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Thread: need some advice

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[quote=ELLYSE                  ,34683]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/ForumHome). The atmosphere and crowd on each forum is slightly different. ThornTree mainly has independent travellers, VirtualTourist a mix of locals/expats and travellers (leisure or business) and TripAdvisor more up-market travellers who're more likely to go for organised tours, but also a smattering of independent travellers.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 ellyse99@yahoo.com 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. :)[/quote]

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