China in Winter and other Questions
Jan 17th, 2007, 10:37 AM
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China in Winter and other Questions
My husband is going to China for business some time in the next 2 months, which puts us there some time in late January or early February. Once his business is completed in ZhuZhou in the Hunan Province we are going to try and see as much as we can in about 7 days. I know what to expect weather-wise in Beijing - cold! Can anyone give me any idea of what to expect in Yangshuo and Xi'an that time of year? I am wondering if it will be too cold to enjoy the river cruise and the beauty of the outdoors in Yangshuo?
Based on my research on this board, I am leaning towards making our hotel reservations on the internet before we go and then making our flight and tour arrangements once we are in China. My calculations are that we can save as much as $1,000 doing it on our own vs. through a tour operator. The questions is, penny wise pound foolish? Will it be worth the $ to have it all done and not have to sweat getting from place to place? Although I would never have considered booking a tour any place else, I must admitt that I feel somewhat overwhelmed by the idea of navigating China without some assistance. How easy/difficult is it getting from airports to hotels and finding your way around from site to site by taxi without tour guides? I would like to avoid getting all stressed out and lost in a country where I can't even read a sign! I have friends who have done it independantly and other friends who used tour guides, I'm thinking I may want something in the middle. I definitely don't want the obligitory "Peking Duck Dinner" and "Chinese Lunch (with obligitory factory stops) listed on itinararies. IF anything, I want transport to and from airports and and tours for some of the sites.
Thanks in advance for your advice.
Based on my research on this board, I am leaning towards making our hotel reservations on the internet before we go and then making our flight and tour arrangements once we are in China. My calculations are that we can save as much as $1,000 doing it on our own vs. through a tour operator. The questions is, penny wise pound foolish? Will it be worth the $ to have it all done and not have to sweat getting from place to place? Although I would never have considered booking a tour any place else, I must admitt that I feel somewhat overwhelmed by the idea of navigating China without some assistance. How easy/difficult is it getting from airports to hotels and finding your way around from site to site by taxi without tour guides? I would like to avoid getting all stressed out and lost in a country where I can't even read a sign! I have friends who have done it independantly and other friends who used tour guides, I'm thinking I may want something in the middle. I definitely don't want the obligitory "Peking Duck Dinner" and "Chinese Lunch (with obligitory factory stops) listed on itinararies. IF anything, I want transport to and from airports and and tours for some of the sites.
Thanks in advance for your advice.
Jan 17th, 2007, 11:06 AM
#2
Using taxis (and buses and trains) in China isn't a problem IF you have the name of your destination written in Chinese characters. Taxi drivers in general don't speak English and don't read pinyin. You need a guidebook and phrasebook with characters as well as pinyin. Also, don't leave your hotel without the card with its name in characters. I found it fairly easy to pattern match the characters to what was in my guidebook.
Jan 17th, 2007, 02:03 PM
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Jaisy ...
If you are just looking for hotel names in China written in Chinese, there are hotel websites such as:
- www.sinohotel.com
- www.ineedhotel.com
once you find the hotel page, there is an area on the page showing the hotel's Chinese name. You can copy that and paste it into a Microsoft word, for example, and print it to prepare for your trip.
If you do it this way pasting the Chinese name onto a Word page, the Chinese character MAY come up a gibberish and doesn't get displayed - in that case you just need to highlight the text and make sure that the font is "normal - web". That's how I did it.
If you are just looking for hotel names in China written in Chinese, there are hotel websites such as:
- www.sinohotel.com
- www.ineedhotel.com
once you find the hotel page, there is an area on the page showing the hotel's Chinese name. You can copy that and paste it into a Microsoft word, for example, and print it to prepare for your trip.
If you do it this way pasting the Chinese name onto a Word page, the Chinese character MAY come up a gibberish and doesn't get displayed - in that case you just need to highlight the text and make sure that the font is "normal - web". That's how I did it.
Jan 17th, 2007, 02:53 PM
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I highly recommend this site, you better check this out, www.whoisintown.com. You'll meet here your fellow travellers in town that could give you more suggestions and tips on your travel. Have a safe and nice trip!
Jan 19th, 2007, 07:40 PM
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We went on the Li River during December--it's been quite a few years. It was jacket weather. The water was low so the trip was not as lengthy as when the water was high, but the scenery was still amazing.
Beijing was very cold--we wore down jackets on the streets, at the Great Wall, at the Tombs, etc. and were glad we had them. Pollution quite bad in winter.
As our compromise we arranged a guide with transportation in each destination. That way we had easy entry/exit to each city, a guide for some sites, then free days without a guide, such as in Shanghai.
Beijing was very cold--we wore down jackets on the streets, at the Great Wall, at the Tombs, etc. and were glad we had them. Pollution quite bad in winter.
As our compromise we arranged a guide with transportation in each destination. That way we had easy entry/exit to each city, a guide for some sites, then free days without a guide, such as in Shanghai.
Jan 20th, 2007, 07:07 AM
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Yes.
It has been years now, but we used a travel agent out of the DC area that we found listed in one of the travel books (maybe it was Fodors) as a "China specialist" who had contacts with specific tour guides in each city from her own travels and tour guiding. You can also probably find recommendations from individual postings here as well.
That way, our guide would meet us at the airport upon arrival. We were quite pleased with all the guides we arranged this way.
We tend to have short trips, so we don't want to spend our first day in each city finding and arranging a guide.
I must admit, when I am a tourist for the first time in any country I do want to experience some of the tourist attractions. I like factory tours anywhere, but do not feel obligated to buy (and let my guide know this in advance so he/she will not be hoping for a commission). I know it is set up for a tourist, but that's what I am.
We enjoyed our Peking Duck dinner as it was delicious, but hilarious. Our guide took us to some restaurant where they promptly put us, the only two foreigners, in an upstairs private room. Occasionally the door would open with the hostess delivering more food. Then a young person came to provide music for us. We didn't know what to expect next.
As for Chinese lunch, we always told our guide to choose a restaurant for us, not the one the tour groups go to. Once a guide said the standard tourist restaurant was really the only place to go and we got a set box lunch with the strongest liquor I have ever seen. My niece tells me it was to kill what could harm us in the food. Once in Beijing we were the only people in a restaurant with a staff of four hovering over us and more food than an army could eat. Another time outside of Shanghai another guide checked out several restaurants near a garden we visited, chose one, and we, the guide, and driver ate family style with him ordering based on our preferences. It was delicious and cheap. We wouldn't have gone to these restaurants on our own, but with the guide to translate we had a great time.
We still left time in the middle of each city visit for us to wander around neighborhoods, go to see a museum, etc. without a guide. Those were the days we ate Western food, bought our souveniers, etc.
It has been years now, but we used a travel agent out of the DC area that we found listed in one of the travel books (maybe it was Fodors) as a "China specialist" who had contacts with specific tour guides in each city from her own travels and tour guiding. You can also probably find recommendations from individual postings here as well.
That way, our guide would meet us at the airport upon arrival. We were quite pleased with all the guides we arranged this way.
We tend to have short trips, so we don't want to spend our first day in each city finding and arranging a guide.
I must admit, when I am a tourist for the first time in any country I do want to experience some of the tourist attractions. I like factory tours anywhere, but do not feel obligated to buy (and let my guide know this in advance so he/she will not be hoping for a commission). I know it is set up for a tourist, but that's what I am.
We enjoyed our Peking Duck dinner as it was delicious, but hilarious. Our guide took us to some restaurant where they promptly put us, the only two foreigners, in an upstairs private room. Occasionally the door would open with the hostess delivering more food. Then a young person came to provide music for us. We didn't know what to expect next.
As for Chinese lunch, we always told our guide to choose a restaurant for us, not the one the tour groups go to. Once a guide said the standard tourist restaurant was really the only place to go and we got a set box lunch with the strongest liquor I have ever seen. My niece tells me it was to kill what could harm us in the food. Once in Beijing we were the only people in a restaurant with a staff of four hovering over us and more food than an army could eat. Another time outside of Shanghai another guide checked out several restaurants near a garden we visited, chose one, and we, the guide, and driver ate family style with him ordering based on our preferences. It was delicious and cheap. We wouldn't have gone to these restaurants on our own, but with the guide to translate we had a great time.
We still left time in the middle of each city visit for us to wander around neighborhoods, go to see a museum, etc. without a guide. Those were the days we ate Western food, bought our souveniers, etc.
Jan 20th, 2007, 11:18 PM
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Well, we have just got back from China. It was wonderful!
Beijing was freezing - to do with the wind more than anything. I did have a Katmandu(sp?) coat butI was still cold. I ended up buying a jacket in Beijing (had goose down in it) for US$50.
Yangshuo was actually quite mild- a lot warmer and while we were cycling I actually stripped down to just a tee- shirt!!
I actually disagree with Nannan and believe that in Xian you can get by by yourself and even join one of those group tours for the Terracotta Warriors wheras in Yangshuo seeing the countryside you can hire a guide quite cheaply. I have already posted on this site my webpage on our experiences.
Beijing was freezing - to do with the wind more than anything. I did have a Katmandu(sp?) coat butI was still cold. I ended up buying a jacket in Beijing (had goose down in it) for US$50.
Yangshuo was actually quite mild- a lot warmer and while we were cycling I actually stripped down to just a tee- shirt!!
I actually disagree with Nannan and believe that in Xian you can get by by yourself and even join one of those group tours for the Terracotta Warriors wheras in Yangshuo seeing the countryside you can hire a guide quite cheaply. I have already posted on this site my webpage on our experiences.
Jul 9th, 2007, 06:47 AM
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Jaisy... would you mind emailing me? I have a question about your St Lucia trip and if you ever rented that Hermitage Villa?
Thank [email protected]
Thank [email protected]
