China tour

[Ezra]

Me and Mrs E are hoping to visit China next year and saw what looks like an interesting itinerary with a firm called Distant Journeys - their Very Best of China tour. We've used Titan in the past for a few tours and found them to be really good, but they don't seem to offer China.

So, before pulling the trigger with Distant Journeys, I was wondering if anyone here has any experience of using them, especially for any of their China tours.

Thanks very much!

[gotoPzero]

My in laws have done 5 or 6 with DJ.
They did the China one in September last year.

They enjoy it and they do plan on doing more with DJ.

There are options for shows and upgrades if you want. They look after your luggage etc from the departure point till you get back. Hotels are decent.

I have just come back from doing a DIY version of what they did and it was a challenge - they defo make it easy. Just having someone who can speak the language is a massive help - even in hotels.

The only thing I would say is at certain attractions you might actually have to wait longer to get in if you are in a tour group as in China most places have an individual line and a tour group line due to the way tickets are issued. We found our guide ( we did use a guide for a few days ) were able to use special little tricks which got us in and out a lot faster because we were only 2 people.

Also be aware that you will still need alipay and an esim etc sorted before you leave the UK. I think DJ offer sim cards but you will be behind the firewall.

[gotoPzero]

Oh the other thing to mention is its go-go-go with DJ. You need to be ready to go early doors, early breakfast and go. The coach is going without you or not. You will be back towards the early evening. I think they give you 1 or 2 rest days over a 3 week trip.

Its each to their own though, but I like to start my day no earlier than 10am. If you are ok with lots of early starts then it should be fine.

[Matt..]

I just got back from China (see my thread on it) and would say it’s way easier to travel and self book than I ever expected. I’d say to just self book it all. It’s easy. It’s a cheap place that’s really easy to get around and with amazingly good value hotels.

[Ezra]

gotoPzero said:

Oh the other thing to mention is its go-go-go with DJ. You need to be ready to go early doors, early breakfast and go. The coach is going without you or not. You will be back towards the early evening. I think they give you 1 or 2 rest days over a 3 week trip.

Its each to their own though, but I like to start my day no earlier than 10am. If you are ok with lots of early starts then it should be fine.

That's great, thanks - good tips. Good to hear the in-laws are repeat customers.

We quite like to early mornings, full on days tbh, as long as there's a free day every so often to catch your breath.

[Ezra]

Matt.. said:

I just got back from China (see my thread on it) and would say it s way easier to travel and self book than I ever expected. I d say to just self book it all. It s easy. It s a cheap place that s really easy to get around and with amazingly good value hotels.

Just read your thread - some really interesting stuff in there and great to hear all the actual experiences of everyone who commented/posted. Thanks for the suggestion....really appreciate it

[Matt..]

Ezra said:

Just read your thread - some really interesting stuff in there and great to hear all the actual experiences of everyone who commented/posted. Thanks for the suggestion....really appreciate it

We stayed in a number of 4 star inner city hotels for £20-£30/night and got upgraded often to much more expensive rooms. I assume you have more budget so could definitely get some great hotels if you self book. Take a look on Trip.com. Booking tickets for standard places also isn't too hard as that's almost all on Trip.com too, as is booking trains. If you go at peak times all this will be harder though as my experience is in May which isn't peak. We were paying ~£10/hour for taxis with Didi and took quite a few 2h+ rides, we also took a ride and then paid the driver to drive us around for half the day for an extra £30. If you wanted to stay away from coaches then it's easy to do and not expensive.

[gotoPzero]

Ezra said:

gotoPzero said:

Oh the other thing to mention is its go-go-go with DJ. You need to be ready to go early doors, early breakfast and go. The coach is going without you or not. You will be back towards the early evening. I think they give you 1 or 2 rest days over a 3 week trip.

Its each to their own though, but I like to start my day no earlier than 10am. If you are ok with lots of early starts then it should be fine.

That's great, thanks - good tips. Good to hear the in-laws are repeat customers.

We quite like to early mornings, full on days tbh, as long as there's a free day every so often to catch your breath.

Think they call them freedom days when you can do what you want. Also a lot of the evening stuff is optional.

If you like the set routine of a tour and you want to reduce the risks of any issues then a proper fully guided tour like DJ is worth it IMO. IIRC the in laws paid about £7-8k ppn for 3 weeks which is reasonable for what you get. Its not cheap - but its not a rip off either. We paid about 7k ppn for 24 days. We did fly business though they went economy.

Another option is a mix of self guided and then get a tour guide for the big ticket places. This is what we did and the extra c.$100 per day ppn to have a guide was worth it IMO. They know all the short cuts and the language barrier is zero as they are fluent in English. If you wanted a guide for Beijing or Xian let me know.

Dont underestimate the language barrier and whilst its generally not a difficult place to travel if you run into problems they can be difficult to resolve.

[Ezra]

Thanks Matt.. and gotoPzero - great info. The tour we're looking at is about £5k ppn for 24 days, incl economy flights with Emirates. Seems great value, considering the accommodation and what's included with the guides, entrance fees, food etc.

I think we'll get this booked. I've been to HK a few times, but not mainland China. My wife's been to Beijing, Xi'an and Chengdu a good 15 years ago, so she'll see these again after probably a lot of change.

Got to get to grips with Alipay and WeChat now

[Matt..]

Ezra said:

Got to get to grips with Alipay and WeChat now

That’s probably the number one challenge with China travel right now. I’d definitely suggest multiple cards and both of you setting up the apps for backup. We had a significant number of issues and I’m very glad both of us had the apps and multiple cards. We never used any cash.

[gotoPzero]

Ezra said:

Thanks Matt.. and gotoPzero - great info. The tour we're looking at is about £5k ppn for 24 days, incl economy flights with Emirates. Seems great value, considering the accommodation and what's included with the guides, entrance fees, food etc.

I think we'll get this booked. I've been to HK a few times, but not mainland China. My wife's been to Beijing, Xi'an and Chengdu a good 15 years ago, so she'll see these again after probably a lot of change.

Got to get to grips with Alipay and WeChat now

Thats likely the same trip the F/MIL took. They upgraded for the boat trip IIRC and then did all the shows and extras.

I suspect you can visit China every 2-3 years and see big change so in 15 years its going to be very different. Xian on the south side will be totally different as in fields vs city!

On payments, just set your self up as best as you can before you go. Ring your card providers and tell them. Do a test payment, will cost you 50p ish but its worth it to check it actually works.

Alipay is fairly easy to get, Wechat really is hit or miss if they even allow you to have it. I got it ok but my wife was rejected for no reason at all.

You can withdraw cash from most cash machines inside the big banks like CCB or China Bank if you have issues.

In the end mine worked ok (the occasional rejected payment) on both Wechat and alipay. My wifes Alipay stopped working as her forex free travel card that she uses was blocked by the bank about a week in. The only way to unblock it was via the app, which she was also blocked from.... we spent ages on the phone trying to sort it out but in the end gave up. My cards all worked ok. Chip and pin works fine in the big hotels etc although on a tour its all sorted for you.

Its advisable to carry 500RMB in cash tbh. Then just spend it on your last couple of days.

[Matt..]

gotoPzero said:

Its advisable to carry 500RMB in cash tbh. Then just spend it on your last couple of days.

Why would you say that? In three weeks I had zero need for cash. I guess the only real reason is for payment issues with AliPay/WeChat but with two people that risk is reduced a lot.

[K50 DEL]

Matt.. said:

gotoPzero said:

Its advisable to carry 500RMB in cash tbh. Then just spend it on your last couple of days.

Why would you say that? In three weeks I had zero need for cash. I guess the only real reason is for payment issues with AliPay/WeChat but with two people that risk is reduced a lot.

Surely the safest thing would be to forget about cards / apps completely and just do everything in cash.
I've been to a few "lesser travelled" spots in the World and never ever had an issue with US$ cash

[No-More-Nights]

Matt.. said:

I just got back from China (see my thread on it) and would say it s way easier to travel and self book than I ever expected. I d say to just self book it all. It s easy. It s a cheap place that s really easy to get around and with amazingly good value hotels.

Echo this 100%.

Its not hard at all booking trains and hotels.
Ctrip is amazing.

[Matt..]

K50 DEL said:

Surely the safest thing would be to forget about cards / apps completely and just do everything in cash.
I've been to a few "lesser travelled" spots in the World and never ever had an issue with US$ cash

China is mostly cashless. Yes you probably can do cash, but it's way easier not to. Everywhere wants AliPay. It's really easy once it's setup and working and you can pay anyone and take payments fairly quickly (though Apply Pay at home is much faster for paying).

[ffc]

Some friends used DJ for a new zealand tour earlier this year at the same time we were there with intrepid. DJ tour had interesting extras (stopover that were good value). DJ tour was a bigger group (30ish vs 14), DJ visited fewer places but stopped for longer in each one which mean fewer 1 night stops with the attendant packing upacking hassle.

They really enjoyed their experience and would recommend. We prefer smaller groups and nore locations. There's a lot of choice out there to fit most requirements.

[gotoPzero]

Matt.. said:

gotoPzero said:

Its advisable to carry 500RMB in cash tbh. Then just spend it on your last couple of days.

Why would you say that? In three weeks I had zero need for cash. I guess the only real reason is for payment issues with AliPay/WeChat but with two people that risk is reduced a lot.

There is never a need for cash in the modern world but having access to a small quantity is just insurance. I know you prefer to wing it, I followed your thread.

I personally never travel without c.$100USD and similar in local currency. $100 will get you out of a lot of trouble in many places. (or into it!)

Cash is broadly accepted in China, its just not used much.

If your middle name is Danger then roll with cards only - but dipping into an ATM to grab £50 worth of RMB on a 3 week trip is probably a good idea.

[gotoPzero]

K50 DEL said:

Surely the safest thing would be to forget about cards / apps completely and just do everything in cash.
I've been to a few "lesser travelled" spots in the World and never ever had an issue with US$ cash

The main reason for Alipay / Wechat / Didi is just convenience and also so many businesses are geared up to use this as their primary customer UI.

The vast majority of restaurants will use QR codes to order and pay - which breaks out your Alipay etc into their mini app.

Could you order without using a QR code, probably - but you are going to need to speak Chinese and also take a risk on what you are getting. Intestine hot pot anyone? The QR code menus usually come with photos and will be in English.