GBA Lantern Fest Ending Soon? Dodge the Nansha Drama!
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Okay, folks, listen up!
- If you're the type who bought a ticket specifically for "Greater Bay Area Lantern Festival", then the info below is not really relevant to you.
- However, if you are like me, planning on taking a long-distance city-linking bus (such as one from Shenzhen to Guangzhou) just intending to spend a day in Jiangwan Nansha and explore around, my suggestion is that you should wait until the lantern festival is over!
- Important note: here’s where you might get into trouble.
- Places like Nantian Temple (a shrine of the Maritime Goddess) can still be accessed, but others, such as Pu Zhou Garden and the seaside Park (which were free of charge before), have all been fenced off by iron railings with staff stationed there.
- Moreover, it seems that lantern festival tickets don't allow entry until after five o'clock in the afternoon (I am not entirely sure about this; perhaps they strictly adhere to that time slot).
- Worse yet, if you want to go to the beach? That'll cost too: you must purchase a ticket first for the lantern festival. Mind you, this was once a public beach!
- As for transportation - the local cross-city bus station here (from Guangzhou Jinan to Shenzhen Qianwan) is far away enough that you'll need to take Line 4 of the subway to its final stop “Nansha Port Station”, then walk roughly 2.3 kilometers more to reach your destination.
- Important note: here’s where you might get into trouble.
- Disclaimer: This is purely based on personal experience and gripes. You'd be better off not getting into an argument with this if you find disagreement.
- Honestly, I have never experienced something that turned originally free parks into paid attractions.
- In conclusion, some honest advice:
- Whenever searching online travel tips in the future, do not only check the most liked posts. It's advisable also to scan through recent posts sorted by date and update. This way, you can gain insights into the status of the tourist destinations and avoid unpleasant surprises such as being unable to visit or encountering heavy traffic jams when you travel far.
- By the way, that cross-city bus is in exit B of the Qianwan Subway Station in Shenzhen, and I have a picture to refer to.
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Not at all! When I went on Sunday, I also visited the beach, and there were many kids playing in the sand. The beach is free, and so is the Tianhou Palace. Maybe you just couldn't find the entrance.
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Tianhou Palace is indeed free, but when I went, the beach access points were all fenced off with staff guarding them.
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Just went last night.
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How much is the ticket?
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I only came because it was a 0 yuan ticket! It was a 4-hour trek and my legs were killing me, but the on-site effects were stunning, and it even coincided with Mazu's birthday!
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Is that the Hanfu and hairpin flower event?
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I just went to the lantern festival, it was incredibly beautiful! And it was also Mazu's birthday. Before the festival, the beach area was indeed free, but there wasn't much to do, and you couldn't go into the water.
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Maybe it's because I went specifically for a slow, leisurely look at the sea. And they only let people onto the beach at 5 PM, which isn't very convenient for those who need to head back. Most importantly, I didn't expect the lantern festival to completely close off the park.
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I bought my lantern festival ticket on Xianyu for 45. My friend dragged me here, but it's actually quite a large-scale event. Line 4 runs slowly, so I usually take Line 18 to Hengli and then grab a Didi.
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Is it really that cheap on Xianyu?
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Are you tired of the sea in Shenzhen, so you came to Nansha to see the 'sea' (which is actually the Pearl River Estuary)?
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No, I searched for a 'Nansha one-day trip' post and wanted to experience the intercity bus.
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Postponed from late March to May. What a drag!
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With an investment of hundreds of millions, a little postponement is understandable. They probably just want more people to promote it.
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The experience was absolutely terrible! Yuexiu Park also hosts lantern festivals, and they don't prevent people from entering during the day! It's already May Day, they know so many people travel far to get there, and it's still fenced off. The traffic situation was chaotic too! I'm never going back there again in my life.
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True. Previously, the lantern shows at Yuexiu Park were open during the day, and they only charged for admission in the evening.
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Let me share a photo of the Mazu statue I saw that night; it was truly spectacular.
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The photos taken during the day look quite spectacular too.
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Nansha is trash. Puzhou Garden is temporarily closed again. You can't get in when they're holding the lantern festival. When they're not, they start demolishing and redesigning it for next year, so you still can't get in. They hold this event once a year, and it feels like the setup blocks access for the entire year.