When traveling from international destinations, the best arrival point in China would be either Shanghai or Beijing. From there, you have a few options.
From Beijing, you can either take a flight to Zhengzhou (pronounced "Jung Joe"), I prefer China Southern, the cost being around 88 USD. The flight takes an hour. At the airport, you can easily get a taxi (and make sure it looks like a taxi, there are many drivers around in personal automobiles that will greatly take advantage of you). The taxi will take you to DengFeng (pronounced "Dung Fung"), for about 250 Yuan, or, 30 USD. Or, you can say "Shao Lin Si"; they all know that. Once in DengFeng, you can go directly to your school, if you were smart enough to print it out in Chinese before you left.
You can also take a train from Beijing, I believe it's the western station that goes to Zhengzhou. Cost for soft sleeper (not a bad two inch mattress, four to a cabin) is about 250 Yuan (30 USD). Hard sleeper, which has a much thinner mattress, and six to a cabin, costs less. Hard seat, I don't recommend. It is what it says it is. It takes about 8 hours of travel time, the train usually leaves at 2200 hours or so, and arrives somewhere around 0600 the next morning. Bring a sleeping pill to make it enjoyable.
You can also take a bus to Zhengzhou, the cost being around 200 Yuan, the travel time being around ten hours or so. Not as comfy as the train, but, I hear that some of the buses have beds and individual televisions. I haven't done it. I prefer the train or the plane.
Once in Zhengzhou, again, multiples of drivers and taxi drivers will surround you, being a foreigner. Taxi fare to Shaolin Si is again, about 250 Yuan (30 USD). Bargain them down to that, it's a fair price. Travel time from Zengzhou to Dengfeng is about two hours, depending upon how many cows are in the road. Travel time from the airport is an hour and a half. But, since the main road is now torn up, horribly so, expect to take a longer time to get to Dengfeng.
You can also train it to Louyang, which is where the famous Buddha grottoes are. It's a bit further, but, the road is not torn up. I don't know the costs associated with that path.
From Beijing, you can either take a flight to Zhengzhou (pronounced "Jung Joe"), I prefer China Southern, the cost being around 88 USD. The flight takes an hour. At the airport, you can easily get a taxi (and make sure it looks like a taxi, there are many drivers around in personal automobiles that will greatly take advantage of you). The taxi will take you to DengFeng (pronounced "Dung Fung"), for about 250 Yuan, or, 30 USD. Or, you can say "Shao Lin Si"; they all know that. Once in DengFeng, you can go directly to your school, if you were smart enough to print it out in Chinese before you left.
You can also take a train from Beijing, I believe it's the western station that goes to Zhengzhou. Cost for soft sleeper (not a bad two inch mattress, four to a cabin) is about 250 Yuan (30 USD). Hard sleeper, which has a much thinner mattress, and six to a cabin, costs less. Hard seat, I don't recommend. It is what it says it is. It takes about 8 hours of travel time, the train usually leaves at 2200 hours or so, and arrives somewhere around 0600 the next morning. Bring a sleeping pill to make it enjoyable.
You can also take a bus to Zhengzhou, the cost being around 200 Yuan, the travel time being around ten hours or so. Not as comfy as the train, but, I hear that some of the buses have beds and individual televisions. I haven't done it. I prefer the train or the plane.
Once in Zhengzhou, again, multiples of drivers and taxi drivers will surround you, being a foreigner. Taxi fare to Shaolin Si is again, about 250 Yuan (30 USD). Bargain them down to that, it's a fair price. Travel time from Zengzhou to Dengfeng is about two hours, depending upon how many cows are in the road. Travel time from the airport is an hour and a half. But, since the main road is now torn up, horribly so, expect to take a longer time to get to Dengfeng.
You can also train it to Louyang, which is where the famous Buddha grottoes are. It's a bit further, but, the road is not torn up. I don't know the costs associated with that path.
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