Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Chris_Dixon]

Hey guys, anyone used a travel agent for a trip to China?? Id especially like a tour that went to historical sites like the Great wall, forbidden city, tianamen square, terracotta soldiers, hanging monastary.....has anyone done something like this and can give me some info???

having abit of trouble finding a travel agent...


Cheers

Chris

[DavePuff]

Been many times and each time I've bought the tickets online. I'd never take a tour and be stuck with a bunch of Korean ahjumma's. *shudder*

Go out and buy a Lonely Planet 'China' book. Worth their weight in gold (for the most part). You can arrange everythying through that, its not difficult at all.

If you have a Chinese friend, get them to write you some phrases on cardboard, one side English and the other in Chinese. That too will be invaluable.

Otherwise, I hope you have a great trip!

[moosehead]

yeah just find yourself a hotel/hostel online and once you arrive you can book tours locally - sounds like you want to go to beijing which is a good jumping off place for some of the places you named.

there's a hotel with a little bit of english spoken up at the great wall at simatai, very beautiful area - wish I'd known it was there I'd have made arrangements to stay overnight when I went in January

also beijing still has various tourist offices open left over from the olympics; not hard to get info.

you will want a travel agent here tho to arrange for your visa, that's a hassle and maybe you can't even do it yourself.

have fun

[farrepatt]

Moosehead, do you have any info for that hotel near Simitai? I went to Simitai a few years ago and loved it and will be taking my wife to China this summer. I wouldn't mind staying closer to it and spending the whole day and night there if possible.

[chris_J2]

Lonely Planet 'China' book has a Chinese language section, & all the major place names are in dual English / Chinese. Beijings subway is very easy to get around, to visit many of the major tourist sites. Tianamen Square, eg, has east & west subway station exits, right underneath it. From Tianamen, it's a 500 metre walk to the Forbidden City through the arch. From memory, it was around 56 yuan entry fee in 2007. Beijing's subway is far simpler to use & less crowded than Shanghai's. Catching an overnight train to Xian & back is also easy enough. Just make sure you get a taxi prepared to use the meter, when going to your hostel or hotel in Xian from the train stn. There are public busses Beijing to Badaling, too, to skip the tour busses, that stop at boring jade factories & tea factories, which were of no interest to me. It was raining on the 1st bustour trip I did, so I went back & did it independently by public bus, on a sunny day. Many tourists seeing the Great Wall, also prefer Mutianyu & Simatai, to Badaling, where you need to walk well away from the big tour crowds, & tacky tourist traps at the front entrance.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Wall_of_China

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simatai

I'd concur that you don't need a travel agent. Here's some pics I took around Beijing, Badaling & Xian in 2007:

http://www.trekearth.com/members/ChrisJ/photos/Asia/China/North/Beijing/

http://www.trekearth.com/members/ChrisJ/photos/Asia/China/North/Beijing/page2.htm

http://www.trekearth.com/members/ChrisJ/photos/Asia/China/Central/Shaanxi/

[Aelric]

I concur that you don't really need a travel agent to set up a tour. I was in Beijing for a week and saw nearly everything on your list. However, if you are simply setting up the tickets and VISA, Kangsan travel took care of things for really cheap. My ticket was only 150Kwon plus the VISA fee. They specialize in English as well, in case you can't speak korean yet.