billr@tekred.UUCP (Bill Randle) (02/12/86)
Has anyone visited China recently and/or have any thoughts/comments regarding travel to there? I'm signed up with a small tour group, but any suggestions of things to take or places to visit would be appreciated. -Bill Randle Tektronix, Inc. tektronix!tekred!billr (uucp) tekred!billr@tektronix.csnet (CSnet) tekred!billr%tektronix@csnet-relay.ARPA (ARPA)
dougw@pyramid.UUCP (Doug Wong) (02/13/86)
I took a thirty-one day trip to China in April, 1985 and throughly enjoyed the trip. The following are some comments that might help while touring China (I'm trying to keep this brief, but I'll be happy to post more info if requested). There are three "classes" of tourists in China (actually four if you count the Chinese themselves). The categories being Foreigners, Overseas Chinese, and Hong Kong or Taiwan "Compatriots". The class distinction (in a "classless" society) being the difference in the price of the tours and the quality of accomodations. More than likely you fall into (highest priced) Foreigner category. I preface my comments on this assumption. Unless this is a professional (doctors, lawyers, etc.) tour, then the tour will be booked through the China International Travel Service (CITS), a government agency. CITS will assign a guide that stays with the tour for the entire time (while in China). This also means that the itinerary has been pre-scheduled and determined (to some degree of certainty), i.e. there will be very few, if any, deviations from the scheduled sights. The Spring and Fall are the best times to visit, and are also the peak tourist seasons. The weather in this vast land varies as it does in the U.S. (the tour I was on flew from Harbin (up north near the Russian border, temperature 55 degrees F with a very cold (and I mean cold) wind chill factor) to Guangzhou (Canton, 86 degrees F, and humid)). Always be prepared for rain. Travel light. In China you are allowed only one piece of baggage (there is also a weight limit which I do not recall at this moment), plus (they say) one carry-on. The number of carry-on pieces didn't seem to matter as long as they all fit under a standard airline seat (I carried a small daypack and camera-fanny (or is it a fanny-camera?) bag as my carry-on, no problems). By the way, the weigth of the baggage will be checked during the trip (usually towards the end when everyone on the tour has exceeded their limit), and if the group baggage (note, not the individual's baggage) is overweight, the tour will be charged for the excess (it wasn't much in my tour's case, at the Beijing Airport each members portion came to about $3.00). Since money has been mentioned, China has two scripts. One for the Chinese people, the Renminbei or "People's Money" (RMB), and one for the (guess who) tourists, the Foreign Exchange Certificate or FEC. The FECs allow the user to purchase rationed or foreign items in Friendship Stores. So the locals are very anxious to get their hands on FEC's! You can tell the difference between the two by noticing that the FECs have Arabic numerals (i.e. numbers) on them, while the RMBs only have Chinese characters. The two scripts are also printed in different colors for each denomenation. If you're a photographer, take lots of film. While film is available in some of the larger cities in China, it pays to make sure you have enough before leaving. I would also reccomend carrying the film in either a clear ziploc bag or lead foil bag, as the X-rays at the airports and train stations (yes, bags are X-rayed at some train stations) are more intense than here in the U.S. I prefer the clear ziploc bag method and carrying my film with me. Most of the security people understand the English word, film, and will not insist upon X-raying it. Hope this helps you out (and I hope you can use chopsticks!!!) Doug Wong