China: anyone been?

[movie zombie]

and if so can you recommend a tour group?

i have a great desire to walk on the Great Wall of China....and some other things as well.

 

[diamondseeker2006]

I can't recommend a tour group because our group was adopting babies, but we absolutely loved our two weeks there! We enjoyed touring with a group there and the guides were wonderful. We did not see all the major tourist sites, but we saw a lot of the real China and it's people. I'll really be interested to hear about your trip if you go!

 

[JewelFreak]

Same here; I spent 10 days there on a business trip. Traveled around the country with a Hong Kong distributor who grew up in Shanghai. It is just an incredibly fascinating place & people. We traveled as the Chinese travel. You're smart to go with a group: our reservations at a hotel in Chengdu, for instance, were tossed out when a tour group came along & promised to fill the place & spend more. We ended up staying on an army base outside the city because all hotels were full. Adventure, but not exactly vacation digs!

Don't know what kind of trip you're looking for, but you might look at National Geographic or Smithsonian tours, something like that, if you're interested in guides with deep knowledge of history, architecture, whatever. Local museum might point you to others. Colleges run alum tours too & usually accept non-alums. Have fun!

--- Laurie

 

[movie zombie]

we're normally not "tour group" type people but i figure with the language and customs so very different, traveling within china would be easier with a tour group.

groupon has had some good deals but most have the obligatory visit to the silk factory, etc.

research has come up with some good groups [small] but i could make more than 4 house payments for the price of those!

why am i so practical?!

thanks for the responses, ladies!

 

[smitcompton]

Hi,

I think that in a few yrs some of the old China may be gone. So you should go now. I love the history, Just going to Beijing would be good.

Annette

I just remembered that I recently saw a great show on Shanghi art. It is the art center

 

[Saoirse2]

We went to China a few years ago and we found to be simple enough to not take a tour guide.
How long will you be in China? Do you want to be far from touristy areas?
Getting from one city to the next takes awhile, there's a lot to see and do, it's huge. If you're doing a week or two, I would definitely book short domestic flights to Beijing, Shanghai, Xi'an, Chengdu...they're safe and affordable.
If you like history and hit major attractions in English, you may want to book ahead at your hotel.
Train tickets were an issue for us, can't recommend that route.
Badaling is the best section imho, it has the most renovation and is well managed. Mutianyu is steeper, green and less touristy, beware of pickpockets. Get there early, I would catch the first bus to Badaling to avoid crazy crowds.
Be patient, order what others are eating and bicycle around Guilin. China is different but beautiful!

 

[movie zombie]

got a bunch of DVD's from netflix on chinese tourist sights, history, etc.

thanks for the reminder, annette, that old china may be gone soon. i'm re-motivated!

 

[mogster]

I went on a tour in 2005, the government-subsidized kind with mandatory silk-, jade-, tea-, jerky-, pearl-, cloisonne-tours and have mixed feelings. On the one hand, I'd never left the country before and China was so incredibly foreign and scary to me that I couldn't have imagined traveling around by myself. On the other hand, you waste a lot of time touring factories and the tour is very fast-paced and structured. I had food poisoning and felt like death, but every morning I had get on the bus because they'd take you to a new location and you couldn't be left behind. There weren't any park benches and so I ended up draping myself over posts and rocks and sitting in the bus for as long as possible. I was absolutely miserable. Also, the tour guides would take us to historical sites like the Great Wall or Terra Cotta Soldiers and you would only get to spend two hours there max. But then they'd drop us off at a factory and the tour guides would disappear for hours. I've talked to a few people who have gone to China since and they have said that it's very accessible. Most people in the big cities speak English and the subway is supposedly easy to navigate.

 

[natascha]

China is amazing but can be a rough culture shock depending on how you are traveling and what your are doing.

I can't recommend any specific tours but can you look for one without a set itinerary? I personally don't like those type of tours that have every minute of the day planned. I will say that I don't recommend completely doing it solo unless you have a lot of experience. Even when I had written instructions in Chinese it could sometimes be a hassle to even get a taxi and lets just say that you never know what you are eating so if you are picky then I would recommend doing a more organised thing. That said I would recommend using travel agents to book day tours, train tickets, etc but choosing your own itinerary and leaving time of for just exploring the neighborhood, if you are an experienced traveler. This is what I would do, but then some people called me crazy when I went overland on local buses to Cambodia and talked their military into letting me in without having the appropriate photos .

Otherwise a great idea is to find a tour which plans hotels and pickups but offers sightseeing, meals, etc as add on's. That way you get the benefits of a tour but aren't so stressed and can actually experience the country.

Regarding the Great wall it is a must do, but I would not do the Badaling stretch. There are some stunning places to climb (can't remember which part we did sorry) with less tourists but they are harder to climb but not that bad (I mean you are walking up stairs for several hours that aren't exactly standard issue ).

Trains- are an amazing way to move from one place to another, you sleep pretty well considering and the train ride can actually be a nice rest ( did a 25h one which was a perfect down time in the middle of our trip). Although don't even try to buy the tickets yourself, the train stations are pretty crazy.

Food- oh my goodness the food . There are so many different cuisines depending on where you are in the country, and most of it is absolutely incredible. Some stuff I found kind of weird, sorry but I don't want black beans in my ice lolly. I would recommend taking Dukoral (cholera vaccine) and then having fun. There is so much to try although half of the time you have no clue what you are eating (be very careful with allergies)even after eating it. Other times you are all too aware of what is being served . One time I wasn't wearing my glasses and thought the place served some type of doughnuts but it was deep friend duck heads. Oh and if you want your rice with the food then you need to specify that, otherwise you will get it after you have finished the other food.

Try visiting some more rural places too, even if it is only for a couple of days. We headed out to Inner Mongolia and that was so incredibly different, beautiful desserts and fascinating customs. If you don't look Asian you will also feel like a celebrity since depending on where you go a lot of people will never have seen a tourist before. After two days you got used to people standing behind you when you are eating to take photos of you .

Toilets. beware of the toilets. Depending on where you go they can be quite a shock and that includes not having flushing, nor private stalls. But in the cities that won't really be a problem. Just remember that unless you are in a location catering to tourists (and sometimes not even then) it won't be western toilets.

Finally: Your trip can be as rough or as smooth as you want it. If you choose a normal tour many of the things I said might not be relevant. China is definitively worth it, go, experience and come back with lots of memories.

 

[2023]

Have been twice, once to Beijing/HongKong to the great wall of China, the a forbidden city, tianeman square,incredible memories (as a child) then again recently to the world expo in Shanghai. Shanghai was a really interesting, huge high rises that have been developed in the last 15 years or so, it was a really unique city. Most cities develop over time, so it was a really strange place that the development happened so quickly.

A couple people I know have joined a 'shopping' tour. Apparently the Accomodation is five star at 88 dollars a night. However you need to wake up in the morning and go where they want you to go. I don't know the details of the tour off the top of my head sorry.

If you haven't been to Hong Kong and you are in Southern China HK is awesome to see too.

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Lol, yes, the toilets! Umm, like some are a hole in the floor...literally! They can squat and manage quite well, but Americans? Not so much! A friend and I spent a little time hysterically laughing the first time we encountered that! There was no way I could go until I got back to my hotel!

All I can say is that there is much more safety in a group because usually there will be a chartered bus to take you around in a city. You do not want to get in their taxi's unless you plan on it being your last trip! I did it once...you won't believe it but I wanted to go to a jewelry store! But I wouldn't ever do it again!

 

[natascha]

Lol, yes, the toilets! Umm, like some are a hole in the floor...literally! They can squat and manage quite well, but Americans? Not so much! A friend and I spent a little time hysterically laughing the first time we encountered that! There was no way I could go until I got back to my hotel!

All I can say is that there is much more safety in a group because usually there will be a chartered bus to take you around in a city. You do not want to get in their taxi's unless you plan on it being your last trip! I did it once...you won't believe it but I wanted to go to a jewelry store! But I wouldn't ever do it again!

Definitively practice the squat before hand or att least figure out what you are supposed to do. We were going to the toilets in the beginning of our trip when a friend all of a sudden shouts out " but what I am supposed to do, do I take off my pants or what?" .

Expect porcelain holes in the ground, with tracks for your feet, in the nice places. If you go a bit more off road then you can find the toilets by the smell since the worst ones I encountered was basically a long communal ditch where there was no flushing and you basically just straddled it and had some Chinese behind and in front of you .

Diamondseeker what happened when you took that taxi?

The only difficulty I had was actually getting the taxi to understand where I wanted to go. Oh and sometimes understanding if it was a taxi. In Inner Mongolia we ended up taking a lot of three wheeled taxi cars with no signs (they even had three wheeled trucks which shared the road with donkeys and carts). Going back to the hotel was fine since whenever there was only one hotel and they would automatically drive us there. Oh and you kinda had to figure out how much to pay them since you communicated by hand signals and they were often too awed to do anything more than stare at you (crazy cheap we actually would take a cab at lunch just to go to a western toilet ).

 

[GreenBling]

Hi, I'm from hong kong and travel to china on business few times a year. Depends how long you intend to stay, how many of you together, and which cities you are visiting. it's a huge country, some cities are easy to go around without a guide, some can be dangerous without one. if its the first time for you, hiring a guide for first few days may enable you to see a lot more, and familiarize with the transportation system, culture etc before you explore the country by yourselves.

 

[movie zombie]

only the two of us: my husband and i.

i want to walk on the Great Wall, see the Terra Cotta Soldiers, see some terraced landscape and some of the south such as Guilan. Hong Kong would be a plus, probably over Shanghai even.

i'm into historical sights, history, architecture, gardens, landscape, temples, etc.

plan to be gone anywhere from 10-13 days....perhaps longer if need be.

have used the "hole in the ground" potty in france.......

we're not high roller type travelers; we like getting out into the countryside [at least in europe] and poking around on our own. however, that seems more intimidating to do in china to me more than my husband. part of me thinks we can do it but part of me says it would just be plan easier to be on a tour and/or hire a tour guide.

 

[movie zombie]

moderators pointed out i might get more assistance if this remains in Hangout: and given the lack of response over in Around the World, i have agreed that the mods are right and agreed to have this thread remain here.

i still think justginger had a great idea......

still looking for assistance re China.

 

[natascha]

Well do you have any questiones?

 

[movie zombie]

no, just looking for other people's suggestions and insights.....and possible tour recommendations....

i've gotten sidetracked because I'M GETTING A NEW KITTY TODAY!

 

[natascha]

Ohh kitty . I would love to have a cat but SO has allergies .