Viking China

[humidsue]

Thanks for the advise and have a great trip.

[jcrandle]

Hi Everyone. Our documents arrived today for our November 19 China Cultural Delights. We're excited and document dancing.:D

I have a couple of questions. We're coming into Shanghai on our own a few days early and would like to take the Maglev train from the airport. However, we're staying at the St. Regis in Pudong and we can't figure out on the map how far it is from the Maglev train station, or where the closest Metro is.

Has anyone stayed here?

Has anyone taken the Maglev train?

Will we be able to get a taxi from the train station, or should we just take a taxi from the airport and forget the Maglev?

We don't speak Mandarin, so we will be "relying on the kindness of strangers" if we get lost.

The hotel wanted more than $100 for a transfer which seems high, (but maybe it isn't). Any comments will be appreciated.

The hotel should be able to provide you with a card that has the hotel name and address in chinese characters so that you can just hand it to a taxi driver if you are lost. (n.b. A card like this also comes in handy after a big night on Bourbon St. in New Orleans - and would likely be just as unreadable to the bearer as the Kanji.):D

[dpump]

The hotel should be able to provide you with a card that has the hotel name and address in chinese characters so that you can just hand it to a taxi driver if you are lost.

************************************************

 

Actually, our guide David, always advised us and reminded us to be sure and take a card from the front desk at the hotel with the address, etc on it 'just in case."

[no fuss travel]

Try the hotel website for the information in Chinese as well as English. The hotel we stayed at, not the Regis, had directions that we could print off in Chinese to give to a taxi driver. You could also email the hotel and get them to send you the information via email for transfers. They are very helpful.

[susietb]

The Maglev Train Station is in the Pudong section of Shang Hai. It shouldn't take more thatn 15 minutes from there to your hotel. $10.00 by cab tops.

[Lucky Granny]

Mary...there is a difference between an adapter and a converter. The adapter is to change the configuration of your plug. The converter changes the voltage (? or whatever) from 110 to 220. You might need both. I brought adapters which would not fit anywhere - some plugs were too tight for my adapters and others were too loose and kept falling out. My converter would not plug in anywhere. I ended up on the boat with one of their converters and again with a borrowed one from the Westin in Beijing. I used my curling iron someplace with it plugged in but with a water bottle sitting on the cord so the plug would not move as the plug was much too loose and the slightest movement would pull it out. My travel friend burned up her sound machine two minutes after we arrived. I know I am not giving you good what-to-do advice, but I don't have anything to give but a warning. Your camera charger is probably international - look on the back, it probably says up to 250 whatevers and the plug has both prongs the same size. Some small appliances work with either 110 or 220 if you have an adapter so your US plug will go in a Chinese receptacle. Try all your plugs as soon as you arrive and, if they don't work, call for help from the boat or hotel.

[Dale]

Mary, I hope this may be of some help to you and I hope it’s not coming to late. This is how we have handled dealing with electrical problems when traveling. Only two steps involved. The first thing we do, is make sure that when we buy anything that has to be plugged in somewhere outside the US, is that it will accept AC 100-240V. Doing this eliminates the need for a converter. Second is the plug adaptor. The following is a link that shows the type adaptor we use. It’s an all in one unit, one size fits all so to speak.

Electrical Adaptor

This eliminates the need for several different plug-ins. So for around $20 - $25 you can have a system that will run all your electrical units.

I’m sure you will have a great time, as you are about to start an adventure of a lifetime.

 

Brenda, this is for you. I imagine you have given up on the pictures. Don’t give up yet. Remember Santa will be coming in a couple of months and there may be a surprise in his bag for you. Say hello to Jim, for Verna and I.

[coasters]

hyou may want to read my journal (below) for all electrical info and photo's of the outlets. Also, read the label on your charger to be sure it works with both 110 and 220Volts most do.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This image should help to understand the configuration of the 220V electrical outlets on the Viking Century Sun and what plug adapter/s you might want to bring if your devices use 220V.

http://glevitz.com/ebayimages/shipoutlet220.JPG

 

Journal and Photos from our Viking River trip April, 2007

http://glevitz.com/ebayimages/vikingjournal.htm

http://picasaweb.google.com/JerrysWebPage/VikingBeijing

http://picasaweb.google.com/JerrysWebPage/MtJiuHuaBuddistTemples

http://picasaweb.google.com/JerrysWebPage/VikingBeijingToShanghai

http://picasaweb.google.com/JerrysWebPage/PorcelainFactory

http://picasaweb.google.com/JerrysWebPage/HongKong

http://picasaweb.google.com/JerrysWebPage/Guilin

[Dale]

:D :D Here's something cute that I just received from two of our fellow cruisers, Lord & Lady Meer. I hope it will give everyone a good chuckle. :D :D

 

Chinese Food Song

[Lucky Granny]

For those of you who have yet to travel....Viking's Recommended Reading List includes a book by Deirdre Chetham called Before the Deluge - The Vanishing World of the Yangtze's Three Gorges. I bought this book and read most of it before I went to China and was glad to have background knowledge about the history of the area we saw and the information we were given on the dam. It is a book that is mostly text, so it is a bit of reading, but very interesting. I am writing this because I have just listed my copy on Ebay for sale at auction. Most of the China travel books listed there have no bids so, if I sell mine, it probably will be very cheap. Take a look if you are interested.

 

Mary Frances

[gr8lakes]

Thank you for the book referral Lucky Granny. We leave Friday 11/14 for our trip China Cultural Delights. We've done a book list, but this one sounds interesting also.

Wondering if anyone has just returned from Viking China and how it's been lately? Board has been quiet the last few weeks. Weather still looks good over there. Will post and let you know how it goes. Staying at the Shangri La in Shanghai and Xian and the Westin in Beijing according to documents. We're staying in Hong Kong a few days before the trip. Talk with you all soon!

[dpump]

Have a great trip and don't forget a trip report!

[Koda]

We returned from China on 10/27, not too long ago. We had beautiful weather w/only one day of light sprinkles in Beijing, which was probably a good thing. Washed away all the pollution so the next couple of days were beautiful. According to the guides in China, it's "haze" not pollution. There was "haze" in Chongqing where we boarded the ship, as well as Shanghai and Guilin (we took the extension, continuing on to Hong Kong). If you look at pollution records from before the Olympics, thru them, then now, the pollution is at about 1/2 of pre-Olympic numbers, but double what it was during the Olympics...in Beijing. My Visene came in handy as my eyes were irritated more than a few days during the trip.

 

Our itinerary included Tibet. What the brochures don't say, and what our guide smugly told us on the way to the airport, is that 2 to 3 people in every group misses the ENTIRE Tibet tour, sick in their room due to altitude sickness. Viking does say to consult your doctor, but that was about it. We did have altitude meds (can't remember the name right now) and my husband, his bro, and sil didn't get sick at all. I had a migraine for 2 days....I've never had one last that long. My migraine meds wouldn't touch it, it was pretty bad. One other person in our group was in her room the entire 3 days. Just something to think about it you want to go to Tibet!

 

Our overall feeling about the trip was that we were very well taken care of by Viking. We had 6 flights in China, and never once had to deal with our luggage. We were warned by our guide (Edward, who was excellent) to keep our bags at 44 lbs or we were likely to be charged but no one ever was. We were able to take as much as we wanted onboard, which was pretty funny. The hotels we stayed in were all first class, very nice.

 

I seem to remember reading here that the food wasn't great, but we found the food on the ship to be excellent. There were 1 or 2 restaurants that weren't wonderful, but most were very good off the ship also. Food was limited in Tibet, so we had a LOT of Yak -- stir fried, stewed, roasted, you name it. Tastes like beef. LOL

 

For some reason I thought traveling to China would be very different from any other trip we've taken. I was wrong. Getting around in China is the same as any other place on earth....taxis (which were VERY cheap), subways, planes, etc. We did ride a rickshaw, but those are kept around for the tourists. It is an amazing country. I wasn't thrilled about all those flights, but it's the only way to see a lot since it is such a huge country. Don't think I need to go back to Tibet, Guilin, or even Beijing. We did scope out what we want to see on our next visit to Shanghai and Hong Kong. We'll be returning early next year as part of a World Cruise.

 

I'm happy to answer any questions anyone might have, here or at my email kchew3 on aol.com. I will say that if you have extra time in Beijing and like knock offs, or just inexpensive souveniers, go to Yashow Market, a 5 story building full of small booths. Ask your conceriege to write it in Chinese for you. Don't forget to bargain, and bargain hard. China is hit w/the same problems as the rest of the world and business is slow. We were able to get things for about 10% of asking price if we just walked away...they always chased us down. We went there instead of the Chinese Opera, then again the next night. Had a lot of fun.

 

If you haven't been yet, you're in for a wonderful experience.

 

Kelley

[gr8lakes]

Hi Kelley: Thanks so much for the update and review of your trip. Sorry about the migraine, but the rest of the trip sounds wonderful. Really appreciate the details.

How full was your ship?

[Koda]

How full was your ship?

 

I think there were about 200 onboard. And everyone here was VERY correct in saying the tables by the door were the quietest. We sat at a dif one once, and couldn't hear the person next to us. We sat at the corner table nearest the door, and had wonderful dinners every night -- able to talk to everyone at the table. Have a great trip!

 

Kelley

[bobka]

Earlier, I promised to report on our trip upon our return. We returned home yesterday from the Imperial Jewels cruise tour from Shanghai to Beijing with the precruise extension in Hong Kong. We had a wonderful trip, and our experience was pretty much in line with what has been reported by others. The weather was cloudy/smoggy/drizzly everywhere except in Beijing, where skies were beautifully clear. Temperatures were in the 70's and 80's until we reached Xi'an. Thereafter, temperatures were comfortably cool - even at the Great Wall (although we were told about a snow storm in Beijing at the same time last year). Breakfasts and accommodations throughout the trip were excellent, and some of the hotels were among the best and cleanest we have ever stayed in. Other meals, with the exception of the marvelous luncheon buffet at the Nikko Hotel in Beijing on the last day, were average. Thankfully, we were never served "dish dog". Our Viking guide, Shan Shan, was efficient and knowledgeable. The quality of the local guides varied, but, without doubt, the best was Matthew, our local guide in Hong Kong. It was interesting to see that some of the guides had to speak with each other in English because some only spoke Mandarin Chinese and others spoke only Cantonese. The Li River cruise in Guilin was about two hours too long, but the local specialty "foot" (full body) massages in our hotel room in Guilin were fabulous and cheap at only about $25 each for well over an hour of pampering. The tour went at a rapid clip. but we still managed to find time for some shopping. Prescription eyeglasses are inexpensive in Hong Kong and can be made from your existing glasses in just a few hours or overnight. My difficult prescription was duplicated in a pair of Sunglasses for about $100. Here in the US, the comparable pair would cost at least $250. For bargains, we skipped the state sponsored shop at the Great Wall where the bus let us off, and went to the small shop down the ramp about 150 feet away. In that shop we were able to negotiate great prices on T-Shirts ($2), tea cups ($2) and chopstick sets ($3). We liked the place so much, we went back several times and also bought a sweatshirt, a 100% fake silk robe, and some other stuff. In Beijing, the street vendors meeting the bus daily at the Ritz Carlton Hotel sold Olympics paraphenalia and other merchandise much cheaper than the hoardes of vendors around Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. (Example: Olympic logo hats were 2/$1). The boat ride at the Summer Palace and the leisurely walk back was memorable. The toughest part of the trip was enduring the plane rides to/from China and the hectic pace. Luggage weight on the intra China flights was not too much of an issue except at the Guilin airport before the flight to Shanghai. There, we were pre-warned that airport officials were fussy about weight limits for checked bags. We were told that, since fewer Viking customers traveled on the extension, the airport officials there were not as "familiar" with Viking.

[gr8lakes]

Thanks Bob for the report on your recent trip. It sounds wonderful. Agree with you that the plane flight over and back are the least appealing. Have been going crazy because United has changed equipment 3 times and the computer keeps reassigning us seats :eek:- and not what we want. Have to keep calling them! 15 hours in a middle seat is unthinkable!

How many people were on your ship?

Did you do the porcelain factory tour? What did you think of it? Was it worth the travel time?

Really appreciate you taking time to post. Will try to do the same when we return. Two days to go before we leave.

[gr8lakes]

Thanks Bob for the report on your recent trip. It sounds wonderful. Agree with you that the plane flight over and back are the least appealing. Have been going crazy because United has changed equipment 3 times and the computer keeps reassigning us seats :eek:- and not what we want. Have to keep calling them! 15 hours in a middle seat is unthinkable!

How many people were on your ship?

Did you do the porcelain factory tour? What did you think of it? I notice in reading posts that some people skipped it. Was it worth the bus travel time?

Really appreciate you taking time to post. Will try to do the same when we return. Two days to go before we leave.

[dpump]

While we were on our tour, I found the porcelain factory tour boring, BUT the bus ride was worth it! It finally gave us a real chance to see the 'real China in the country'. I also believe that was the area where they grew green beans or some sort of beans. I don't do (green) beans in any way, shape or form. The day we went it was raining and misreable and there was a few of us sitting in the bus in town (forget the name)waiting for the rest of our group to get back on (i.e., happy house runs). We're all sitting staring sullenly out the window when all of a sudden a camel and it's handler walked right past us! Boy, that sure got our blood flowing!

[bobka]

gr8lakes, we had about 220 on our cruise. Didn't go to the porcelain factory, and even one more "factory" would have driven us all nuts. We were ready to mutiny by the time we got to the jade factory in Beijing. In fact, everyone on the bus booed when the stop was announced. Good luck with United. Buy Coach Plus seats if they are still available. They are inexpensive. For our return trip, we paid the extra for Coach Plus and those few extra inches of legroom helped.

[gr8lakes]

Thanks dpump and bobka. Kind of what I thought about the porcelain factory tours. Can you just stay on the ship and walk around the docking area instead?

Bobka, We are booked in Economy Plus on United, but they keep changing the aircraft type. Have called 3 times in the last 3 days to make sure we have aisles. The computer is going crazy assigning seats automatically when they change the aircraft. That extra legroom does help!

We'll have fun no matter what. All packed and ready to go Friday morning. 2:30 am wakeup call to get to Dulles. Will report back later.

[Travel&Shop]

I also recently returned from a Roof of the World tour (on Oct 31). We had a wonderful time, and luckily no altitude sickness in Tibet. To try to answer some of recent questions posted by gr8lakes and others:

The weather in China was varied. We had hazy sun in Beijing, a beautiful sunny day at the Great Wall, rain in Xi'an and Shanghai, and also one rainy day on the ship.

Our ship was almost full, but very nice and I thought the food was good. I was very tired of Chinese food by the time we got to the ship (but enjoyed the various Yak meat dinners in Tibet), so the western food on the ship was a treat. Who ever posted the hint about the tables near the door in the dining room being less noisy was right on. I enjoyed the massage on the ship too.

I enjoyed the factory tours, but some of the men in our group were pretty bored. We went to a silk embroidery factory that was amazing! The jade factory was probably the least enjoyable, but the silk rug factory was very interesting and the rugs were unbelievable. I looked at the factory experiences as more like viewing art than forced shopping.

I must say the one thing I did not enjoy was the Peking Opera. If I had to do it over I would skip that and explore the market or something on my own. The people who set off on their own said the subway and bus systems were very easy to use and they felt safe on both.

There are lots of words of wisdom in all the posts on this thread if you have had time to read them. The best things I learned here were 1) Always carry toilet paper with you, 2) Take lots of $1 and $5 bills for tipping and small purchases. The newer the bills the better, and 3) Pack your shoes in plastic bags in your suitcase. After you have visited a few public restrooms you will understand the need for keeping your shoes in plastic when you re-pack them. Enough said about that.

I think you will have a wonderful time. Viking takes good care of it's guests.

[no fuss travel]

I agree that it was not all that interesting. I could have done without the shopping part and when they stopped in town to do more shopping I refused to budge off the bus. The country side was fascinating, but if I had to do it all over again I probably would not go on it.

If you get a group with a few shopaholics on it, it makes the factory stops intolerable. We had six in our group and by the end of the tour nobody wanted to go near anywhere where there were shops because they knew the shopaholic six would not be back on time. They made us late so often it was not funny. The shopaholics were also the biggest complainers anytime we went to a museum, etc. While at the museums they spent their entire time inside the shops. No one could figure out why they went on the trip.

[mauicruiser]

I've read that Viking now has 2 new western-oriented ships (the Century Sky and Sun) for China cruises. Has anyone had the opportunity to sail on one of these ships and what did you think?

 

Also, what time of year do you feel is best for one of these river cruises? I understand summer months (June, July, August) can be very hot and humid. As we live in Arizona, we get all the heat we need at home! I believe spring and fall might be the best - but notice that there are also winter sailings as well.

 

Any insight and suggestions would be most appreciated.

 

We were on the Viking trip departing Oct 17 from Shanghai. Here is the good, the bad and the ugly of the trip.

 

Good: Really nice hotels and ship accommodations, good guides, weather(very mild even clear blue skies in Beijing), no rain, nice flights(no yak burgers!), not having to slep the luggage, some truly amazing sites-it's the trip of a lifetime, Xian was the best but too little time in that fabulous city, tour guides were determined that we see everything that we were promised, the kids at the school that has been adopted by Viking--delightful morning. The hamburgers, fries and beer at TGI Fridays behind the Ritz in Beijing were wonderful but you'll have to skip yet another Chinese dinner to experience this.

 

Bad: prices on booze except local beer which is pretty good, Chinese wine is even worse than you can imagine and expensive, tooooo much Chinese food although good but 2 weeks of nothing but gets old, heavy schedules left most exhausted at the end of the day, the Captain's welcome dinner which was not an opportunity to meet and mingle with fellow passengers but a trip briefing, long long flights to get to the start of the trip-

 

Ugly: the farewell "Peking duck dinner" was the worst Chinese food--like you would find at a gas station in Kansas followed by the Chinese Opera which was one hour of screeching--definitely an acquired taste. This was done on the last night after we had walked Tieneman Square and the Forbidden City(3 miles + 900 marble steps) in the morning followed by another 2-3 mile walk in the Summer Palace, 40 minutes to change and reboard the bus for a one hour drive to the Chinese Opera. Back to the hotel at 9:30--friends had to leave hotel the next morning at 5 am. Rush rush rush--not enough down time. We are fit but exhausted from this schedule. Viking should add more days for the same trip--more than an overnight in cities like Xian. The bar at the Ritz Carlton in Beijing was outrageous! One guest in our group paid $30 for a 2 oz martini!!

 

I liked the "hello people"--street merchants selling assorted goods, watches, purses, hats, etc who greet the bus and boat at every stop. Some found them overwhelming. They were persistant but took no for an answer with a smile. If you want something they have, bargain like crazy.--buy on the departure not on the arrival.

 

Questions?

[bobka]

Mauicruiser, I absolutely agree with everything you say with one exception. I found the Peking Duck dinner to be delicious. As for the Peking Opera, I liked the acrobatics but could have done without the short segment of screeching. By the way, the evening before we went with the group to the tour-arranged local Beijing restaurant, a dinner that many people skipped. The food was tasty, and we were surprised to find a short performance being put on by a quick mask change artist. The restaurant is located in the older southside part of Beijing. The drive through that part of town was most interesting.

 

gr8lakes, enjoy your trip!