11 Days China Tour from SYD/MEL $999 Per Person Twin Share ($555 Solo Surcharge) @ TripADeal

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11 Days China Tour from SYD/MEL $999 Per Person Twin Share ($555 Solo Surcharge) @ TripADeal
Go to Deal
Emphasise on 04/11/2024 - 21:08 tripadeal.com.au (3500 clicks)
Last edited 05/11/2024 - 20:10

An extra $111 for an extra day compared to the last 10 day tour post. Looks like the difference is Day 7, Longmen Ancient Town, is added. Price includes return flights, 9 nights of 4-star hotel accommodation, daily breakfast plus a traditional Peking Duck lunch and travel with local English-speaking tour guides. Keep in mind that this doesn't cover tips ($12pp per day), food and optional tours. Several Ozbargainers that have been on similar tours can probably input their experience. I'm thinking of doing this next year.

15 day fee free visa if you're going

Dates

  • 28th February
  • 1st March
  • 3rd March
  • 5th March
  • 6th March
  • 15th March
  • 3rd June
  • 8th June
  • 6th September
  • 8th September
  • 9th September
  • 11th September + $200 P/P (High season surcharge)
  • 15th October
  • 17th October
  • 18th October
  • 21st October
  • 22nd October
  • 24th October
  • 27th October
  • 31st October
  • 6th November
  • 7th November

Itinerary

Day 1 Australia (or New Zealand) – Beijing, China
Day 2 Tiananmen Square & Forbidden City (or Tiananmen Square & Temple of Heaven)
Day 3 Great Wall of China
Day 4 Beijing - Shanghai - Suzhou
Day 5 Suzhou - Wuxi
Day 6 Wuxi - Hangzhou
Day 7 Longmen Ancient Town
Day 8 Hangzhou - Shanghai
Day 9 Shanghai History Museum & Free Afternoon
Day 10 Shanghai, China – Australia (or New Zealand)
Day 11 Arrive Australia (or New Zealand)

Tour Inclusions

Explore Beijing, Hangzhou, Suzhou and Shanghai
Visit historic Tiananmen Square in Beijing
Step back in time to the UNESCO-listed Forbidden City or The Temple of Heaven (subject to availability)
Tick the Great Wall of China off your bucket list
Indulge in a delicious Peking Duck lunch experience
Enjoy a scenic boat ride on Hangzhou’s picturesque West Lake
Experience Longmen Ancient Town, famous for its unique Qing dynasty buildings
Visit Lihu Park, a serene oasis nestled along the picturesque shores of Lake Lihu in Wuxi
Delve into history of China at the Shanghai History Museum
Explore the Lingering Garden and a silk spinning factory in Suzhou
Learn about Longjing Tea at Meijiawu Tea Village with tastings

Accommodation Used

4-Star Properties (Self-Rated)
• Beijing: Chunhuiyuan Resort or similar.
• Suzhou: Snowy Sea Hotel or similar.
• Wuxi: Mingdu Hotel or similar.
• Hangzhou: Fubang International Hotel or similar.
• Shanghai: Courtyard by Marriott Jiading or similar.
Please note: Accommodation/rooms offered are based on a lead-in room type and are subject to availability based on seasonality. In the instance a property is not available, a similar standard of accommodation will be provided. Properties will be confirmed and included in your travel pack, which you will receive 4-6 weeks before travel.

Travel Airfare Asia China Instagrampost Tour

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Comments

            • crentist on 05/11/2024 - 12:38
              +1

              @creamandpaper: pretty much, or figure out the local Baidu maps or whatever.
              they were all a bit crap but not a big deal.

              for bullet trains use Ctrip

    • cerealsmok3r on 05/11/2024 - 05:34
      +1

      I would download both Alipay and WeChat pay in case one fails. This happened to me multiple times

    • beesider on 05/11/2024 - 06:53
      +2

      Tooth implants for A$600? For real? Can't even find such prices in Bali or Thailand.

      • Hsinking431 on 05/11/2024 - 09:16

        Yes, it cost me a little more than 400 aud for one tooth implant, the dentist had 20 years experience.

        However if you plan to go this way you may need to visit that dentist again after a few months, other services that don’t need revisits would be perfect for tourists.

  • Unorthodox on 05/11/2024 - 00:57

    Any way to utilise this but add on a trip to Hong Kong/go HK and then do a few other cities before leaving?

    • crentist on 05/11/2024 - 03:09
      +2

      You could simply not board the exit flight, if they won't change the itinerary.
      Flying within China is pretty inexpensive, and they have bullet trains everywhere too.

      And if you go to Hk (or anywhere out of mainland), the 15 day visa restarts. When I looked a few months ago, they seemed to openly approve of same/next day visa runs. You could literally walk in and out from shenzhen

    • branners on 05/11/2024 - 08:58

      TripADeal usually gives you the option to arrive early/stay late, so it should be possible on this tour

    • jackspratt on 05/11/2024 - 17:38

      Hello, the galahs have awakened, and are squawking.

  • Amlgnd on 05/11/2024 - 05:34
    +2

    Best trip ever and worth every cents invesy

  • t_c on 05/11/2024 - 07:28
    -4

    If you dont want to buy anything can you just give the shop merchant 10 rmb to leave you alone and also doubling as a bit of a passive aggressive flex to show that westerners have such abundance that we can give money away.

    • BartholemewH on 05/11/2024 - 08:13
      +8

      I don't think that's the flex you think it is.

      • t_c on 06/11/2024 - 08:24
        -1

        No 10rmb for you then buddy.

  • BartholemewH on 05/11/2024 - 08:15

    I said I wouldn't go back, but a holiday might be different to flat out business trips…

  • concento on 05/11/2024 - 09:05

    Do we know the airline this tour uses?

  • jiancoek on 05/11/2024 - 09:06

    Went similar tour few years a go. Good deal. Nice hotels. Good food.

    Wonder if they have similarly packages for other China destinations.

  • Pacifo on 05/11/2024 - 09:09

    Would be great if you could add a day at the end or before outside of the tour

  • branners on 05/11/2024 - 09:17
    +11

    I did the 10-day TAD tour in March 24. It was great.
    China Eastern was very professional, excellent service and good food, and on-time. On a par with Singapore or Cathay IMO.
    Tour guides were terrific, a reassuring backup when things needed to be fixed and both spoke perfect (university standard) English (one was educated in the USA). Easily worth the $12/day so a good idea to pay the tips. They accept AUD and will even exchange it for Yuan if needed.
    Otherwise tipping is not really a thing in China. Early on I tried to tip a waiter 3Y on a 7Y beer and he simply did not accept it.
    Hotels were out of town a bit but very comfortable and clean.
    Included meals (all breakfasts and 2 lunches) varied a little but 3/4 were very good.
    AliPay and WeChatPay are very useful, very little use for cash and almost no one accepts CCs.
    The sales stops were mostly interesting, little or no pressure to buy. Actually got a 20-minute Chinese massage at the Chinese Medicine tour place for $6!
    Optional tours were no pressure, the ones we took were very enjoyable.
    Yes, there are CCTV cameras in lots of places but no worse than, say, London or Paris.
    Did not notice heavy security in public any moreso than, say, KL or Saigon.
    Have an open mind on food. Most of it was just epic and so cheap. Even had the best Subway sandwich of my life! (long story).
    Take good shoes (hard surfaces).
    Get plenty of data on your phone (I used Sims Direct and Felix).
    Learn to use Translate on your phone.
    Have a great trip

    • Boodek on 05/11/2024 - 09:57

      Thanks for the outline, my wife and I are doing this trip in March. When you say they don't accept credit cards, what about cards like Wise which I've found very useful elsewhere in Asia?

      • TightAl on 05/11/2024 - 10:49
        +1

        Add wise to Alipay and you're good to go, some high end stores dont take Ali and need a physical CC

      • crentist on 05/11/2024 - 12:34

        Download Alipay and/or Wechat, and add Wise or whatever credit card to them. You'll need to add your ID/passport as well…
        This is then used to make all payments, whether in stores or to other people. No cash is ever needed.

        These apps then have embedded apps you can install, like Didi, which is super useful there for getting around. Conveniently, these auto link to your id and payment, so you don't need to make new accounts for everything.

        The one thing to be aware of, is that foreign cards on alipay/Wechat only work INSIDE China. So you won't be able to test it out at your local Asian grocery before you go

        • John on 05/11/2024 - 16:00

          For Alipay, you don't need ID/passport unless you are adding balance to the Alipay account, which is not necessary since you can directly link you debit/credit card to it (and assuming you are not receiving payments)

      • sal78 on 05/11/2024 - 13:15

        They use an app to pay for everything. You can the QR code using app then pay. Link credit card or bank account to app.

        Wechat is like the best app ever. Can book hotels, book tours, is like whatsapp, check restaurant ratings, order Didi… chat with friends. Can do everything from app.

        Alipay is essential if you want to shop at Taobao.

      • Boodek on 05/11/2024 - 21:28

        Thanks everyone, I'll digest this and make it work!

    • creamandpaper on 05/11/2024 - 10:58

      mind sharing what amount of the tours were mandatory? I am tempted by the price but only for the value of the flight/accommodation/transport aspect

      • sal78 on 05/11/2024 - 11:14

        Too many on that tour. There’s no way I would waste that much time. Jade, silk, chinese medicine and tea.

        • John on 05/11/2024 - 16:01

          For the price tbh its ok to just tag along those mandatory stops. I just came back from similar trip and don't mind those. The fact that its affordable and you get a tour guide sort of makes up for it.

          • sal78 on 05/11/2024 - 16:09

            @John: I did the tripadeal 2 for 1 Yangtze tour $3499. Only 1 shopping stop at the silk museum which was quite interesting with great air conditioning. Cost not much more, better itinerary and more relaxing.

            You really need more time in Suzhou and Hangzhou such a waste of time at the shopping trips. Just way too many.

            • John on 05/11/2024 - 16:13

              @sal78: For sure, but that cost almost double? Though I'd personally be willing to spend that extra. In fact, if money isn't an issue I'd personally hire a personal local tour guide and have my private itinerary. I did enquire about those and it adds up to about $3k - $3.5k per person for 8 nights with similar itinerary to this. No mandatory stops.

              • sal78 on 05/11/2024 - 17:40

                @John: It’s $3499 for 2ppl. I actually during the 50% off Qantas points promo so paid for 1/2 of it with Qantas pts.

    • Chatgpttrue on 05/11/2024 - 11:04

      @branners thanks for the feedback.

      In regards to the hotels being out of town, is it easy to get into town from all the places you stayed during your trip?

      Could you catch public transport easily or use ride share? I think China uses Didi but I'm not sure.

      • sal78 on 05/11/2024 - 16:11

        It is very remote. You have to catch didi to station then metro. So we only did Didi.

        Most ppl on our tour couldn’t get their internet to work or had VPN and used cash to pay. Didn’t know how to use Didi.

        But they also refused my help and happy to stay as close to the tour itinerary and hotel as possible.

      • branners on 05/11/2024 - 16:25

        Yep, they were in the burbs. One hotel had an underground station literally across the road, easy access to lots of places, once you figured out the directions (using Translate).
        We used Didi a few times, longest trip was 45 mins (in traffic) to an upmarket shopping area in Hangzhao, it cost about A$16 and the trip back was much quicker. Was an electric car and the driver explained to us (Translate again) how much cheaper it was than his old ICE car.
        BTW, the longest stay at one of the shopping excursions was at the silk place, we ended up buying a few things. Otherwise, like the jade shop, we just propped ourselves up in the cafe there while others shopped, was not a hassle at all

  • jcplus on 05/11/2024 - 10:55

    Can I just take the flights and hotels without going around with the local guide?

    • sal78 on 05/11/2024 - 16:14

      U must do the shopping trips n included stuff in itinerary. Can opt out of the optionals n do your own thing.

      I mean how can you go to Chongqing n not even even see the train going thru the building. We had 5hrs before our flight and saw as much as we could. All the viral places.

      https://www.instagram.com/reel/DAa1lyYPI5a/?igsh=MTZrZHV6aHk…

  • sal78 on 05/11/2024 - 11:04

    We did the Panda & Yangtze, opted out of most optionals and just did our own thing. You did Wechat for weixing pay and Didi rideshare. Can’t use oz version app in China.

    A lot of our reel not included in tour but places are free to visit and Didi is so cheap and efficient. I think it was $3.5k which we paid for most with Qantas points. I choose this tour because there’s only 1 shopping stop to silk factory. Not too bad.

    https://www.instagram.com/reel/DAUf6sIyKnI/?igsh=MTU0YWZreGg…

  • sal78 on 05/11/2024 - 11:21
    +1

    For Oz bargainers, it is cheap but you can spend a bit more and do exactly what you want.

    It’s super easy to get around by subway or Didi. The hotels in the tour are very remote. If u can download weixin pay n use didi, you don’t to have to worry.

    I love our tripadeal tour to Chengdu, Yangtze, Chongqing but they have stopped that tour. The best value and more relaxing.

    We are heading back in Dec. we are going to Seoul but decided to check one way flights back on skyscanner.
    China Southern Seoul to Brisbane via Beijing or Shanghai only $400 one way. Even cheaper if just going to China $50 one way. My son is going to Germany flying Air China one way Seoul to Frankfurt via Beijing $300. A cheap option to get to europe at Xmas peak season.

    Staying at Sanlitun area in Beijing right in the heart of food and shopping Gen Z district I think $80 per night smart hotel with free night snacks.

    • wildstone on 05/11/2024 - 15:41

      Are you allowed to leave the group and spend the days on your own?

      • sal78 on 05/11/2024 - 15:56
        +1

        It’s not quite like that.

        The first day of the tour usually starts late around 2pm because still waiting for ppl to arrive. We got in around midnight. We went around by ourselves from about 9am to 1pm. Took Didi to city area and back.

        We decided not to join optional hot pot dinner. Went around by ourselves n caught taxi back to hotel.

        We didn’t do the optional tours in major cities and did our own thing. Preferred to get back to hotel earlier to rest then go out in the evenings to explore. Most ppl were stuck around the hotel with not much to do but they did all the optionals and were tired. Also, a lot of elderly retirees 70+.

        This is what we did in the morn before the tour started. It cost less than $30 for didi, tickets to Wuhou temple and heaps of food. I skipped the buffet bfst coz they were pretty bad. Wanted to save my calories for good food and china has amazing food. None if this was inc in tour.

        https://www.instagram.com/reel/C_7VFWlRQ4a/?igsh=ZTEzemZrY3R…

        There was gay couple on our tour. Really nice and one was Chinese. They also went around by themselves a lot. But you do need good internet access, Weixin Pay and Didi. Takes 2mins to set up. So easy to use.

        Can’t wait to go back in dec n explore on our own. I wouldn’t do Beijing group tour. They have the newest Universal Studios in the world. I also want to take the cable car to the top on walk down the Great Wall. Ofcourse shopping at Li Ning too.

  • Poor Ass on 05/11/2024 - 11:37
    +1

    good deal but if you hate crowds….. don't bother going to Beijing

    • caustic birch on 05/11/2024 - 12:05

      You'll need to enjoy lining up but at least for the Great wall it was worth it imo.

      • Poor Ass on 05/11/2024 - 12:11
        +1

        I don't think anyone enjoy lining but has to be done

        just don't go in golden week that shit is whacked

      • Ham Dragon on 05/11/2024 - 12:32
        +1

        Lining up to get on there? Damn, in 1996 when I first went there was barely 50 people. We walked far enough there was no one, just the wall…it was almost eerie. Went back in 2008 and quite a few people but not overcrowded, we almost got locked on the wall as again went trekking off into the distance just because. Can't remember which point on the wall it was but assume the main tourist one close to Beijing.

        • caustic birch on 05/11/2024 - 12:54

          They've recently completed high speed rail from other cities and towns so domestic Beijing tourism is popping off.

          Being there and seeing no one around sounds surreal.

          • Ham Dragon on 05/11/2024 - 13:07

            @caustic birch: It was pretty unreal. I was only about 12 at the time, and was very lucky to visit other places that are now pretty much ruined by tourism ie Cambodia, Vietnam & Myanmar.

      • John on 05/11/2024 - 16:04

        I was there a week before the Golden Week this year. No lines at Great Wall. The only long lines I see were in Tiananmen Square but only if you want to see Mao's coffin

      • branners on 05/11/2024 - 16:30

        Not to disagree but the TAD guides allowed us to walk around the queues at both the Forbidden City (90 minute) and the Temple of Heaven (30) and virtually walk straight in, using our passports as tickets. There was no queue anyway on the day we were at the Great Wall, just walked straight in

  • Tradiebyday on 05/11/2024 - 11:56
    +1

    What is a good season to travel to this area?

    • John on 05/11/2024 - 16:06

      Just came back late September just before Golden Week. Perfect timing for me. Weather was amazing, crowd level was low (maybe because it's too close to Golden Week so most locals are not travelling yet)

  • caustic birch on 05/11/2024 - 12:07
    +2

    Might want to put in a little effort to learn some Mandarin. Simple words to facilitate communication at least in the hotel. Assume the guide will be doing the talking when you're out.

    • Poor Ass on 05/11/2024 - 12:12
      +1

      just say ni hao and can use chopsticks and the locals already think you are impressive…. no joke

      • John on 05/11/2024 - 16:08

        Only if you are caucasian. For chinese looking like person like me, they'd only be dissapointed

        PS: And I agree with learning basic Mandarin. Even just understanding how to say basic numbers helps a lot for buying foods

        • Poor Ass on 05/11/2024 - 18:36

          Yes I was my target demographic

          No need to talk for basic numbers you just need the Chinese count to ten with one hand skill

          • John on 05/11/2024 - 18:40

            @Poor Ass: True fingers pointing is easy. But learning 1 piece / 2 pieces (i ke / liang ke), while finger pointing at the item you want is pretty easy too.. though that's as far as I go haha. Have no clue what's three and above.

            • Poor Ass on 05/11/2024 - 18:56

              @John: 3+ is the same

              try Cantonese there are more collective nouns hahaha

  • JOZL on 05/11/2024 - 12:09
    +1

    bloody good price considering that 4 star hotels alone are worth that. Let alone flights, tours, and breakfasts. And cheap markets if you are brave enough to explore and haggle. Basically aliexpress in real life. Went a few years ago and tempted to do again

  • charkwayteo on 05/11/2024 - 12:15

    Leaving Hangzhou today ..first time in China for me and loved the 12 days.. didn’t do a tour though.. Transport and eating out is so cheap here it felt like a cheaper Japan kind of but people will gaze at you all the time if ur foreign.. no disrespect but more curiosity I think.. older generation people still spit on the floor it’s kinda feral but the place is pretty clean from litter overall enjoyed it.. clothes shopping etc is pretty expensive lots of big brand chains… young people are pretty fashionable lots of cosplayers at night..

    • sal78 on 05/11/2024 - 13:11

      No need for tour there. Hangzhou, Suzhou and Shanghai are so close together.

      • charkwayteo on 05/11/2024 - 15:02

        Yea was pretty easy just Ali paying my way round, no probs even not knowing any mandarin outside of ni hao .. next time trip ill learn abit more I think so no need for busting out translator for basic questions/responses

        • sal78 on 05/11/2024 - 16:01

          Awesome char kway teow. Ppl don’t realise how clean, modern, advance, safe and cheap it is in China. $1 for bag of dumplings is crazy. We can’t even spend $10 gor both if us if we tried.

  • karimk74 on 05/11/2024 - 14:55

    Looked pretty good at first glance but single supplement of $555, plus Perth flights supplement $600 brings total to $2,154 for me. So more expensive for one person from Perth vs two people from Sydney, even though Perth is shorter distance. Sigh.

    • JOZL on 05/11/2024 - 20:44

      $555 Single supplement i think is because you’d get an entire queen or king hotel room to yourself. Whereas when we went the couples both paid $999pp and shared a room. So the extra cost has to get covered from somewhere. I mean maybe a mate could go along?

      Yeah that is unfortunate about perth price though.

  • Squeezy on 05/11/2024 - 15:05
    +3

    We got back from the "12 day" 2 for 1 trip a deal a few weeks back.
    its only 10 days in China ( full day getting there and full day returning

    Good value for money
    for use we had to add $400 pp for the ADL-MEL and MEL-ADL legs
    Accomodation was pretty good generally but way out ( 1 hr bus trip from CBD area in each town )
    Lots of Bus travel, train travel and we had one internal flight

    We did all optional tours as there are many times the bus has already taken you to an included part of the trip then the optional "tour" happens straight after ( ie you dont get dropped back at Hotel ) - a few people didnt do some tours and they just walked around the areas near where the bus parked.

    Best of the optional Tours were

    Golden Mask dynasty ( Beijing )
    ERA of time ( Shanghai )
    Night river cruise ( Shanghai )
    Grand Canal cruise

    Pedicab one was a bit boring - few people just did their own thing

    The compulsory shopping we got was Jade factory ( super aggressive salespeople ), Silk factory, Terracotta warrior reproduciton factory, Synthetic Diamond factory ( was quite interesting as we got the see the High pressure vessels and the sorting area ), Tea plantation ( lol at their sales pitch ), Chinese Medicine ( Foot massage everyone got at start was good and they expected 30 Yuan for it ( about AU$7 ), didnt have a "consult !!

    Shopping expeditions were annoying but they help subsidize the trip for others - we bought some silk sheets and some replica Terracotta warriors

    On top of the compulsory $12AU per day Service fee( tipping ) a lot of days we also had to pay 20 Yuan ( $4-5 ) for wireless earphones to hear the guide - some days was worthwhile other days = Museum was a waste of money as we only had them for 45 mins.

    re: other meals we generally ate a BIG breakfast ( western and Chinese food ) . Occasionally had lunch although somtimes just ate some fruit taken at breakfast time. Dinner we ate out a few times but other times were just too tired after getting back to hotel at 10pm or later

    Its a full schedule most days with little rest - glad we went overall

    Happy to answer any Qs.

  • John on 05/11/2024 - 16:17

    Just came back from China.

    Small tips that I don't think has been mentioned.. make sure you download Baidu for maps. You'll struggle with the mandarin (no translation available) but its the closest thing you have with navigating the area. Just need to use lots of imagination… I mainly use it to see what restaurants/shops are around me. Don't even try to use Google Maps..

    Also with Alipay you can rental the Alipay bike (blue ones), which are fun to ride around. Just make sure you read the instructions on how to lock the bike when you're done otherwise you may not be able to book another one until it times out.

    • branners on 05/11/2024 - 16:33

      Sounds like you had a cool time.
      BTW I used Google maps quite a bit, they worked just fine with an HK-issued travel eSim

      • John on 05/11/2024 - 16:46

        Perhaps you got lucky. In my google maps (the app can open fine, I use travel eSIM), but the lay out is completely whacked. Like things are completely off by few hundred metres eg. a road is not actually laid out on the actual road.

        Plus very minimal places are in Google Maps. And they are unlikely to be up to date either because most likely its unlikely maintained by the locals.

        • caustic birch on 05/11/2024 - 17:17

          Yeah exactly. Google Maps can be 'used' with a foreign esim but it's pointless without a user base for review/pics etc. It also told me the subway station outside of my hotel was temporarily closed (it wasn't) and I had the same experience with roads being out of whack vs. satellite view.

  • pokerbutwhole on 05/11/2024 - 17:10
    +9

    We just finished the 10-day tour (literally just got off the plane). AMA!

    Our experience going to this tour as cheapskates:

    • Expect to pay $12pp per day in tip in RMB or AUD, so add $120 to the TripADeal price. It’s collected at the end of Beijing by the first local guide, then at the end of the trip by the second local guide. You can deny the request to tip if you have thick skin; we didn’t tip in Beijing, and it was just too much pressure, so we tipped in Shanghai.
    • The hotels are quite far away from the downtowns.
    • Expect to spend about 3 days in total at sale locations. The locations in my 10-day tour are: silk factory, jade factory, tea farm, pearl factory, Chinese medicine. Some of them do have some actual learning other than pure sale pitching (e.g. the silk factory is set up like a museum, and the sale lady was actually quite entertaining). We didn’t buy anything and weren’t pressured to; it was a bit of time wasted, but sacrificing 3 days for this tour price is completely worth it.
    • At the Chinese medicine place, they give everyone a “free” 15-minute foot massage and request a mandatory 20RMB tip in the end. It’s average according to some people that got it. We simply said no when they brought in the bucket, and they left us alone.
    • There are food vendors that sell local fruits and snacks outside of some of these sale locations. We checked the price at the local markets later, and there is a huge mark-up; don’t buy from them if you want to be ripped off (e.g. Japanese persimmons go for 5.9RMB in the local markets and are sold for 15RMB at the sale place).
    • Expect a lot of other upselling throughout. E.g. water bottles or beers on the coach.
    • Our tour guides admitted the tour price was low thanks to government subsidies, but we aren’t sure if Tripadeal lowers the price even more to make a loss and expect to make back the money with the upsells.
    • Link Wise or Revolut to Alipay for the best local spending experience. You do not need cash at all, just bring some AUD for the tipping or additional tours that you decide to take. We used Bank of China to withdraw money for tips, they charged us no withdrawal fee.
    • When buying from local vendor, if you don’t speak Mandarin, they usually scan your Alipay code. Some point at their QR code then you have to scan them and enter the price yourself, show them the price first to confirm before clicking Pay.
    • Buy an unlimited roaming data plan and you won’t need a VPN to access blocked services nor connecting to the maybe insecure Wi-Fi. We had FlexiRoam and our network traffic was routed through Singapore.
    • You can totally DIY the optional tours, the markup seems to be about 20%.
    • You usually have late evenings free if you don’t take the optional tours, and the entire evening on some days. We ventured out to night markets and random places using the extremely affordable and reliable metro in all 4 cities.
    • They usually adjust the schedule to follow the people that go on optional tours, I.e. take everybody to the location, give everyone who don’t pay a little bit of free time to roam, then take everybody back to the hotel. We bailed right after the included tours and return to the hotel by ourselves very late. The metro trip only cost about $1 or $2. We probably experienced more and paid less than the people who paid for the optional tours.
    • If you are an iPhone user, Apple Maps work really well for navigation and looking up highly rated restaurants to eat, it gets data from other local apps I believe. I’m not sure how one would do this as an Android user and doesn’t speak Mandarin tbh.
    • The local speak little to no English.
    • Translates apps didn’t work super well for us when listening to the Mandarin speakers, perhaps it was the noisy environment. My tip is to setup Mandarin keyboard so they can type.
    • Depending on where your home city is, you may have a different departure time on the last day. We are from Melbourne and our flight departed at midnight so we had the entire day to roam free. If your flight departs late like ours, they will try to sell you an optional day tour that can be easily DIY’ed for a fraction of the cost. You can keep your luggage in the various luggage lockers in the city for about 30RMB/large piece, explore the city, then take the 7-minute Maglev to the airport at the end of the day.
    • You can be creative and not have to stick to their itinerary exactly. E.g. there is an evening when they take you from one city to another by coach, stopping by a truck stop for lunch, you could break from the group and take the bullet train yourself to save a few hours.
    • We spent a total of $271 (spending) + $899 (initial trip price) per person end to end. A lot of local metro, ate some fancy meals, lots of street food stall dishes.
    • I thought China was advanced before visiting but it is far better than I had imagined, a truly eye-opening trip! And you really need to venture out by yourself instead of buying all the optional tours and listening to full propaganda.
    • PriceSensitive on 05/11/2024 - 17:25

      Hey mate, thanks for the handy tips. I have a question - say we don't want to do one of the day tours, can you just explore the city on your own? Sounds like public transport is good so we can probably make our way around. But we wouldn't want to annoy others by not showing up for headcounts.

      • pokerbutwhole on 05/11/2024 - 17:36
        +2

        You should be able to, we skipped the Shanghai Museum tour, just let the tour guide know in advance. They may give you a hard time if you want to skip the sale locations though.

        • PriceSensitive on 05/11/2024 - 18:57

          Haha darn! That was the plan.. Thanks for the heads up though :)

    • Squeezy on 06/11/2024 - 10:20
      +1

      Outside the Chinese Medicine place we had a seller trying to flog off Scarves ( polyester ) . started at 2 for 100 Yuan and when noone was buying it dropped to 5 for 100 and a few suckers bought some, and then a few mins later with no one else buying it dropped to 10 for 100..haha

    • gamma032 on 10/11/2024 - 13:41

      Any tips for taking the metro? I heard the hotels are quite far out of the city, so it sounds difficult to get back at night if you skip the bus.

      • pokerbutwhole on 13/11/2024 - 08:04
        +1

        Yes, the hotels are about 45 minutes to an hour metro ride from downtowns. My tips are to use Alipay for metro tickets and use Apple Maps for navigations. The stations signage are in Chinese and English, very well designed and super easy to navigate.

        • Chatgpttrue on 13/11/2024 - 09:43

          What's the name of the metro? Can I search the train timetable like what we do here using trip planner in NSW? Sorry I am not familiar at all with the public transport system in China.

          I also have an Android phone. Can I use Google maps if I have an eSIM?

          • pokerbutwhole on 13/11/2024 - 17:40
            +1

            @Chatgpttrue: Google maps will work with a roaming SIM (note roaming is the important part as your network traffic will be routed through another country, a Chinese eSIM won’t work). However, Google maps is mostly useless in China because it doesn’t have much important information.

            You could use Baidu Maps on your android phone but there is 0 English support. You will have to constantly screenshot and paste into your translate app for the first few uses. After you know how the navigation work, you should be able to locate the navigation buttons and view the route on the map wihout the translation app. I also searched all over the place, there is nothing else in English that you can use.

            The trains are very frequent, I don’t recall having to wait for more than 5 minutes at any station so you won’t need a time table. It’s super simple to navigate as the lines are colour coded and the stations have ample signage in English, much like airports.

            • Chatgpttrue on 13/11/2024 - 19:02

              @pokerbutwhole: Thank you @pokerbutwhole for such helpful tips!

              With regards to the trains, how do I search for the nearest train station to my location? Is it through Baidu maps? Do you know if the trains run 24 hours 7 days a week?

              I ran a google search and found this website. Is this the correct website to refer to train information?

              http://cnrail.geogv.org/enus/about

              • pokerbutwhole on 14/11/2024 - 07:20
                +1

                @Chatgpttrue: That website looks like their above ground train system, the metro system is a lot more comprehensive inside each of the city in the itinerary. Baidu maps is the Google maps equivalent so it should show you the metro stations and lines if you can figure out how turn on the overlay. Otherwise, just enter your destination or choose a point on the map, select navigate, select the metro route and follow the directions. I’m not sure if it runs 24/7, we were always back to the hotel by 12 to have some sleep and ready for the next day tour. Worse case scenario, you can catch a Didi ride back to the hotel using the Alipay app.

  • ZeroEclipse on 06/11/2024 - 12:08
    +1

    Tips? There is no tip in China at all.

    • pokerbutwhole on 06/11/2024 - 12:44

      No tip at all outside of the tour

  • jrvb42 on 06/11/2024 - 18:48
    +2

    I booked a similar tour to this on Tripadeal, thinking it was good value, but on working it out, the tour was poor value - unless you are not capable or bothered to book the individual items yourself.
    The tour flights are not flexible - that is, you can't arrive earlier or depart later for extra days.
    If you want a taste of China and want everything organised, this tour is probably reasonable, but you'll pay for the privilege.
    You also don't get the flight or other details until a few weeks before departure.

    China is a great country, the people are welcoming and friendly, and they don't seem to hold grudges for what Europeans did to them in the late 1800's and 1900's or that the Japanese did in the 20th century (which were far worse and on a larger scale than anything that might have happened in 1989) - forced occupation, drug addition, biological experiments, r*pe of Nanjing, forced lease of Hong Kong, sovereign government interference, etc. We often have selective memory of history or outright fail to teach it.

  • 45678 on 13/11/2024 - 07:24

    Terrorist attack cause 35 killed and many more injured in Zhuhai, Guangzhou province.
    Be safe, take your own risk.

    • jackspratt on 13/11/2024 - 11:12

      ….. Terrorist attack ……

      Again, any evidence?

      Or are you just blowing off?

      • 45678 on 13/11/2024 - 11:15

        google "zhuhai", you got it as top news

  • 45678 on 17/11/2024 - 12:01

    Another terrorist attack and massive stabbing in Wuxi, China, on 16/11/24.
    8 killed and 17 injured.
    Wuxi (Chinese: 无锡, WOO-shee) is a city in southern Jiangsu close to Shanghai.
    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/nov/16/eight-killed-a…

    Be careful and take you own risk.

  • PixelPaul on 21/11/2024 - 18:03

    any that allow taking kids yet?

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