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China (Asia) Reviews |
Mike Sparling
Guest
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We found China a wonderful holiday,people very friendly,they all want to have you in their Photographs with them.
After a 10 hour flight we went straight to tianamen square and forbidden city,quite hard!
Hotels on tour good, food all Chinese,nothing like food in Chinese restaurant in U.K.lots of vegetables boiled or fried,very few potatoes,you sit on a round table 10 of you and the food is placed on a Carosel that turns for each person to take small amounts of each dish,about 10 or 12 dishes.
Travelling was quite hard 4 internal flights but to see it all, such a vast country it's the only way.
Yangzi cruise v.good but still no time to oneself the ship docks most nights then you are out all day visiting sites.
Shanghai was very cheap for shopping cheaper than any ware i'f ever been.
Beer about 30p in small cafe,about £2 in Hotels.
Not a Holiday!but what an experiance not to be missed.
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SPECIAL BUNNY
Guest
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We traveled to China during the "Golden week", so most Chinese had a public holiday; they also like to travel and see the sites!! All 1.3 billion of them!!!
Beijing
Great Wall
Very steep with uneven steps, we were also very hot. Take water.
Fantastic scenery. This was the only time I felt the need to wear walking boots.
The wall has recently been renovated and looked very pristine and new but the sheer scale of the place is magnificent. In my opinion, the Chinese's idea of restoration is replacement but I could be wrong.
Summer Palace
Beautiful, it was very busy when we were there but we still managed to have a boat ride on the lake and see most of the sights.
Try to have a look at the stalls and shops, they are SO MUCH cheaper, the guide will try to stop you because he prefers you to spend in the government shops but we managed to sneak away and I bought goods for ¼ of the price. Cheapest place for souvenirs that I could find.
Tian An Men Square and Forbidden city
Loads of walking but on the flat, if there is a queue to see the Emperor's chair do not bother!!
We stayed in the Plaza Hotel, this has a great buffet breakfast and English plugs.
Fantastic city, very clean, toilets fine, try to use the "western" toilets and not the "Eastern" which are squat and hope!
We also visited a Jade factory, silk factory, tea house and something else, goods VERY expensive and should be avoided.
The Kung Fu show was excellent, (optional extra)
Xi'an
Beautiful place. The city wall trip was interesting but all the guide wanted us to do was go in the shop and we saw very little of the building.
Small Wild Goose Pagoda
One of my favorite places felt you were in the real China. To climb the pagoda costs about 10 Yuen, the steps are very steep and the last level is reached by climbing though a hatch, not for the faint-hearted. View was lovely but visibility restricted by the smog!
We stayed in the Garden Hotel, lovely hotel but in need of refurbishment, the electrics were positively dangerous, needed an Asian plug here.
Leg massages cost less than £8 and were very welcome, especially after all the walking in Beijing.
Terra-Cotta Warriors
WOW!
Watch the film first, up near the tea house, gives you a "feel" for the story behind the formation of the Army.
The tea house was lovely, we told the girl "we did not want a demo and we did not want to buy tea" but she just let us relax and drink the tea and in the end we all bought her over priced tea leaves!!
Make sure you walk down through the street because when we were there, there were street entertainers.
We did not go to the Tang Dynasty show, I heard at breakfast that it was awful but I can't say anything because I didn't go.
Try to go and walk around the large pagoda, when we were there the lights were on and the street traders were selling goods so cheaply it was rude not to buy them, go atleast ½ of the asking price.
Shanghai.
The Bund is stunning; we had a night boat ride which was fantastic, optional extra! Watch the street sellers, they are every where, buying just as you got on the coach guarantees a good price, ¼ of their original price. As I got on the coach, I bought some roller skates for 20 Yuen; he had wanted 200 Yuen on the Bund.
The Jade Buddha was worth seeing.
Nanjing road is awful, big shops selling very expensive rubbish, they see a westerner and add a nought to the price, avoid if possible.
We got a taxi to the station and went on the Mag Lev train, (yes the one that crashed in Germany!!) the train reaches 431 kph, (the taxi driver 531 kph!!!) but well worth the white knuckle ride to the station.
Our guide was not keen for us to venture off the itinerary but he did write our directions into Chinese and we then met again at the restaurant for dinner.
Suzhou
My favorite place, felt very Chinese, the streets were narrow and windy, and the gardens were a delight, the optional extra boat ride excellent. You will need mosquito protection.
We also had to endure a silk factory but we said no to the Jade factory and another tea house, the rep seemed ok with our stubbornness!
We then caught a train to Nanjing. Two hours of efficiency. Take a drink.
Nanjing
This is where things got a little wasteful, unbeknown to us we could have stayed in the 5* Hotel until 11, had a swim or a relaxed breakfast but instead we were up early and out to see the sites. That only took a couple of hours. DO NOT go on the Yangtze river trip, we paid £16 to see an industrial sand pit and a lot of tankers, when you go to the viewing tower you will see why the boat is a rip off. My image of gorges and narrow waterways was sadly wrong.
Sun Yat Sen Mausoleum is interesting, 392 steps to the top but the walk is easy and a there is a slow gradient.
DO NOT buy from the shop, especially the coffee shop, TOTAL RIP OFF!
Before you come out to meet the guide in the shop we think there may have been a shop for the Chinese tourists, this would have been cheaper.
Outside our Hotel, the Jingling, was an excellent shopping Mall which was accessed via the subway underpass. We went in the evening and all the lights and neon signs really added to the atmosphere.
In the afternoon we went to the old shops and markets, we had a great time buying cheap souvenirs and other rubbish, we came home with loads of junk but it was cheap. We could have bought everything we had purchased in the government shops for ½ (if not more) price.
We then spent the evening travelling back to Beijing; from Beijing we meet the coach at 11 for the transfer to the Airport.
Most hotels had English plugs but take an Asian one just incase.
The food is Chinese for lunch and dinner, it tastes fine and we had no tummy problems.
We took cash with us but other members of the groups said they used the "hole in the wall" with no problems; they have a 6 digit pin number so you add 00 before your 4 numbers.
Every hotel had all the toiletries you needed. Most had internet access.
Bar prices were slightly more than at home.
Beer with your meal was between 10 and 15 Yuen, about 80p to £1.
With each meal you were allowed 1drink and additional drinks had to be paid for.
Each day we allocated 10yeun for the driver and 15 for the guide, we paid at the end of each city visit, we changed guides at every city, I am told that larger groups keep the guide, but we only had 7 in our group.
The Chinese were lovely and polite, we never felt threatened, even at night.
They think we are funny and we were regularly asked if we would have our picture taken, ohh to be so famous.
Knee how, is the phonetic way of saying hello, this really amuses the Chinese, so much so I rechecked with the guide incase I was saying something rude!
Bu she she, means no thank you and works wonders of the street hawkers.
She she is thank you.
The street hawkers will try to give you forged bank notes in your change, either give them the correct money or do not buy anything, one of our group lost 50 Yuen and gained rubles!!!
We took wet wipes and tissues, not all toilets have toilet paper, or toilets for that matter!
The hotel gives you two bottles of water a day and the driver also sells 3 bottles for 10yuen, 80p, so buy from him.
Be assertive with the guide, tell him you do not want to go to 2 jade/silk/tea factories, he doesn't get commission but the company awards bonuses at the end of the year.
You will be bombarded with PC history and culture, especially in Beijing, but it is interesting and I have retained loads.
Fantastic country, felt a bit plastic at times, best get there before they "restore" even more of it!
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Geaham Ward
Guest
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We booked the Highlights of the Yangtze trip through H&J.
We stayed firstly at the Marco Polo (4*) in Beijing. It was very comfortable and the level of service was much better than we expected. The food was always very good, always more than we could possibly eat. There was always a smoggy haze over Beijing, something we were later to experience in every city that we visited. It as very hot in May and we experienced occasional dust storms and heavy rain.
Whilst in Beijing we visited all the normal tourist traps of the Great Wall, Tianamen Square, The Forbidden City, Summer Palace etc. The tour guide was excellent throughout.
Traffic in Beijing is terrible and the standard of drivng is unbeliveably bad, we were pleased that foreigners are not allowed to drive in China. You take your life in your hands when you cross the roads (if you dare!).
We flew to Wuhan to meet the Yangtze Cruise and discoveed that we had to pay 50 Yuan departure tax each for each internal flight.
The Princess Jeannie was adequate but not luxurious. The beds are small and uncomfortable and there is insufficient storage space in the cabin. Once again the food was very good and plentiful, with a number of choices at each meal. There was a vry good cruise director who conducted talks on various subjects and acted as a guide when the cruise went though places of interest. The crew put on shows in the bar most evenings and audience participation is encouraged. Overall the cruise was fun, relaxing and enjoyable. There were visits to cities, damns and a transfer to a smaller boat to visit the smaller gorges, which once again was very good.
We left the boat at Chongquing and were treated to an additional city tour, this turned out to be well worth the time and I would recommend it to anyone.
Another flight took us to Xi'an and the innevitable Terracotta Warriors. The organisation of the musuem is excellent. A really good hald-day visit. Xi'an is much more modern than most of the cities except Beijing and the polution was not as bad.
We stayed at the Royal Xi'an Hotel. This was a similar standard to he first hotel, once again better than we expected.
Overall a really good holiday that was a credit to the tour guides. China has made big advances in tourism over the last few years and people should not be afraid to go there.
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Christine Bolton
Guest
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Went on the tour of Beijing and Xi'an as a single female. Travelsphere was brilliant and China just takes your breath away. Stayed at the Friendship Hotel in Beijing, this place is fantastic, it is like a 5 star luxury hotel but for tourists.Specially built for that market.Close to 2 stores that sell dvd's and cd's at about 80pence, all excellent original copies.
Do not expect facilities for children or disabled at sites of interest.Lot of walking involved but the sites are worth it.The toilet facilities at the sites are dire, they are often unisex,just holes in the floor, without doors and the smell is indiscrible.Loo's at restaurants have both eastern and western styles but again doors are often not there.
The food is authentic and not styled to the western palate,eat it first and then ask what you have eaten.Always good but ate crickets in sweet and sour sauce, really good but if I had known before I wouldn't have tried them.Meal tends to be served in reverse, sweet,meat and fish dishes, then rice and finally soup.
Transfered to Xi'an and stayed at the Hotel Xi'an, lovely hotel with lots of extra room services like massage and acupuncture.Not as oppulant as Beijing but excellent Whilst here had minor accident, A&E service was superb with total time for ambulance, treatment, return to hotel took just 40 minutes.
Lots of street peddlars but not intimidating at all, all very friendly,watch the markets and try to pay with correct bills as change can be forged or totally foreign and useless like roubles.Had police escort from Summer Palace back to buses to prevent street robberies. After all this it is the safest place I have ever been, there are police and army at every hotel, corner and site.
Can highly recommend Travelsphere and China to everyone.
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A Miller
Guest
Voted this Destination:Not voted yet
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We took this very well organised tour of China lasting 18 days.
We were a little disappointed as the majority of people taking the tour were of retirement age and above with no one in our age range. We found China is the type of holiday taken by many retired people as was the case in the other tour groups also. It is a very busy trip - not really a holiday, involving lots of early starts and very little free time to explore China on your own which we did find rather suffocating. The tour is carried out with almost military precision with every aspect of the trip timetabled to include numerous factory visits to purchase souvenirs. The hotels used on the tour are excellant but unfortunately only breakfast is taken in these hotels and all other meals are provided in local eateries of varying standards. By taking this trip you will see all the famous landmarks of China but we felt we were shown the side of China which the Chinese Government want you to see. We would have liked some unscheduled time which we could have used to explore some of the areas we visited.
The time spent on the Yangtze River was most enjoyable despite it raining every day but the President number 4 boat is in no way a 4 star ship and we note it has now been regraded as a 3 star in the new brochure. One word of warning the tour manager is very keen to collect tips at the start of the holiday which he says is £3 per person per day, please do not feel pressurised into paying this at the start of the holiday, we found many of the older guests felt uncomfortable not paying this up front but do not feel intimidated to do so, we tipped at the end.
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jadeleo
Guest
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Guilin is reputed as the most beautiful scenery city of China. Its peaks rise as suddenly from the Earth as trees in the forest, in various shapes resemble buns, camels, fish, saw-teeth, horses, etc. it is the city you must visit it or you will miss the most beautiful landscape out. the river is like green silk ribbon while the hills seem hairpins of jade.The landscape in Guilin is characterized by its “green hills, clear waters, pretty rocks and fantastic caves’’.
Guilin means Forest of Osmanthus trees, Osmanthus trees in bloom is at late September and Early October, or Early November, this year most of Osmanthus flowers are in bloom in early November, so when you walking along Li river side, lakes, streets, you may smell the fragrance from the trees. Fishing lantern festival started at 1999, Programms including: munurous lanterns in li river, colorful lights in the street of Yangshuo, minority performances, arts exhibition, beer festivals, cormarant fishing with lanterns, farming products exhibition and so on.
From Nov.18th to Nov.24th. 2006.
I am a licensed tour guide of Guilin area, I graduated from Guangxi Teacher's University, I have been worked as a teacher in the school, salesperson in the fiber optic Christmas trees company for years, worked in the travel service for more than 2 years, and I would like to offer tourists updated and useful information of new Guilin, help people who visit Guilin, I am sincere and warmhearted. I have guided tourists from countries and enjoy a very good reputation. You are assured that you are not taking any risk by using my service.
I would like to offer you the best services as follows:
Greeting you at the airport, train or bus station and make reservation at your request
Li river cruise tour. cormorant fishes, fantastic and colorful caves,
Longsheng dragon's backbone rice terraces,
Marvelous minorities shows, local souvenirs market and market day of town,
Climbing the highest mountain to see the panoramic view of Guilin,
Stay in a small, old village to enjoy the fresh air, quite, real countryside life. to see the
Explore Sanjiang wind and rain bridge ( Dong minority)
Yulong river bamboo boat rafting and to the water cave to take a special mud bath
Liu San Jie Lighthow on Li River
Riding bicycle to old villages to see real farmers life and talk with them
Learning to cook Chinese food in Yangshuo
Learning Chinese Qigong and Taiji.
Address: No. 3, Renmin Road, Guilin, China.
Tel: 86-773-5617058 Cellphone: 86-13086737586
Email: jadeleo66@yahoo.com
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