By Air

In 2003 the announcement by the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) that it would allow the permitted maximum discount on airline tickets to reach 40% was greeted with derision by Chinese travelers, who had been obtaining such discounts, and greater, for some time.

Booking domestic flights before you arrive in China is expensive and unnecessary. The only Chinese airlines offering flights on internationally accessible ticketing systems are those that also have international routes: principally China Southern, China Eastern, and Air China. The only way to book domestic tickets before you leave home is through CITS offices (other agencies will go to CITS, too), or through online websites. In either case, you'll usually be asked to pay full fare (or more), which might be, for example, ?,200 ($150) one-way plus perhaps a booking fee on the Beijing-to-Shanghai route. Yet you could pay ?00 ($100) or less with no booking fee by buying over the counter from an agent in China, depending on seasonal demand. Some ticketing websites even have full fares on their English pages and discounted fares on their Chinese-language ones. So avoid them.

Much flying in China is on a walk-in basis, especially on the most popular routes. It makes sense to book a few days ahead to get the best price, but for most of the time, on most routes, there is an oversupply of seats.

While you can buy tickets between any two destinations served by Air China at any Air China office, you'll usually get a much better price from agents in the town from which you plan to depart. Prices are always better from agents than from the airline, even if they are next door to each other, and you can and should bargain for a lower price, and shop around. No agent with an online terminal connected to the Chinese domestic aviation system charges a booking fee. Agents sitting in four- and five-star hotels will not offer you the discounts they could, however. You need to look out in the street away from your hotel. You usually cannot get a refund on an unused ticket from anywhere except the agent where you bought it

By Rail

By Bus

China's highway system, nonexistent 20 years ago, is growing rapidly, and journey times by road between many cities have been dramatically cut to the point where on a few routes, buses are now faster than trains. Although most buses are fairly battered, in some areas they offer a remarkable level of luxury -- particularly on the east coast, where there are the funds to pay for a higher quality of travel. Some buses even have on-board toilets and free bottled water.

Many bus stations now offer a variety of services. At the top end are kongtiao (air-conditioned) gaosu (high-speed, usually meaning that toll expressways are used) haohua (luxury) buses, on which smoking is usually forbidden and that rule is largely enforced. These tickets are usually easy to obtain at the bus station, and prices are clearly displayed and written on the ticket. There are no extra charges for baggage, which in smaller and older buses is typically piled up on the cover over the engine next to the driver. It's worth booking a day ahead to get a seat at the front, which may have more legroom and better views.

Buses usually depart punctually, pause at a checking station where the number of passengers is compared with the number of tickets sold in advance, then dither while empty seats are filled with groups waiting at the roadside who bargain for a lower fare.

Sleeper buses, although cheaper, should generally be avoided when an overnight train is an alternative. Usually they have three rows of two-tier berths, which are extremely narrow and do not recline fully.

Transport can vary widely in quality in rural and remoter areas, but it is usually dirty and decrepit, and may be shared with livestock.

By Taxi

While foreign residents of China go through the necessary paperwork, with the exception of one hire operation at Beijing's Capital Airport, self-drive for foreign visitors is not possible, and without previous experience, the no-holds-barred driving style of China is nothing you want to tackle. Renting a vehicle is nevertheless commonplace, but it comes with a driver. Hong Kong and Macau are so small that there's simply no point in hiring a car and facing navigational and parking difficulties, when there are plentiful, well-regulated taxis available.

All larger mainland hotels have transport departments, but book a vehicle from a five-star Beijing hotel to take you to the Eastern Qing Tombs, for instance, and you may be asked for ?,200 ($150). Walk outside and flag down a taxi (not those waiting outside), and you can achieve the same thing by taxi for around ?00 ($37). Branches of CITS and other travel agencies will also be happy to arrange cars for you, but at a hugely marked-up price.

Despite the language barrier, bargaining with taxi drivers is more straightforward than you might expect. In most areas there are far more taxis than there is business, and half- and full-day hires are very welcome. To take Beijing as an example, about 67,500 taxis are cruising around empty for much of the time, the drivers typically taking in around ?00 ($37) for a 12-hour day (the drivers of cheaper taxis earn more, not less); most are glad to have a change and a day's guaranteed employment. Start flagging down cabs the day before you want to travel, and negotiate an all-in price, using characters written down for you by your hotel receptionist (times, pickup point, and other details), and a pen and paper (or calculator) to bargain prices. Avoid giving an exact kilometer distance, since if you overrun it (and with China's poor road signage and the drivers' lack of experience outside their own town centers, you're bound to get lost at least once), there will be attempts to renegotiate. For the same reason, it's best to avoid being precise to the minute about a return time, but note that especially in big cities drivers sometimes have to be back in time to hand the car to the man who will drive it through the night. Be prepared to pay road tolls, and ensure that the driver gets lunch. If you find a driver who is pleasant and helpful, take his mobile phone number and employ him on subsequent days and for any airport trip.

Ten Rules for Taking Taxis Around Town

1. Never go with a driver who approaches you at an airport. Leave the building and head for the stand. As they are everywhere else in the world, airport taxis are the most likely to cause trouble, but drivers who approach you are usually hei che -- illegal and meterless "black cabs."

2. Cabs waiting for business outside major tourist sights, especially those with drivers who call out to foreigners, should generally be avoided, as should cabs whose drivers ask you where you want to go even before you get in. Always flag down a passing cab, and 9 times in 10 the precautions listed here will be unnecessary.

3. If you're staying in an upmarket hotel, do not go with taxis called by the doorman or waiting in line outside. Even at some famous hotels, drivers pay kickbacks to the doormen to allow them to join the line on the forecourt. Some cabs are merely waiting because many guests, Chinese and foreign alike, will be out-of-town people who can be easily misled. Instead, just walk out of the hotel and flag down a passing cab for yourself. Take the hotel's business card to show to a taxi driver when you want to get back.

4. Better hotels give you a piece of paper with the taxi registration number on it as you board or alight, so that you can complain if something goes wrong. Often you won't know if it has, of course, and there's no guarantee that anything will happen if you complain to the hotel.

5. Look to see if the supervision card, usually with a photo of the driver and a telephone number, is prominently displayed. If it isn't, you may have problems. Choose another cab.

6. Can you clearly see the meter? If it's recessed behind the gear stick, partly hidden by the artfully folded face cloth on top, choose another cab.

7. Always make sure you see the meter reset. If you didn't actually see the flag pushed down, which shouldn't happen until you actually move off, then you may end up paying for the time the cab was in the rank.

8. If you are by yourself, sit in the front seat. Have a map with you and look as if you know where you are going (even if you don't).

9. Rates per kilometer are usually clearly posted on the side of the cab. They vary widely from place to place, as well as by vehicle type. Flagfall, not usually more than ?0 ($1.25), includes a few kilometers; then the standard kilometer rate begins. But in most towns, after a few more kilometers, the rate jumps by 50% if the driver has pushed a button on the front of the meter. This is for one-way trips out of town, and the button usually should not be pushed, but it always is. As a result, it's rarely worthwhile to have a cab wait for you and take you back.

10. Pay what's on the meter, and don't tip -- the driver will insist on giving change. Always ask for a receipt. Should you leave something in a cab, there's a remarkably high success rate at getting even valuable items back if the number on the receipt is called, and the details on it provided.