Hi Mike, thanks for all the info, very helpful! I'm hoping to do this tour next year and I'm just wondering regarding prescriptions - I presume you only need to have a list etc if you are carrying them on you and don't need to do this if the pills etc are in your checked in baggage?

Best wishes,

Bob

Hi Bob:

Glad you found my tips helpful though some seem positively modified by leahk posting a couple of minutes before you.

My answer to your question is: you are probably right. But I would advise against packing your prescription drugs in your checked-in baggage. If any of them are essential, and your baggage goes astray, even for a day or so – well only you can judge if you can do without them!

I’m not taking such a risk! Not if it just requires a piece of paper from one’s local pharmacist, which I now have. (It’s just a print-out from their records of your repeat prescribed items.)

I did the trip in September staying in the same hotels.

All Bathrooms in the rooms were of a top European standard (including decent toilet tissue)

All had Robes

All had Wi-FI - only the Marriott charged for in room wifi - it was still free in reception

All hotels were good with the Marriott being the best. But really with the hectic schedule, you will hardly notice - be prepared for full days with early starts and late finishes - long days but 100% worth it.

I'm pretty sure most, if not all, did have kleenex type tissues too

Out and about the toilets varied greatly - some only offering eastern style squat toilets, but in the main, most, at the places we visited, had a mix of western and eastern style and were of acceptable to good standard. The local guide will give you a star rating so you don't have to discover the worst ones for yourself. More often or not you hear them say something like "The ones by the entrance a 5 star but the ones by the temple are only 3 star" Basically there are bad ones, but it is never long until the next good ones. Toilet paper was available in the public toilets, but as is usual there, it is only one big roll, out side of the cubicle, so some forward planning is needed!

The carry on limit looks limiting (1 piece/5Kg) and there are signs at the check-in that said it would be weighed at the gate - in my experience, this was not enforced with many people carrying more than one item and clearly over the weight limit.

I was a couple of Kg over the 20kg on at least one of the internal flights, but there was no problem at check-in

Thanks leahk for your response. (Your user-pic really gives me the heeby-jeebies!!)

I’m glad to read of your experiences; my issues were based entirely on JY’s rep yesterday afternoon, who admittedly hadn’t been on the trip himself. But he did refer to a colleague who had and he, for example, specifically mentioned the non-availability of bath-robes. In view of your observation, I might leave that behind. Hardly important if the hotels are warm enough.

I’ll still take a box or two of tissues – one can’t even rely on them over here in every hotel. Maybe the 4-star hotels we can expect will tho’.

The wi-fi info I obtained myself later last evening from each hotel’s website so assumed that was the latest situation. Surely they wouldn’t broadcast their internet provision was subject to a charge if it wasn’t?

As a bloke, I’m none too bothered about the facilities in outdoor public toilets!

It would be a hard security guy or lass who refused one entry because one’s bag was over the limit, and probably a kg or two extra is none too serious. But despite your experience, and being Air China, I daren’t risk exceeding the 5Kg allowance on my carry-on, tho’ the worst that could happen is either a surcharge and/or insistence on it going in the hold – or so their website threatens. That I don’t want, containing as it will most of my in-flight entertainment, not to mention paperwork and currency!

Hi Mike, thanks for all the info, very helpful! I'm hoping to do this tour next year and I'm just wondering regarding prescriptions - I presume you only need to have a list etc if you are carrying them on you and don't need to do this if the pills etc are in your checked in baggage?

Best wishes,

Bob

Hi Bob,

I take various medications some of which I put in my suitcase and some in my hand luggage but nothing was ever mentioned about medication when going through any of the check-ins and check-outs!!

PaulineD

Cheers,

Bob

I picked it up from a Chinese website of general advice, suggesting keeping details of your identity and, in particular, medication used, in the destination’s language, in your wallet or handbag.

Google stars again! All you need to do is to enter “Google translate” into your browser’s Search window and it’ll instantly comes up with their basic but brilliant Translation page.

In the left, open text box, type in the information you think might be needed – I just included my Name, Address, Tour Company, Tour Title, Tour Ref No, Blood Group and Medications used – then in the second ‘drop-down menu’ above, select the language you wish to translate it into, before finally clicking on the blue “Translate” ‘button’. Print it out, trim it and 鮑勃·你的單位的叔叔！

If you select that before, you can see the translation building up as you key in – absolutely fascinating if you choose “Chinese”!

So if I’m ever found slumped in the gutter, I shall be rescued and safely treated – providing I’ve not been robbed of my wallet of course!

Thanks for your helpful post,

Cheers,

Bob

http://www.accuweather.com/en/cn/beijing/101924/october-weather/101924 

I have booked this for next year and this is very useful info

Has anyone had laundry done in the hotels please and if so is it returned within the day and how much does it cost?

Thinking of this as an option to reduce packing

Thanks

Anne

Very many thanks for the advice, I'm going to

China on Wednesday, only 6 days to go now!!!!! So excited and really happy to get advice and information.

I wish the checked in luggage allowance could be sorted out and the 23kg limit be confirmed for the whole trip. It seems that 23kg is "probably" ok and past trips have had no problems with it so far, but no guarantees. Air China say something similar, 23kg is ok for all of their flights but suggest "You can try showing your international ticket, they might let you take 23kg but still cannot guarantee" for other companies. I also asked if a handbag counts as the 1 piece of hand luggage and the good news is it doesn't. Quote "Your checked in baggage is 1 piece which is 23kg per passenger plus cabin baggage is 5kg plus a handbag or laptop per passenger for your itinerary" Good news for females, perhaps the men can adopt a manbag to help expand the miserly 5kg limit!!

I will take a copy of the Air China email with me just in case.

Well must get to my packing! Thanks for the info.

Regards

Gillian

quote='Mike21' pid='234768' dateline='1380889870']

I spent a while yesterday afternoon asking a few questions of an adviser at JY – many very trivial, but several prompted by China’s stingy carry-on allowance of just 5Kg. This is my first time with the company, having chosen a long-haul trip, and as there will be others in the same boat, so to speak, I thought I’d pass them on for their benefit.

• Primarily, and on top of that tiny carry-on limit, be warned of the checked-in baggage allowance too. JY do make the point in their final documentation but it is very easy to not make the connection.

The regular limit is 23Kg, common with many other airlines. But, domestic carriers in China, with which we travel three times, impose a 20Kg limit. So that must be the maximum for the Air China flights as well.

• A comment that has stuck in the back of my mind ever since reading it was that some places don’t provide toilet-paper and even suggested that you take your own supply, helpfully pointing out that Tesco, amongst others, do provide flat packets. True, they do, but they’re two-ply!! :-(

However, unable to believe JustYou’s choices of any hotel anywhere could possibly not provide such a basic, I mentioned it yesterday and was, of course, assured that they all would!

• He confirmed that they do not provide bathrobes, nor Kleenex-type tissues.

• Important to me was the provision, preferably free, of wifi. I have checked personally and only two do. Please see my additional info on that in the list of hotels below.

• I discovered late in the day from the airline’s website that prescriptions are required at Security to confirm all prescribed drugs you’re carrying with you. Reluctant to go through the palaver of obtaining it from my local GP, I suggested yesterday that the boxes in which the tablets come have a pharmacist’s label affixed with shows all the detail Security could possibly want.

The rep agreed somewhat reluctantly. But this morning I was inspired to ring my pharmacist in case they had a simple solution themselves and sure enough they did. All they had to do was to print out an existing page that confirms that what pills I’m taking are bona fide prescribed ones.

• JustYou Tour Guides do not carry any First Aid equipment whatsoever, like plasters, throat pastilles etc. (Why should they, but worth asking, I thought!)

• Another thing new to me is that Air China require checked-in baggage to be padlocked! Many of you will know of the warnings we are given that doing so in the US risks damage to your case as the officers are liable to hack any such lock off, unless it is one of those that they can unlock.

It seems they are not too confident of passengers’ belongings being protected from theft. Whether this means that officers will therefore not even inspect one’s case/s, I don’t know.

That’s about the end of my Tips, but I thought my fellow-travellers on this trip might like to check out the hotels we’re booked into. A friend told me on Wednesday that China’s hotels “are fabulous” as is the food.

So to save you entering all the details, you may care to copy and paste the four individual ones I’ve provided below, along with ratings from tripAdvisor and the aforementioned wifi availability details:

Traders Hotel Beijing – Ranked 86% on TripAdvisor and 190th out of 4657 hotels in Beijing:

http://www.shangri-la.com/beijing/traders/ 

Grand Park Hotel, Xian – Ranked 83% and 53rd out of 1686 hotels in Xian:

http://www.parkhotelgroup.com/xian/ 

Tianfu Sunshine Hotel, Chengdu – doesn’t seem to have its own website; TripAdvisor’s top Google’s search. Ranked 89% and 19th out of 1645 hotels in Chengdu:

http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Hotel_Review-g297463-d308237-Reviews-Tianfu_Sunshine_Hotel-Chengdu_Sichuan.html 

Courtyard Shanghai Puxi Hotel, Shanghai – Ranked 89% and 30th out of 3203 hotels in Shanghai:

http://www.marriott.co.uk/hotels/travel/shapx-courtyard-shanghai-puxi/ 

• Only two have free wifi or high-speed internet. The Grand Park Xian and the Courtyard by Marriott Shanghai Puxi both make a surcharge. (So should be struck off until they provide it free, IMO!)

Excellent tips/information, I am going this September 10th, so good to know.

Yes, I'm going away on the 7th September Inspirational China trip and have found the messages here very useful, so would just like to add my own word of thanks.

Only two weeks to go now - yikes!

I'm going on the 8th October departure and wondered how much spending money I should allow for. I note that you've said English money can be exchanged in the hotels so I'll take GBP with me, but did you take any Chinese money with you? I always take local currency with me, but if they can exchange GBP in the hotels I may take some local currency to start with and exchange GBP as I go along. Would that be the better option, and do you get a favourable rate compared to UK?

Also, on the cruise do you pay for any purchases in cash or is it added to your cabin bill and paid on departure? If the bill is settled just before departure, do they accept a credit card? I've gone for the upgrade so I know drinks are included at specific times and I'll also be taking my credit card with me as a back-up.

Any recommendations you can give me would be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks

Mike