Joining English language tour in China

[ByblosYuNaiSoi]

Hello, I have family visiting from the US in July/August, and they want to go to China for a few days; it would necessarily be brief, just a taste, probably just Beijing and environs (Forbidden City, the Wall, etc). For me, the ideal would be to join up with an English-language tour over there.

Has anyone done this, and do you have any advice?

Thanks much

[Kanata]

I suggest that you stay at an international-operated hotel & ask their concierge to arrange your tour. Otherwise, you may encounter scams, such as admission tickets are not included in the tour price & wasting much of your time at shops selling junk items. Also if possible, try to get a private tour because this will allow you more flexibility on your activities. It will also save you time having to pick up & drop off other people at different hotels.

[craigt3365]

Excellent advice above! We got a great deal at a 4 star resort in Beijing, very close to the Forbidden City. But their tours were expensive. So, I went to a local hostel and signed up with them. Worked out great. Only 5-6 people in our group, took us to the Great Wall, and it worked out fantastic. Do some research on what part of the Great Wall to visit. There are some big differences.

For around town, just get a guide book and go! It's very tourist friendly, taxis are everywhere, and the guide books, many times, are much better than the Chinese tour leaders. Plus, many Chinese tours try to get you into various shops so they can make big commissions on what you buy.

Let's move this over to the travel forum. Topic Moved.

[ByblosYuNaiSoi]

Hey, thanks much to you both. Would you be willing to share details? I really don't quite know where to start on this.

[craigt3365]

Sure! First, if it's only Beijing, I'd get a guidebook for that city only and start looking at the top things to do and see. There are probably a lot of websites that have info on Beijing also, but I've found that guide books are still great as they have a whole lot of info in a single "package". One that's easy to carry around. But here's a few results from a quick Google search, both great websites:

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attractions-g294212-Activities-Beijing.html

http://www.lonelyplanet.com/china/beijing/sights

What are the ages of these people visiting? What's your budget? How long is the trip to Beijing? Any physical disabilities?

[ByblosYuNaiSoi]

Thanks very much!

I should start with the hotel: looking for mid-range, similar to Ibis chain here in BKK, and good location. What's a "good location," if the one thing you know you want from Beijing is the Forbidden City? Travelers are two 70-year-olds one 53 yr old, all in decent shape. We just won't be doing 50 km hikes, that's all.

[craigt3365]

Trip advisor is the best place to start. Then you can book on another site (or direct) when you find the hotel you want.

There are links to various booking sites here:

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/527870-airline-information-and-flight-deals-for-expats/

[CNXBKKMAN]

If you want an easy quality option. Google G Adventures. Dot com. Use there search for what tours they offer. "Comfort" level equals 4 star and "classic" are 3 stars as a guide. This is a quality company offering good value and they probably can arrange just for your family to do a tour rather than you are part of a big group. They will pick you up from the airport, the whole thing really. Add in some empty days if you like. Make sure you click on " trip notes" for the full information of anything that looks interesting. Visa will be easy also if you have something prebooked.

[Kanata]

Sorry I do not remember which attractions, but some have discounts or free admissions for seniors, including foreigners. However, if you join a tour where admission tickets are prepaid, you won't get any savings.

I have previously taken elderly friends to visit the Great Wall & Forbidden City. The places were quite big, & so we took out leisurely time. I suspect a group tour would have fixed time limits at each attraction. By the way, at the Great Wall, you can pay to be carried up or down the steps, but the fees are expensive...they charge by the distance!

Finally, whenever I'm in Beijing, I prefer staying at the Wangfujing area because it is near subway station & has many shops & restaurants that are geared to tourists, but the prices are relatively reasonable. You will not be paying "farang" prices.

Edited May 6, 2014 by Kanata

[Kanata]

One more thing... When buying non-perishable goods at small shops & you don't see the prices, it is okay to bargain. If you do not like the quoted price, walk away slowly, & most sellers will quickly agree or counter your price again. Have fun in China.

[Stargrazer]

I have taken 2 tours to China, unfortunately my tours were Chinese only, and I do not speak the language, although my Thai family does.

It was late in the Winter with the first one. My advice, bring some warm clothes , a light parka, and

covered toed shoes, gloves, a scarf, day pack, MEDICINE, cough drops or throat lozanges,

pills for stomach troubles, Do Not drink the water! be ready for the runs. Stay in a good quality hotel. Get a full service tour that includes all of the transfers from airport to Hotel

as well as the tours to the sites you want to see, as it is a very large country.

Expect to pay a bit more for an English tour, but you won't have to go to as many jade shops, tea shops, or silk shops as I did.

The tour to southern China near Macao and 4 other large cities was a very interesting tour and

the weather was generally much warmer, although it was still about 5c to 15c at the best, when the forecast for the weather was supposed to be 15c to 20c. One big difference to southern China was the local people tried to mob me and get money as they all thought I was rich or something, and I had to get my Thai relative to rescue me a few times. I was very impressed in the good condition of the hiways and streets in China, very few potholes or cracks and uneven pavement. Three lanes on all the major roadways and tunnels are standard. The quality and service at the Hotels was excellent, but

don't even think of stopping to use the washroom at the highway Fuel stations. They were

mostly disgusting, and even the Bus driver warned us all of that.

Stargrazer

[ByblosYuNaiSoi]

Hi and thanks to everybody for their suggestions. Now I am wondering about the heat and crowds. My family are from American Air Conditioning Land, and I have concerns that Beijing in July/August will be unbearable, even with a decent hotel with A/C. And that it's "wall to wall" bodies at the Forbidden City and the Wall.

Any reactions to that?

[craigt3365]

I don't think Beijing is too bad. It's pretty far north. This says max temp is about 86. Which would be in the mid-late afternoon. Here's some good info on August in Beijing:

http://www.weather2travel.com/august/china/

Now Hong Kong would be bloody hot!

[Kanata]

I do not wish to scare you, but you may want to carry stomach medicine, tissue papers, & hand sanitizer liquid... just in you eat something bad. Beijing has modernized a lot, but some public washrooms (called WC over there) can still be very disgusting.

[CNXBKKMAN]

Yes it will be hot in July August but only hot like it would be in USA. Hotels will have aircon no problem. China can be a filthy dirty place so my advice is to eat hot freshly cooked food from busy restaurants. If you had the choice to eat in an empty aircon hotel restaurant or a busy noodle shop across the road with no aircon I would eat at the busy noodle restaurant. China can be a great place to visit and its worth the effort and discomfort you get a times.