Julia could I ask who the tour guide is?

To everyone on the 9th October Inspirational China tour see you soon.

And thanks JY for the texts on visa/passport returns and final paper work, good to know they are on their way.

Thanks Julia

Your Tour Manager for this trip is provisionally listed as John Drylie.

Not long to go now - I hope you have a great time.

Kindest regards,

Julia

Can't believe how quickly this year has gone only seems like yesterday I booked this trip, well February.

Julia could I ask who the tour guide is?

To everyone on the 9th October Inspirational China tour see you soon.

And thanks JY for the texts on visa/passport returns and final paper work, good to know they are on their way.

Thanks Julia

I see you have John Drylie as your Tour Rep. He was our rep for the May trip and he is brilliant!!

PaulineD

Won't be long before we will be hanging around Gatwick North,

playing spot the JY label, and deciding if we should use the lounge to meet up with the group or wait till we hit China.

Keep looking at various weather sites, and it seems none of them agree with each other, so we could have anything from 18 c to 26 c

depending on who you believe.

Back to chop sticks practice and see you all soon.

Hi Gang, Been reading all your blogs and picking up hints about the forth coming China trip. Has any one said it's better to get your money here before you go for a better exchange rate? Herbal tea is not really to my liking so does one pack tea bags? Oh! and how are you all coping packing 16 days worth of clothing? Best to meet in the lounge with a drink by then all the above will be too late.

I got my money here, I'm happier knowing its all sorted. Asda and Tesco money bureaus seem to be a good deal at the moment. And as for packing for 16 days in only 20kg.....I have unpacked so many times and changed my mind, I don't think I can be any help there.

Hi Gang, Been reading all your blogs and picking up hints about the forth coming China trip. Has any one said it's better to get your money here before you go for a better exchange rate? Herbal tea is not really to my liking so does one pack tea bags? Oh! and how are you all coping packing 16 days worth of clothing? Best to meet in the lounge with a drink by then all the above will be too late.

Well you can never tell for sure but I found it better changing in China. The rate in China is fixed by the government so it's the same wherever you go. There is a small fee charged by the cash dispenser (the rate below includes that charge). The rate does change daily so I'd take a bit to get you started and then change some sterling at the hotel when you get there.

Below are the rates I got a few weeks ago:

Date		 Where		  Sterling	Yuan		Rate
29-Aug-13	Nat West	   £11.52 	   ¥100.00 	8.6816
06-Sep-13	Hotel		  £10.34 	   ¥100.00 	9.6711
10-Sep-13	Cash Dispenser £10.87	    ¥100.00 	9.1965

If you want an idea on how you might spend - I posted a breakdown in another thread: Spending breakdown 

As to the tea - it's usually Green Tea or Jasmine Tea and both are a lot nicer that the versions you get it tea bags in the UK. I'm a big Assam Tea drinker in the UK, but found it easy to switch - the Chinese tea suits the climate. Others did take tea bags and there were kettles in all the hotel rooms. There is usually two bottles of complementary water in the room each day, and you can always buy more on the coaches for about 30p a bottle.

I can't help with the clothes question - No one had the Yangtze add-on on my trip so they had less days to pack for.

Hi Gang, Been reading all your blogs and picking up hints about the forth coming China trip. Has any one said it's better to get your money here before you go for a better exchange rate? Herbal tea is not really to my liking so does one pack tea bags? Oh! and how are you all coping packing 16 days worth of clothing? Best to meet in the lounge with a drink by then all the above will be too late.

Hi Chardeen. I’m ahead of you with the tea-bags! So yes, I’m packing those – gotta have my “English Breakfast” cuppa first thing in the mornings.

As for the packing for 16 days, I guess you’ll be looking for replies from the ladies! I’m banking on making most shirts last for two days. Though I’ll add more if I find there’s room to spare as I pack. Or if it’s really hot, then I’ll have to make good use of the laundering services.

I did the Yangtze add on and some of the group used the laundry service, particulary those who upgraded on the cruise and got free laundry. I would say if you can cut down on anything cut down on taking evening clothes; there were at least 3 occasions when we didn't get back in time to change for dinner and went straight there from the day time tour. Evenings are not as hot so you could double up possibly on some evening wear and perhaps wear it a second time on the cruise. I took a couple of pairs of trousers and plenty of tops for the evening so I could mix and match. The day time weather for us was hot and humid and I took canvas capri pants which I was able to wear twice; the only exception was when we went to the great wall it was so hot and humid that the clothes went straight in the wash bag. In my experience luggage weight wasn't a huge issue of those of us who were up to the limit there were plenty of others who were very much under and because we were travelling as a group it kind of evened itself out so it was never flagged up as a problem for any of us. Although hand luggage is limited we also carried on carrier bags and vacuum packed bedding from the silk factory on both the main and internal flights without a problem. Marie

Looking forward to meeting everybody. My first trip alone. Staying in a hotel close to Gatwick the night before so I don't get stressed about traffic. Worried about the luggage allowance!!!

Was lovely to meet you Sheryl and thanks for intervening when I was sick and too stubborn to get help, and sorry I didn't get to say goodbye properly, I just legged it for the train. XX

Looking forward to meeting everybody. My first trip alone. Staying in a hotel close to Gatwick the night before so I don't get stressed about traffic. Worried about the luggage allowance!!!

Was lovely to meet you Sheryl and thanks for intervening when I was sick and too stubborn to get help, and sorry I didn't get to say goodbye properly, I just legged it for the train. XX

Hope you are on the mend now Sue. Great memories of a fantastic holiday. Daphne