Viking China

[Murphey]

Was anyone able to find internet cafes anywhere along the way??

[luv2bcruzng]

We passed an internet cafe in Beijing near Tiananmen Square. We stuck with the internet on board the ship, which was torture - so slow. Viking River did not charge me some nights when I never did get onto AOL after trying for 30 min. The Sofitel in Xian had excellent service and reasonably priced. The Beijing Hilton only had intermittent service and pretty pricey.

 

Reba

[land lover]

Reba, would you return to China, or was once enough?

 

Thanks again for all the great info. L:) ri

[luv2bcruzng]

I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of our trip in China and would look forward to a return trip in 10 years or so, just to see the progress. With Viking River we saw so many of the highlights of China that I don't feel like I missed anything. I would be curious to see how the country changes over time and to see how they handle the pollution problems. For now, it is great to be home and just see the sunshine!

Reba

[biblioguy]

Hi everyone. My wife and I will be on the Cultural Delights program that begins in Shanghai on May 20th. We're counting the days.

[land lover]

Hi everyone. My wife and I will be on the Cultural Delights program that begins in Shanghai on May 20th. We're counting the days.

 

Have a wonderful time. Hasn't it been great that so many travelers have shared their experiences. Please come back and add yours.

[luv2bcruzng]

Hi Biblioguy,

When you get onboard the Century Sun please say hello to our two favorite waitresses - Ann and Pandora - they were wonderful.

 

Reba and Allen

[land lover]

Reba, I know what you mean about the sun. I really didn't realize how lucky we are living in areas that have many days of sunshine until recently. So many people live in such dreary places, no wonder they are soaking up rays at the pool or beach on their vacations and moving to our states:)

 

In China, I would imagine the smog changes with the weather, it will be interesting to see what it will be like in Aug/Sept.

 

Was it foggy on the river?

 

L:) ri

[land lover]

Just read in todays paper that on Sunday a dust storm hit Beijing and beyond....leaving "yellow grit" in the sky. So Beijing is going to seed clouds to make artifical rain to clear the air. It stated these storms carrying dust from the North China plains and hit every spring but this is the worst one since 2001.

A weather forecaster, said it was "definitely one of the most serious pollution days in Beijing."

 

Glad you missed it, Reba.

 

Hope they don't catch you, Biblioguy.

 

L:) ri

[luv2bcruzng]

Lori,

 

Foggy on the Yangtze River is putting it mildly. You could barely see from one side of the river to the other side. It was so very eery looking ahead at the Gorges through the mist and fog. Howard, the cruise manager, had us outside giving details of what we were seeing and passing by and we finally had to move inside because of the wind and the rain.

 

Beijing was having sand storms when we were there also. At least that was the official word for some of the pollution. Everywhere we would go we would ask locals do you ever see the sun and usually the answer was no. I couldn't thrive on not seeing blue skies. That's why I live in Arizona.

 

China in August will be very difficult. Everyone there told us we were there for the best weather with July and August being the hottest and muggiest. No buildings were air conditioned either. Wonder how the heat will affect the smog conditions.

 

Reba

[Murphey]

We're going the end of September....wonder what the weather will be like then.

 

My cousin adopted a little girl from China 5 years ago and just this year they went back to show her where she was from. They said they just couldn't believe how much had changed in 5 years. There mouths just dropped open. They said the infrastructure has improved a reat deal.

[land lover]

Lori,

Everywhere we would go we would ask locals do you ever see the sun and usually the answer was no. I couldn't thrive on not seeing blue skies. That's why I live in Arizona.

 

China in August will be very difficult. Everyone there told us we were there for the best weather with July and August being the hottest and muggiest. No buildings were air conditioned either. Wonder how the heat will affect the smog conditions.

 

Reba

 

So true, ask the locals and get the real story.

 

Also, the rates on this trip tell the story, with the least expenisve prices in the summer. I have given up on determining the best time to go on vacations, I do my weather research and then it ends up being the first time in "100 years" that the county is experiencing those "freak" conditions.

 

But, the last cruise I went on, knock on wood...the weather was great, so maybe my luck is changing.:DSo that being my experience, I selected this tour totally on price ours goes until Sept. 8th, people starting the trip a few days before we leave China are paying $600. more PP, to me that is a huge diffference and I can use that extra money for tipping and misc. Only time will tell if I made a mistake, also my DH will let me know, of course he won't research the weather, so if nobody tells I won't.;)

 

Next question, since you are so willing to give such detailed info.

 

The food: on tour and on the ship....comments please. L:) ri

[land lover]

Weather question, for you people that follow it.

 

Can a few weeks really make a difference on a trip to China. I mean other tours/cruises I priced were only a few hundred more pp in the fall. Why is Viking so much more? Yes, I know about supply and demand, is it possible more Chinese are traveling at this time so hotel cost are more?...any other thoughts out there?

 

L:) ri

 

Viking reps state it is just better weather.

[luv2bcruzng]

Lori,

 

The food on board the ship was always good. Breakfast buffet-pretty standard - they would cook anything you wanted. Lunch buffet was salads, soup and always two different sandwiches. There was also a menu with a choice of two options that you could order a main dish from for lunch. Also could choose a dessert option. Dinner was always off a menu with a few different options for each course.

 

For the land tours it all depended where you were. Most of the time Viking River had us lunching in some pretty nice hotels. In Chongqing, known for their spicey food, the food was spicey! I am an extremely picky eater and there were some meals I sat with nothing but white rice on my plate - but that was my choice. Nobody really had any complaints about the food at all.

 

The next to last night in Beijing some people were tired of Chinese food so they chose to go to a HardRock Cafe for dinner - we went with the tour and had a great dinner in an old Buddhist Temple. Chinese dinners were always exciting because you are served so many different courses, the food just keeps coming and coming. The dessert always seemed to be watermelon!

 

The worse meal would be in Beijing at a pearl factory. Seems like the meal is just an afterthought to get the tourists in, throw some food at them, and then get them to shop!

 

Keep the questions coming - while the trip is still so fresh in my brain!

Reba

[land lover]

Reba, more questions since you are willing.....

 

What was your opinion of the Dam and the three gorges? How about the lesser three gorges?

 

Thanks, L:) ri

[land lover]

Hard Rock cafe...what did they want a hamburger?:D To bad they missed the temple .......I'll probably be like you,some evenings it will just be rice, did you eat with chop sticks?

[luv2bcruzng]

Lori,

The dam is magnificent - still not totally completed yet, but almost. It was so foggy and drizzly the day we were there that you could barely see the entire length of the dam. The locks were amazing, it was my first experience going thru locks. There is also an elevator system for smaller boats, but that has not been successful, so the Chinese government is waiting for someone to come up with a solution to fix the system. Until then, the smaller boats go thru the locks with the bigger boats.

 

The Lesser Three Gorges were also beautiful. Viking River transferred us onto a smaller sightseeing boat, with windows that wrapped all the way from the sides up to the roof, so you could look up and just see everything. Its just a shame to see all the garbage floating down the river in these areas. We were told there was so much garbage cause it had rained the day before - no one believed that. We were also told that a garbage skow comes by daily to clean the river, no one believed that either.

 

As we traveled thruout the gorges the weather was always drizzly and foggy conditions but it seemed to make the gorges even more magnificent. Something like out of the Twilight Zone, very eery.

 

I never did master chopsticks, but managed not to starve anyway. Once we hooked up with Viking River, forks were always served along with chopsticks.

 

Hope this is all helping you out,

Reba

[land lover]

Just came on right after you posted, what a nice surprise. I am sure many posters/lurkers are benefiting from your great descriptions and information. I sure am.

 

Of course, I have another question for you.

 

Since weather was questionable did you still have your lunch along the river bank? I remember reading somewhere that our itinerary will miss this. So was it part of your day after going through the lesser three gorges? Interested in what we will miss.

 

Also what tour do you think is a diffident, don't miss?

 

Thanks again, L:) ri

[LunaSeaRetreat]

Reba, Lori is correct. I've been lurking! Thanks for all the information; you've been very helpful. I'm on the same cruise as Lori. Did you go to the silk rug factory? What was it like? I'm really hoping to buy a small area rug. Did you find any other great buys other than your jacket?

Cynthia

[luv2bcruzng]

Hi Everybody,

 

Viking River has set up their own picnic area in the lesser Three Gorges area on the side of a mountain. It was drizzly on the day we were there but the picnic area is fully enclosed, so weather will never affect your picnic. The food was only salad, wings, ribs and brownies - not my favorites, but salad and brownies are always adequate for lunch.

Shopping was fun at this picnic site also-don't think the locals would miss an opportunity to sell you stuff. You have to go up many steps to the picnic area and the vendors are lining the stairs selling quail on a stick, fish on a stick and other unknown items. Like who would buy that food, knowing anything about bird flu? and also on your way to a Viking River lunch???? Also the same old jewelry and misc. stuff.

 

The silk carpet factory was fascinating. I really did learn quite a bit about making carpets there. If you are at all thinking about purchasing a carpet, come with your exact measurements and colors. There are very many carpets to chose from. One of the ladies from our tour group actually purchased her silk carpet at the Art Museum at the Chongqing Zoo. The museum is not listed as a scheduled stop, but we were taken there from the Panda Exhibit. Had a little lesson on Chinese art styles and then shopped at the museum there. Had many unique pieces at the museum and a section of carpets there also.

 

I could go on and on about shopping along the way. I came home with many unique items and did not spend very much. I'll give you shopping details at a later time. Just remember the Olympics in 2008 will be in Beijing, so you can be the first with those t-shirts and hats.

 

Lori, the tours I felt were the most awesome were the terra cotta warriors and the Great Wall. We decided to skip in Shanghai the Children's Palace - which was really only a day care center. We did every other tour and found everything very interesting.

 

Shopping talk in a few days and bargain shopping is very important to me.

Reba

[land lover]

Shopping....did someone say shopping? Tell us about your unique finds and bargains, Reba.

Looking forward to your future posts.......L:) ri

[biblioguy]

We just received our itinerary for our May 20, Cultural Delights tour. Yee Haw!

 

We had Viking arrange our air travel and they did a pretty good job given that Birmingham, Alabama isn't exactly the center of the air travel universe.

 

Outbound we'll have three flights (Birmingham/Denver/San Francisco/Shanghai) with reasonable connections, but on the return flight, we'll take the new United non-stop from Beijing to Chicago and then connect back home to Birmingham after a short layover.

 

Our hotels are:

 

Shanghai--Shangri-La

Xian--Sofitel

Beijing--Hilton

 

Reba I see that you stayed in two of the three that we'll be in. Anyone else have comments on any of these?

 

Viking tells me that our "official" documents were mailed on Monday, so I guess we're really going.

 

Also, if anyone on this board hasn't requested the China sales brochure from Viking, you should go to their website and do so. Mine came with a very cool DVD that just made us more excited than ever about taking this trip--of course that's what it's supposed to do.

 

Reba--I'll be sure to say hi to Ann and Pandora for you.

Lori--I'll do my best to stay out of the sandstorms, but by all accounts on this forum I won't be expecting every day on the trip to be as crystal clear as those featured in the brochure and DVD.

 

. . . 23 days and counting!

[land lover]

Biblioguy, wish we were going with you....

 

Did you notice on the DVD how everyone is bundled up so I am guessing it was filmed in the winter, thus clearer skies.

 

So did you have ease in getting your Visa?

 

It has been great getting observations, opinions, suggestions and information from, Ocala, LT and Reba[]... hopefully you will be willing to add to this thread when you return. [/color]

Have a wonderful time, hopefully no sand or dust will show its face and drizzle and rain will be limited.

 

L:) ri

[shecky465]

 

So did you have ease in getting your Visa?

 

 

I am scheduled to travel on the July 2 cruise and walked over to the Chinese Consulate this morning. Luckily it is only about twelve blocks from my office in Manhattan. I was in and out of there in less than 20 minutes and need to return in one week to pick up the Visa.

 

The only snag was that the woman at the counter was insistent that I should get a double entry Visa in case I left the mainland on the tour. Tried to explain that would not be happening but to be safe rather than sorry, applied for a double entry Visa. It is only money.

[biblioguy]

Land Lover--I downloaded the pdf visa application form on Viking's website and used the visa service that they recommend. The process went off without a hitch and we had our passports back in less than two weeks. It was painless.