JCinMD

Does anyone have experience with a Road Scholar tour in China? I'm looking at the 21 day tour - The Best of China: Imperial Capitals, Tibet and the Yangtze River. I've never traveled with Road Scholar before but their tours come highly recommended. Thanks, in advance, for your replies.

kja

Are you firmly committed to a tour? It is not particularly difficult to travel independently in China, and many Fodorites have done so.

You might find some useful information at this link:
http://bit.ly/2jbJWdt

kvchina

I'm not a group tour person myself and know little about Road Scholar Tours, but a quick perusal of their detailed itinerary shows a lot of good non-typical local content plus the normal big sights....and no shopping stops. And some built-in free time. If you are interested in these places and the price is OK for you, then go for it. It's costlier than mass market tours but seems to be a better thought-out tour that avoids some of the downsides. The one thing you can't predict is the compatibility of your travel group and leader quality, though the likely demographic this would attract tips those odds in your favor. The main aspect of this particular tour that I'm not big on is the Yangtze Cruise, I think for the time/cost involved, it's a time waster. But some people like it a lot and find it restful in the middle of a busy China schedule.

You can travel independently, but to replicate this particular itinerary, if that's what you want, will require a level of preplanning and cost structure that likely will end up approaching similar magnitude of cost as this, and you'd miss out on some of the local touches that wouldn't be easily accessible to an independent visitor. There are plenty of itineraries around China that can be done both inexpensively AND without too much hassle or difficulty (even for the non-Mandarin speaker) but this isn't one of them.

temppeternh

While being very largely in agreement with the above, it's worth mentioning that tour companies almost never list the shopping 'opportunities' in their itineraries. These are sprung on you once the tour starts. If the company is actually saying there are none, then fair enough. But if they're simply not mentioned then you need to ask.

Other than that I've never yet seen a China tour that couldn't be done more cheaply, and indeed considerably more cheaply, by travelling independently. But some people prefer tours, which is a sufficient condition for taking them, and hang the cost.

JCinMD

Thanks for the replies and suggestions. I'm trying to decide between arranged independent travel that takes care of planning, transfers and guides in each stop as opposed to a tour. I'm partial to the first option because I'm interested in a slower pace, free time to wander, and especially sampling local cuisines. I'm not sure about the Yangtze Cruise - not sure I want to spend 3 days on it. I would rather go to a few more interesting out-of-the-way sites. As of now I'm talking about the following itinerary:
-Beijing
-Xian
-Lhasa
-Chengdu
-Leshan
-Guilin
-Shanghai

What am I missing? Are there some not-to-miss places/experiences that are off the beaten track? We're thinking about 3 week trip including travel from the US.

thursdaysd

Leshan is a day trip from Chengdu - as are the panda reserves.

Guilin was already discovered on my first trip to China in the 90's.

I see no point in going to Tibet if all you see is Lhasa. You need to check into the current regulations for visitors.

I did the Yangtze cruise in the late 90s, before the dam was completed and enjoyed it. Not sure I would bother today.

You might drop Lhasa and Guilin and add Kunming and the areas nearby, or keep Lhasa and add more time in Tibet.

You will be better off with some good guidebooks rather than a guide. What kind of transfers are you thinking about? I speak no Mandarin but had no problems getting around on my own. You do need a guidebook and phrasebook with Chinese characters, and the name of your hotel written in characters.

janisj

I wouldn't do a tour myself -- but IF you think you want a tour, then Roads Scholar will be about as good as you will get - it is the old Elderhostel.

kja

Although travel in China is much easier today than in 2010, when I went (e.g., one can reliably reserve trains in advance online), I'm still glad I went independently. And of course, there are a lot of places that aren't on your list! You might find some ideas in my (long, but searchable) trip report, which covers only parts of northern China:
http://www.fodors.com/community/asia...na-amazing.cfm

CaliforniaLady

Who exactly is behind the "arranged independent travel"? If it's a travel agency, beware that you may simply be put into a format they use for tours, but at a much higher price. I know you are reluctant to do this on your own, but I assure you that China is extremely easy to visit independently. Start small, and see if you can do it. For example, the concierge at the Hyatt Regency in Xi'An was top notch during our visit. He gave us one of our best drivers ever, and they had "set" itineraries they used, but of course, they could be modified based on your interests.

Of the cities you mentioned, I have only been to Beijing, Xi'An, and Shanghai. I would suggest eliminating Shanghai, as it is basically a modern city with little to offer except for a fabulous museum. Beijing and Xi'An have tons of historical sites, and are each interesting in their own way.

kvchina

IMO it's a waste to go to Tibet for only a few days in/around the very Han-ified Lhasa. In order to make it worth the effort and expense, give it the proper time it deserves which is more like 7-10 days. And for most people, the effects of high altitude will make the first couple of days lower productivity in terms of sightseeing accomplished. While other parts of China can be done independently, the Chinese government does not permit foreigners to do so in the Tibet Autonomous Region. You must have a prearranged tour set up through an authorized agency and that agency will get you the required Tibet Travel Permit. The tour can be private for as few as one person. A guide is required at all times, though it's tolerated to walk around Lhasa guideless. Usually the agency also procures the inbound-to-Tibet transportation since that can be difficult for a non-resident foreigner to do themselves. This makes Tibet quite expensive on a per-day basis.

The upshot is: before you try to figure out the rest of your China itinerary, get straight whether or not Tibet will be included and for how long, because that will set the core around which to build the rest of the trip. And will also set the cost order of magnitude. It may also set the methodology of how you set up the trip. A Lhasa-based Tibetan owned agency is probably the best purveyor for that part, with the balance done either through independent setup or use of a Chinese agent that specialized in private customized arrangements.

JCinMD

Thanks for your replies. The arranged independent travel is arranged through a travel agent but we get to customize the itinerary and go at our own pace. They set up the flights, drivers, guides in advance. While I realize we could do this on our own, I like the convenience of having this set and I'm willing to pay for it.

I'm OK with the basic itinerary we have considering it's our first trip to China. I have always wanted to see Guilin in spite of the fact it's been discovered for a while. After some research, I'm considering adding a day at Xian to go to Huashan and a day in Guilin to visit the Longsheng Longi Rice Terrace. Any thoughts on that? And possibly another day in Tibet as suggested - maybe we could get out of Lhasa. I don't want to add any more stops as we're doing a lot already.

CaliforniaLady

Oh, you must go to Huashan! I was the highlight of our trip. The mountains look like those old paintings, and we met some lovely people. It's an easy day trip from Xi'An.

That's fine about using a travel agency, if you are not comfortable doing your own planning. I did not understand previously that you could set your own itinerary. However, I really would ax the guides. China is one big propaganda machine.

My older son's lovely lady friend just gave me a book entitled, "Out Of Mao's Shadow" by Phillip Pan. The extent of suppression that has existed in China for decades is shocking. I would prefer to read about the history myself while visiting the country.