Adrian S
Australia
- Reviewed on November 20, 2023
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We took a 20 day Chinese Silk Road trip starting in Luoyang and ending in Kashgar - the western most city in China close to the border with Kyrgyzstan. There were 8 of us in a small privately organised tour which Leo Li managed for us from China Discovery Chengdu.
I have been to China for work and twice before for holidays - this is definitely the best trip hands down. The itinerary was excellent and tailored to our needs. The hotels were fantastic (maybe except for one which was borderline) - all Chinese owned and operated hotels (there was only 1 international branded hotel in the entire 20 days). They were clean, spacious and very obliging to our needs.
The food organised by Leo was excellent on all days.
We requested English speaking guides and had 6 in all at various stages of our trip. They were all excellent, very knowledgeable about the history and significance of the locations in relation to the Silk Road and great company and humour too.
The guides went out of their way to ensure we were comfortable - even to the extent of organising special meals when a few of us got sick and another left his bag in the mountains!
The trip included historic cities beginning with Luoyang, Lanzhou, Xian, Xining, Qinghai Lake, Chaka Lake, Jiayuguan, Dunhuang, Turpan, Urumuqi and Kashgar. The trip utilised a combination of China's excellent bullet trains, private bus and flights (between Urumuqi and Kashgar and Kashgar to Shanghai)
Leo seemed to work all hours! Thank you Leo and your team for making our trip so memorable!
I highly recommend China Discovery Tours and will definitely without hesitation use them again.
Some tips for travelling in China:
1. Bring Cash! - WeChat Pay (linked to your credit card) works, but not all the time. Our personal success rate was about 40%. Even in the big cities like Shanghai. So definitely bring cash. PS - you will need internet connection to pay by WeChat - see internet connection below.
2. Watch for "Spit Bombs" (the Hark...Phui!) - its getting better especially after the pandemic. But in the smaller tier 2 and 3 cities definitely watch for it. Now you know why Chinese people take off their shoes when entering homes! :)
3. Chinese hotels are very warm and the aircon doesn't work in winter. Switching the aircon to cool will STILL give you heat!! So be prepared. However, despite this, as mentioned, our Chinese branded hotels were excellent.
4. Everything in China is huge! Except for the toilet rolls in the hotels! Don't ask me why. So if you need to have a big one, make sure you have sufficient toilet paper! Don't be afraid to ask, they are generous when you ask. (The 4-5 star hotels in the main cities are OK though)
5. Speaking of loos, we tried to make sure we only do No 1s in the public loos. Most of the tourist locations are OK but they are of the squatting kind... Of course the ladies have a tougher time than us guys. So before you embark on your daily tours - as much as possible make sure your system is all clear!
6. Internet connection seems to work fine (yes even Google, Messenger, YouTube etc)...BUT, BUT I think it is because I am on data roaming. Another member of the group had the same experience - No need for VPNs. But have a VPN loaded on your phone anyway as a backup. (We were on Australian Mobile network - Vodafone and Optus). Not sure how long this is going to last. Others not on data roaming had massive issues with the Great Firewall. Of course forget about the hotel wifi, the firewall is strongest there! Also 4G works better than 5G. So setting your phone to only 4G might make your internet connection more stable and reliable.
7. Enjoy the people - they are very friendly and patient (especially with our payment issues with WeChat). Trying to speak mandarin goes a long way!
8. Enjoy the food - it is generally safe but of course be sensible. We stuck to the main markets, hot cooked food and except for a short unexplained stint, we were good.
Above all - enjoy the experience!
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