Where to stay in Changzhou

Changzhou is a prefecture-level city in southern Jiangsu, China. It was previously known as Yanling, Lanling, and Jinling.

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. Changzhou has four distinct seasons, with synchronized rain and heat, and abundant sunshine. Winter is the longest, followed by summer, spring again, and autumn is the shortest.

Most of the accommodation in Changzhou is geared toward business travellers, so upmarket international style hotels are abundant but decent budget options are limited.

Getting in

Changzhou has two railway stations that are adjacent to one another. The new station faces north and serves the high speed G-trains and some of the slightly slower D-trains that run between Shanghai and Nanjing. The older south facing station handles the long distance T and K trains and the odd D train. The two stations are connected by an underground walkway. You can also take a metro train between the two stations.

Getting around

The cities main attractions are within a walkable radius of the train station, with the outlying spots on the main bus routes. The Changzhou bus network fleet comprises 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 BRT bus numbers are prefixed with a B, followed by the route number.

Wikivoyage contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0; excerpted.