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#1
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Travelling to china
Hi,
My husband and I would like to go to China. We are coming from Chicago. We are interested in visiting Beijing, xian, Shanghai and if possible, going to Lhasha. I've been researching on the internet and TRAVEL CHINA GUIDE seems to offer the best options in terms of price and itinerary. I've been trying to find some unbiased reviews of the tour company, but all the reviews are positive. It makes me wonder if it's a really great tour group, or if people aren't reporting. Can anyone recommend a tour group? thanks. |
#2
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Travelling to china
On Sep 3, 9:39 am, Sharon wrote:
Hi, My husband and I would like to go to China. We are coming from Chicago. We are interested in visiting Beijing, xian, Shanghai and if possible, going to Lhasha. I've been researching on the internet and TRAVEL CHINA GUIDE seems to offer the best options in terms of price and itinerary. I've been trying to find some unbiased reviews of the tour company, but all the reviews are positive. It makes me wonder if it's a really great tour group, or if people aren't reporting. Can anyone recommend a tour group? thanks. there are a number of them. i would go to a travel agent in Chinatown and check out some of their offerings. |
#3
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Travelling to china
On Sep 3, 2:19 pm, PeterL wrote:
there are a number of them. i would go to a travel agent in Chinatown and check out some of their offerings. Do they still have different tours/prices for foreign tourists, overseas Chinese, returning Chinese, and local Chinese? If so, going through a Chinatown travel agent might get you into a tour for the second or third category. The prices may be lower, but the qaulity of the tour/accomodations/service will be poorer, and your tour guide may only speak Mandarin. Most Americans would probably prefer amenities like showers and Western-style toilets. I know a Chinese man who returned as a tourist with his American Caucasion wife. They went to see the Great Wall. He thought he was pretty clever saving money when he went there as a returning Chinese while she had to pay more as a froeign tourist. One difference was that her line to get in was less than five minutes long, while his took almost an hour. After that, he decided to pay the higher fees as a foreigner. |
#4
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Travelling to china
On Sep 3, 3:34 pm, " wrote:
On Sep 3, 2:19 pm, PeterL wrote: there are a number of them. i would go to a travel agent in Chinatown and check out some of their offerings. Do they still have different tours/prices for foreign tourists, overseas Chinese, returning Chinese, and local Chinese? If so, going through a Chinatown travel agent might get you into a tour for the second or third category. The prices may be lower, but the qaulity of the tour/accomodations/service will be poorer, and your tour guide may only speak Mandarin. Most Americans would probably prefer amenities like showers and Western-style toilets. You are still stuck in the last century. The world has passed you by. The only true statement you have there is that you may encounter a mandarin speaking tour guide. However the agents will be most happy to guide the OP to an English speaking tour. They also still have different pricing. But as part of a tour that don't apply. I know a Chinese man who returned as a tourist with his American Caucasion wife. They went to see the Great Wall. He thought he was pretty clever saving money when he went there as a returning Chinese while she had to pay more as a froeign tourist. One difference was that her line to get in was less than five minutes long, while his took almost an hour. After that, he decided to pay the higher fees as a foreigner. |
#5
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Travelling to china
"PeterL" wrote in message oups.com... On Sep 3, 3:34 pm, " wrote: On Sep 3, 2:19 pm, PeterL wrote: there are a number of them. i would go to a travel agent in Chinatown and check out some of their offerings. Do they still have different tours/prices for foreign tourists, overseas Chinese, returning Chinese, and local Chinese? If so, going through a Chinatown travel agent might get you into a tour for the second or third category. The prices may be lower, but the qaulity of the tour/accomodations/service will be poorer, and your tour guide may only speak Mandarin. Most Americans would probably prefer amenities like showers and Western-style toilets. You are still stuck in the last century. The world has passed you by. The only true statement you have there is that you may encounter a mandarin speaking tour guide. Simply refuting the guy's statement without any explanation counts for noting. This is usenet. We don't know who you are and have no way of evaluating whether your claim is better than the other guys. Anyone could come along here and claim that someone else's post is false, this doesn't make it so! Are you saying that this low standard of facility does not exist or that the agents in chinatown don't have differential tours for different categories of customer, or soemthing else? However the agents will be most happy to guide the OP to an English speaking tour. At some cost no doubt. They also still have different pricing. But as part of a tour that don't apply. It will if the whole tour has been booked based upon a lower standard of facilities. I know a Chinese man who returned as a tourist with his American Caucasion wife. They went to see the Great Wall. He thought he was pretty clever saving money when he went there as a returning Chinese while she had to pay more as a froeign tourist. One difference was that her line to get in was less than five minutes long, while his took almost an hour. After that, he decided to pay the higher fees as a foreigner. However, I don't recognise this example. When I went to the wall there were no substantial queues, either to buy a ticket or to get in once you had bought it. FWIW the wall is the only thing that I did with a tour and the agent bought the tickets, but all of the other places that I went to I bought my own tickets. There were no queues there either. tim |
#6
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Travelling to china
On Sep 4, 1:20 am, "tim....." wrote:
"PeterL" wrote in message oups.com... On Sep 3, 3:34 pm, " wrote: On Sep 3, 2:19 pm, PeterL wrote: there are a number of them. i would go to a travel agent in Chinatown and check out some of their offerings. Do they still have different tours/prices for foreign tourists, overseas Chinese, returning Chinese, and local Chinese? If so, going through a Chinatown travel agent might get you into a tour for the second or third category. The prices may be lower, but the qaulity of the tour/accomodations/service will be poorer, and your tour guide may only speak Mandarin. Most Americans would probably prefer amenities like showers and Western-style toilets. You are still stuck in the last century. The world has passed you by. The only true statement you have there is that you may encounter a mandarin speaking tour guide. Simply refuting the guy's statement without any explanation counts for noting. This is usenet. We don't know who you are and have no way of evaluating whether your claim is better than the other guys. Anyone could come along here and claim that someone else's post is false, this doesn't make it so! Just like you. Are you saying that this low standard of facility does not exist or that the agents in chinatown don't have differential tours for different categories of customer, or soemthing else? Agents in chinatown do have different tours for different categories of customer. But the standards of most tour groups should be OK. However the agents will be most happy to guide the OP to an English speaking tour. At some cost no doubt. Agents do have to make a living somehow. They also still have different pricing. But as part of a tour that don't apply. It will if the whole tour has been booked based upon a lower standard of facilities. Group tours would've purchased entries to the attractions. So individual tour members don't have to pay and worry about differential pricing. I know a Chinese man who returned as a tourist with his American Caucasion wife. They went to see the Great Wall. He thought he was pretty clever saving money when he went there as a returning Chinese while she had to pay more as a froeign tourist. One difference was that her line to get in was less than five minutes long, while his took almost an hour. After that, he decided to pay the higher fees as a foreigner. However, I don't recognise this example. When I went to the wall there were no substantial queues, either to buy a ticket or to get in once you had bought it. FWIW the wall is the only thing that I did with a tour and the agent bought the tickets, but all of the other places that I went to I bought my own tickets. There were no queues there either. So you say. But this is usenet. How do we know it's true? tim- |
#7
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Travelling to china
On Sep 4, 8:26 am, PeterL wrote:
Agents in chinatown do have different tours for different categories of customer. Thank you for the confirmation. If the OP follows your advice, she should tell the TA which of these kinds of tours she wants (if she is even eligible), just so she too does not unexpectedly get stuck in the last century. Most westerners should probably avoid the bargain tours that are advertised only on the xeroxed flyers and written mostly in Chinese. So you say. But this is usenet. How do we know it's true? I believe both tim and my friend. While foreign tourists may come and go in a seasonal cycle, the number of local Chinese at the tourist sites is probably affected by the weather, work week, and local holidays. |
#8
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Travelling to china
"PeterL" wrote in message ups.com... On Sep 4, 1:20 am, "tim....." wrote: "PeterL" wrote in message oups.com... On Sep 3, 3:34 pm, " wrote: On Sep 3, 2:19 pm, PeterL wrote: there are a number of them. i would go to a travel agent in Chinatown and check out some of their offerings. Do they still have different tours/prices for foreign tourists, overseas Chinese, returning Chinese, and local Chinese? If so, going through a Chinatown travel agent might get you into a tour for the second or third category. The prices may be lower, but the qaulity of the tour/accomodations/service will be poorer, and your tour guide may only speak Mandarin. Most Americans would probably prefer amenities like showers and Western-style toilets. You are still stuck in the last century. The world has passed you by. The only true statement you have there is that you may encounter a mandarin speaking tour guide. Simply refuting the guy's statement without any explanation counts for noting. This is usenet. We don't know who you are and have no way of evaluating whether your claim is better than the other guys. Anyone could come along here and claim that someone else's post is false, this doesn't make it so! Just like you. Agreed, but I didn't says, "the other poster was wrong" and expect to be believed. Are you saying that this low standard of facility does not exist or that the agents in chinatown don't have differential tours for different categories of customer, or soemthing else? Agents in chinatown do have different tours for different categories of customer. But the standards of most tour groups should be OK. So from saying that it's impossible for the standard to be low, it now "should be OK"! However the agents will be most happy to guide the OP to an English speaking tour. At some cost no doubt. Agents do have to make a living somehow. The point is that this 'special' will cost considerable more than booking the right included tour in the firts place. They also still have different pricing. But as part of a tour that don't apply. It will if the whole tour has been booked based upon a lower standard of facilities. Group tours would've purchased entries to the attractions. So individual tour members don't have to pay and worry about differential pricing. I had assumed (perhaps wrongly) that the differential pricing was that which applied to accomodation. I never encountered differential pricing for attractons. I know a Chinese man who returned as a tourist with his American Caucasion wife. They went to see the Great Wall. He thought he was pretty clever saving money when he went there as a returning Chinese while she had to pay more as a froeign tourist. One difference was that her line to get in was less than five minutes long, while his took almost an hour. After that, he decided to pay the higher fees as a foreigner. However, I don't recognise this example. When I went to the wall there were no substantial queues, either to buy a ticket or to get in once you had bought it. FWIW the wall is the only thing that I did with a tour and the agent bought the tickets, but all of the other places that I went to I bought my own tickets. There were no queues there either. So you say. But this is usenet. How do we know it's true? You don't, but at least I gave enough infomation for someone to single out the part that they might disagree (or agree) with. I didn't just say "that was wrong"! tim |
#9
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Travelling to china
wrote in message ps.com... On Sep 4, 8:26 am, PeterL wrote: Agents in chinatown do have different tours for different categories of customer. Thank you for the confirmation. If the OP follows your advice, she should tell the TA which of these kinds of tours she wants (if she is even eligible), just so she too does not unexpectedly get stuck in the last century. Most westerners should probably avoid the bargain tours that are advertised only on the xeroxed flyers and written mostly in Chinese. So you say. But this is usenet. How do we know it's true? I believe both tim and my friend. While foreign tourists may come and go in a seasonal cycle, the number of local Chinese at the tourist sites is probably affected by the weather, work week, and local holidays. Golden weeks! Apparently you can't move during them tim |
#10
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Travelling to china
On Sep 4, 9:28 am, "tim....." wrote:
I never encountered differential pricing for attractons. I read an article in the travel section of the Sunday paper. The writer said that, when he was riding a bus in a poor country, he was charged more than the locals for a bottle of soda. He went on to describe his subsequent feeling of guilt over his act of petty revenge (not returning the empty bottle) after he realized that he was getting upset over a differential of less than US$0.20. On reflection, he said he should not have begrudged the poor street vendor of that small amount of money. |
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