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China

  • 22-11-2008 4:15pm
    #1
    Trampas
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 7,990 ✭✭✭


    Playing to head to China next year (Beijing flying into)

    Can anyone recommend a place to book a tour for 10-14 days as more places only seem to offer flights and tours.

    Just looking for tours.

    2 of us

    Thanks


Comments

  • #2
    Glowing
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,851 ✭✭✭Glowing


    Have you thought about just doing your sightseeing independantly? It's a very easy place to get around, even if you don't speak Mandarin, and your hotel or hostel will have contacts to organise one or two day tours. Beijing is also extremely safe, so if its that aspect that is worrying you, you'll be grand!

    If you just get a good guide book, that will tell you all you need, and the Chinese are very helpful too.


  • #3
    Trampas
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 7,990 ✭✭✭Trampas


    thanks for the reply.

    it is more a case when we leave beijing that i'd be worried about.

    I had heard that they don't speak english so you will find it hard to get around


  • #4
    Glowing
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,851 ✭✭✭Glowing


    Feck! Wrote a big long reply there and lost it!!

    Myself and my boyf travelled around China for 2 months with little or no mandarin. It's very doable. You get hostel or hotel staff to book train tickets for you (usually for a small fee), and you can book internal flights on www.elong.net. Many chinese speak english, particularly students and hotel staff. You can also get them to write your destination/fare/seats on paper and use that to get train/bus tickets worse case. They're very helpful.

    The Chinese are very proud and patriotic, and the impression I got from watching tour groups, and speaking to members of groups, is that you're only going to get to see what they want you to see, i.e. what they consider the best China has to offer. I.e. large western style shopping centres, the very popular tourist sights. You're going to miss the 'ancient china' - the dark back streets, the friendly locals, the markets ... that's the best part of it for me, but the Chinese don't want you as a westerner to see that becuase it's not showing China in the best light.

    I think a tour for 10-14 days would cost you 1000 euro ish. In comparison, I spent 1000 euro for 2 months travelling through China ... including eating out, staying in nice guesthouses, all our transport. Having seen what the country has to offer, I really don't see the need to take a tour, and I actuallly think you'd be missing out!


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