i did the wonder of china trip in november and it was fantastic.
a few tips??
dont take too much stuff with you!! alot of us ended up getting rid of stuff to be able to bring all our goodies home!!! even then i had excess baggage costs when flying from heathrow to manchester!!!!
haggle if you can when buying things, you will get a bargain.
take lots of batteries for your camera, i took nearly 700 photos while i was away!!!
our tour manager was wonderful, she was called lisa and couldnt do enough for us. the local guides we had too were brilliant and really knew their stuff.
i took yuan notes with me and coped fine. some people did take travellers cheques but most people had cash.
the only spending money you need is for souvenirs/goodies!! all the food is included. at lunch and dinner 1 drink is included with your meal but then you can buy more if you want too, the beer was ok and really cheap.
be prepared for some intersting toilets!!!! there were alot of squatting toilets. the majority of places had a few western toilets but one place we went too (cant remember where) only had the squatty ones. the smells in these toilets are not too good. another toilet tip (sorry!!) is to take tissues/toilet roll with you as they dont always have any.
anyway, if theres anything else you want to know just ask.
enjoy your holiday. it is a wonderful country.
helen
