but the grounds religious provenance goes back to

the Tang dynasty.  edit
Writing tower (文笔塔). Located in the park, at the
southern end, was built in the Southern Dynasties Qi
Gaozu Xiao Daocheng Jianyuan years (479- 482), an
Jianyuan temple, commonly known as tower temple,
later renamed temple taiping. Taiping temple for Wei
crown County, resembling the style of writing, also
called style tower, Changzhou literati as pen.  edit

Do
Dinosaur Park, 1 Hanjiang Road, Xinbei District, [1]
(http://www.konglongcheng.com/language/town_englis
h.html). daily 9AM-5PM. If your interest in
paleontology doesn't extend further than The Flintstones
this dinosaur theme park with rides, dancing dinos and
few fossils might take your fancy. ¥200.  edit

Buy
Xi Xi Gu, ??. ??. A new a supposedly more interesting
Amusement park than the Dinosaur park 200.  edit

Eat
Sesame Bing – A local speciality is a small round cake of
flaky pastry studded with sesame seeds. Fillings between the
crunchy layers of pasty have two flavours – salty and sweet.
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The salty has a thin layer of preserved vegetable while the

sweet has a globular core of sugar syrup. Patience is key to
eating the sugary one, especially if bought hot off the stove, as
a too hasty bite will send a wave of tongue-scaldingly hot
liquid squirting out onto both your mouth and fingers.

Xiao Chi Jie (Snack Street), Huaide Middle Rd. Not

really a street as much as a lane on the corner of the
shopping complex. Nonetheless it is packed with small
stalls selling a wide range of things to nibble on.  edit

ShuangGuiFang - A street in downtown Changzhou

(Zhonglou) where all food is card-based - simply load up a
card with cash and choose from over 1000 foods above and
below ground. A local favorite, always busy. Some vendors
have basic English.

Drink
Some people bemoan the lack of bar scene here, compared
with Wuxi or Shanghai. Nonetheless there are a couple of
decent joints to drown your sorrows in.

Chocolate, Huayuan St. Trying really hard to be cool

and almost succeeding.  edit

Queen Pub, Heping North Rd. One of the smaller pubs

in town. The barman speaks good English and stocks
quite a few imported beer and spirits. Pool table.  edit

Sleep
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Most of the accommodation in Changzhou is geared toward

business travellers, so upmarket international style hotels are
abundant but decent budget options are limited.

Budget
Changzhou Gongyuan Bingguan, No.85 West Yanling
☎
Road, +86 519 8618 2100, [2] (http://www.gongyuan
hotel.com). You can pay with a credit card. You can
change money at the front desk, and there is an internet
cafe. ¥150.  edit

金縢商务宾馆- Golden Eagle Hotel ¥149 0519-89966673

English speaking staff, very friendly, clean and conveniently
located to a major food market street. Internet service is free if
asked for. Breakfast is included too! '天宁区光华西路9号 go
through the arch with the hotel's name by the roadside.

Midrange

Splurge

Holiday Inn Wujin, 33 Yanzheng Middle Rd, Wujin,

☎ +86 519 86313888, [3] (http://www.holidayinn.com/
hotels/us/en/changzhou/czxwj/hoteldetail). A few steps
above what you would expect from this chain, the
behemoth building surrounded by landscaped gardens is
one of the nicer hotels in town. Big modern rooms have
all the doodads you would expect for the price. Though,
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don't be fooled by the website blurb that claims it's

downtown; it's way out the perifery, south of the Grand
Canal. ¥481-1200.  edit

Contact

Get out
Suzhou
Nanjing

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