Hi there

My partner and I are looking to organise a trip to China and Hong Kong in October this year for just two weeks. Ideally we would like to do the usual tourist route - Beijing - Xian - Shanghai - HongKong.

I have been researching tour groups on the net cause I'm just not sure about the language barriers for us. We have done a lot of travel all independent, except Egypt where we took a tour. We didn't really like the tour mentality of being stuck doing things you don't really want to for hours on end and missing out on something really great. We also hated to the stops at special 'factories' or 'perfume houses' where you felt like you had to buy stuff. So if possible we would love to travel independently.

I've read some forums on people that have travelled independently and have had some success and some not.

I was just hoping to get some feedback on whether you think it's going to be too tough to organise in a short time an independent trip and if perhaps we should give a tour a go?

We travelled through Mexico last year on an independent tour, where everything was organised for us and we just had to be at certain places at certain times for transfers and outings.... Does anyone know of a tour company that would do something similar in China??

Thanks everyone

The cities you are going to are quite developed; you can travel independently if that's what you really prefer. However, traveling on your own in China for the first time, you might miss the indept historical insights. Perhaps you can fly to the cities then get a local guide. Or you can find a company to organize the whole trip for you, including accomodations. That's what we did two years ago for a group of eight. Everything was planned out for us, but we still had the flexibility with the schedule since we were on our own. Don't do the group tour. You do get stuck in the "factories" and waste a lot of valuable time. Some people are shopperholic; they care more about bargains than the 5000 year old history. If you end up with them, there is no way out!

You can definitely travel independently in China. You need a good guidebook, with place names in characters, and a phrase book also with characters. Your hotels will have cards with their name and often a small map for you to give to taxi drivers (taxis are cheap) to get home, although Beijing and Shanghai also have good metro systems.

There have been several recent threads here from posters who have traveled independently in China, plus others warning about the shortcomings of guides and guided tours there. People here will be happy to help with planning.

For example: http://www.fodors.com/community/asia...ay-2009.cfm?97 and http://www.fodors.com/community/asia...-china.cfm?127 and http://www.fodors.com/community/asia...-anyone.cfm?12

Hi Susie

If you prefer to tour HK, Beijing, Shanghai and Xian on your own, it is very easy to do.

We just returned from a wonderful 2 week trip to the same cities, totally independently. These cities are very safe, modern and tourist friendly. Subway, banks, shopping malls, major attractions, hotels, restaurant menus, all have english instructions.

You can do research ahead of time on the historical background of the main sights or rent an audioguide at the sight. The language barrier is there but not very serious if you are prepared.

I prepared a list of all the attractions and common phrases in Chinese characters to show to people when necessary. For taxis, I showed the hotel card with hotel address and names of attractions.

At the markets, the salegirls could speak enough english negotiate with you or just used a calculator to punch in the prices back and forth.

My son has summarized our trip in this trip report:

http://www.fodors.com/community/asia...amily-trip.cfm

Enjoy your trip planning.
regards

When we were touring the historical sites, I noticed many independent travelers would come to listen to our tour guides explaining the details. Sometimes, you just can't read the wonderful thousand year old history or local life experiences from the book. Perhaps you can plan everything on your own, flights, hotels, etc...but get a local guide when visiting certain famous sites. We do many independent travelling in places like Europe, Australia, Thailand, Bali, Mexico...But China is just different...One must experience it in depth to appreciate her beauty and the richness of her long history.

"but get a local guide when visiting certain famous sites" - according to PeterN_H (do a search on his screen name), whose opinion I trust on this, local guides have been taught a Chinese-correct version of whatever they are telling you. You're better off with a good book.

thursday,
that's not true. my local guide was a beijing university student who has a deep understanding of the places we visited. there were no politic, just the richness of the old history and architecture insights. if i were on my own, i wouldn't have noticed the color and the meaning of the pillar, little things like that. this is modern china now, the top noched u-students are very well educated and informed of the world. they don't follow what the government tells them. many zipped through china and thought they have experienced china...they just barely touched the surface.

KSHofCA
Where did you find your guide?

Hi, Z,
I found my guide online...from surfing here and there.
Let me check if I still have his card. His wife was an
exchange student in the States. Believe me, he, and
along with many, are not brainwashed by the government.
We learned a great deal from him.