Beijing to Xian Excursion
Apr 28th, 2008 | 05:02 AM
#3
Joined: Apr 2008
Posts: 101
Likes: 0
Contact Wilson Wu at China Spree. We did a wonderful tour of China with him and I am sure he can help you. www.chinaspree.com Be sure to check out the Muslium Quarter in Xian.
Apr 28th, 2008 | 06:22 AM
#4
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 1,778
Likes: 0
I hope that this board isn't going to turn into a copy of Frommer's, hi-jacked to promote China Spree and China Focus, both companies you should avoid.
Not that any tour group assistance is needed for a simple trip from Beijing to Xi'an (note how it's written, by the way: two syllables, xi + an).
One of the most popular ways to make this trip is by train (as use of the search box at the top of this page will quickly discover along with other details), and there are several overnight departures that get you to Xi'an in time for a full day's sightseeing, with similar services for the return. Tickets are not difficult to obtain on arrival in Beijing.
There are also frequent flights, although the airport is at Xianyang, a bit of a trek from the city.
Once in Xi'an, day-long bus tours on four different routes are widely available, with tickets sold at every hotel reception. But while these have convenience, like other tours in China they often add unnecessary and uninteresting elements (wax works, dubious shopping), and restrict time at Xi'an's main sights. The most important of these is the Terracotta Warriors, easily reached by public bus from outside the railway station, leaving visitors just as much time as they like at the site itself.
Sites in the city itself, such as the Forest of Stelae, the palace ('city') walls (much reconstructed), the Shaanxi History Museum, the Great Goose Pagoda, can easily be reached on foot or by taxi.
Peter N-H
Not that any tour group assistance is needed for a simple trip from Beijing to Xi'an (note how it's written, by the way: two syllables, xi + an).
One of the most popular ways to make this trip is by train (as use of the search box at the top of this page will quickly discover along with other details), and there are several overnight departures that get you to Xi'an in time for a full day's sightseeing, with similar services for the return. Tickets are not difficult to obtain on arrival in Beijing.
There are also frequent flights, although the airport is at Xianyang, a bit of a trek from the city.
Once in Xi'an, day-long bus tours on four different routes are widely available, with tickets sold at every hotel reception. But while these have convenience, like other tours in China they often add unnecessary and uninteresting elements (wax works, dubious shopping), and restrict time at Xi'an's main sights. The most important of these is the Terracotta Warriors, easily reached by public bus from outside the railway station, leaving visitors just as much time as they like at the site itself.
Sites in the city itself, such as the Forest of Stelae, the palace ('city') walls (much reconstructed), the Shaanxi History Museum, the Great Goose Pagoda, can easily be reached on foot or by taxi.
Peter N-H
Apr 28th, 2008 | 11:40 AM
#5
Joined: Apr 2008
Posts: 101
Likes: 0
Peter-It is nice you know so much about traveling around China. I am not as adventurous as a lot of people so I like to use guides, tours, etc.
I really liked China Spree and our trip. I know what you mean about Frommers. I learned about China Spree from other posters. They (like me) post (for the most part)because they were really happy with their tours.
I have only been to China once and it was a travel highlight.
And. . .sorry I mispelled Xi'an.
Debbie
I really liked China Spree and our trip. I know what you mean about Frommers. I learned about China Spree from other posters. They (like me) post (for the most part)because they were really happy with their tours.
I have only been to China once and it was a travel highlight.
And. . .sorry I mispelled Xi'an.
Debbie
Apr 28th, 2008 | 03:20 PM
#6
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 1,778
Likes: 0
No one is suggesting there's anything wrong with taking tours, and some people do indeed prefer to take them. But booking with a foreign tour company when already in China (as it appears is the case of both the original enquirers) is the last thing you should do unless you absolutely delight in giving money away even more than will be the case when taking a locally booked tour. A more detailed discussion of China Spree in particular is here:
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=35122014
But given that there are lots of one-day tours easily available to those who want them, it really doesn't make a lot of sense even for tour enthusiasts to start adding premiums to their costs (which will be a great deal higher using an organised tour for such a trip, and in a variety of hidden ways) before even leaving Beijing. The only result will be paying too much for flights or trains, too much for relatively inconvenient and low quality hotels, relatively poor food, and too much time being fleeced at shopping 'opportunities'. Air tickets are easily acquired in Beijing (especially if you are already at the airport), familiar brands of hotels can easily be found on the web (which is where they offer their best prices) and one-day tours are available from reception. Anything in town you might want to see is only a ten-minute cab ride away, and you can then choose exactly what it is and how long you stay without spending an unnecessary moment in an overpriced souvenir shop. But there are city tours by bus, too, for those who want them regardless of the drawbacks, and hotel receptions have all the details.
Peter N-H
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=35122014
But given that there are lots of one-day tours easily available to those who want them, it really doesn't make a lot of sense even for tour enthusiasts to start adding premiums to their costs (which will be a great deal higher using an organised tour for such a trip, and in a variety of hidden ways) before even leaving Beijing. The only result will be paying too much for flights or trains, too much for relatively inconvenient and low quality hotels, relatively poor food, and too much time being fleeced at shopping 'opportunities'. Air tickets are easily acquired in Beijing (especially if you are already at the airport), familiar brands of hotels can easily be found on the web (which is where they offer their best prices) and one-day tours are available from reception. Anything in town you might want to see is only a ten-minute cab ride away, and you can then choose exactly what it is and how long you stay without spending an unnecessary moment in an overpriced souvenir shop. But there are city tours by bus, too, for those who want them regardless of the drawbacks, and hotel receptions have all the details.
Peter N-H
Apr 29th, 2008 | 06:35 PM
#7
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 384
Likes: 0
Peter: So basically we can do the Xi'an tour ourselves is what you are saying. I am not doing a prepackaged tour to China; rather I booked the airfare and hotel in Beijing independently. I want to travel at my own pace and eat at restaurants of my choosing (especially since I will have children in tow) however I don't know much about booking air or train transportation within China. The issue for me is whether it is worth "carving out" a independent tour to Xi'an or Datong from Beijing with a bilingual guide. Having door-to-door pickup and transportation arranged may well be worth it. It sounds like you would recommend the train. Where are tickets purchased, do they need to be purchased in advance? What we don't want is to get there and find no availability for anything not booked in advance.
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Apr 29th, 2008 | 07:27 PM
#8
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 1,778
Likes: 0
Unfortunately it's just a fact of life that things work a little differently in China than they do at home. Rail tickets, for instance, are only available from around ten days ahead including the day of travel. Nevertheless, except at peak travel times (not summer, but Chinese New Year and the first week of October), people generally get what they need.
Air tickets are also much cheaper if bought a few days ahead, and this is how most of them are bought. There are many flights with an assortment of airlines. It's best to be a bit flexible, and one of the benefits of not being on a tour is that you can indeed be flexible, but the chances of not getting on either a train or a plane on exactly the dates you want is actually slim, if you're in Beijing three or four days before you travel.
The easiest way to book tickets is just to get the travel agent in your hotel to do it. This is going to be more expensive than going to an agent away from the hotel. Some agencies in the lobbies of better hotels have a tendency to avoid giving the maximum discount available on air tickets, and to have too high a service charge on rail tickets, but you may consider these sums negligible given the convenience.
Typical agency commission on a rail ticket will be ¥20. If you buy the ticket from an agency with a computer on the railway's system, the maximum legal charge is ¥5 per ticket, and the ticket will be printed out in front of you. These agencies are scattered all over Beijing, and marked with the railway bureau's symbol of a cross-section through a piece of rail contained in a semi-circle.
The overnight trains to Xi'an (several services) leave from Beijing West Station (Xi Ke Zhan), but you can buy them from any Beijing station. Both Beijing and Beijing West have counters for foreigners where English is spoken (in the ticket hall at the far right hand end of Beijing station as you face it); upstairs and to the left at Beijing West, and all signed in English. But language isn't to the point. You just need Xi'an, date, and number of tickets, and soft sleeper (which I'm merely presuming you would prefer) written down in Chinese. Anyone at reception in your hotel will do this.
Note that return tickets have only been available since October last year, and the Beijing allocation for in-bound trains is much smaller than that for outbound ones. So it may be necessary to shop at the other end for the return ticket, just buying it at Xi'an station on arrival (there's also a foreigner ticket window there) or simply leaving it to your hotel again.
Any agency with computers on the domestic air system will charge no commission at all, and discounts of at least 20%, commonly 30%, not infrequently 50%, and sometimes more (I've done 70% in the past), off published prices, are common. These days they're often available at the airport, so you can pause briefly as you arrive, send one of your party up to departures level, and get a benchmark price, if you wish. Unlike the rail timetable the air timetable is bi-lingual and easy to read, so indicating where you want to go and selecting a flight isn't a problem. Just look disappointed with the first price you are offered and indicate you want something cheaper. However these days, away from tourist hotels and expat ghettos, there usually isn't much of a problem getting the best price available.
Any half-decent guide book should have full details of all this.
All this may sound desperately inconvenient, or it may sound child's play--this is entirely in the eye of the beholder. Against the convenience of tours, consider that overcharging foreigners is standard, unnecessary shopping stops intended to line guides' pockets with kick-backs can waste much of the time you'd rather spend at sights, accommodation and restaurant choices are based on those giving the best deal to the guides, and that the guides actually don't have much that's true to tell you.
Again, the Warriors can be reached by direct bus; there's a wide choice of one-day tours to other Tang tombs and temples outside Xi'an; everything else is only a short taxi ride from everything else.
For those who really prefer tours all this may amount to nothing, but perhaps for someone who has already booked independent travel to Beijing, independent travel to Xi'an may now not sound too much to arrange.
As for preferred method of reaching Xi'an, I would certainly take the train, and perhaps overnight travel by train may been seen as a bit of an adventure. It also provides an opportunity for interaction for Chinese whose main interest isn't in your wallet. The main drawback is that food on trains isn't too wonderful, and is overpriced for what it is. Generally it's better to eat before boarding and to take snacks of choice. There's very little that can't be bought in Beijing these days, including attractive filled sandwiches, assorted cake, and so on.
I hope that helps.
Peter N-H
Air tickets are also much cheaper if bought a few days ahead, and this is how most of them are bought. There are many flights with an assortment of airlines. It's best to be a bit flexible, and one of the benefits of not being on a tour is that you can indeed be flexible, but the chances of not getting on either a train or a plane on exactly the dates you want is actually slim, if you're in Beijing three or four days before you travel.
The easiest way to book tickets is just to get the travel agent in your hotel to do it. This is going to be more expensive than going to an agent away from the hotel. Some agencies in the lobbies of better hotels have a tendency to avoid giving the maximum discount available on air tickets, and to have too high a service charge on rail tickets, but you may consider these sums negligible given the convenience.
Typical agency commission on a rail ticket will be ¥20. If you buy the ticket from an agency with a computer on the railway's system, the maximum legal charge is ¥5 per ticket, and the ticket will be printed out in front of you. These agencies are scattered all over Beijing, and marked with the railway bureau's symbol of a cross-section through a piece of rail contained in a semi-circle.
The overnight trains to Xi'an (several services) leave from Beijing West Station (Xi Ke Zhan), but you can buy them from any Beijing station. Both Beijing and Beijing West have counters for foreigners where English is spoken (in the ticket hall at the far right hand end of Beijing station as you face it); upstairs and to the left at Beijing West, and all signed in English. But language isn't to the point. You just need Xi'an, date, and number of tickets, and soft sleeper (which I'm merely presuming you would prefer) written down in Chinese. Anyone at reception in your hotel will do this.
Note that return tickets have only been available since October last year, and the Beijing allocation for in-bound trains is much smaller than that for outbound ones. So it may be necessary to shop at the other end for the return ticket, just buying it at Xi'an station on arrival (there's also a foreigner ticket window there) or simply leaving it to your hotel again.
Any agency with computers on the domestic air system will charge no commission at all, and discounts of at least 20%, commonly 30%, not infrequently 50%, and sometimes more (I've done 70% in the past), off published prices, are common. These days they're often available at the airport, so you can pause briefly as you arrive, send one of your party up to departures level, and get a benchmark price, if you wish. Unlike the rail timetable the air timetable is bi-lingual and easy to read, so indicating where you want to go and selecting a flight isn't a problem. Just look disappointed with the first price you are offered and indicate you want something cheaper. However these days, away from tourist hotels and expat ghettos, there usually isn't much of a problem getting the best price available.
Any half-decent guide book should have full details of all this.
All this may sound desperately inconvenient, or it may sound child's play--this is entirely in the eye of the beholder. Against the convenience of tours, consider that overcharging foreigners is standard, unnecessary shopping stops intended to line guides' pockets with kick-backs can waste much of the time you'd rather spend at sights, accommodation and restaurant choices are based on those giving the best deal to the guides, and that the guides actually don't have much that's true to tell you.
Again, the Warriors can be reached by direct bus; there's a wide choice of one-day tours to other Tang tombs and temples outside Xi'an; everything else is only a short taxi ride from everything else.
For those who really prefer tours all this may amount to nothing, but perhaps for someone who has already booked independent travel to Beijing, independent travel to Xi'an may now not sound too much to arrange.
As for preferred method of reaching Xi'an, I would certainly take the train, and perhaps overnight travel by train may been seen as a bit of an adventure. It also provides an opportunity for interaction for Chinese whose main interest isn't in your wallet. The main drawback is that food on trains isn't too wonderful, and is overpriced for what it is. Generally it's better to eat before boarding and to take snacks of choice. There's very little that can't be bought in Beijing these days, including attractive filled sandwiches, assorted cake, and so on.
I hope that helps.
Peter N-H
Apr 30th, 2008 | 05:31 AM
#9
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 45
Likes: 0
Just a quick plug for the overnight train. We, a family of three, took the overnight train from Xi'an to Beijing just a couple of weeks ago and loved it. We booked a compartment for four through our hostel in Xi'an.
We picked up some snacks and fruit before we boarded and then my husband ran off the train right before departure to buy a couple of beers from a vendor who had a cart next to the tracks. The train left around 8 pm though and arrived around 7:15 so it's not as if we had to worry about a meal or anything. I had heard that the dining car tended to be busy and that it could run out of food so I didn't want to bother with that.
The beds were clean and the rocking motion of the train made for a good nights sleep. Since we had an extra bed we used that for our luggage and I used the extra comforter to turn the hard mattress into a softer one.
We picked up some snacks and fruit before we boarded and then my husband ran off the train right before departure to buy a couple of beers from a vendor who had a cart next to the tracks. The train left around 8 pm though and arrived around 7:15 so it's not as if we had to worry about a meal or anything. I had heard that the dining car tended to be busy and that it could run out of food so I didn't want to bother with that.
The beds were clean and the rocking motion of the train made for a good nights sleep. Since we had an extra bed we used that for our luggage and I used the extra comforter to turn the hard mattress into a softer one.
