Going to China - 20 October 2008  | | The Great Wall from Mitianyu Section - Ph. by Liuba Beauvais |
One of my most exciting trips ever is in the works… For the past two months I have been working on our exploration of China, the People’s Democratic Republic of China. It has definitely been at the top of our list of “1000 places to see before [we] die” for a long time; the delay was caused by the anticipated expensive trip, but also because I know absolutely nothing about preparing such a trip.
Over the years, I had read several books on that country’s history. We had also seen many documentaries on television. A Chinese friend had recommended we go in September or October, as the weather is the nicest at that time of year in most of the regions. So it was settled that we would go in the fall of 2009.
As a travel professional, I knew nothing about traveling in China, about being a tourist there; I had visited Asia several times: Thailand, Laos, Hong Kong… but that was the extent of my experience, and even so, my colleagues at Adler Travel knew them well and were a big help at the time.
So I started reading travel books and haunted all the online discussions I could find. Finally, I realized that I should ask a tour operator for help: we did not want to waste time traveling on our own, as tempting as the adventure of it was. We had three weeks to a month at our disposal and wanted to make the most efficient use of the time: more expensive, but well worth the reliability.
There were some musts: Beijing, the capital, Xian, to see the terracotta warriors which we had seen at the Metropolitan Museum several years ago, a Yangtze cruise, and Shanghai. Because we love animals, we added Chengdu to see the pandas, Lijiang, Kunming, for its famed gardens, Guilin, for its major role in Chinese history, and Yangshuo, to cruise the beautiful Li River. From our departure to our return dates, the itinerary would take 23 days, quite a trek.
I proceeded to the most obvious and contacted Travel China Guide, the Chinese tour operator recommended by many and based in Xian, by email; I also emailed Liuba Beauvais, one of the discussions participants on Frommer’s website; the former proposed hotels (which I researched with my usual tools), flights and sightseeing, and the latter patiently and consistantly offered invaluable advice on guides, drivers, hotels, priorities, etc.
As of today, our itinerary looks just right! How will we manage to wait for 11 months!
| 
