From Hong Kong to Shantou

There were a few questions about how to fly to Shantou from abroad. There is no international airport in Shantou, the closest two are in Hong Kong and Guangzhou. I haven’t fly through the one in Guangzhou before, but maybe worthwhile to mention the way to travel from Hong Kong international airport to Shantou.

There are many routes of airport bus in Hong Kong, they take you to any port of the city. The one I took most is to Sha Tin (沙田). Then there are two ways to go from Sha Tin to Shantou:

1) Change in Shenzhen

You can take a tube from Sha Tin station to Lo Wu (罗湖), where is the custom between mainland China and Hong Kong. Be aware that it’s extremely busy in Lo Wu usually, so it’s better not to go in rush hour or weekend. After exiting the custom you will see Lo Wu station, just ask the staff there which one can take directly to Shantou. It would be much easier if you can read Chinese, because most route are written on the coaches. However, still need to ask to confirm. One more piece of advices - be careful with your personal belongings because Lo Wu is also famous for its poor security.

It takes about an hour from Hong Kong city centre to Lo Wu station, then 5~6 hours from Lo Wu to Shantou.

If you are changing in Shengzhen to Shantou from Hong Kong, you don’t have to go through Sha Tin station. From any underground station can let you travel to Lo Wu. I go from Sha Tin is because I usually stay in my friend whose house is in Sha Tin.

2) Direct coach from HK to Shantou

This is what I did this time. There are several companies that provides direct coach from Hong Kong to Shantou, the most well-known one is Shantou Di Hao Hotel (帝豪酒店). They provide coach from both HK to Shantou and Shantou to HK, the price is about 150 HKD. You can call them (0086-754-8800029 or 0086-754-8800037) to book tickets.

Although it’s direct coach, but you have to get off when go though custom. It normally takes about 5~6 hours to travel as well.

That all I know. I will update if I got more specific information in future. Or if you’ve got some suggestions, feel free to leave a comment here.

Comments from this article

Richard Lim, on December 9th, 2008 at 3:56 pm

There is this service call SkyLimo that can take you directly from HK Airport to Luo Wu but is not cheap. They quote me HK$1300 - HK$1500 by two different operators. This a non stop 7 seated MPV (Toyota Alpha) that can take 7 persons. You clear both China and HK immigration without get out of the car - a direct point to point service. My understand is such service is also available in anywhere in HK for only HK$1000. I use this service and pay HK$1000 on the way back to HK. It is the most comfortable mode of travelling between ShengZheng and HK, I guess.

I didn’t use this service to travel from HK airport to Luo Wu as it is too costly, Instead I book two taxis (HK$280 each) to bring me to the nearest MTR station before Luo Wu and transfer to train. The rest of the jounery is same as those who take the train.