Bus

The main long distance bus station is near the train station in the north of the city. Getting reliable information about the bus services can be problematic however. You can try asking in the major five star hotels and there is a bus ticket office at 209 Zhongshan Bei Lu. The buses themselves are generally good and a speedy bus service operates to Shanghai (3-4 hours), Suzhou (2 hours), and Hangzhou (5-6 hours).

There is also an overnight bus to Wuhan which now takes less than 12 hours. Touts also stand outside the bus station vying for passengers to fill up their cars. These drivers are generally heading for Shanghai and this can be an efficient and fast way to get between the two cities. The drivers won't leave until there are four people in the car however. This doesn't normally take long and once the car is full the trip takes around three hours. The driver should charge you RMB100 per person.