Venue

• By metro: The venue hotel lies on the Metro line 3: the two closest stations are Songya Lake (South) [Exit 1, 750m east of venue] and Xingsha [Exit 4, 960m west of venue]. From the airport, you can take Metro Line 6 and change onto Line 3 at Chaoyangcun, or from Changsha South Railway Station (Changshanan, high-speed trains) you can take Metro Line 2 north and change onto line 3 at the older central Changsha Station (see the clickable metro map below).
• By taxi (show the taxi driver the address: Building A No.192 Kaiyuan Road Changsha Economic Development Zone, Changsha : ). Taxi fares are approximately 2 RMB/km.
• By ride-hailing app/miniprogram (DiDi)A 50% discount for DiDi trips to/from the hotel is available by scanning this QR discount code:

Travel

PLEASE NOTE: We intend to arrange for delegates to be met at railway stations and the airport, and accompanied to these travel hubs when leaving Changsha. Please make sure that you have sent your arrival and departure details to Professor Jenkins.

• Travel to China

  Visas:

  
  

  Many countries now have visa-free travel to China. If you are unsure, a VISITOR visa is strongly recommended. Visa requirements can be checked on sites like the SKYTEAM Visa, Passport & Health Requirements page, which accesses the IATA TIMATIC database used by airlines and travel agents. If you require an invitation letter, please contact Professor Samantha Jenkins at the email address given at the top of this page.

  Additional contact details for visa application purposes are:

  Xu Tianlyu,
  College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering,
  Hunan Normal University, 36 Lushan Lu, Yuelu Qu,
  410081 Changsha, Hunan, P.R. China.
  Phone: +86 180 7316 9990
  Email: xutl@hunnu.edu.cn
  
  Professor Samantha Jenkins,
  College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering,
  Hunan Normal University, 36 Lushan Lu, Yuelu Qu,
  410081 Changsha, Hunan, P.R. China.
  Phone: +86 15111468042
  

• Travel within China

  • By air

    Incoming flights arrive at Changsha HuangHua international airport (CSX). Options for travel into the city include:

    • Maglev train: There is a maglev train service linking the airport to the Changsha South (ChangShaNan) railway station, from which other options are available (metro, etc., see map below)

  • By rail

    
    

    Changsha is on the main Wuhan-Guangzhou high-speed train (gaotie)line (the high-speed train station is Changsha South (ChangShaNan) ). Train tickets can be bought:

    • At a high-speed rail station in another city

      Tickets for the high-speed 'G' trains (gaotie) or slightly slower 'D' trains can be bought at ticket counters at stations (stations in some of the biggest Chinese cities may have an English-speaking ticket counter).

      • From Beijing, high-speed trains to Changsha operate from the Beijing West station
      • From Shanghai, high-speed trains operate from Shanghai Hongqiao Station (near Shanghai Hongqiao [SHA] airport, in the east of the city). A lot of international flights to Shanghai land in Shanghai Pudong airport [PVG] (west of the city) which is all the way on the other side of the city. There is a metro line that joins the two airports but anticipate at least two hours to get from one side of Shanghai to the other by this route.
      • From Guangzhou, high-speed trains operate from Guangzhou South Station.
    • Online (web sites or phone apps) A number of websites sell high-speed train tickets online. For example, to book high-speed trains on the online travel agent CTrip/Trip.com, where trains can be securely booked and paid for using, for example, Western credit cards, first select 'Trains', then enter the desired starting point and destination and date, then select the 'High-speed trains' filter to check availability. Once successfully ordered and confirmed, there are several ways to pick up the tickets (depending on whether you need paper tickets for expense reimbursal) :
      1. Easiest option: As E-tickets: these appear within the Trip.com app. If requested, you can show these on your phone. As E-tickets are normally registered to your passport number, you just need to find the passport-scanner desk at the train departure gates, get the clerk to scan your passport and then you can board the train.
      2. Ask for the paper tickets to be mailed to you (ask, e.g. CTrip/Trip.com about this),
      3. Ask for the paper tickets to be mailed to a hotel in, e.g. Beijing or Shanghai, where you may be stopping over before travelling on to Changsha (after checking that the hotel can keep the tickets and give them to you on your arrival there),
      4. Ask CTrip/Trip.com for E-tickets, then take the E-ticket codes to the ticket collection office in the relevant high-speed train station to pick up paper versions of the tickets. This can be done by presenting the ticket reference number, together with a passport for ID purposes, at specially-labelled ticket counters (these counters have the characters '护照', passport, written on them).

    NOTE: Conventional (MUCH slower) trains stop at Changsha Central Station, not Changsha South Station.

    
    

  When you arrive by rail in Changsha, there are several options to travel to the central part of the city and the conference venue. One of these is the metro system. Changsha South Railway station is on the city metro line 2 (see map).

  Click on the map below for a larger version. Map is courtesy of Wikimedia Commons (Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license).

  

METRO INFORMATION BEING UPDATED

• By taxi (show the taxi driver the address: Building A No.192 Kaiyuan Road Changsha Economic Development Zone, Changsha : ). Taxi fares are approximately 2 RMB/km.).

Tips for the vicinity of the venue

• In general, most shopping malls have supermarkets on the first floor or in the basement.
• The block containing the venue has Rainbow Mall, including a KFC and Starbucks.There’s also a HaidiLao and other Chinese restaurants in the mall.
• By the Songya Lake (South) metro station, there are shopping malls on both the north (DreamOn Mall) and south sides of the main road. The Shangyue Plaza on the south side contains a large supermarket.
• Slightly further west is the big AEON Mall, which also has a large (AEON) supermarket.
• To the east of the venue, there is another mall (MixC) one block north of the Xingsha metro station (Domino’s Pizza, McDonald’s, Starbucks reserve, Manner Coffee, HEMA(Hippo) supermarket).

Info:

• Helpers: Conference helpers may be found at the conference itself, the airport and the high-speed railway station. The helpers will wear this jacket:

  
  

• If you are not a Chinese speaker, you may find it useful to download and install a translator app on a portable device (Android/iOS, etc.), e.g. Microsoft Translator, before entering China. Most translator apps allow you to download and install 'offline translation dictionaries' - these are highly recommended and very useful, because they will work even without a phone data connection or Internet connection. Some of these apps have text recognition features, allowing you to point your device camera at some text and get an instant translation. Others also have voice recognition features. It is generally also a good idea to install a Chinese keyboard (input method IME) on your device alongside your existing language keyboard: this could make it easier for Chinese speakers to type any replies to queries or information into the translator app.

• In any files used for presentations, please make sure the files are saved with embedded fonts. This helps to reduce problems associated with required mathematical/non-English characters not being present on the computer used for the presentation.

Recommended useful phone apps for China:

• Translation apps If you are not a Chinese speaker, you may find it useful to download and install a translator app on a portable device (Android/iOS, etc.), e.g. Microsoft Translator, before entering China. Most translator apps allow you to download and install 'offline translation dictionaries' - these are highly recommended and very useful, because they will work even without a phone data connection or Internet connection. Some of these apps have text recognition features, allowing you to point your device camera at some text and get an instant translation. Others also have voice recognition features. It is generally also a good idea to install a Chinese keyboard (input method IME) on your device alongside your existing language keyboard: this could make it easier for Chinese speakers to type any replies to queries or information into the translator app.

• Other recommended apps

  • Alipay (Android/iOS) This is the first of China's 'everything' apps. It has an 'international' version and a Chinese version (the user can switch between these): the former is more convenient for non-Chinese speakers. Also, non-Chinese credit/debit cards and country-specific payment apps can be connected to Alipay to make everyday QR-code payments easy. Note that there may be a small (~3%) percentage fee charged for transactions over a certain limit per day - check the terms and conditions. Alternatively, Alipay offer a virtual 'Tour Card' (search within the app) - money can be loaded into this virtual card. Note however that this option, there is an up-front fee of 5% every time the virtual tour card is topped up. You can find a guide here.There are many useful 'mini-programs' within Alipay, including ride-hailing services, train/air tickets etc.

  • WeChat (aka Weixin) (Android/iOS) Another 'everything' app, with added equivalents of WhatsApp/TikTok and many more. More messaging-oriented than Alipay. Again, the interface can be set to non-Chinese languages. Again, non-Chinese credit/debit cards and country-specific payment apps can be connected to WeChat Pay to make everyday QR-code payments easy. There are many useful 'mini-programs' and built-in features also within WeChat, including ride-hailing services, train/air tickets, image-based (e.g. via a phone camera) translation capabilities and more.

  • NEW FOR 2026: TenPayGo From TenCent, the makers of WeChat, a payment app specifically designed for visitors to China (available on iOS and Android app stores). Register Apple Pay, Google Pay, other non-Chinese e-wallets and credit/debit cards to the app and get basic QR-code payment capability (e.g shops, taxis: not metro or buses yet) in China, along with conversation translation and scan-to-translate capabilities (guide).

  • Amap Global (Android/iOS)Replaces Google Maps, which is blocked in China. Provides a very good, up to date maps service in English and other non-Chinese languages.

  • Trip.com (Android/iOS)Travel (train/air tickets), along with some capabilities to book tourist attraction tickets.

  • DiDi (Android/iOS)Ride hailing app, equivalent of Uber/Bolt etc. Also an interface in English. Can be connected to an Alipay/WeChat account for easy payments.

NOTE 1: If you anticipate using these apps (they are practically universally used in China), we strongly advise to register on these apps using your official proof of ID (e,g, passport) and connect non-Chinese payment cards and apps to your account BEFORE ENTERING CHINA.

NOTE 2: If you use a ride-hailing app e.g. DiDi, on pickup the driver will usually confirm with you the last 4 digits of the phone number used for app registration. An image of those 4 digits, or knowledge of the Chinese words for them, may be useful.

Accommodation:

• Changsha Accomodation (Venue)

  We have booked a block of rooms in the venue hotel. Delegates should indicate in their registration form if they wish to book any of these rooms. Delegates can also pay on arrival unless otherwise arranged. The hotel accepts Visa and MasterCard credit cards.

  All the lectures and the buffet will also take place at the 6th floor at this hotel.

  We will reserve two room types (both types have ensuite WC and shower) :

  • ROOM OPTION A: 450RMB/day (includes breakfast). Block A, Floors 27 to 39, 45 sq.m. Desk + chairs + sofa [we offer 20 such king-bed rooms, 40 twin-bed (bed width 1.35m)].
  • ROOM OPTION B: 350RMB/day (includes breakfast). Block B, Floors 27 to 39, 32 sq.m, Desk + chairs + sofa [we offer 20 such king-bed rooms, 40 twin-bed (bed width 1.35m)].

  Breakfast is included with the room booking. Lunch/Dinner buffet will be provided free of charge. (your conference bag will contain the necessary tickets). Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner will all be served in the ballroom on the 6th floor.

  If you wish to reserve one of these rooms, please send ALL of the following information by email to qifteam@quantum-int.org with your registration form:

  1. Your full name *exactly* as it appears on your passport
  2. Your Passport number
  3. Your flight number or train number when you have booked
  4. Your arrival date
  5. Your departure date
  6. Your choice of room; OPTION A or OPTION B.
  Room Type A

  Room Type B