Viking China

[land lover]

Shecky...is there no processing fee when you go to the Consulate directly? Did you take your traveling companions info with you also?

 

Biblioguy...have heard good reports about the company Viking recomends but they are based in Washington DC(at least the form I received) and since I am in CA and need my passport thru the middle of July..trying to look for other options.

 

2 weeks seems to be the time frame for Mail, without the rush fee. But my DH works in downtown LA, so wonder if it would be worth his time to drop it off at the Consulate there.

 

Thanks guys.......L:) ri

[shecky465]

Shecky...is there no processing fee when you go to the Consulate directly? Did you take your traveling companions info with you also?

 

 

I will have to pay the standard Visa fee which is $50 for a single entry Visa or $75 for what they suckered me into, a double entry visa. That is with a one week processing time (pick up next Wednesday). Apparently for an additional fee they will expedite the processing and I could have picked it up about three hours after I dropped it off this morning. I went for the one week service.

 

What you are saving is the cost of an expeditor as well as the costs of mailing your passport to the expeditor and the return postage which can be pricey since you want to have it sent via Fedex or at the least certified mail.

 

The process was suprisingly quick, easy and efficient. Of course it helps to live near a consulate though I gather that a friend could take your passport and application to a consulate.

 

I did not take my travelling companions info and application with me because she lives in Minneapolis and according to the Consulate web pages, her visa would need to be processed through the Chicago office. Not sure how vigilant they are regarding the states that each consulate will process.

[land lover]

I did not take my travelling companions info and application with me because she lives in Minneapolis and according to the Consulate web pages, her visa would need to be processed through the Chicago office. Not sure how vigilant they are regarding the states that each consulate will process.

 

Interesting about the consulate office location and processing. Its weird with my families passports 2 adults 3 teens,everyone of us has a different processsing location, but we all used the same post office to start the process.

 

Anyway , the info you provided is useful, I would imagine my DH can take it in for me. Cause I hate it going in the mail, with not much lead time to get it back, and I would like to pass on the exp. fee if possible. My guess is that they process it right on sight. Wouldn't you think?

 

Thanks again...July is closer than August...I am jealous.

[JJPNYC]

A note about Chinese visa's:

 

My wife & I live in Manhattan so getting it at the Chinese Consulate there was no problem. But my parents, who were also going & live in Cleveland, sent me their visa applications as well so they can all be processed at the same time.

We had no issues what-so-ever with this.

 

The only reason I could think that the Chinese Consulate would tell you to send it to Chicago would be that I'm presuming that they think it would be quicker & easier to mail it there. But if you have a friend in a city with a Consulate, you can send it to them & have them do the leg work for you and it would be no problem at all.

 

jeff

[land lover]

JJPNYC............another person going in May? :eek:

 

Thanks for the info on the Visas. So is it just a piece of paper they glue in your passport and then keep your photo on file?

 

Have a wonderful trip and please come back and add to this thread. By the time I get back in Sept. there will be nothing more to say.:rolleyes:

 

I think it will be interesting to compare the weather/smog from our different trips, also the difference between a sold out trip vs. one like Reba's, or LT's flood experience...I am sure we will all have tales to tell.:D

 

Have a nice evening everyone, L:) ri

[TGBarbie]

You mentioned you went to the Chongking Zoo and Panda exhibit. Haven't noticed that in the tour book. Our 7 yr old grandson is in love with pandas and loves to go to the San Diego Zoo to see them. We'd love to bring back pics/souvenirs right from China of them. Do you know if this is a standard tour, or only if time allows?

[JJPNYC]

I've been in Beijing already for a few days (I'm writing this from my hotel room at the Shangri-La Hotel in Beijing before flying down to Shanghai to start my tour with Viking) and wanted to throw out some tips/observations to the board:

 

In regards to the hotel, the Shangri-La, it is a really nice hotel and does live up to it's 5-star billing. My only complaint about it is its location, it's located on the outskirts of town, in the the northwestern quadrant of the city, away from many attractions (The Beijing Zoo and Lama Temple are near-by). Prices at the bar are comparable to US drink prices at upscale hotels- $6 for a beer for example.

 

Taxi's - getting around Beijing is cheap - an average cab fare from the hotel to the central Tiannamen Square area will cost about 40-50RMB, about US$5-7. A nice plus is that tipping is not expected.

 

Shopping - I've gone to both the Silk Market & the Pearl Market. If pressed for time, I would go to the Silk Market. Not only is more centrally located, the selection is alot more vast than the Pearl Market. One note of caution though is that at either you have to be ready to bargain. A general rule of thumb is to take the offering price and counter with a price around 10% of the original. A good final price, I've found, should be in the neighborhood of 30-50% of the asking price. Don't be surprised to find a bargaining session taking 20-30 minutes. But once again, the market is aggressive and you have to go in there with the right mentality for it to be fun. After going to it, it gives a full new description to the term "full contact shopping."

 

Laundry prices at the hotel are a bit on the expensive side, 48RMB for a shirt, 55 RMB for a dress, 48 RMB for pants, 20 RMB for undergarments. At an 8 RMB:1USD exchange rate, a load of laundry can get real expensive real quick.

 

In looking at the itinerary that Viking has prescribed for Beijing, there is not much time for shopping or the like. Don't despair though as the "hello people" (the nickname for the street vendors as all they appear to say are "hello hello") are at every major site.

 

Any other questions about Beijing, let me know.

[biblioguy]

You mentioned you went to the Chongking Zoo and Panda exhibit. Haven't noticed that in the tour book. Our 7 yr old grandson is in love with pandas and loves to go to the San Diego Zoo to see them. We'd love to bring back pics/souvenirs right from China of them. Do you know if this is a standard tour, or only if time allows?

 

Deb & Tom,

 

Yesterday I received a nice box from Viking containing our travel documents and filled with all kinds of goodies (it was like Christmas at our house yesterday). Inside the box, among other things, was the a detailed itinerary booklet and it did indeed include the panda exhibit at the Chongqing Zoo.

 

We're on the Cultural Delights program beginning in Shanghai, and this stop may only be included in programs that start there. The tours originating in Beijing might have a slightly different program since that's the embarkation/disembarkation point of the tour. In our case we leave the boat for the last time that morning, go directly to the zoo and then fly to Xian in the afternoon.

[land lover]

JJPNYC,

 

How :cool: we are getting "on sight" info....I love it. What is the weather like in Beijing? Shanghai?

 

Thanks for the tips you have really covered the bases in one post.

 

Looking forward to more details...keep "um coming.

 

Thanks, L:) ri

[TGBarbie]

Thanks for the info on the zoo. We are doing the Cultural Delights Bejing to Shanghai so guess we'll have to wait and see about the zoo, unless others doing our itin. travel before us.

 

One other ? to those of you recently off the Century Sun or leaving soon, in a previous review of the Century Star it was mentioned that there were informal tai chi classes on board. Is this still a practice?

[JJPNYC]

JJPNYC,

 

How :cool: we are getting "on sight" info....I love it. What is the weather like in Beijing? Shanghai?

 

Thanks for the tips you have really covered the bases in one post.

 

Looking forward to more details...keep "um coming.

 

Thanks, L:) ri

 

The weather in Beijing right now has seen days in the 70's and nights probably in the low 60s/high 50s. One thing I did not expect though was the level of smog in the city - it can really make breathing difficult at time. I'd imagine it's a serious problem if you have asthma. Also because of the smog you rarely have a clear day with blue skies.

 

Also one thing that surprised me was the amount of dust in the city - apparently it's due to the Gobi Dessert to the north of the city which is encoraching at the rate of 12 feet a year due to all of the development. Every nite I come back and have to wipe a fine layer of dust off of my shoes. With that, the air is very dry. I would pack extra moisturizer if needed.

[land lover]

JJNYC,

Smog.....from what I understand it never goes away, also from what I have read they do have dust storms this time of year.:eek: Have you seen blue sky since your trip began?

 

Since you gave us tips on bargining did you pick up any good deals?

 

Enjoy yourself and Thanks, L:) ri

[Little Toot2]

From your most recent couple of posts, I gather that you combined a business trip to Beijing and vacation time with Viking. Question, did you book your own accommodations at the Shangri-La in Beijing? I am guessing that must be the case as this facility is not mentioned in the China Expeditions Guide for Beijing although the Shangri-La is listed as an option in Shanghai, Xian, and Hong Kong. My concern is that others on this message board might think that Viking accommodations in Beijing are far removed from the popular tourist sites which was not my experience. During my trip in September of '04, Viking put us up at the Beijing Hotel which was under a mile walking distance from both the Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square. Likewise, I believe that Reba, who returned from her Viking/China trip in April, mentioned staying at the Hilton while in Beijing which is also close to all major tourist attractions. Perhaps you should clarrify this for other folks reading your posts so that they won't be given the wrong impression.

Thanks,

LT

[Murphey]

Hi.....we just got our Hotel assignments for our September trip from Viking:

 

Beijing: Shangri La

Xian: Shangri La

Shanghai: St. Regis

 

Question: Did anyone bother to bring a laptop with them? It seems in all the hotels, there is wireless in each room.

[BaAnn]

We just got back from the Viking Sun Cultural Delight tour which started April 2, 2006 to April 18. We flew from S.F. to Beijing, three nights at a 5 star Hilton Hotel. Then flew to Xian. Stayed at a 5 star Shangri-la Hotel one night. The terra soldiers are seen on this leg. Then flew to Chonquing where we started our 9 night river cruise. We got off the ship about 2 hours away from Shanghai and were bussed there. We stayed at another 5 star hotel, the Shangri-la (very beautiful) for 2 nights and then left for home. We were well taken care of the whole trip.

The Viking Sun is a new boat this year. There were approx. 180 passengers. It holds approx. 300. We heard one of the previous tours they only had 38 passengers. The ship was very very nice. Good crew, good food, spacious cabin (we booked one of the cheaper cabins). We got our information direct from Viking since we had been on an Amsterdam to Budapest tour in 2001. We found the arrangements to be good. The tour was very good and we got to see lots of interesting things on the off-boat excursions which are included in the price. I'm am new to the cruise critic and am not used to what to write but I have noticied prople asking about weather. We have heard over and over that starting toward the end of May it gets very hot and humid during the summer. They were calling the area around the Yangtze "the furnace". I would not go during this time. There were lots of comments by our different "town" guides about this. We loved the trip and would highly recommend it. The Chinese were so friendly.

Viking does a very good job.

Let me know if anyone wants any further info.

[land lover]

Hi.....we just got our Hotel assignments for our September trip from Viking:

 

Beijing: Shangri La

Xian: Shangri La

Shanghai: St. Regis

 

.

 

Hotel assignements already, we are starting our trip in late August, haven't heard anything:confused: you must have connections :)

 

Lori

[land lover]

We just got back from the Viking Sun Cultural Delight tour which started April 2, 2006 to April 18

let me know if anyone wants any further info.

 

Glad to hear you have a wonderful time.

 

Did you ever see blue sky? Just curious about the smog.

 

We are leaving at the end of Aug. going thru Sept 9th...so I am sure we will experience the "Furnance".

 

What experience on your trip left the most lasting impression?

 

L:) ri

[Murphey]

Hotel assignements already, we are starting our trip in late August, haven't heard anything:confused: you must have connections :)

 

Lori

 

My TA just called me this morning. We also had received our flights about a month ago. So far, we are very impressed with Viking. The flight arrangements are about as good a possible.

[JJPNYC]

Greetings now from Shanghai at the awesome Westin Shangahi literally in the center of everything.

 

First of all to answer the question about Internet connectivity, here's my findings thus far:

- Beijing at the Shangri-la, internet is available free-of-charge in-room

- Shanghai at the Westin, internet is available free of charge via WiFi in the lobby only. if you want to plug in from your room it is going to cost you 120RMB a day.

 

As for deals, all I have to say is to shop around and you must really know how to bargain and what a fair price is. Now having done some shopping in both Shanghai & Beijing, the shop keepers in Beijing are much more easy with the negotiations, in Shanghai they drive a real hard bargain. You can pretty much find the same stuff though in both cities. Personally I've found the shopping more enjoyable in Beijing.

 

To give you an idea about shopping around, I was looking at tea glasses at a shop in Shanghai. In shop #1 I had bargained the lady down to 25 RMB from 40RMB but wanted to get to 20RMB. We hit a wall and I walked away. Right next door the next sales lady offered me the same exact tea glass at an opening offer of 15RMB. So this shows how fluid the whole shopping scene is.

 

Also as a side note, water is readily available every where, expect to pay around 3-5RMB for a 500mL bottle (compared to 40 RMB for a 500mL bottle of Evian at the hotel). Also at Shanghai there are little convenience stores every 500 feet or so so getting fresh bottles is never a problem. One tip here is if you want to enjoy a beer in your room and not pay the ridiculous mini-bar prices (around 45-50RMB), buy a beer at these stores and bring it to your room, at the store the beers cost only about 3RMB and you're getting the same exact thing. Also disregard the posts about Diet Coke not being available, it is everywhere. A 20oz. approx. bottle costs about 3RMB. Coke is predominant, but you will see Pepsi here and there. I have not seen a single Diet Pepsi anywhere around here though. All I have to say is that it looks like China is a Coke country.

 

Shanghai is an exciting city and I really advise spending an extra day here if possible. Based on the Viking itinerary, they don't give Shanghai justice. With that extra day you'll be able to hit all of the major sites (i.e. Wu Wuan gardens & shopping district, Jujing (sp?) Street which is the major shopping district, and heading over to the Pudong area on the east side of the river).

 

Lastly is is that it is pure coincidence that my business travel and my travel with Viking both have me staying at the Shangri-la Beijing. On my Viking itinerary it has us staying in Beijing at the end. Personally I'm happy to be having Beijing book-end my trip as it's vien me a unique perspective to see how different each area of the country is (i.e. Beijing is like Washington DC while Shanghai is like NYC). During my time there for business I did see another Viking Group that was using the hotel as their base, so it does appear that the Shangri-la is firmly in the Viking hotel rota. It was also listed as a Beijing hotel in the 2006 China brochure. It's a great hotel and near the Summer Palace, the Badaling Expressway (for getting to the Great Wall), and the closest to the airport.

 

jeff

[land lover]

Jeff,

 

Thanks for another detailed and informative post. Your observations and comparisons are useful. Thanks for including costs and examples as this really gives us a clearer picture of what to expect.

 

L:) ri

[DanceswithNancy]

Past lurker here. Thanks to all of you who have asked the right questions, and thank you to those who have taken the time to answer. Much appreciated.

 

My wife and I, both dancers of a sort, leave on May 8 to take the Cultural Viking tour beginning in Peking. I understand that there is a band on the ship. Is there an opportunity to dance (shall we pack our dancing shoes)?

 

Jack (and Nancy)

[luv2bcruzng]

Hi Everybody,

 

We were gone for the weekend and now just catching up.

 

Shopping in Shanghai was wonderful. We arrived two days before we were hooking up with the tour and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves in the city. Besides the pedestrian mall, we also went to the Fake Marketplace. Everything for blocks were fake - we got Tiffany necklaces for $10, even in the blue boxes. My husband got a Tommy Bahama shirt, with all the correct tags hanging from it, for $10. The shirt has not even shrunk since he got it cleaned. Of course, all the purses, sunglasses and any other product that could be copied were there. Even saw a fake KFC restaurant- similar face, but not exactly the same!!!

 

Shopping at Yuyuan Gardens was really fun. Got a great pair of Chinese style shoes there for $10 and there was such a great selection. The selection of chopsticks was unbelievable and they don't take up too much room in the luggage.

 

As far as dancing on the ship - there was only a man and woman singer from Bulgaria every night. They did the same songs every night. Did not see much dancing happening. Maybe with more people onboard you might have a livlier crowd.

 

We did stay at the Beijing Hilton, good location, but totally being renovated! The rooms are great and quite beautiful, but everything else is a mess. The buffet in the mornings was set -up in a different location, probably not as spacious and elegant as it would ordinarily be. There is a wonderful massage parlor right outside the door to the hotel and my husband said it was the best massage he ever received, 90 minutes for $30. We really did not have much free time in Beijing to do any shopping. At the Imperial Palace there was many vendors selling shirts and purses (fabric purses $1.00 each make great presents). We bought one just to hold the t-shirts that we purchased.

 

As far as the zoo goes, as soon as you get off the bus, there are ladies selling panda puppets for $2-$3 each. Great presents for little kids. Everybody bought one. In the zoo you also are taken to an art museum. At the shop there they sell paintings done on banyan leaves - quite unique and also very inexpensive (and take up no room in luggage). I bought some purple and white jade there - something different.

 

We stayed at the Sofitel in Xian and it was the most magnificent hotel, next to the Westin in Shanghai, that I have ever stayed in.

 

Feel like I'm jumping all over the place trying to answer some questions. Hope this helped.

Reba

[land lover]

I read on another thread that the "Fake Market" will be closed come June.

 

Anyone else heard about this?

 

Welcome back Reba, still enjoying your posts.

 

And Lurkers are joining in all the time....even dancing lurkers:)

 

Hi Jack, Have a wonderful trip...post something when you come back.

 

L:) ri

[DanceswithNancy]

Thanks, Reba,

 

We'll pack our dancing shoes. Another query: What type adapter is used on the ship? Is this the same as in hotels in China? How about Hong Kong?

 

Thanks, for your good wishes, Lori. I'll write a bit upon our return.

 

Jack

[BaAnn]

Glad to hear you have a wonderful time.

 

Did you ever see blue sky? Just curious about the smog.

 

We are leaving at the end of Aug. going thru Sept 9th...so I am sure we will experience the "Furnance".

 

What experience on your trip left the most lasting impression?

 

L:) ri

 

About smog, most places we visited were very hazy/smoggy and very dingy looking. They say it's because of the coal burning. I lived in the Los Angeles area for many years and I know smog. The difference to me was that it didn't burn my eyes or make my throat sore. It doesn't make for very good pictures. We saw blue skies in Shanghai and one day when we were in the Three Gorges area the foggy mist had lifted and we saw the tops of the mountains - a sight the guide told us that is rarely seen.

 

I tell everyone here that China is a real eye opener. For me it was how far advanced they are than I ever imagined. A lot of progress has been made in a relatively short time. The tall very modern buildings were a fiest for the eyes in Shanghai. Also the hundreds and hundreds of 30 story apartment buildings in the various cities that the lower class people live in - most of which have been "relocated" from their farms. They told us the relocated farmers would be re-educated. The terra cotta soldiers were mind bogeling. The people very friendly. Almost no mention of pickpockets and in a few areas we were in crowded places with no mention of it by our guides.