On Your Trip
Transportation
We don’t recommend regular tourists to go to the railway station to buy the tickets yourselves, where is always packed with Chinese passengers. Tourists have to be cautious of your personal belongings. If you are expats living in China, or speak Chinese, then it might be ok to get your tickets at the station. Please avoid the holiday season like Labor Day Holiday (May 1-3), National Day Holiday (Oct 1-7) and Spring Festival period.
In China, more and more Chinese people choose to book train tickets online at the official ticketing site 12306.cn (Chinese only). Unless you have a Chinese friend to help you with it, it will be quite complicated to go through the booking procedures. What is more, you are required to make payment via Chinese online banking or Unionpay system. International credit cards are not accepted. Another disadvantage is that you can’t choose the berth at hard or soft sleeper class. Imagine that if you prefer to stay at a lower berth, but the online ticket is issued at random, finally it could turn out to be an upper berth, which could be inconvenient and frustrating. After completion of online ticket booking, you still need to use the original copy of your passport to go to the train station to get your tickets printed.
Yes, it is possible, but quite complicated. If you decide to take your pet with you during your journey in China, there are quite a few things that you should consider and do.
1. At first, you need to get a health certificate of immunity at a health and quarantine department of county or higher level in China, which is only valid for maximum 5 days.
2. When you are ready to book the flights, you should inform your travel agent or airlines of your requirement, and show them the animal health certificate. After the approval of the airlines, you can buy the flight tickets and travel with your pet in the same plane.
3. You are suggested to arrive at the airport 3 hours before departure to handle the check-in service for your pet. You should prepare a metal container for the pet and keep clean. Airlines will charge based on the excess luggage rate and give you a claim tag so that you can get your pet back after landing at your destination.
It is more complicated to travel with your pet on train. Besides the animal health certificate (valid for 5 days), you also need take your pet to go to the designated veterinary station for the approval. Besides, you should prepare a metal container for your pet so it won’t contaminate the cargo carriage. You can’t stay with your pet at the same car, while you are allowed to go to the cargo carriage to feed the pet.
Service animals, such as guide dogs, are not considered pets. According to the regulations of CAAC (Civil Aviation Administration of China), they will be allowed to board the plane and stay with the owner, but in practice, you still need to check with the airlines via your travel agent. Generally speaking, the pets in China refer to those regular animals like cat, dog, not those weird and dangerous ones like snake, lizard, etc. The latter ones could be rejected by the air carriers.
Therefore, if it is not a must, please leave your pet at home and find a pet care center before your holiday.
For more info about traveling with pet, we recommend you to read the following articles:
http://travel.cnn.com/explorations/escape/flying-pets-worth-bother-011341
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/69549/pb10308-dogs-cats-welfare-060215.pdf
Easy Tour China provides train tickets booking service. Please leave your message when you contact us through our website, one of our tour consultant will get in touch with you in 24hrs. Our tour consultant will provides you with the information of train schedule based on your requirement.
After receiving a full payment of train ticket fares plus the booking fee, Easy Tour China will issue the train tickets as soon as possible, usually 10-20 days prior to the train departure date. The train tickets can be delivered to the hotel you will stay at with an extra delivery fee. If you travel with the guide of Easy Tour China, the guide will take you to the train station and help you with check-in as part of our package service.
China has one of the most complex and busiest rail networks in the world, and trains link most of the major cities. Train travel is a more affordable way to go around this country. With the great strides of high-speed rail, Chinese began to enjoy the great benefits of it. Many destinations can be reached in 2 hours, while it had to be 5-6 hours, or even longer time in the past.
We are sure that in the future more international tourists will choose to take the high speed train in China to go from one place to another, especially for the short distance ride, which is convenient, comfortable and fast. For long distance travel (800km or more), tourists can choose to take flight, high-speed train or overnight sleeper train based on the train plan, needs and budget.
>> Click to see more details about China trains
As there are a large number of taxis in each city of China, it is usually convenient to take a taxi in China. You can flag down a cab easily as long as not in the rush hour. The rush hour is around 7:00am~8:30am and 5:30pm~7:00pm.
Taking taxis in China is convenient, inexpensive, and very safe indeed. Please choose to take a taxi with obvious signs. In some cities, near the airport or train station, there are ‘black cabs’, which are private cars without a government license running transfer business. Some of the visitors from home or abroad complained that they got ripped off if these people don’t know much about the town.
Most of the taxi drivers can’t speak a word of English, and this is another disadvantage of taking taxi in China. If you can’t speak Chinese and intend to take a cab to a certain place, please ask the hotel receptionist or other Chinese people to write down your destination in Chinese, or take a guidebook with the Chinese name of the place, so the driver can understand where you are going.
When sitting in the taxi, please ask the driver to use taxi meter, and after your arrival, you are suggested to ask for a receipt (or ‘Fa-piao’ in Chinese) in case that you left something in the car without realizing it. With the proof, you will easily get your things back.
For the inter-city transportation, Easy Tour China team will recommend different means of transportation like flight, train, express bus or private car based on the clients’ need and budget. Please note that with the rapid development and maturity of high-speed train in China, rail travel will become more and more popular among international tourists as well, especially for those more independent and younger ones.
For the landing trip in the cities, we will use different well-maintained vehicles based on your travel party size. All the tourist vehicles we arrange are air-conditioned with comfortable seats, and ready for serving the tourists.
Accommodation
The staff of the 5-star or 4 star hotels in the major tourist cities is well trained and they can understand English well, especially the receptionists at front desk. While at 3 star hotels, you can’t expect much from it. Usually the budget hotels we recommend are inspected by Easy Tour China team or local operators. We compare, evaluate, and try to find the ideal options for the clients who need these types of accommodations in China.
I am afraid not. Nowadays, foreigners are not suggested to drink the tap water as it may cause stomachache or diarrhea. Easy Tour China recommends you to use bottled or boiled water in China, which is more widely practiced.
Usually Easy Tour China provides our clients one bottle of mineral water for free each day during the tour unless specified.
There is a wide range of accommodations that you can consider while traveling in China: deluxe 5-star, superior 4-star, comfortable 3-star hotels or even budget guesthouses or hostels.
In China, the star rating system is sometimes confusing to the foreign tourists as they feel some of the licensed 4 or 5 star hotels don’t meet the international standards. This might be affected by the different opinions of how Chinese and Westerners look at the hotels. Chinese tourists focus more on the hotel room itself and facilities like a spacious lobby and fancy restaurant; Westerners care more for the services and hotel management. What is more, Chinese people like to sleep on a hard bed, but Westerners prefer a soft mattress. Failure to offer it always caused lots of complaints from international tourists.
Easy Tour China will take all these clients’ needs into consideration, and find the possible best options for our clients.
Meals
Usually, daily breakfast is included and offered at hotels unless specified. Usually 4-5 star hotels in China can offer a buffet breakfast mixed with Western and Chinese food options. If our clients choose to stay at 3-star or other small hotels, Easy Tour China will try to book those ones offering Western breakfast for our international tourists as Chinese breakfast served at these hotels is usually quite simple without coffee and bacon.
In some remote areas, the local guesthouses can’t provide any Western breakfast, then we will let our clients know about it in advance, and we can request our guide to bring a toaster with some bread, and instant coffee when needed.
Of course you will. As one of essential parts of the travel experience, trying local food is so important. Easy Tour China not only arranges different restaurants for you to taste the colorful flavors of Chinese cuisines during your trip, but leaves some meals free on your own arrangement, so that you will walk into the streets and have more food options and connect with the local people.
It is not necessary. You can have breakfast and lunch included in the tour package, and leave dinners open for your own arrangement. Most of the hotels we recommend will be well located at city downtown, and it is quite easy for you to find restaurants nearby to try different cuisines of China.
Usually, guides and drivers will not have meals with you. After helping you with the food orders, the guides will go to find another place to have their meals unless you invite them.
Many drivers prefer to dine at a different place as they don’t speak English, and feel a bit uncomfortable during the meal.
The meals included in the itinerary will be arranged at local restaurants or hotels to save your travel time during your trip. If you have any food allergies or requirements, please feel free to let us know. We are also the experts in special meals arrangement, such as vegetarian food or halal food for Muslims, etc.
Usually the dinners will be left open for your own decision. You can choose to dine either in the hotel, or go out for a culinary adventure based on the recommendations of our local guides. Dining at a local restaurant is a good chance for you to communicate with local Chinese people and see their lifestyle.
Shopping
Generally speaking, in most large department stores, shopping malls, and friendship stores, international credit card is acceptable, including Master Card, Visa, American Express, JCB, Diners Club, Million, and Federal. However, cash is more prevalent, especially for the local market, the street vendors, restaurants and taxis.
1) Usually, most of the shops in China are open from 9:00 am to 8:00 pm, but some will be until 9:30 pm. "Night Market" may remain open until midnight.
2) Bargaining is normal, especially in the market or small shops. Try to bargain whenever you shop. But there is no latitude for bargaining in large shops and department stores, where prices are clearly marked.
3) Check the quality of your purchases carefully to make sure there are no flaws and to distinguish genuine from fake.
4) Ask for receipt and keep it. It is a valid proof of purchase if you need to return what you bought here. Also, receipts might be required by the China customs when you leave China.
China is abundant in various interesting and unique goods. During your trip to China, you will have a chance to find the wonderful souvenirs and gifts for your families, and friends.
In each city here, you can see different local specialties. Beijing is popular for the Cloisonné enamel, fresh water pearls, Peking Opera Masks and Chinese Knots; Xian is noted for the antiques and silk rugs; Shanghai is famous for the embroidery and jade carving; while Guilin is renowned for scroll paintings. The silk and tea have a particularly great reputation in Suzhou and Hangzhou.
For more information in other cities, please kindly see it on our website:
http://www.easytourchina.com/fact-v422-what-to-buy-in-china
For the regular tour packages of Easy Tour China, we would include some shop visits in the itinerary, usually 1-2 shops in each city based on duration of stay. As in China the tour guides and drivers don’t get paid very well, they partly live on the commissions and tips. At the same time, you will never be forced to buy anything from these shops or factories. Therefore, this can be regarded as an acceptable way for you to save the tour cost to some extent.
If you request a non-shopping tour, according to the newly-enacted Tourism Law of China, the travel companies need to pay more wages for the work of the guides and drivers, hence, the travel cost is higher comparatively.
Easy Tour China does care about the travel experience of our clients. We and our local operation offices in different cities would strictly limit the shopping time, carefully chose those factories / shops with government license and quality guarantee, and signed contracts with them, so when the clients find the products they bought from these shops are not what they want, Easy Tour China can help you to return the purchases in most cases.
Telecommunication
Yes. If you are in China as a foreign tourist it may be useful to get a local prepaid GSM/ SIM card if your phone takes it and is not locked to a network. So you can easily reach or be reached by your guide and travel agent with the China’s phone number.
There is a huge amount of China Unicom shops (as well as China Mobile) in China (e. g. at Beijing, Shanghai airports) to buy a GSM/SIM card. This is very convenient and cheap for you to make the domestic calls in China. Realize the rates are quite high if you want to chat with the folks back home.
If your own phone is unlocked you don't need to rent a new phone - just buy a new SIM card which can work for emergency contacts. If your cell phone can not be normally used in China and is not compatible with local SIM card, you can try to buy a cheap new phone with China prepaid SIMcard, or even a second hand one, that would be easier. Some companies offer mobile phone rental, the cost is not that reasonable usually.
Not all the foreign mobile phones can be used in China. It depends on what kind your mobile phone is. Generally speaking, most of the phones bought in foreign countries can not be normally used in China. If you have a dual band or tri band unlocked GSM phone, you can use it around China in most big cities. In China, GSM networks operated by China Mobile and CDMA networks provide coverage in every major city.
Tipping
The quotation we offer does not include tips/gratuities because tipping is a personal matter, which is not compulsory. If you enjoy the services, tipping is a good sign of how you rate their work; if not, you are under no obligation to do it. We believe they would really appreciate it if you can give them some gratuity more or less.
Tipping was not so welcomed in China before 1990’s. As more and more international tourists came from the western countries, tipping guides and drivers from an organized tour, or hotel bellboys has become a common practice in China. But it is still not necessary to tip when taking a taxi or dining in Chinese restaurants.