We all, of course, know that China is a big country. Obviously, travelling in such a massive geographic landmass would require a good planning. I work in Suzhou and after a considerable preparation, I finally visited Hefei, Anhui in early 2018. Spring was in full swing, and I absolutely loved my Hefei trip.
I remember, before travelling to Hefei, some of my colleagues had suggested that the city was probably not altogether that much touristic. But I still decided to travel to Hefei city for a few personal reasons. First, it’s a capital city of China’s Anhui province and should have some unique features (e.g. provincial museums). Second, it’s only a couple of hours away from Suzhou city by a high-speed train. Third, I love Chinese food and I’m sure that no city is China would disappoint me for that matter. 🙂
This was my trip to the 13th Chinese city. This post (Part 1) is about describing some general observations from Hefei city. In the next post (Hefei City, Anhui, China, travel review – Part 2), I’ll list down some of the top things to do in Hefei when I’ll tell you more about the city’s best travel attractions.
hotels in Hefei, china
I spent some time doing research about the hotels in Hefei. Let me list down some of them that looked nice to me-
- The Westin Hefei Baohe
- Hotel Hilton Hefei, China
- Swan Lake Hotel, Hefei
As such, there are not too may backpacking options available in Hefei. Moreover, most of the tourists in Hefei were Chinese. Sure, I had seen a few foreigners as well. 🙂
Bus and Subway card
To my surprise, it was difficult to buy the city card at the metro station attached to the Hefei Railway Station. The cards available at the station were priced at RMB 90 and could only be used in the Hefei subway, not in the city buses. I wanted to buy a card that could be used in both the bus and subway.
Soon, I learnt that we can buy the city card at Let’s Go convenience stores. Thankfully, the Let’s Go stores are usually located very close to the subway stations. The price of the transportation card was RMB 18 (a basic card), and then it can be topped up for as much as you want.
The city bus fares were fixed at RMB 1.2/ride. Subway fares did vary, but still looked much cheaper than in Hangzhou.
Hefei to shanghai
You can get to Hefei from Shanghai by a high-speed train in 2-3 hours. A trip from Nanjing to Hefei is only an hour by train. The Hefei-Shanghai train would also pass through Suzhou, Wuxi, Changzhou, etc.
The Hefei Railway Station (合肥站, Héféi zhàn) is directly connected by the Red Line subway (to get to the Hefei downtown/city center area).
Hefei, china map
Hefei is a huge city. Let me show you the map of the downtown of the capital city, and you’ll get some ideas about its geographic features-
Well, usually the Chinese cities are big in size and you may easily get lost. So do make sure to use Baidu to and learn some basic Mandarin. 🙂
Hefei city center
Walking in the streets in the downtown area spread near Dadongmen (大东门, Dà dōng mén) has its own charm, especially for eating Chinese food.
If you are looking for body massage in Hefei, then it shouldn’t be an issue to find them. Women’s street (女人街, Nǚrén jiē) also has some spas.
As such, the nightlife in Hefei is more about walking or eating local food. In general, the nightlife scene is not as inspiring as we’d experience in Shanghai or Beijing.
Laid-back vide
Hefei is a laid-back city. If you wanna relax in China, do stop by Hefei. The sprawling city and its numerous gardens would be a great place for meditation or simply for relaxing.
Hefei Dance Hall
There are quite a few dance halls in Hefei and usually the entry is for free. The dances follow a long light-dark cycle – meaning, the lights virtually went off after 2 songs, and would remain off for the next two songs. You don’t necessarily need to come with a partner – you can find one on the dance floor.
In Hefei dance halls, people usually come to enjoy dancing. So the chances of anything beyond a normal dance looked dim. As such, these dance halls are quite different from what I saw in the Suzhou’s MeiMei dance hall.
Here is a video that I recorded one of the Hefei dance halls-
Hefei parks
There are simply too many parks in the city. The parks are quite big and the entry is usually free. In the next post (Part 2) of Hefei travel review, I’ll be talking more about them.
Hefei food
I loved the food in Hefei. If you are into Chinese food, you are recommended to visit the Women’s street (女人街, Nǚrén jiē).
Lots of food here, and much cheaper than in many other Chinese cities that I have so far seen. 🙂 I’d suggest you to try the spicy stinky tofu.
Not a very expensive city
The cost of travelling to Hefei seemed to be significantly lower than in Suzhou, Shanghai or Nanjing. For example, most of the Hefei parks allow a free entry. The food is substantially cheaper, so are the buses, subway, etc. I topped up my aforementioned Hefei city transportation card by RMB 30, and couldn’t finish the balance in 4 days despite a heavy travelling schedule. Even the hotels seem to be more affordable.
Most importantly, I didn’t come across any scam in Hefei despite visiting the city for the first time.
Related post: China Love – Meet Asian Women & Lady From Shanghai | Nanjing Lu Scam & Dating in China For Foreigners.
In summary, I feel that Hefei city indeed deserves a visit, especially if you travelling to a nearby city (e.g. Nanjing). I am sure you’ll have tons of sweet memories from Hefei.
That’s all in this post. Do check out the next post (Hefei City, Anhui, China, travel review – Part 2).
If you have any question about travelling in the Hefei city, feel free to post in our forum so that others could also contribute and learn. For regular updates like us on Facebook, or follow on Twitter!
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Happy travelling in Anhui, China.
Cheers!
Last updated: Saturday, April 14, 2018