This has been the best holiday I have done with just you yet! It was fantastic from start to finish but mainly because we had such a great group.
This holiday was non stop action from the moment we stepped off the plane. The first day is a bit tough to get through due to the time difference but every excursion was well worth doing, there were no real low lights.
Each of the hotels we stayed in were fabulous and even the rooms on the boat were good-all those that had upgraded got a second upgrade. The only thing missing from the boat room compared to the hotels was minimal toiletries.
We had really hot and humid weather for most of the trip, the sun and heat disappeared in Shanghai though. It was even really humid in the evening. I took mosquito spray with me but there really wasn't any need for it and wish I hadn't bought it.
All the food was included. Each hotel had everything you could imagine for breakfast and this was generally the only time to gain English tea! Lunch and dinner were all Chinese food in the format of a lazy susan. Unfortunately on the travelling/flight days, lunch was often in the airport which was not quite as nice. However the majority of food was fantastic. The only poor meal we had was the hot pot night in chengdu - no one really wanted to cook their own food and it was difficult to know when the food was done. Each person had a small hotpot in front of them and then each table had a selection of meat and vegetables to cook. The 18 course dumpling dinner was interesting and quite fun in Xian. I've never seen so many dumplings!
Each of the excursions were great in their own way, the Great Wall, the Terracotta Army and the panda sanctuary being my favourites. The 2 optionals were well worth doing and most did them.
There were often a lot of souvenirs to buy - make sure to have your bartering head on as you can pick up bargains or pay through the roof! In both Beijing and Xian we had a group picture taken which was put in book about the city for us to buy. I made the mistake of going out with my suitcase weighing exactly 23kg which meant I didn't have much weight allowance for souvenirs which I ended up putting in my hand luggage! There was a little leniency on the internal flight weight limited but not if you were taking the mick.
The Yangtze add on was really worth it. There was an included excursion each day and an optional one so make sure you have some money left or a credit card as these were also well worth doing. The upgrade was worth the money as we had the upstairs dining area which was away from the Chinese downstairs. Apparently madness ensued when the Chinese were trying to get their food, so those that had not upgraded in our group were allowed to sit in the same dining room as us but were given the same buffet as downstairs. The a la carte food was great. The upgrade also gives you the upstairs decking area to lounge around in and free soft drinks and nibbles on tap. All told well worth the extra money spent.
The toilet situation - most places we went had 1 or 2 western toilets and the rest were squat. There was only the odd restaurant where there was only squatting toilets. Make sure you take toilet roll and hand gel with you and if you fancy it practice some squatting!
Overall I would thoroughly recommend this holiday and lastly be prepared to be photographed by the Chinese everywhere you go!
