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Camping and Self-catering Organizations

Camping in the casual way is usually not feasible in China, because of the lack of cultivatable land. Exceptions may be found in the wide empty provinces in the border part of China. There are no opportunities for self-catering vacations.

Group Travel

The simplest and most comfortable way of traveling to China at a reasonable price is in a group. Participants will have their passage, hotel accommodation and meals, and sightseeing program booked in advance. There are hardly any additional costs apart from drinks and shopping. Sometimes, additional excursions may be on offer once you have arrived, but they are generally not too costly. Some places charge for taking photographs.

The local tour guide is supplied by the Chinese tourist office and is in charge of taking you to the sights. Specialists will have better knowledge of places of special interest when planning a particular route. Also, the pitfalls of a journey through China have increased rather than diminished in recent years; an experienced tour operator can avoid many difficulties.

Another decisive factor for a successful group trip is the tour guide. While each group with more than ten participants is allocated a permanent Chinese guide in addition to the local guides, their qualifications vary considerably, both in terms of organizing the trip and in their knowledge of the country and its sights, and their ability to communicate. The importance of the guide employed by the tour operator shouldn't be underestimated.

A number of tour operators now offer trips around a theme as well as the traditional routes. A few offer courses in shadow boxing, calligraphy, or acupuncture. Some even offer language courses.

Individual Travel

There are three ways of traveling in China for the individual traveler. The most comfortable, and of course, most expensive way, is to book a full package tour through an experienced travel agent. Everything is pre-booked, including flights and journeys, accommodation, meals, and transfers, with the difference that the traveler can choose a route according to preference. The same is the case for sightseeing: a guide from a China travel agency is available in each town and will help with putting together and arranging a sightseeing program.

The second possibility is booking a mini-package tour. The agent pre-books flights, accommodation with breakfast, transfers, and transport of luggage in China while the traveler is responsible for organizing sightseeing. The traveler is met at the airport or railway station of each town and taken to the hotel. Each hotel has a travel agency counter, where you can discuss your plans for sightseeing and have them arranged for a fee.

The individual tourist may have the most pleasant travel. The most essential bookings have been made (to make them yourself requires a lot of time and strong nerves), and with thorough preparation, you have a good chance of getting to know China beyond the usual tourist routes. You should get a definite booking with an experienced travel agent three months before departure at the latest.

Then there is completely independent travel, without any pre-booking. This form of traveling in China has increased in recent years. The Chinese travel bureaus have partially adapted to it and can help, in the large towns, with buying air and train tickets. You have to arrange your own air and train tickets at each place you visit; unless you speak Chinese, you will probably find it easiest to do this through a travel agency, where it is more likely you will find English-speaking staff. At airports and stations, you will often find that information about destinations is given in pinyin, or sometimes only in Chinese characters. You shouldn't expect last-minute plans to come through; it can easily happen that you have to wait several days for your railway or air ticket, or abandon your chosen destination and choose a different town for your next visit. Try and reserve air or rail tickets as soon as you arrive. Tickets cost more for foreigners than for Chinese, and only in rare cases might you succeed (for instance if you have a student card) in getting a ticket at the cost that overseas Chinese pay.
Travel agencies will book hotels for a small fee, though only with high-class hotels.

On Arrival

First, fill in a customs declaration listing all items of value, such as camera, tape recorder, watch, and money. Second, a form asks for details of your health. A third requirement is the entry card, on which you fill in details about the length of your stay in China. It will be put with your passport. Keep the customs declaration safe, which should be handed back at the end of the trip. Customs officers may check whether you are taking out all the items you declared. The loss of the customs declaration can incur a high fine. You can change money at the arrival halls of airports, railway stations and ports. You may take taxis to your hotel. The Chinese airlines provide buses to the airline offices in town. The fare is much cheaper.

Road Safety

In China, traffic lights function in large cities and drivers generally comply with basic traffic laws. Driving in China is much more difficult than in other countries. Generally roads and traffic regulations tend to favor pedestrians and bicycles. Traffic in cities moves very slowly. Patience is vital. Drive on the right-hand side of the road. It is permissible to turn right on red. While driving or walking, do pay attention to your safety.


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