| Tell Others Your Travel Traps here! | |
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| Jul 19, 2007 22:45 | #31   |
 | sorry...i also wand to know the comments on Lijiang (northwest Yunnan) ....everyone you have been Lijiang?...can you tall me something about here? thank a lot !! |
| Aug 12, 2007 10:00 | #32 |
| New one.... Beijing. Those cyclo, pedicab drivers.... Ws told 3 yuan to go from tiananmen to Gulou. Guy switched drivers and then tells me that he meant 300 and not 3. I told him where he could stick it. Guy gets all mad and when I suggest the police can help he gets beligerent. I cordially explain that he is getting the 3 rmb agreed upon. He gets angry. He got the idea when I stood up and he realized I had 50 lbs and a good 6 inches on him. Be warned. Don't switch drivers. |
| Aug 17, 2007 09:07 | #33 |
| In Liuzhou, Guanxi I was having trouble getting into a low priced hotel...it's a we don't like cheap foreigners town. I found some 'cheap' hotels in a side street and was shown a room in one..80 rmb was about 20 over the going rate, but I agreed to pay. I handed over 100rmb and then was asked to go and fill out rego at another place a few doors away...I assumed it was just to do with the no foreigners rule, but then they showed me to a room in that hotel, it was not as good of course. Needless to say I said no, I would rather catch a train out of town. So I demanded my money back which I got without too much hassle actually...tho if I was ready to mention 'police' which I figured would get them to pay up as they surely were not registered for foreigners. Finally found a place for 80 rmb which has Party material on the walls upstairs... is this why they can take me???? Party doesn't want competition??? |
| Sep 3, 2007 03:26 | #34 |
| [I don't mean to offend anyone, but just curious about your opinions on these two articles. Which one do you think is reasonalbe? Which one is trustworthy?] Nightmare Tour of China Leads to Guidance on Picking a Tour Company. by Madelyn Miller (Source: http://www.frugalfun.com/ Your impressions of a country are very much influenced by your tour leader—they are your information source, your focal point and probably your first contact in the country you are visiting. So on a recent tour of China organized by Regent Tours, I felt very sorry for the 38 participants who paid for a luxury tour and got something below bargain basement quality and service. I had been to China before and fell in love with the country and people--so I was eager to return. I had stayed at Shangri-la Hotels and experienced China hospitality at its best. The food was wonderful, the culture enticing and the people seemed eager to share their culture. Maybe the problem with my Regent Tour was that they only had one guide, Ying, for nearly forty people. And his English could have been better. His best credential seemed to be that he was the brother of the tour company owner. (So who are you supposed to complain to if there is a problem?) Ying seemed overwhelmed with handling over 30 senior citizens. He did not seem sympathetic to their need for bathroom breaks or a rest after long walks in the heat. Each day he started the tour with a "prayer" for serenity and suggested you accept what you get in life. To me it seemed like a statement that no complaints would be tolerated; you needed to put up and shut up. |
| Sep 3, 2007 03:27 | #35 |
| On the first day, after leaving the bus to go to Tiennamen Square, we walked several blocks before Ying asked if anyone wanted to go to a bathroom. Many people did, so he directed them back to a bathroom where thevy were charged three dollars US for the privilege. A few tour participants were smart enough to "negotiate" down to a dollar for the potty privilege. But wouldn't it have been gracious of the tour leader to walk them back and negotiate a group price? The Regent tour supposedly used 5 star hotels yet only two of them were even listed in the five guidebooks I checked. At these "five star hotels," you could not get more than one clean towel a day without begging the hotel. At the King Wing Hot Spring Hotel in Beijing it took four calls to housekeeping and the manager to get a second clean towel for a second shower after a hot day of touring. "Tomorrow" they said. And "you have towels." It was true. We had towels. But they were wet and dirty. Later, a local person explained to me that the signs in the lobby of each hotel with five stars did not mean that was their international rating. It merely meant they were a member of a professional organization much like a chamber of commerce. All the meals were supposedly included the Regent Tours China tour. Yet, after the orientation, suddenly dinners in Hong Kong were not included. And one day we had a "picnic" at the Summer Palace in Beijing. Nice idea, great concept. But the picnic for 38 included one loaf of unsliced bread, crackers, bananas, lychee fruit, 12 cookies, and some fish sausage which almost no one except the guide ate. He claimed he had also bought yogurt and chicken sausages, but he left them in his car. (Perhaps if he had an assistant, they could have retrieved them or bought more.) One night we begged him to change the schedule so we would be able to climb the Great Wall in the morning when it was cooler. He reassured our entire table of 8 that he would do so. Yet when we got back on the bus, he had reverted to "his" original schedule. Each day, we hoped to return to the hotel to shower and relax before dinner. Yet Ying always decided to go directly on to dinner. Everyone was hot, tired, and sweaty. Maybe this sounds like too democratic a suggestion, but maybe we could have voted to see if the group would rather return to the hotel to rest before dinner or not. Actually, the most interesting thing I discovered on this trip was what it must be like to live in a Communist country where all information is controlled by a central source. Our guide would tell us plans were changed because the government wanted to use a certain hall and we had to come another day. Why did the government only give him 24 hours notice? Does this happen to other tourists? And how could we check? He claimed we could not go to the Great Wall in the morning because the road only went one way and then we would miss the Cloisonné Factory (which I call a guide store). |
| Sep 3, 2007 03:28 | #36 |
| Ying did excel at finding what I call "guide stores," overpriced outlets that obviously paid him a commission. He took us to these "factories" first thing in the morning and never rushed us. In fact, our very first stop the very first morning was at a pearl factory where my eager group spent several thousand dollars. He must have been thrilled, as he added in some more factories to our schedule. We were ushered into such a factory at least once a day. By the second pearl factory, the group was ready to rebel, and many resisted even going in. When a few tour members began to buy things from vendors, Ying gave a stern lecture on the street vendors and how they cheat you. He warned us against buying from them. I could understand his concern. The vendor prices were unbelievably cheap—as cheap as everyone had hoped and dreamed they would be. One tour member bought 30 silk ties for $5 total. At the airport, as we left Beijing, Ying passed out a map to each group member. Why, I wondered, had he waited until we left? His parting words were that transfers would be taken care of in each city. But that did not happen. Our transfers involved mostly senior citizens, some with canes, bad backs and knee replacements claiming their luggage and then lugging it downstairs, across airports and then on a few blocks to the bus in the parking lot. Why couldn't the bus at least come to us? Or why didn't a team of baggage handlers handle the baggage as promised? We noticed the baggage of other tour groups pulled and neatly gathered for transport to their hotels. And once we got to our hotels there were often long waits for them to unpack the bus and deliver the bags to the rooms. We once waited over six hours, and had another dinner in sweaty, dirty clothes. The service and amenities actually seemed to decrease as the trip progressed. In the brochures it said that all beverages (water, beer and soft drinks) were included. But by our second city, they began charging if you had more than one glass of water. We were also promised water on all the buses but as we left Shanghi they were out of water, and when we arrived in Guilon they still had not provided water. A total of seven hours without water available. Tough for people who already had upset stomachs and were a little dehydrated. Meals were another issue for most people. The meals were boringly repetitive, as if someone had merely sent the same menu on to each restaurant. And although the brochure said we would eat in local restaurants the tourists did not usually go to, each restaurant had large parking lots for tour buses, and people seemed to enter in groups with tour badges on. |
| Sep 3, 2007 03:31 | #37 |
| Having dined at some of the best restaurants in China, I know how wonderful the food can be. And I am sorry that my fellow travelers did not have this experience. It is hard to believe that it was statistically possible to have had almost the exact same meal twice a day for so many days. In Guillon, where we stayed for only two days, we ate at the same restaurant twice in 36 hours. The meals and restaurants might have been chosen based on cost. We had lots of bones and very little protein in our meals. Sometimes we had potatoes in a casserole, French fries (is this native Chinese food?) and another potato dish. One day, six out of eight people at my lunch table had brought food from breakfast wrapped in napkins to lunch. The hotels started charging extra for breakfast boxes so people could take food with them. Even though people claimed to be hungry at meals, they did not eat much of the food served from the lazy Susans that revolved in the center of each table. In Hong Kong, a culinary capital, they took us to the same restaurant twice in a short two-day trip. What could there be that make it so good except the price? To me, that was an ominous sign. I skipped both those meals.The cheaper late night flight to Hong Kong that we were booked on was delayed and we arrived at 2AM. The only thing open besides our hotel was the sex shop across the street. But by that time all anyone could think of was a cold shower. But the absolute worst thing that happened was one hot, sweaty afternoon when several older people decided not to climb into the cave in Guillon. Five people were locked in the bus with the air-conditioning turned off and could not get the driver's attention. No air, no bathroom and no way out for 90 minutes. Imagine if someone had a heatstroke, turista, or worse? WHAT TO DO BEFORE YOU SEND YOUR CHECK IN TO A TOUR COMPANY Find out what hotels will be used. Check out the hotels in a guidebook. Ask to talk to people who have done the tour recently. Ideally get a list. Try to get a firm schedule. If the tour company waffles, that is a clue. Find out how many tour leaders will be assisting the number of people on your group. If you are traveling with a group coordinated by an organization, find out who actually experienced the tour and ask them a few questions. If your leader has not been there, double-check everything yourself. Ask for an 800 number or alternate contact to notify if you have a problem while on the tour. BOOK TO READ BEFORE YOU GO ON A TOUR Bags Out At Seven: A Tale of Too Many Cities by Robert Globerman (Highbridge Press, $16.95 list price) |
| Sep 3, 2007 03:34 | #38 |
| [Regent Tours offered a rebuttal at http://www.frugalfun.com/ ... Let us examine Miller's criticisms one by one to provide an honest response and give as fair measure as possible to her claims. "Maybe the problem with my Regent Tour was that they only had one guide, Ying (sic) for forty people. And his English could have been better. His best credential seemed to be that he was the brother of the tour companyowner. (So who are you supposed to complain to if there is a problem?) Ying seemed overwhelmed with handling 40 senior citizens. He did not seem sympathetic to their need for bathroom breaks or a rest after long walks in the heat. Each day he started the tour with a "prayer" for serenity and suggested you accept what you get in life. To me it seemed like a statement that no complaints would be tolerated, you needed to put up and shut up." I was baffled when I read this description of Regent's guide and Director of the Beijing office, Shuo Yin, who is universally loved and lauded by travelers on our tours. Yin is virtually a legend in Regent history, an individual of whom we could probably compile a book of loving remarks from our travelers. Of all the individuals Miller could have criticized, her criticism of Yin shows the bias from which she speaks. Yin's Prayer for Serenity opens the daily tours on Regent. It is not only a beautiful statement, it has been requested each day by members of every tour group I've experienced in China and is spoken of with reverence from many of our travelers. This is the full "prayer:" Let all things be healthy Let all things be peaceful Be sure to count your blessings at least once a day Forgive those who hurt you and those who have offended you But first forgive yourself for what you have done And what you have failed to do. That which is done there's no need to speak of That which is past there's no need to blame. Have self-control, self-knowledge, self-respect The courage to dare Be tranquil, the light of intelligence will shine. Strive to make a spot where you stand beautiful Then the beauty and harmony will follow you in all your ways and Through all your days On this splendid land of China Amen. |
| Sep 3, 2007 03:35 | #39 |
| This statement has been reprinted in church bulletins, copied on travelers' websites, and used in a variety of spiritual services created by Regent travelers. Perhaps whatever Ms. Miller saw in this simple prayer may be a projection of her own critical nature and personality. If she can criticize a simple, heartfelt prayer such as this, as well as one of the most popular and praised individuals in China's tour industry, it is not difficult to understand her comments overall. Not only does Yin regularly lead Regent's groups of as many as 100 people, he also leads groups from IBM and Motorola on a continuous basis and is one of the most sought after guides in China. He has endless energy and is a constant source of stories and information. He is a fluent and outstanding speaker in English. (I might mention that Miller could use a little assistance in this department herself. Her spelling of both English and Chinese throughout her review is fraught with errors.) He observes every person in every group and attends to each one individually. He is funny, charming, and personable. Yin, along with all of the other Regent guides, has led a fascinating life in China. If you ask him about himself, he will share deeply touching stories of his life and his experiences. Miller's statement that Yin was "overwhelmed" with 38 people is at best laughable. Her comment that there was only one guide for this tour is also strikingly inaccurate. Regent's Beijing guide Millie Hou joined the tour to the Great Wall while Miller chose to be absent. Millie oversaw airline transfers and special daily requirements in meals (This group required that no pork or shellfish be served.), Sabbath services, and hotel needs. She was on hand at the hotel daily to assist travelers with any of their concerns. This tour further included the participation of a Chinese Judaic scholar as national guide throughout, as well as local guides in Xi'an, Guilin, Shanghai, Suzhou, and Hong Kong, in addition to an Israeli guide in Shanghai throughout the Jewish areas of the tour. Additionally, the group had its own bus and driver in every city as well as luggage handlers at every airport and hotel. Thus, this group had eight guides in addition to six drivers and a luggage assistance staff of two to three individuals at each hotel! |
| Sep 3, 2007 03:37 | #40 |
| "The food at the Western-style hotels where I had contacts was wonderful. The Chinese meals on the tour were so bad I lost more weight than I would at a spa (they should consider that as a marketing tool)." One's preferences regarding food are personal and vary from individual to individual. You have just read Miller's comments. Here are just a few comments about the same food from other Regent Tour travelers ... "Excellent! " ~Jacquelene Rueckert "It was all delicious!" ~Suzie Golden "Superb, all the restaurant choices were excellent," ~Patrick Neas "Excellent restaurant for breakfast each morning. Unusual and tasty selections at all restaurants. The wait staff have all been extremely polite and thoughtful." ~Sally Wunsch "Terrific! - Enjoyed the many choices .." ~Marcy Harris "Interesting, tasty, plentiful. Having water available ALWAYS was wonderful. * * * * * FIVE STARS . " ~Anne & Michael Deitz Every one of the restaurants used by Regent China Tours is among the highest rated restaurants in each city, providing some 15 to 20 dishes from which to choose at each meal. It should be noted that without any food included in this tour, its price would still be considerably less than most similar tours from other agencies. If individuals desire to experience other food during their travel, we encourage them to enjoy an occasional meal on their own at other locations. In China, restaurants must be selected with care. Not all restaurants handle a tourist clientele and may serve food and water that will make the tourist ill. The government will not approve any restaurant that is unsafe for tourists. While there is nothing "wrong" with this food, its preparation is less than sterile and its bacteria content can cause serious health problems for the traveler. Regent Tours chooses only the safest and most well-liked restaurants in each city, constantly re-evaluating these restaurants based on tourist comments, and selecting the most popular ones. |
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