Moving on , there are daily buses to Meizhou, Guangzhou and Shenzhen from the long-distance bus stations. For Shantou or the train station, flag down one of the city minibuses on Xihe Lu and indicate where you want to go; they'll deliver you to the relevant departure point. Trains from here run down to Shantou - minibuses are much faster - or back to Guangzhou via Meizhou and Huizhou.

Nobody knows the details of the Han River ferry , if indeed it still exists; during the winter there's supposed to be a daily service upstream as as far as Guyie (12hr), while after the summer rains you can get as far as Sanhe (15hr) or even Songkou (20hr), all of which are a minibus ride from Meizhou.

Chaozhou's hotels might be able to help with train and bus bookings, or try CTS, inside the Huaqiao Dasha on Huangcheng Xi Lu.