Viking China

[d&j-onboard]

Did anyone experience bringing duty-free cigarettes and alcohol from a USA point of origin into Beijing? Web sites say you can bring 2 x 750ML and 400 cigarettes.

[Lucky Granny]

I don't know about cigarettes or alcohol, but one person with us, for a Chinese domestic flight, had to find, in her checked luggage, the five disposable cigarette lighters she had with her. They were not all together so she had to dig around until she found them all. Not allowed.

[Lucky Granny]

My previous post was not there so I repeated it here and then found there were two so I am editing my second one away.

[txtravelgal]

All of the stores are having back to school sales, so I went to find small gifts for the children at the school. I came home empty handed because EVERYTHING is made in China. Anyone have any ideas for American made items?

 

Thanks

[arlenez]

All of the stores are having back to school sales, so I went to find small gifts for the children at the school. I came home empty handed because EVERYTHING is made in China. Anyone have any ideas for American made items?

 

Thanks

 

I went to Walmart and bought crayons, markers, pens, pencils, lollipops, balloons, stickers, etc. and they were all made in the USA.

 

Good luck.

 

Regards,

Arlene

[Lucky Granny]

All items made in China are not available to the children you will be visiting. Also, there is a quite visible container there for you to donate money. Even if you bring gifts, you will probably feel like you should put something in that container. The teacher we visited asked our guide to tell us that the new desks the children were sitting at were bought with money given by Viking visitors.

[chicagogal]

Hello everyone. I have been trying to get up to speed on all of the good information in this string but I have only 2 days left before I leave for China. A few quick last minute questions please:

 

1. Do you really need more than $100 or so of small US bills? Are they used pretty much entirely for tips? Are travelers checks of any value? (The Viking website suggests these but I haven't seen anyone use them much for years.)

2. Is it important to bring yuan with us (or to get them at the airport as soon as we land? ) We have an arranged transfer from the airport already and I'm wondering if we could visit an ATM in Shanghai (We start there and do Beijing last).

3. I had no knowledge of the gifts for students idea (although maybe I should have) Is it critical that I run out and get some now? The last minute list is long already - especially at work.

4. Do people wear shorts in the dining room at night? I am getting that impression from some of the posts. I had planned to bring casual skirts for evening but will I be overdressed? Do the men wear light weight dress pants at dinner or is that too dressy?

5. Did you hear of people in your group getting sick? We are not usually ones to pack much in the way of drugstore stuff beyond the ususal ibuprofen and some bandaids, etc.

6. Is anyone just back? Did you see any impact from the earthquake? How was the pollution and humidity? I am kind of afraid that now that the Olympics are over the pollution may come back twice as bad as usual when they reopen the factories!

 

Thanks very much for any help or advice!

Patty

[Lucky Granny]

Patty, I went in July, Shanghai to Beijing. To answer your questions (I think they are all answered previously but you would need time to read.)

 

1. I took $150 in new US ones and brought $50 back. What we needed was new US fives andd tens. The ones are good for tipping and buying in small amounts. You will need to tip local bus drivers and guides daily, in ones. For shopping, however, when the item you want to buy is 3 for $5, or 6 for $10, you would do better to have a five or ten rather than counting out ten ones. I don't think anyone had travelers checks because everyone had apparently been warned against them.

 

2. You don't need to bring yuan with you. There is an ATM at your hotel in Shanghai - it give yuans in 100 yuan bills (my ATM charged me $14.86 per hundred) and the hotel can give you smaller yuan bills. You need yuan for taxis but most people did their shopping with US money.

 

3. Don't run out for gifts for the children. We put ours in a box - the kids didn't know if we brought anything or not. You can give money if you choose in the supplied receptacle.

 

4. We only changed for dinner once, for the captains dinner, but no one was really dressed up, even for that. For at least three of the days on the boat, we left the boat for a tour but were back on the boat for lunch. We spent the afternoons in lectures, etc, or spa, or sleeping - if you feel like you need to freshen up and change for dinner, you do - if not, you don't. I brought one skirt and two tops for evening - that was plenty, including the opera and Tang Dynasty show. No one dressed up and most had to be wearing things over and over but it was not noticeable. If you want to look dressed up, add jewelry. One night a couple of teenagers dressed up and comments were that they looked like they wished they were somewhere else.

 

5. I didn't hear of much real sickness. One man had a rather bad digestive disturbance - saw the ship's doctor. A couple of people mentioned taking Immodium but didn't really suffer. The respiratory problems reported here in the past were not apparent, maybe because the pollution was cleaned up for the Olympics.

 

6. We saw no evidence of the earthquake - even the cave that was closed briefly was open. I can't tell you how the pollution will be. It was apparently much improved for the Olympics while we were there (two weeks before) and may be back full force - but there's nothing you can do about it. The heat and humidity were not as bad as we expected (in July) and should be better by now.

[chicagogal]

Thank you SO much Lucky Granny for your quick response! I am usually more prepared for our trips (and did research on this board on Viking China back in February-March) but then I got promoted at work and life became incredibly hectic. I just need to get packed now!

 

We are very excited and I know most forgotten things can be bought or done without. We have done lots of travelling and lots of ocean cruising but I know this will be a very different trip.

 

One other question - did you encounter the traditional Asian squat toilets a lot and is there a need to bring TP (or kleenex) on every tour?

[Lucky Granny]

Patty, someone came to the door so I submitted my last post quickly without editing. If you have more questions, I will be glad to try to answer with my knowledge from one trip. Others may have had different experiences.

 

I guess I should qualify my answer about dressing up. The six people in our group did not. There may have been others doing differently, but I did not pay attention to everybody. Nobody seemed to be there for the fashion. If I were to do the trip over, I would bring more shorts (knee-length) rather than capris. Our guide kept assuring us that everything was casual. My one black skirt (a-line, knee-length) was great because you can wear that type of skirt many times without ironing - so I just wore it over and over. Everyone was at dinner in flip-flops or sandals - men in sneakers. Some men wore slacks to dinner, others were there in shorts. It really was not a dressy affair at any time. Earlier posters have described everyone wearing their Chinese brocade jackets (either real or fake) to the captain's dinner but I did not see anyone wearing one. Maybe it was too hot in July. The jackets were available for $10 at some stops.

 

How exciting to be on your way! Have a good trip!

 

Mary Frances

[Lucky Granny]

I just read your last post.

 

I did bring toilet paper with me - the little travel roll. I used one over the course of the trip because many places had toilet paper. I only remember using it on the boat for our tour of the Mini Gorges and at a convenience store in Beijing. I put it in a ziplock snack bag and it came in very handy - but only that one roll - I had more but did not need them.

 

We did encounter squat toilets everywhere but Western ones were always available. I used a squat toilet once just for the experience and then Western everywhere else, even if there was a waiting line. It was not really a problem. I do not understand why they prefer theirs over ours, but saw Chinese choosing to squat when Western was available. Our guide said he has Western toilets in his apartment.

 

Mary Frances

[dpump]

Patty-

We went in late May/early June.

Brought $100 / $1 bills and some $5's and $10's and $20's. Didn't need the $20's.

 

6 of us ran into each other at the airport and went to the exchange there and had our yuan in hand. Be sure to have some, ran into some places that wouldn't take American. Also some places we were told not to use our credit cards, not safe. Your guide will tell you.

 

Gifts for kids-there's a box to put them in, no one knows if you do or not, there is a box as you leave, I really think the money is more useful.

 

There were no shorts in our dining rooms/nor was there anyone really dressed up. I had a pair of black slacks and a couple of tops I wore and a pr of sandals. Couple of times I wore some nice capri's (since it was too hot to wear capris on our trip). Captain's Dinner, not really a big deal. There was a group that had the Chinese tops made for them,but that was abou 6 out of the entire ship. Think cotton, cotton, cotton. I brought a pair of denim shorts and couldn't imagine wearing them there.

 

Yes, some folks were sick, GI stuff, but just a few. I bought some Pepto Bismol (come in pill form now) and took it each morning, no problems. A trick from a doc I used to work with. Be sure and wipe your hands all the time, keep your hands away from your face, DO NOT drink anything but the bottled water offered (no water from the sinks,etc)

 

We were there right after the earthquake, saw (or I should say we were steared clear, if any) nothing. Humidity was a killer! But, I'm from Seattle, so anything above 70 is a heat wave. Take a hat. Some folks bought hats from the 'vendors' that were cute and wore them.

 

The pollution is a fact of life there. I noticed it mostly when we got off the bus at the Great Wall, could actually smell the coal. If you have lungs issues, get an inhaler. Enjoy the sun or moon if you're lucky enough to see it!

 

Don't forget an umbrella. They have rain coats, but with the humidity it was like saran wrap on you after awhile.

 

I had shorts w/pockets and never brought along a purse or anything. With the vendors and the lack of 'personal space', glad I didn't have to worry about a purse, etc. When on the bus, lots of us had bags that we brought perhaps raingear (if we thought we needed it) and whatever else and just left on the bus while touring. Not a problem.

[chicagogal]

Thanks again to Mary Frances and also to dpump.

 

I am trying to keep checking tonight and I will again tomorow so I really do appreciate all of this helpful info and answers to my very late questions. (We leave Wednesday morning for Shanghai!) I think we will be fine - I just need to go UNPACK about a third of my suitcase! I know I have too much. Did they actually keep you to the 44 pounds/11 pounds in your 2 bags that Viking warns us about for the intra China flights? Did you see the bags being weighed?

[Grumpy7]

Thanks again to Mary Frances and also to dpump.

 

I am trying to keep checking tonight and I will again tomorow so I really do appreciate all of this helpful info and answers to my very late questions. (We leave Wednesday morning for Shanghai!) I think we will be fine - I just need to go UNPACK about a third of my suitcase! I know I have too much. Did they actually keep you to the 44 pounds/11 pounds in your 2 bags that Viking warns us about for the intra China flights? Did you see the bags being weighed?

 

The bags are supposedly weighed as a group. I think Viking's bags aren't weighed at all. Who knows. We were away, with pre trip to Hong Kong, 15 days. We planned, and did, have laundry done on the ship. It's not expensive. It cuts down on clothing to pack.

enjoy the trip. don't worry about clothing.

Meet the people, see the sights. Remember, this is a Communist country.

It's their country. The people are terrific. Very proud. The guides are great. They will give your the politically correct answers for everything.

 

One piece of advice, after the acrobat show in Shanghai, don't take the bus back to the hotel. Take a cab to the Bund and walk around and then take a cab back. The guides frown on it. But the members of our group that did it were able to see sights that we did not.

[dpump]

think we were all weighed as a group w/Viking. BUT had a gal in our group who had a carry on that was too heavy/big for the intra China flights and had to check it in.

 

Clothes, yes, don't need all you have packed. Like I said, think cotton,cotton, cotton!

[Lucky Granny]

Yes, all our bags were apparently weighed together. One group was traveling extensively and had two bags each - they had to pay extra. We were told we could carry on as many bags as we could carry. Your carryon on China domestic flights cannot contain liquids or gels - in any amount. I was told my individually wrapped wipe was not allowed because it had alcohol in it. The rules change as a new shift of agents comes on duty. I was not aware of the 44/11 pound limits being enforced ever.

 

Cotton is cooler but does not dry as fast if you plan to wash in your room. Also, there are no irons on the boat. My nylon blend pants (Travelsmith) were perfect - not too hot, would dry fast, and did not wrinkle too much.- or stretch out of shape. Your packing challenge is to stay under the US airlines restrictions - or you could just pay if you are over.

 

You can identify tourists in China as the ones clutching their backpacks to their chests for safety - even the Asian tourists. None in our immediate group had a problem but I was told that someone was relieved of her camera in a crowded market - it was hanging from her wrist by its strap as she clutched her bag in front. When the crowd cleared, the strap had apparently been cut and the camera was gone.

 

The hotels have business cards with their name and address in English and Chinese and we were told to bring these to give to cab drivers to get back to the hotel. One looked at our card and said he did not know where that was - so we got out and found another cab. I was a bit nervous riding with them because you have no idea where they are going.

 

Mary Frances

[chicagogal]

I am still reading today, so thank you all for your great clothing and other advice/cautions/ideas. Penab, thanks for the Bund idea.

 

We really do plan to enjoy the country and the people and the trip in general. I just always like to be aware of what is considered proper/expected.

 

In less than 24 hours we will be on the plane!

 

THANKS!

[Travel&Shop]

We are booked on the Roof of the World tour on Oct. 16. Can anyone tell me which section of the Great Wall we will visit on our tour? I have read there are four Great Wall areas that are normally seen via tours from Beijing....Mutianyu, Badaling, Simatai, and Juyongguan, and I would like to read about the area we will see before our trip.

 

Also, how long does the tour give us for exploring the Great Wall?

 

Thanks!

Elizabeth

[arlenez]

We are booked on the Roof of the World tour on Oct. 16. Can anyone tell me which section of the Great Wall we will visit on our tour? I have read there are four Great Wall areas that are normally seen via tours from Beijing....Mutianyu, Badaling, Simatai, and Juyongguan, and I would like to read about the area we will see before our trip.

 

Also, how long does the tour give us for exploring the Great Wall?

 

Thanks!

Elizabeth

 

Our group went to Badaling on the Imperial Jewels tour in June. It was the trip of a lifetime. Enjoy!

 

Regards,

Arlene

[Lucky Granny]

We went to Badaling on Imperial Jewels tour in July. I recall that we had about two hours on the wall - that including shopping (another hurry! hurry!) However, the wall is rather strenuous and you wouldn't want to stay all day. We were just glad it rained the next day and not the day we were there - some parts would have been treacherous if wet. And, yet, the 80-year-old Chinese ladies were flying up and down like it was nothing. My recommendation would be to climb along a bit and then stop somewhere to just soak it all in for a while - if you can find a place where the crowd does not push you along. My memory is more of the climbing than the looking around. I'm glad I took lots of photos.

[sprinkles]

Hi,

 

We leave in two weeks for a trip with China Focus. I read above about not being allowed to have lighters in your packed luggage. Are you allowed to carry lighters or matches on your person (Air China - everywhere)? Thanks, for some reason, I can't pull up that section on Air China's website.

 

Tammy

[dpump]

Nope.

[sprinkles]

Thanks.

[Travel&Shop]

Thank you Arlene and Lucky Granny for the info on the Great Wall. I wish we had longer than 2 hours to explore, but I will take what I can get. As much as I love to shop (hence my user name!), I may have to skip that in order to experience the wall as much as possible. I can't wait!

[MSEm]

If you have UNITED air miles, you can donate the miles to the Salvation Army.

 

This is what I plan to do with the miles from my 1 trip using United Airlines.

I do not normally fly United.

 

Link to information on making air mile donations

 

http://www.salvationarmyusa.org/usn/www_usn_2.nsf/vw-text-dynamic-arrays/97301D2FE5B1EEDC8525743D0051FA1D?openDocument

 

 

MSEm