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Save/ShareTourism to China is at a record level. Last year, 350,600 Americans visited—a 10 percent jump over the previous year. And this summer China is hosting the Olympic Games, leading the country to spend billions to make itself more welcoming to foreign visitors. So we decided to publish a story in Budget Travel's May issue that gives tips on how you can book your own travel to the country instead of going on a tour ("Do-It-Yourself China").
I would like to add a few thoughts about the benefits of making your own travel arrangements, especially if you want to see more than the main cities. When I was living in China eight years ago, my most memorable trips were the ones that I planned on my own through the countryside—many times with a very loose itinerary. And I'm testament that anyone can do this, given that I spoke absolutely no Chinese when I got to the country.
Travel in China has changed a lot in the past 10 years or so, too. With Western hotel chains opening up all over the country, the Chinese chains have been forced to compete, and many have improved their standards as a result. Check out Jin Jiang Hotels—the chain is an established, business-class chain.
Chinese trip-planning sites like elong.com and ctrip.com also offer far better deals on airfare than what you'd find on U.S.-based search engines like Expedia and Kayak. You can book internal flights on the sites from the U.S. and pay with your credit card—and the sites are in English so there's no language barrier.
Here are some other travel tips to get you started:
→ Search out unique travel destinations. This doesn't mean skip out on the traditional tourist centers of Beijing, Xi'an, or Shanghai. But try to incorporate travel to lesser-known places—you'll get a far greater sense of what the country is like.
On the way to Shanghai to Xi'an by train, for example, are two incredible cities: Kaifeng and Luoyang. Luoyang, one of China’s ancient capitals, has an amazing mountainside carved with thousands of statues of Buddha dating back 1,500 years. The Longmen Grottoes are just as impressive as Xi'an's terracotta soldiers, but nowhere near as famous.
Kaifeng is also an ancient capital of China. The city has one of the most beautiful pagodas I saw anywhere in China—the graceful Iron Pagoda, built in 1049. Kaifeng is also home to one of the oldest Jewish populations in China.
→ Pick up English-language city magazines in Shanghai and Beijing to get the most recent information on museums, galleries, restaurants, bars, music venues, sporting events—you name it. There's a thriving English-language press in both cities, mostly centered on the arts and nightlife. You can find the magazines in most Western-style restaurants or bars; a particularly thorough one is called that's. It's available in both cities.
→ Use Chinese travel agencies in the major cities—they’ll help you book air and train tickets for a nominal fee. Your hotel can help you find a good agency; we recommend Kingdom Travel in Beijing and Shanghai. The biggest agencies will have English-speaking sales assistants.
→ If you're curious about Beijing, you'll find a slide show of the newest architecture, an etiquette guide, and a video tour of one downtown neighborhood at budgettravel.com/beijing2008.
If you have any tips on saving money, or just getting around, post them here. I'd love to know other ways tourists are finding to travel around China!
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I just saw some great China deals in the Washington Post travel section today: (irritatingly not on their website):
"Bargain of the Week: United has sale fares to Beijing and Shanghai for travel through May 29. Round-trip fares from Washington Dulles to Beijing is $988 (including $68 taxes). Round-trip from Dulles to Shanghai is $1,000 (incl. $82 taxes). Fares to either city, after sale ends, start at about $1,600 round-trip. Travel Monday-Thurs. for cheapest fares. Six-night minimum and 30-day maximum applies. Seven-day advance purchase. Book by April 21 at www.united.com or pay $15 more by calling 800-864-8331.
Posted By Marilyn Terrell on April 20, 2008, 3:35 PM
Just came back from a 40 day trip to Shanghai and all the great sites. We traveled on our own. You won't believe how great China is today. The people are very friendly. Everyone should go there at least once in their lives. And if I told you how little it all cost you wouldn't believe me. So that will be my little secret.
Posted By John on May 10, 2008, 10:29 AM
As an American living in China for the past 2 years, I can confirm that buying rail tickets at the train station can be a frustrating experience. However, many hotels have train ticket agents in their lobbies and can sell you a ticket with no markup. This is a great service for those who have limited Chinese language skills or little patience for standing in lines. Also, you can only buy tickets 10 days in advance.
Posted By Vicki on May 12, 2008, 10:24 PM
Some extra tips -
1. If you use a Chinese website to book for anything. The price is in Chinese Yuan. You may have to pay about 3% extra charge if you use a USD credit card. The price usually is still better than any American website.
2. During the off peak season, the China's domestic flight may offer discount as low as 70% off. You may find those tickets on ctrip or elong or airline's website. Usually, the deep discount won't come up over 1 month of the departure date. http://www.cs-air.com (China Southern airline) sometime offers even better discount than any other website as ctrip with its happy fly price, but it is a pain to book for tickets there for foreigner as you have to email or fax all your passport and credit card info to them. (Eventually, I give up their 70%off ticket for my last trip and used ctrip to get a 50% off ticket instead.)
3. There could be some special discount that does not show up on ctrip's English version, but availabe with its Chinese version site. When I book my ticket on ctrip, there is a special link for 50% off if I book a round ticket ticket with Air Shanghai, this link was not there when I check out their English version.
4. Price of hotel would cost a lot more during some special period. (E.g: In Guangzhou, the hotel price will raise to about 3 times of its regular price during the Guangzhou Trade Fair period twice per year. Try to avoid those special period if you are going for vactaion. Everything costs more during those time.
Posted By Chi on May 28, 2008, 5:17 PM
Good article. I hope these tips work. I'm moving to Hangzhou, China in August. I'm trying to reserve my flight now, but I need an open-ended ticket. None of the automated web sites work if you don't put in a departure date. So I'm trying China Express Int'l Travel & Tour as referred in the article. I hear that because of fuel costs, airfares and much higher than this spring. If anyone has any further information, let me know!
Posted By Jess on July 17, 2008, 2:55 PM
I spent 2 weeks in May 2008 traveling in Western China. Our time in Urimqi and Kashkar (Kashi) was great but only because I was traveling with someone who knew a bit of Mandrain and Uygher, a dialect from Western China. I would not try to travel the westen areas without at least a moderate amount of language since very few of the population seemed to speak any English. Also, be prepared for a strong police prescence and to have your bags and papers checked several times a day.
Posted By Kim on August 18, 2008, 4:29 PM
Gotta be bully here, act like you're not scared of anything whenever you go shopping in markets here. I found some tips about negotiating skill pretty helpful here http://www.bizcult.com/content/?p=794#more-794
Posted By Cam Phung on October 12, 2008, 10:35 PM