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Anonymous
Alright /trv/, a question for you.

Next year I plan on going to China. I want to see the whole country, Beijing, Shanghai, Chungking, Chengdu, Hong Kong, Macau, possibly Lhasa, and perhaps a few other places.

Now, I was thinking about perhaps taking a guided tour. I found a tour agency that does tours of China covering pretty much everything I would want to see, and for relatively cheap (Less than $3000USD for all 5 star hotels, on a 12 day trip).

Normally I wouldn't ever do a guided tour deal like this due to the fact that you are restricted greatly in where you go and what you see, and it's 95% old retired people. However I'm hesitant for me and whoever I end up taking along to do it on our own for a few reasons. I don't speak one bit of Chinese, and considering that I want to go to some of the less traveled cities, it could be quite difficult to find English speakers or to communicate at all. With the tour, you have an English speaking guide everywhere you go. Another reason is cost-effectiveness. These tours I'm looking at seem very cheap considering where we would be staying, and includes meals as well.

So /trv/, what would you do?

If you say don't take the tour, do you have any idea on how to manage the language barrier and other related problems?
>> Anonymous
take a tour ... you wont be able understand Chinese and 99.9% of Chinese people dont speak English
>> Anonymous
To be completely honest, seeing that many cities on a 12 day tour would be selling yourself short.

With 12 days including time for travel, you won't have time to get a feel for any of the cities. My recommendation would be to stick to one or two cities for the two week trip, and if you enjoy yourself you'll have a reason to return to China later.

And $3,000 is a fuckton of money for China (unless that price includes flights into and out of China). On your own, you could very easily get by on under $1,000, likely a lot less if you don't eat at overpriced restaurants catering to foreigners (although those places tend to be no more expensive than their North American/European counterparts), and stick to cheaper hotels. I stayed at a 2 star hotel in Guangzhou earlier this year, and I was satisfied with it. Bedsheets were clean, a private washroom with hot water, and it was only $15/night IIRC. That being said, quality will likely decline outside of major cities.

If you're worried about the language barrier, Hong Kong would be a good bet. Virtually all signs are in Chinese and English, most residents speak at least some English, and there's more than enough to keep someone occupied for several weeks.

But of course, if money and/or time means this is your only chance to go to China in the foreseeable future, by all means take the tour. Its probably the only realistic means of seeing as much of the country as possible in as painless a manner as possible.
>> Anonymous
I know of someone who went on one of those guided tours and got followed the whole time by the secret police or something.
>> Anonymous
>>28998
Seems pretty unlikely to me. Why would they even need "secret police" following a few guided tours while thousands of other tourists are getting in without doing guided tours and are free to do whatever they like? This isn't North Korea where the only way in is through guided tours.
>> Anonymous
>>28998

Tell that "someone you know" to get over himself.