Tour Agent For China

[L&J]

Any advice/recommendations on a travel agency that can make travel arrangements in China? Also anyone know what is necessary relative to arrangements/documentation for securing a Chinese visa at the consulate here? Thanks for any assistance.

[Thailand]

Get your application form here:

http://www.china-embassy.org/eng/hzqz/zgqz/t84240.htm

All very simple. last time took me about 5 minutes to submit it at the consulate. Less then 3 minutes to collect the passport with visa.1100 baht for Brit,Aussie,Thai-4000+ for Americans.

Any good travel agent can do it but normally I just arrange it myself.

[L&J]

[Thanks for the info. What I was wondering is if you need to show things like hotel

arrangements, air tickets or other documents in order to get the visa?

Thanks,

JOHN

[Phuket Stan]

I have never had to show hotel or plane bookings when getting visas (7) from embassy in Bkk....all very friendly but it does take a couple of days to process....they do have a 24 hour express service for which u pay more

[nakachalet]

when using a tour agent, pls ascertain that the price is reasonable by comparison and that whatever services and accom they advertise or promise.... are genuine.

call up the destination hotel, if you know the number, to ascertain that your group is booked into that hotel for that many days and at that service level....

friends have been dooped into paying for 5star accom but on arrival, were switched to 3star....

and while there.... do not buy jewelry or jade or semi precious stones or electronics from individuals who purport to be owners or rep of manufacturers of various sorts.... if you really want to buy, buy it from known department store to avoid fakes and the likes....

these are world class professional con men and women.... they will take every penny from your inside hidden pocket.... if you only blink....

in larger cities, such as shienghai and beijing and siermon.... just be on both of your big toes guarding against your own good wills and good nature.... don't give out charitable gifts to sobbing stories from pretty faces..... know what i mean....

don't say.... you have not been forewarned.... LOL

[ferd54]

these are world class professional con men and women.... they will take every penny from your inside hidden pocket.... if you only blink....

in larger cities, such as shienghai and beijing and siermon.... just be on both of your big toes guarding against your own good wills and good nature.... don't give out charitable gifts to sobbing stories from pretty faces..... know what i mean....

Actually, your post better describes Thailand than China in my experience. I have been in Beijing three years now and it is a far more safe and straightforward place than cities in Thailand. When you buy something, your change is always correct; taxis are everywhere, metered, and always "play by the book"; in general, perhaps due to innate pride or naïveté, the Beijing locals haven't learned to cheat foreign tourists as a matter of course.

There is one area of Beijing, called Sanlitun, that reminds me of places in Thai cites, with bars, hookers and reported occasional violence. Other than that, the Chinese are so absorbed in their own culture and lives that scheming about foreign tourists is not really part of the equation. I think the big boys plan how to ripoff Mercedes engineering or something, but that doesn't impact the man on the street.

Naturally when traveling in any country, keeping one's wits about them is always a good idea.

[L&J]

Thanks for the sound advice. We've traveled extensively throughout China and are aware

of the risk . We had always made the arrangements outside Thailand and wondered if we

might have more flexibility in making arrangements here.

Edited February 28, 2010 by L&J

[Thailand]

[Thanks for the info. What I was wondering is if you need to show things like hotel

arrangements, air tickets or other documents in order to get the visa?

Thanks,

JOHN

There was such a requirement prior and post Olympics for a couple of months but not now.

OP's description of Beijing/Shanghai, I agree -mixed up with Thailand. Doing business there can be tough but generally as a tourist simply use your head.

[Loaded]

Manit Tours behind the US consulate are very good and the owners speak Thai, Chinese and English. Don't know the name of the road but it's the road the cuts across from Chiang Moi past the New Mitrapap Hotel and past the next junction it's on your left.

[nakachalet]

these are world class professional con men and women.... they will take every penny from your inside hidden pocket.... if you only blink....

in larger cities, such as shienghai and beijing and siermon.... just be on both of your big toes guarding against your own good wills and good nature.... don't give out charitable gifts to sobbing stories from pretty faces..... know what i mean....

Actually, your post better describes Thailand than China in my experience. I have been in Beijing three years now and it is a far more safe and straightforward place than cities in Thailand. When you buy something, your change is always correct; taxis are everywhere, metered, and always "play by the book"; in general, perhaps due to innate pride or naïveté, the Beijing locals haven't learned to cheat foreign tourists as a matter of course.

There is one area of Beijing, called Sanlitun, that reminds me of places in Thai cites, with bars, hookers and reported occasional violence. Other than that, the Chinese are so absorbed in their own culture and lives that scheming about foreign tourists is not really part of the equation. I think the big boys plan how to ripoff Mercedes engineering or something, but that doesn't impact the man on the street.

Naturally when traveling in any country, keeping one's wits about them is always a good idea.

ON THE CONTRAY, i found thailand to be much less greedy than chinese in china.

just ask the chinese who visited their mother land.... i did ask more than 100 chinese from taiwan, hkg, thailand and u.s.a. who went to china for various reasons.... each and everyone would tell you the same story that chinese in mainland, IN GENERAL, want more for various reasons than the thai in thailand.... with the exception for those already prosper on their own--which are plentiful nowadays....

we did not visit bars or such similar places in china, so i could not compare between the two.... i do agree in larger city as far as business is concerned they are quite straight forward....

to make my long story short.... just how many of you personally know business people from hkg, taiwan, thailand, india.... who personally brought over to china in excess of 1mil usd each for the purpose of investing in various parts of china in various industries....?

within 5 short years.... all of these smart business men and women lost all their investment.... due to lies, double dealings, double bookkeepings and briberies....

perhaps, many farangs in china just live, work and play with the upper crust.... so we do see and experience china from different angles and levels....

no sir, i am not talking about thailand.... not the least.... i am talking about china for sure....

[ferd54]

ON THE CONTRAY, i found thailand to be much less greedy than chinese in china.

just ask the chinese who visited their mother land.... i did ask more than 100 chinese from taiwan, hkg, thailand and u.s.a. who went to china for various reasons.... each and everyone would tell you the same story that chinese in mainland, IN GENERAL, want more for various reasons than the thai in thailand.... with the exception for those already prosper on their own--which are plentiful nowadays....

we did not visit bars or such similar places in china, so i could not compare between the two.... i do agree in larger city as far as business is concerned they are quite straight forward....

to make my long story short.... just how many of you personally know business people from hkg, taiwan, thailand, india.... who personally brought over to china in excess of 1mil usd each for the purpose of investing in various parts of china in various industries....?

within 5 short years.... all of these smart business men and women lost all their investment.... due to lies, double dealings, double bookkeepings and briberies....

perhaps, many farangs in china just live, work and play with the upper crust.... so we do see and experience china from different angles and levels....

no sir, i am not talking about thailand.... not the least.... i am talking about china for sure....

That wouldn't surprise me, especially of mainlanders can "get over" on HK or Taiwan residents and cheat them in business. Hey, those folks don't have the most pristine reputations themselves. I don't don't have a lot of sympathy if Thai businessmen get cheated for a change; they think they are masters at scheming but get them outside their power base and into the big leagues and I'm sure the Chinese could find it child's play. Could be a game of who best gets over on who. That is very different that a Western tourist visiting a big city like Beijing.

Manit tours is probably good in Chiang Mai. I think I changed money there once. Remember that guided tours can include "visits" to places where the guide gets a kickback. That is certainly true in Thailand, and also probable in China; it's all part of the game.

As well, keep in mind that use of English is not nearly as widespread in China as in Thailand, though that is rapidly changing.

Edited February 28, 2010 by ferd54