Viking China

[dpump]

No plastic forks needed. Don't think the fans are needed either, but that's me. I would suggest some kind of hat. Don't forget the weight of your luggage, all that stuff starts adding up and before leaving you're doing the 'what should I leave out' game.

[Dale]

I have finished my pictures taken at Mt. Jiu Hua. This is the link that will take you to them.

Mt. Jiu Hua

Click full size to really get the full effect on most of them.

[no fuss travel]

Wow, gorgeous pictures. Thank you for posting them. I did notice the blue sky.

[go2girl]

Did anyone take binoculars on your tour? I took a small pair on my last Viking cruise, but didn't seem to have them when I should have. When cruising past a soccer game on the Elbe last year, the teams could see our ship coming down the river. They decided to show us a little more of Germany than we really needed to see, and all lined upon the riverbank, pulled down their shorts and proceeded to urinate!:eek: Where were my binoculars then, you ask? Down in my cabin, of course!:D (Thank goodness!) But seriously, if anyone has a suggestion about a good, small pair of binocs, I would like to hear it. I TiVo'd a special about the hanging coffins of China on PBS, and would certainly like to see them while on the Yangtze.

[Dale]

Did anyone take binoculars on your tour? I took a small pair on my last Viking cruise, but didn't seem to have them when I should have. When cruising past a soccer game on the Elbe last year, the teams could see our ship coming down the river. They decided to show us a little more of Germany than we really needed to see, and all lined upon the riverbank, pulled down their shorts and proceeded to urinate!:eek: Where were my binoculars then, you ask? Down in my cabin, of course!:D (Thank goodness!) But seriously, if anyone has a suggestion about a good, small pair of binocs, I would like to hear it. I TiVo'd a special about the hanging coffins of China on PBS, and would certainly like to see them while on the Yangtze.

I can’t recommend any binoculars but they would be helpful to view the hanging coffins as they are a couple of hundred feet or more straight up above the river. Your viewing time will be short. They are on a sheer cliff and not easily seen with the naked eye. I was only able to get a couple of pictures. Fortunately this was one of our good days, smog wise.

 

[go2girl]

Wow, Dale, you got a couple of great shots! I hope the coffins are still visible in 2009. I understand they may be underwater? BTW, loved the photos of Mt. Jiu Hua. The colors are beautiful!

[coasters]

I can’t recommend any binoculars but they would be helpful to view the hanging coffins as they are a couple of hundred feet or more straight up above the river. Your viewing time will be short. They are on a sheer cliff and not easily seen with the naked eye. I was only able to get a couple of pictures. Fortunately this was one of our good days, smog wise.

 

 

Thought since I was able to get a decent telephoto of the hanging coffin, you might want to have a look.

Jerry

[Dale]

 

Thought since I was able to get a decent telephoto of the hanging coffin, you might want to have a look.

Jerry

Great shot. It’s not easy to get a shot like that from a moving boat a couple hundred feet below the subject.

 

Wow, Dale, you got a couple of great shots! I hope the coffins are still visible in 2009. I understand they may be underwater? BTW, loved the photos of Mt. Jiu Hua. The colors are beautiful!

Thanks for the complement about the pictures of Mt. Jiu Hua. It was the highlight of the trip for us. Had some great help from two Monks, we met in one of the Temples. We were with a lady that spoke Chinese, she interpreted for us. They gave us a most informative tour of the area. See their pictures in the My. Jiu Hua album.

[go2girl]

Absolutely amazing.

 

Thought since I was able to get a decent telephoto of the hanging coffin, you might want to have a look.

Jerry

[coasters]

Great shot. It’s not easy to get a shot like that from a moving boat a couple hundred feet below the subject.

Dale, thanks for the compliment ... it's one of my favorites.

I've found that shooting from moving busses, boats etc. works especially well when the camera is set to "sports" setting. The faster shutter compensates for the movement. Also, the new cameras with image stabilization (and a spouse shoulder to lean on) makes for sharper images.

FYI, I just purchased a polarizing filter to help reduce reflections when shooting thru the tour bus windows. Always thrilled to see how good some of these actually turn out.

Enjoy.

Jerry

[Lady Meer]

Did anyone take binoculars on your tour? I took a small pair on my last Viking cruise, but didn't seem to have them when I should have. When cruising past a soccer game on the Elbe last year, the teams could see our ship coming down the river. They decided to show us a little more of Germany than we really needed to see, and all lined upon the riverbank, pulled down their shorts and proceeded to urinate!:eek: Where were my binoculars then, you ask? Down in my cabin, of course!:D (Thank goodness!) But seriously, if anyone has a suggestion about a good, small pair of binocs, I would like to hear it. I TiVo'd a special about the hanging coffins of China on PBS, and would certainly like to see them while on the Yangtze.

 

I took binoculars and found them quite useful if you remember to have them with you but did have them when I spotted some naked (male) bathers :eek: . In my defence I didn't know they were naked until I looked through the binoculars............

[Lady Meer]

Hi Dale

 

Have enjoyed your photos. I wish we had exchanged email addresses so we could have shared our photos.

[Dale]

Hi Dale

 

Have enjoyed your photos. I wish we had exchanged email addresses so we could have shared our photos.

Brenda, here’s my e-mail address. Click on it.

 

Dale's e-mail

[Cruisin'GMC]

I cannot find a new thread button so I will simply reply to the last entry. We are leaving on July 16 on The Cultural Delights tour. How much money did most of you past travellers take and how did you break it down in terms of yuan and american dollars. I have read that it is best to take brand new single dollars, but how much do you need on average for tipping, the "hellooo people" and the little free time we will have. Thanks in advance.:)

[WIT]

I cannot find a new thread button so I will simply reply to the last entry. We are leaving on July 16 on The Cultural Delights tour. How much money did most of you past travellers take and how did you break it down in terms of yuan and american dollars. I have read that it is best to take brand new single dollars' date=' but how much do you need on average for tipping, the "hellooo people" and the little free time we will have. Thanks in advance.:)[/quote']

Each day you will have a driver and a tour guide. The standard tip is one dollar US for the driver and two for the guide. Some days we gave 2 to the driver. If you and your wife do the twenty one day Cultural Delights tour your cost will be $132 US for daily excursions plus the boat-related tip for crew and cruise personnel. I would bring $200 in crisp US singles, and another $200 in fives just to cover day-to-day expenses. If you like to bargain you should double those amounts. There are bargains to be had if you know costs and are willing to be assertive. You will acquire respect if you do

 

ATMs are available in the big cities. $1 US is a fine tip for the 'Hello' people and also the stick people. You can get free time if you are willing to get up early. The Chinese certainly do. Some of my best photos were taken very early in the day, and you will certainly meet one or more locals who want to practice their English on you. China has more English speakers that the US does.

 

Please understand that China is undergoing the Olympics during your during your trip and the waiting time for everything will probably be extended. My advice is to look at the delays as an opportunity to observe what I certainly missed on my CD tour in 4/07.

 

The rate for yuan to the dollar last year was 7.1 yuan to $1 US. The rate is fixed by law throughout China.

 

WIT

[Grumpy7]

Thanks for the numbers. How many Yuan should we have?

[Lady Meer]

I cannot find a new thread button so I will simply reply to the last entry. We are leaving on July 16 on The Cultural Delights tour. How much money did most of you past travellers take and how did you break it down in terms of yuan and american dollars. I have read that it is best to take brand new single dollars' date=' but how much do you need on average for tipping, the "hellooo people" and the little free time we will have. Thanks in advance.:)[/quote']

 

For tips we followed the advice given in the Viking itinerary booklet - but remember the recommended tips are per person. We did give our guide more than Viking recommended but know that some people on our bus did not give as much and rumour was that one couple gave him nothing :mad:. Mostly we gave yuan for tips and used yuan or dollars for bartering. Just make sure you don't need any change from the street traders as there are some forgeries about but we didn't hear of anyone getting any.:)

 

The yuan we had over we used to part pay our shipboard account. They would take yuan, dollars and credit/debit card and a combination of any. This meant we didn't bring any yuan home. We saved our dollars as we are visiting the US in August.:D

[susietb]

Anyone going on this trip? We are with the Vietnam Extension.

[coasters]

For tips we followed the advice given in the Viking itinerary booklet - but remember the recommended tips are per person. We did give our guide more than Viking recommended but know that some people on our bus did not give as much and rumour was that one couple gave him nothing :mad:. Mostly we gave yuan for tips and used yuan or dollars for bartering. Just make sure you don't need any change from the street traders as there are some forgeries about but we didn't hear of anyone getting any.:)

 

The yuan we had over we used to part pay our shipboard account. They would take yuan, dollars and credit/debit card and a combination of any. This meant we didn't bring any yuan home. We saved our dollars as we are visiting the US in August.:D

 

For those of you who book the extension to Hong Kong, be advised that mainland China uses different currency. We could NOT use Chinese RMB in Hong Kong.

FYI... American Express will exchange currencies for Members without fees. You pay only cost of delivery.

Jerry

[Grumpy7]

I got Hong Kong dollars and Yuan yesterday along with a lesson in trying to spot counterfeit Chinese dollars. If it doesn't have a picture of chairman Mao, be skpetical. If it feels like copy paper, it is. Real money should feel like real money.

 

HK dollars are issued by several banks. All with different names, HSBC, Bank of China etc.

[coasters]

I got Hong Kong dollars and Yuan yesterday along with a lesson in trying to spot counterfeit Chinese dollars. If it doesn't have a picture of chairman Mao, be skpetical. If it feels like copy paper, it is. Real money should feel like real money.

 

HK dollars are issued by several banks. All with different names, HSBC, Bank of China etc.

 

We were warned to watch for this scam... after negotiating a price, you hand your money to a street vendor - only to have him reconsider and reject the original deal. He hands you back "your money"... It's often either counterfeit or of a different denomination.

Be careful, try to have the correct amount, try to avoid having to get change.

FYI... In EVERY situation we used US dollars for ALL purchases. Having singles was the perfect solution to dealing with street vendors. Never had any US currency refused.

Diane & Jerry

[Grumpy7]

We were warned to watch for this scam... after negotiating a price, you hand your money to a street vendor - only to have him reconsider and reject the original deal. He hands you back "your money"... It's often either counterfeit or of a different denomination.

Be careful, try to have the correct amount, try to avoid having to get change.

FYI... In EVERY situation we used US dollars for ALL purchases. Having singles was the perfect solution to dealing with street vendors. Never had any US currency refused.

Diane & Jerry

 

Thanks. We leave tonight with a carry on bag filled with new singles and fives. I feel like we should have the bag handcuffed to our wrists.

I had heard about that scam and will hopefully be aware of it.

[WIT]

Thanks. We leave tonight with a carry on bag filled with new singles and fives. I feel like we should have the bag handcuffed to our wrists.

I had heard about that scam and will hopefully be aware of it.

Penob - Our first afternoon in Beijing last April (we were on the same cruise as Diane and Jerry) we took a stroll to the Pearl Market a few blocks from our hotel. Halfway there we met two friendly girls who wanted to practice their English. After a nice chat we were invited by them to attend a nearby art show put on by their friends - they assured us there was no charge. We declined because our tour guide had alerted us about them not an hour earlier. There is no charge to get in, as long as you PURCHASE something before you leave!

 

Don't let reports of swindlers unnerve you. Just be aware and alert while you bargain for the best deals.

 

WIT

[MSEm]

We were in Cabin 228 on the CV Sun for the Cultural Delights in Nov 2007. On the lowest level. Walked across atrium to the dining room. Bad Vibrations at the back of the dining room.

 

We only had 98 guest on the vessel. 1/3 of the crew toured with us each day.

 

Take a hat, eye drops and hand wipes.

 

We used our Schwab Bank Account ATM card for money. No problems. Screen brought up English when I put in the ATM card. My Schwab account reimbuses all ATM fees, even the 1% eschange fee.

 

Watch the people on the street when you are riding by on the bus. Also just look at the store fronts and how the epople are dressed, act, etc. You can learn much by just watching.

 

Have a great time.

 

Emily

 

PS I just got back from Avalon Waterways Budapest to Prague (June 17 - Junly 2, 2008) Watch River cruise forum for review.

[borabora4]

We are thinking of going on the Imperial Jewels trip in March or April of 2009. But with the river filling up due to the dam, is the cruise portion really worth it? Many sights now underwater, the hillsides and gorges less dramatic? An alternative trip we are considering (Globus and General Tours) bypasses the River cruise altogether and spends more time in Beijing and includes Guilin and Hong Kong.