Last night I thought I might like to visit China next summer.Having looked at the brochures I have at home I started to wonder how easy it would be to organise it ourselves.Does anyone have any experience of this?
The reason that I thought of it were
1.I have found an interesting tour from Beijing to Xian to Shangai.
I don't want to fly on Chinese domestic airlines.Even though this trip doesn't involve that it has half board and I would really like to chose where I eat-one of the best parts of the holiday for me.
2. The tours all feature international hotels. I'd like to stay somewhere smaller with more character but still of a good standard.
3 I would like to cruise through the Yangtze Gorges but each tour flies you there.
4 We've freelanced before and it holds no fears which is why I'm considering it now.
Any advice?

Hello, I also am going to China. I booked a tour through an online service in China, Beijing, Xi'an & Shanghai. They were very nice (luxury?) hotels, most meals, private guide,etc.. After reading many posts here and following up on some of them, I purchased "Beijing" a guide published by Cadogan. The author answers very many posts at this site and has another site just for China travel discussions. "[email protected]". The author is Peter Neville-Hadley and signs Peter N_H. If you scroll back through prior posts you will see that he is very thorough. He feels that the best way to go is "on your own". I have since cancelled my tour and can't wait until November. I am not here to sell his book, but he never mentions it in his posts. Check it out. I found it great. Good luck. hope to see more posts from you, Rick

I'm going this Thursday on my own (two people) I let you know how was it when I'll be back, wish me luck!

This is very helpful.I feel you've given me a clear green light.
Next stage is to buy a guide book on China to decide where we want to go on our first visit.
As you can see I'm already planning to go more than once!
In this family we seem to visit a country for the first time and then really concentrate on it.We first visited the States in 1991 and are now about to pay our 11th visit-we came three times in the first year.Similarly India, but this is our first journey so far east.
Does anyone have any recommendations on the most comprehensive guidebook?

Hi

My wife and I went to China on our own in March this year and we had a good time. We stayed a few days in Beijing, took the train to Xi'an to see the terra-cotta warriors and we flew to Hong Kong to wrap it up there. I think that we handled the trip pretty good by ourselves I have posted a long trip report with pictures on my homepage www.gardkarlsen.com...maybe you can find some useful information there

Regards
Gard
Stavanger, Norway

Hi, Frances!
So far I have purchased 3 guide books. I am still looking for "Rough Guide" to arrive, (Amazon.com). But, of those recieved I think, "Beijing" by Peter Neville-Hadley from Cadogan Guides is by far the best. It also covers more than just Beijing. Several other cities but a wealth of background and cultural info, customs, etc.. There is also another guide by same author named "Silk Road", though I have not ordered it yet. Please post any that you find particularly helpful. Thanks, Rick.

Hi Frances,
Las November I travelled to Shanghai, Hong Kong, Xian and Beijing on my own with my husband. It was fairly easy to get around but what helped the most was staying in high class hotels where they speak english. I'm sure that most moderate hotels will also having english speaking staff. Otherwise, I booked the airline and hotels on my own - reading alot on this board for suggestions.

I would recommend that you do it since I, like you what to chose where I ate, when I wanted to see various spots and sleep in if I felt like it. Let me know if you have any specific questions.

I have been trying to decide on a tour to China, but now I feel that we can manage on our own.
cm2003 or anyone---did you make reservations for hotels and airlines in advance or as you traveled? What airlines and hotels did you use?

Were organized tours from the hotels to local sites readily available? I do not like to hire a car and a driver generally. We had two pretty scarry times in Malaysia doing just that.

Familiar name hotels in China (Hyatt, Peninsula Group, Shangri-La, etc.) keep their best published prices for their own websites. These fluctuate considerably (in the most extreme cases, hourly) according to demand. But realistic prices are always found shortly before the date of travel, unless a particularly busy period has been chosen.

Chinese hotels publish rates on their websites which represent often 100% more than you need to pay over the counter if you just show up.

In either case avoid self-designated super-discount web sites. Any rate they offer you can get for yourself and, in the case of Chinese hotels particularly, beat.

Most domestic fares are not available through airline computers overseas, and those airlines offering them from their own websites, and those agencies claiming to offer discounts, will both charge you vastly more than you need to pay. There's plenty of capacity for most of the year, and much Chinese airline business is walk-up. Just book through agents as you go (and always bargain for a lower price).

Day tours are available in some cities, bookable from offices of CITS or via the lobby of your hotel. In general, however, the best way is simply to obtain the Chinese characters for your destination, and jump in a taxi.

Peter N-H
http://members.axion.net/~pnh/China.html

Thanks, Peter. I have signed up for your emails and ordered your Frommer's book to help with planning.

Just an idea to share. I have been to China exploring different areas each year for the past 14. One of my favorite things to do is to have a local foot massage and hair shampoo. If you haven't had an 1 1/2 long reflexology massage, you don't know what you've missed. (Be careful not to allow them to "shave" the skin on your feet. Hepatitis is a world-side problem and nothing to mess around with.) Having your hair shampooed often means a deep scalp massage. Wonderful and cheap! Fun things to do where ever you are.

Kismet, where do you get these services--at the hotels?

kismet, I want also to know were you get it.
it was one of the nice thing I did in Bangkok (never enjoyed shmpooing my hair so much). can I find it in big hotels ?.

I'm sure you will be fine and enjoy your trip. We did Beijing, Xi'an and Chengdu last March-April. The Marco Polo (small, boutique hotel) in Beijing was most helpful. Sheratons at other two locations actually spoke less English. We found very little English spoken anywhere but signs inside sights are almost always in Chinese and English. In Beijing you have to know which cabs can go where - we did have one that left us in the wrong location (seemed preplanned to get us to take the wrong Hutong tour). People were very nice everywhere. We found the airlines more enjoyable than here in US and were pleasantly surprised. Cost is less if booked in country. Most difficult part of trip was finding reliable cabs upon arrival in cities - little English and high prices in spite of posted price signs. Another quirk just to know is that you cannot check in too early at airports - they only open each checkin line for certain times before flights. We did use a lot of cash because most expenses in country were not chargable (except at big hotels). This included sightseeing and air flights, etc. Better prices in country but we paid cash. Have a wonderful trip. It's worth it the effort.