| need some advice | |
|---|---|
| Dec 1, 2006 18:27 |   |
 | I am travelling to China alone in April. I am 60 year old male. i do not want to take an organized tour. I am planning to just fly to beijing and then purchase air tickets when I am in Chiana to other cities like Shanghai. A silly question perhaps, but is this fesible? I am English speaking only. Duration of about three weeks. Any advice or guidance would be appreciated. |
| Dec 1, 2006 20:25 | #1 |
| Have you considered using ChinattravelGuide services? See the home page: you will find a link to private and small group tours. I also like to be independent, but to be honest if you don't speak Chinese (as I don't) I think you'd enjoy the experience more in a small group. Otherwise, yes it is feasible to go it alone as you suggest. |
| Dec 1, 2006 21:07 | #2 |
| Hi Jedward, Yes,it is feasible to travel around China by yourself.You could buy air ticket when you are in Beijing.I think my friend Michael could help you in Beijing.I suggest that you might go this route: Beijing-Xian-Chongqing-Yichang-Shanghai. Cheers! |
| Dec 2, 2006 21:34 | #3 |
| Jedward, I'm 60 something myself. In April of 2006 I traveled to China alone myself for almost a month with no itinerary. I flew into Beijing, spent a couple of days, didn't care for the polution and temperature and decided to head for the south of China. Flew to Guilin and caught a boat to Yangshuo where I spent five days, met some European travelers and headed for DaLi, Lijiang, and Chengdu. I found this a good itinerary for exploring China. Let me know if you need more info. My concerns were being able to access ATMs for cash--no problem and being able to navigate public transportation==also no problem. Greg |
| Dec 3, 2006 19:34 | #4 |
| Hi,Jedward, Welcome to Beijing,and it's feasible to travel yourself! There are both english and chinese in most places in the big city! Good luck! |
| Dec 5, 2006 01:33 | #5 |
| I'd recommend doing up at least the flight and hotel arrangements so that you'll have a better idea of what to expect on your trip. This's similar to a free-and-easy package where you then have the option of exploring and sightseeing on your own without the encumberance of a tour group. I've helped many travellers with similar requests, most recently hotel and flight bookings for a couple doing Beijing--Xi'an--Chengdu--Shanghai, and they've really enjoyed their trip, no less thanks to my recommendations. In case you're wondering, no, I'm not a tour agent. I'm studying in Shanghai and have also travelled extensively in China. My recommendations are definitely in the best interests of the travellers who ask me for help, no biasedness to any establishments who give kickbacks, I don't get any! If you want recommendations for an itinerary, it'd be good to tell us what are your sightseeing interests and preferences ie what you are more interested in seeing/doing/experiencing on this trip. One man's meat is easily another's poison. I don't believe in giving standard itineraries to all and sundry as each traveller is unique and deserves to be treated accordingly. Reading a guidebook (eg Lonely Planet, Rough Guide, Let's Go) would be a good way to start, reading online also helps. Lonely Planet has a good travel forum at http://thorntree.lonelyplanet.com and China is covered on the North-East Asia branch. Two other good ones to try would be VirtualTourist (http://forum.virtualtourist.com) and TripAdvisor (http://www.tripadvisor.com/ As for the language barrier, a phrasebook helps a lot -- Rough's Guide Mandarin is recommended. You could also bring a book with pictures of common things/requests that you could point to. A smile and lots of patience goes a long way, don't be afraid to be assertive if it's called for though. Feel free to email me at yahoo.com|ellyse99 if you'd like more detailed info or help, I've helped a lot of travellers coming to China and always happy to help more. Please include "TravelChinaGuide JEDWARD" in the subject line so that I don't junk your email by mistake, thanks. :)  |
| Dec 9, 2006 08:11 | #6 |
| Hello, this is Catherine, a nice girl who can offer you a wonderful plan of trip here in Beijing. I am an experienced tour-guide with certification. What I can do for you is to take you to see all must see of sights in Beijing, such as TianAnmen Square, Forbidden City, Summer Palace, Great Wall, The Temple of Heaven. Besides the sight-seeing, I can take you to go shopping with barging of all kinds of stuffs. Further more I can help you to order Chinese dishes, which are very diversified and delicious, but very cheap comparing with the western food. Upon that, I can also arrange a nice car for you if you want and pick you up in the airport, book a hotel for you. All in all, I can be your tour-guide, translator and even your friend. I can adjust your journey according to how many days you plan to stay here. Time would be flexible and in the meanwhile you will have a wonderful time with me. My contacts are e-mail: hotmail.com|catherine_1130 MB: 86-1086384400 and 13810667723 I have many photos that were taken during tour with my clients, pls check "http://catherine1130.spaces.live.com/Photos/fakehandlerpage.aspx?owner=1" and you can better understand me. |
| Dec 11, 2006 20:28 | #7 |
| don't worry, in big city you can always find english speaking Chinese, ask them for help and they're all friendly to you. warm-hearted people everywhere in China! |
Post a Reply to: need some advice
Copyright © 1998-2024 All rights reserved.