Cheap China Tours
One of the greatest misconceptions is that travel has to be expensive. Two years ago I traveled to China with my family for $1000 per person. This included airfare, meals, hotel and all. We flew to Bejing to visit the Forbidden City, then flew to Xxiuan see the Terra Cotta Soldiers, and then to the Westlake district where most of the tea in China is grown, to the Great Wall, and then back to Shanghai. Ten days of travel in a guided tour for only $1000 a person.
I think we visited every park along the way. Many nights we attended performances and banquets at no extra charge. The hotels were all four-star hotels, some with two TV’s. It’s a lot of fun to watch Chinese commercials.
The catch. Actually, there are three:
1. It is a little like a time-share sales presentation. Everyday the tour bus stops at a “government approved” store where they grow pearls, tea, silk worms. Most just happen to have a warehousesized show room where you can purchase items—and the pressure is on.
2. They keep you from the people. You have to sneak out of your hotel room at night and walk down to a Chinese Mall or night club to have some real fun.
3. The reason for the great price is that these tours are really made for Chinese, and Chinese-speaking. However, if Chinese is not your native language, they will help to direct you into a group of English-speaking Asians.
4. In our tour, in each town or area we visted we were assigned a new tour guide. You are pressured to tip the tour guide around $5 per day.
Don’t put off traveling—remember, we aren’t getting any younger. See the world while you still can.
If any of this sounds interesting let me recommend a tour agency with great prices. http://www.bravotravel.com