<p>Anyone tour China recently? Did you do it on your own? Through an organized tour? Son is teaching English in China and we hope to visit in October. Your suggestions would be helpful.</p>
<p>My daughter will be studying abroad in Beijing in the fall semester, and we hope to visit in December, so I would be interested too!</p>
<p>My s plans to study in Shanghai for Fall semester, so I’m listening in as well.</p>
<p>3boysnjmom: I visited in 2004 and again in summer, 2006. Both times, I was in fairly remote areas. I went on my own, but once I got there, was connected with some other people. There’s another thread here–somewhere in the archives–where someone posted the same question a while back. In large cities, like Beijing (especially since they’re preparing for the 2008 Olympics), it will be pretty much like a large city anywhere–except more people will be speaking Chinese(!); it will be more polluted, though outside the summer months, you should be fine; Beijing is very crowded; everyone (including the Chinese) drink bottled water, or–as with tea–the water will and should be boiled. In the more remote areas, you have to be a little more careful with the food–not so much in the big cities, though. The shots I had were typhoid (recommended, not required) hep a and b; tetenus. What else? If you have specific questions, maybe I can answer them. </p>
<p>From my perspective, China is an amazing place, and we were all treated very, very well. Both trips were fascinating and wonderful. I think it’s relatively safe, because crimes against foreigners (specifically, Westerners) carry very stiff penalities. That said, one should be smart–as you should be anywhere, and–for sure-- in any big city. </p>
<p>My daughter spent a semester there, at a university in the Southern coast of China, part of a small group of university students who went there. She loved it and had a great experience; she’ll be returning for part of this summer.</p>
<p>Thanks for your comments, jack. I have read quite a bit about travelling to China. My H and I are undecided whether to take a group tour or private guides (and then – do we wait to arrange these once we are in each city?). Some have suggested waiting till we get to China to book domestic flights. However, we are nearly 60 years old and would prefer to have things planned out in advance. We have no personal contacts there except for our S whom we will visit for a few days just before returning home. We are going to China in the fall which is a very popular travel time so I am hesitant to travel with only international flights and hotels booked. Plus there is the language barrier. If we book our own flights within China and one is cancelled or postponed, I doubt we could understand the info relayed to us – and that’s IF we obtain a Chinese cell phone once there. On the other hand, we hate to be herded along in a group. With a private tour, my H would have only me as an audience for his jokes! My S who is in a big city with few English speaking people is experiencing culture shock and recommends we sign up for a group tour (for the supports). The only tours we have ever taken have been hiking or biking trips. Good friends who travelled to China with tour composed of Asian Americans said their daughter’s in laws who speak Mandarin had trouble communicating some of the time. We need to make a decision shortly and that is my dilemma.</p>
<p>Why don’t you do a blend? Arrange for a group tour in one or two locations–and book private tours in other locations. Youshould be able to book a private guide at any major hotel. Ask for guides with a good knowledge of history.</p>
<p>Here is a guide website I found on Frommer’s forum… <a href=“http://www.kanxiqi.com/[/url]”>http://www.kanxiqi.com/</a> . Frommer’s books usually have a good selection of guide services to choose from.</p>
<p>Do the group tour. A relative visited their son last fall while he was in China for school and it worked well, including getting care for a knee that went bad during the trip.</p>
<p>3boys: On my first trip there, I had to get back to Beijing to fly home, and so spent a couple of days there. I went on a group tour, and–to be honest–really didn’t like it. Okay, I detested it. I found myself sitting with a bunch of people from Michigan and Illinois and Canada. Nothing wrong with folks from those places, but I’d just spent nearly 2 weeks away from any big cities or Americans, and really felt like I’d really experienced China (as much as one can in 2 weeks). Then, getting back to Beijing and going on this group tour, I felt like I was doing one of the Big Apple or Circle Line tours in NY-- you get a big overview of stuff–but you are definitely herded around, with little control over where to go or how long to stay at each spot. And here’s the kicker-- the one I went on, we stopped somewhere to eat for lunch. The tour guide put us all in a separate part of the restaurant, where we were served American/Chinese food; she went off to another part of the restaurant, where all the Chinese people were, and got served real Chinese food, which I’m sure was excellent. There was a second day to that tour, which I opted not to do (after the 1st day). I just went out on my own. So, if it was me, I’d do private tours. It will cost more, but you get to control when, how long, where you want to go. I’m sure you can find a guide who will speak English and will make it easier for you. I think that way, you’ll just experience more of what it’s really like there (in a good way). Otherwise, you’ll spend all your time on these awful group tours, herded around like cattle. Honestly. You <em>may</em> also be able to find a college-age Chinese student who also speaks English, who you can, perhaps, hire as your personal translator to travel with you, just in case your driver doesn’t speak English. I’m not sure how you go about doing that, but I’d check with a tour/travel agency, maybe?</p>
<p>Just saw cheers’ post. Yes, that’s a great place to start.</p>
<p>I forgot about the domestic flights. I’ve done both; you might find it easier booking the domestic flights from home. I didn’t have much trouble booking domestic flights while there, but the language barrier made it a little more difficult.</p>
<p>Thanks for your comments. We probably will do a private tour in city where S is working especially if he is unable to get much time off; we also will arrange our own flights to/from that city. If we do a group tour we would probably go on our own for half day in each city plus wouldn’t always eat lunch/dinner with the group so we are able to experience authentic Chinese foods. We are not shoppers so if we do group tour we probably would skip the “factories” for “shopping”.</p>
<p>The relatives had Chinese food all the time- excellent per them. It may depend on who/how you arrange things- pick your tour to meet your needs.</p>
<p>We have toured many countries on our own, where we did not speak the language, but we decided to do China as a private tour. Thank goodness!! There is no way we would have gotten what we did on our own. The tour guides took us to eat in authentic little places, took us to tea ceremonies, shopping in alleys etc. Besides none of the monuments, gardens, palaces have much of the history written in english; the guides were really useful in this respect.</p>
<p>No-one speaks English in China. I mean, in most coutries you can say ‘taxi’ and they know what you want, but not here.</p>
<p>If you’re not afraid of the language barrier, just pick a city, rent a hotel room or a place in an expat community for a few weeks, and wander the city on your own. You should be able to get around the language barrier fine, if you’re lost at all, just pick a roughly college aged looking person and ask them; they’ll be eager to practice their English.</p>
<p>I honestly think this is the best way to do it, and you could even rent a car if you’re not afraid of the driving. You see fewer parts of the country but you see the part you picked more in depth. </p>
<p>If you’re looking for history, I would pick Beijing or Xi’an. Shanghai is more modern, but is still a good mix, and is within a few hours drive of several famous locations like Hangzhou, Suzhou, and notably, the Mausoleum of Sun Yat-sen, which is a really cool place to visit.</p>
<p>The south probably has the prettiest scenery, if you visit Guilin.</p>
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<p>If anyone has specific questions about Beijing, I know the city pretty well.</p>
<p>Phat Albert – we are a bit intimidated by touring China on our own. We had trouble driving around in Tuscany last fall and almost divorced over that!</p>
<p>chocoholic – would you mind sharing name of the tour company that made arrangements for you? Was it a group tour (where you didn’t know others in advance) or was it just you and your spouse? Thanks.</p>
<p>I will try and find the name, but no guarantees, as it was done through a business colleague. All we did was tell them what we wanted to see/do/eat. My husband and I and 3 kids went on this trip 4 years ago. The year of SARS!!!</p>
<p>Thanks, chocoholic. Not many of our friends have travelled to China. Plus we have no contacts there. Hopefully, in the fall, S will be able to help with arrangements in “his” city. By then, he should have less culture shock.</p>
<p>Out of curiosity what city is S staying in?</p>
<p>S is living and working about an hour outside of Chongqing.</p>