Ten Days, Four Provinces by Coach: A 38-Seat Tour Charter from Shipai, Dongguan

This is a booking for 24 October 2026: one 38-seat Yutong touring coach for ten days, leaving Shipai at 07:30 and running through Chaozhou, Zhao'an (Dongshan Island), Zhangzhou, Meizhou Island, Longyan, Ruijin and Wuping before returning to Dongguan. The rate is RMB 1,500 per day, with fuel, tolls, parking and the driver's board and lodging paid by the client.

The job is worth writing up because it hits the three places long-haul charters usually go wrong: the daily rate and the running costs are two separate invoices, island stops are not just another pin on the map, and a 12-metre coach has nowhere to wait at a hotel door.

The job sheet

Why fuel and tolls sit outside the day rate

There are two pricing models in this market, and the trip decides which one applies.

• City and Pearl River Delta runs are quoted all-in: driver, fuel, tolls, insurance and roadworthiness are inside the rate, with only the driver's meal allowance and attraction or hotel parking added. The RMB 1,200-1,600 per day band published on our fleet pages is this model.
• Multi-province trips of several days are quoted on the vehicle alone. Ten days across Guangdong, Fujian and Jiangxi means nobody can price the kilometres, the toll gates and the driver's nights in advance, so the rate covers the coach and the driver and the running costs are settled on what is actually used.

Read the two numbers together, not just the first one: 1,500 × 10 = RMB 15,000 is the vehicle. Fuel, tolls, parking and the driver's board are a second budget line, and on a ten-day run it is not a small one. Ask for the items listed separately - a single packaged figure on a ten-day trip is where the argument starts.

Pricing basis (one rule): every reference price published on this site is all-in — driver, fuel, tolls, insurance and maintenance included, with the driver's meal allowance and attraction or hotel parking excluded. On multi-province trips of several days we can quote net instead (vehicle and driver only, with fuel, tolls, parking and the driver's board paid by the client) — that basis is stated separately on the quote and agreed with the client before the trip, never added on the road. Multi-province trips of several days are quoted net — vehicle and driver only, with fuel, tolls, parking and the driver's board paid by the client. Every quote lists the included and excluded items line by line.

Two islands, two completely different plans

Meizhou Island: people go by boat, the coach stays ashore. Access is by passenger ferry from Wenjia pier in Putian. In peak season and on public holidays the pier area is traffic-controlled and a coach cannot pull up at the terminal: vehicles wait at the Meizhou Mazu City car park, passengers take the free shuttle to the pier and continue by ferry, then use the island's buses and electric carts between sights. Taking the coach across on the vehicle ferry is a separate question of sailings and vehicle limits, confirmed with the ferry operator in advance - for a group coach the usual answer is no.

Dongshan Island: no ferry at all. The Bachi Men sea-crossing bridge runs straight onto the island and a 38-seat coach uses it like any other road. The bridge does have a history of works and traffic control - a deck upgrade in September 2025 closed it to all vehicles for a period, with island traffic diverted via G357 Chendai or the Dachan bridge. Check the local traffic notices the week before departure; if the bridge is restricted, the detour has to be costed into that day.

07:30 at a hotel in Shipai: where the coach actually waits

A 38-seat coach is around 12 metres long. Hotel forecourts are built for cars, and the road outside is at its busiest at 07:30. Two things get confirmed the day before: whether the coach may stop at the door to load, and where a 12-metre vehicle can legally park nearby. Loading at a car park two minutes' walk away beats a coach being moved on mid-load.

Loading time is real time: 38 people packing for ten days takes 20-30 minutes, so a 07:30 departure means the coach is on site before 07:00.

Driving ten days without burning out the driver

The risk on a ten-day run is not distance, it is a schedule with no slack. Driving hours are fixed by law and rest breaks are not negotiable, so the itinerary has to carry the slack - one driver with the group throughout (same route, same passengers) or a handover at province boundaries; which one, and what it costs, is agreed at booking.

Two smaller points that matter over ten days: park overnight where vehicles are watched, because the luggage travels in the coach, and keep every fuel and toll receipt so the running costs can be settled line by line at the end.

Long-haul charter: common questions

How is a ten-day cross-province coach charter priced?
By the day. This job is RMB 1,500 per day, so RMB 15,000 for the vehicle over ten days, with fuel, tolls, parking and driver's board on top.

Can a coach drive onto Meizhou Island?
Not in the usual arrangement. Passengers take the ferry from Wenjia pier while the coach waits at the Mazu City car park; vehicle ferry sailings and size limits are confirmed with the operator in advance.

Is there a ferry to Dongshan Island?
No. The Bachi Men bridge connects it to the mainland and coaches cross normally - but check bridge works and traffic notices first.

Planning a similar run?

Send dates, head count, the city-by-city order and whether any island stops are involved, and we will quote the vehicle and the running costs as separate lines.
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