Others

There are three key national holiday periods in China, when a large part of the population is on the move – all travel bookings are extremely tight at these times, hotels generally increase their rates and flights and trains can be very crowded. The main, week-long holidays are: Chinese New Year in February; International Labour Day the first week of May, and to celebrate National Day the first week in October.

1. The passport with all necessary visas and travel documents. We recommend that a copy of all documents be kept separately to the original documents in case original document are lost. Copies are very useful for identification purposes.

2. Casual outdoor clothing depending on the time of year that you travel and your destination. A pair of good walking shoes is necessary. Most tours involve plenty of walking, sometimes on hard or uneven surfaces and stairs.Many attractions are also quite exposed to the weather – sun, wind, rain etc; for example the Forbidden City has many large open spaces, and many of the Temples have large courtyards between their halls and pagodas.

3. 'Carry On' luggage for air travel in China is limited to 2 pieces for first class travelers and one piece for business and economy class travelers. The dimensions of each shall not exceed 20X40 X55cm and the total weight of the above two pieces shall not exceed 5 kg. The carry on items in excess of the above mentioned shall be checked-in as checked baggage according to regulations.

4. Wallet

5. Credit cards

6. Traveler's checks

7. Airline, Cruise or Train tickets

8. First-aid kit

9. Medicine and vitamins

10.Hat, Sunscreen, lip creams and sunglasses, depending on the season and your destination. If you will go to places with high elevation such as Tibet, parts of Sichuan, Yunnan and Xinjiang provinces, these items are vital to protect your skin and eyes as the high altitude and the thin atmosphere allows the sun's solar radiation to strike the earth with unusual intensity.

11.Address and telephone number list. A list of e-mail addresses, mailing addresses and telephone numbers will help keep you in touch. Type them onto a sheet instead of taking a your whole address book. It will save weight.

12.Itinerary with confirmation numbers and addresses and phone numbers of the places you'll be staying.

13.Insect repellent. Especially for summer months and for travelers who are visiting rural areas.

14.Do not bring expensive jewelry and watches.

15.Medical records, daily necessities such as bathroom requirements are readily available throughout China and you may wish to save space by purchasing these items while you travel.

16.If you are taking a more adventurous trip, it's a good idea to take your own silk sleeping bag liner and lightweight travel towel along with a reasonable supply of tissues, torch, personal toiletries.

17. Chargers for your mobile phone, digital camera etc. An electrical transformer could be useful. China uses 220V electricity for 110v devices cannot be used on this system.

On the byproducts of economical development and urbanization is pollution and China's nation's water and air quality have suffered. In the large industrial cities of the north, pollution can be quite bad and this occurs even in some famous tourist cities including Beijing, Shanghai,Xian Hangzhou and Guilin.

Although China's is trying hard to improve its transportation infrastructure, it is still struggling to meet the demands of its huge population. It is not uncommon that travelers will see crowded, sometimes chaotic traffic jams in China's larger cities, including some important tourist cities like Beijing, Shanghai and Xian. It is also very common to see packed public transportation facilities like trains, public buses.

Unfortunately Chinahighlights can not change this problem but we do provide excellent driver who take great pride in the service they provide. We believe that you are in safe hands when you travel with us.

Traveling by train in China is one of the cheapest ways to travel some of the long distances in China and is used widely by the local population. It is important to know what to expect if you decide to travel by train in China.China Highlights have included detailed information on China Train Travel and please click here to read it.

There are few public laundries on the streets. Laundering services are available in your hotels and cruise ships. In some hotel, they offer the One-day dry cleaning and pressing services.

You can always use the hotel telephone. But be aware that it could be as expensive as US$3 per minute. On the Yangtze cruise ships, it could be $20 per minute as they are using satellite telephone.

Suggestions:

1. Leave phone numbers at home and ask them to call you.

2. Send faxes from the business centers at the hotels and ship.

3. Send emails from those business centers at the hotels and ships.

4. Take a mobile phone and buy a Chinese SIM card for about $10 or an IP card for about $4 per 30 minutes of call time.

5. Use Skype (or similar) if there are internet cafes and computers online at hotels with talk programs and webcams.

6. Use public phones in corner shops, the rate is about US$1 per minute for international calls.

If you will just send something to some one who has helped you, things like postcards of your country will be fine, nothing expensive and they will be really happy about that. If you meet lovely little kids, you may give them something like a balloon bought on street, and some little items. They might be quite shy to accept it. Don't worry about that, Chinese people are quite friendly to foreigners. Bringing gifts to Chinese is not really a must. And if you could take photos with them and give them a copy, they will be very happy.

English is taught in all Chinese schools but most of the population can not speak English. It takes years of full time study for most people to be able to speak English so that they can be understood. Even in the big cities English is very limited so part of our job is to make it easier for our customers to get the most out of their tour by reducing the communication gap as much as possible. We also want to assure that Chinese people want to communicate with you. Its amazing how much can be achieved with signs and gestures when buying and bargaining for your souvenirs.

This a short guide to what level of English can be expected as you explore China.

Tour Guides:  All English speaking guides have to have passed a national exanimation and should be quite fluent English speakers. The standard of English spoken by guides in more remote areas like Tibet or the Silk Road may not be as high. Drivers rarely speak English.

Hotels

Tourist Class: Limited English may be available at the reception desk but it is unlikely that any other employees will speak English.

Deluxe Class: English should be available at the reception desk and other employees may speak limited English.

Superior Class: English will may be available at the reception desk and other employees should  be able to speak English.

Local Restaurants:  Little or no English is spoken at most local restaurants, however some may have English menus. Our guides will be available to assist when you visit a local restaurants as part of your tour.

Taxi Drivers: As a rule taxi Drivers do not speak English. Always carry the "Take me to" card from the hotel or ask the hotel to write a note.

Tourist Attractions: As a rule staff at tourist attractions do not speak English. Our guide will always be available to take care of admission and guiding you though the attraction.

Local Markets & Shops: No English will be spoken at most local shops. Tourist markets or places with high tourist traffic may have limited English especially "Hello" or "lookie lookie".

Yes, most of toilets in Chinese restaurants and public areas are squat toilets. Hotels always have western toilets.

The beggars around the well known attractions are usually people getting money by misrepresentation. They often work in gangs and if you give to one, others may be attracted to you. Likewise, hawkers sell low quality products and discounted services and are not trustworthy.

Domestic Flight - Passengers must arrive at the airport 1 hour prior to departure.
International Flights - Passengers must arrive at the airport 2 hours prior to departure.

Our tour guide and driver will take you to the airport 2 or 3 hours (domestic/international) ahead of departure. They will always consider likely traffic conditions or other problems like a flat tire. If you arrive at the airport earlier than expected it is because it is better to be a little early than miss the flight, which creates larger problems.

Yes, most major hotels provide Internet access. Some provide free internet. Please check on arrival at the hotel. China uses 230v electricity so a transformer may be needed. You may need an adapter plug to accommodate plug types”A” “I” and “G” .

Mobile Wireless Broadband also available in more than 100 cities throughout China. It is possible to purchase a separate USIM card/USB mobile card for your computer in China. Chinese operators use some different technology to other countries. So please check the specification before coming if you wish to use this technology. For your information, China Mobile use TD-SCDMA , China Unicom use WCDMA and China Telecom use CDMA2000 EV-DO. Your guide can assist you in purchasing a card on arrival.