Postscript - Some Suggestions For Anyone Thinking of Visiting China

Some Tips & Insight On Sinorama's Tours Of China
We did Sinorama's 21+2 Days B Trip between September 23rd and October 13th, 2013.  All I can say is "Wow!!!"  What a trip!  Talk about value for money!  It was all that it was advertised and then some. 

The fare includes your international flight to-and-from China.  Five domestic flights within China.  One trip on a high-speed train.  A 4-day 3-night cruise on the Yangtse River.  All of your meals except 3.  Tour buses throughout your trip.  A very knowledgeable "national" guide who's with you from the time you come through the arrival gates in Beijing until the time you head off for your departure gate in Hong Kong.  Local guides who will give you the lowdown on the attractions you are going to see.  It's well worth the extra money to sign up for the tour of Hong Kong. 

This is very much a go-go whirlwind trip.  After all, you are going to see a lot of China in a relatively short period of time.  So be prepared.  Do some walking 6 weeks before you go.  Get some daily exercise.  Do some research. You'll be in much better shape to understand and enjoy this adventure if you do. 

Research, Research, Research
On this trip you're going to see two parts of China:  Old China - before 1979, and New China - after 1979.  Your tour will take you to a lot of Old China.  However, wherever you go, you'll be surrounded by New China.  How did all of these new buildings, toll roads, airports, high speed railway lines, 20-25 storey apartments - all of it less than 20-30 years old - get built!?  This is where a bit of research before you go will greatly add to your enjoyment of this trip.

Before you go, you should do some research so that you can enjoy what you are seeing even more.  Two books to read - "Deng Xiaoping & The Transformation of China" by Ezra Vogel.  At 920 pages, a heavy read but certainly well worth the effort if you want to understand what modern-day China is all about.  What you are going to see will blow your mind and show you just how the West is losing the economic and technology race due to our own stupidity and China's strategic planning.  Don't believe what you read about China's economy in the Western media. 

The second book to read is "China's Superbank: Debt, Oil and Influence - How China Development Bank is Rewriting the Rules of Finance"  by Henry Sanderson, Michael Forsythe.  A long title but only 250 pages. This will help you understand how all of this modern development - from the toll roads, the airports, the subways, the factories, the apartment buildings, the parks, the attractions - have all been financed and how China is using this financing model in the developing world. 

Two Books To Read

Last but not least in your research, take the itinerary posted on the Sinorama website and research the historical places you'll be visiting and the hotels that you'll be staying at.  This will greatly add to the enjoyment of what you will be seeing instead of wondering what you're looking at on the day of your visit and what is the significance of this vista mentioned by your local guide as you're bouncing along in the bus from your last attraction to your next attraction.  I posted all of my research in a blog and then printed it all off using Blog2Print.  A trip to Staples to make an extra copy or three, clear plastic covers front-and-back, some coil binding and ....... voila!  ......our daily travel guide that we read either the night before or during breakfast so that we could appreciate the significance of what we'd be seeing that day.  For a minimalist travel guide, print off the pages for each of the attraction websites and put them in a binder. 

Getting There - Very Easy
Your international flight from Canada may take you through the United States - for example our local flight took us from Ottawa Ontario to Newark New Jersey with a 4-hour layover where folks from Montreal and Toronto joined us on the flight from Newark to Beijing.  Be prepared for a long flight - would you believe over the Arctic Ocean - Bering Sea!?

Once you get through Chinese customs, pick up your luggage, and make your way out to the Arrivals area.  There's always lots of people in China's airports.  Look for a "Sinorama" flag.  While your group will be a small one of 25-30 people, there can be as many as 250-300 Sinorama tourists on all of the different tours that Sinorama offers.  And you'll be bumping into them throughout your tour.  However, they'll be on their bus and you'll be on yours along with your 25-30 companions. Once you locate that Sinorama flag, you'll be directed to your national guide who will be with you throughout your trip.  Once you've located your guide, you're on your way to an adventure of a lifetime! 

Your national guide will always carry a distinctively coloured flag on the end of a long collapsible pole. Memorize what that flag looks like! When you are walking through crowds, don't ever lose sight of that flag!!  Keep up with your group.  You'll have plenty of time to take photos but no lollygagging behind when you are going from Attraction A to Attraction B.

Toilets, Toiletries & Toilet Etiquette
One word of caution and this is for the ladies.  (Due to men's plumbing, us guys don't have to worry as much about the toilets as the ladies do.) 

Ladies, if this is your first trip to Asia, you have to be warned that there's a major difference with the public toilets.  They aren't the same as what we have here in Canada.  Public toilets are euphemistically known as "squat" toilets.  They are NOT "sitting" toilets.  While you don't have to worry about "squatting" toilets in your hotel room (they're "sitting" toilets), you may have some problems with the restaurants at lunch and sometimes at dinner (depending on whether you're eating in a restaurant or your hotel). 

While most of the toilets in a restaurant at lunch will be "squatting" toilets, there will usually be one (and only one!) "sitting toilet.  Remember those 250-300 Sinorama tourists you bumped into at the airport ...........?  While the toilets normally wouldn't be a problem, if all of the Sinorama tours pull up to the restaurant at the same time, you're going to have a long lineup for that one toilet!! Unless you learn how to squat.  My suggestion would be to practice a little bit of squatting before you go.  Many of the older attractions will only have "squatting" toilets.  So be prepared. (There are some YouTube videos that will give you some lessons on how to use "squatting" toilets.)

For both the guys and the gals, carry some toilet paper, hand wipes (the ones in the small packages), and a very small hand sanitizer with you in your packsack or pocket (this is where a pair of Tilley cargo pants are very handy).  You can get small rolls of toilet paper at Shoppers Drugmart.  Or roll up some of the toilet paper that's in your hotel room, stuff it in a Ziploc bag, and carry it in your packsack.  (And as a suggestion, you might want to do your "serious stuff" before you leave your hotel.)

Food Hygiene
Throughout your tour, you'll be with a maximum of 25-30 people.  These people will be with you from start to finish.  Throughout your tour at breakfast, lunch, and dinner, your group will be seated at 3-4 round tables with 6-9 people seated around each table.  Those 6-9 people seated around your table will be with you from start to finish.  No musical chairs are allowed.  By the end of the tour, you'll know the name of each of your table mates, the names of their grandkids, and where they all live. 

In the middle of each round table will be an extremely large circular lazy susan - usually glass.  At each meal 10-12 large platters of food will be placed on the edge of this large lazy susan.  You simply spin the lazy susan until the platter that you are interested in comes in front of you.  You then scoop what you want off of this large platter onto your plate. 

STOP!!!!!

Regardless of how well you get to know your tablemates, one thing you don't want is to pick up their germs.  Before you scoop the food off this large platter....... please put your fork or chopsticks down.  DON'T dig into that large platter of food with your fork or chopsticks that you've just taken out of your mouth ....... cause I'm going to be the next one who's going to take food off that large platter.  And I don't want to get any germs that are going to spoil the rest of my trip to China. 

When you sit down at your table, scout out where the serving spoons, extra chopsticks, and other serving utensils are.  Ask the servers for serving utensils.  However, they may not understand you.  So tell your national guide to get you some serving utensils. 

Before you ask for serving utensils, TELL your tablemates NOT to take food off of the platter with their forks or chopsticks that have been in their mouth.  Get them onside on this most important hygienic  matter!  If you see one of your tablemates reaching for food from a platter with their personal chopsticks or fork, STOP THEM!!  You aren't being impolite.  You are simply looking after their (and your) health and welfare. 

The Food Is Good!
In all of this warning stuff, did I tell you that the food is very good!?  Almost forgot!  Yes, the food is very good.  But it ain't gonna be hamburgers or Kraft Dinner.  Not until you get to Macao are you going to get any pasta, hamburgers, or potatoes and gravy.  Lots of vegetables, local cuisine, stir fried.   When you're in Sezshuan, guess what the cooking's going to be?  Yup.  Sezshuan.  Xi'an is the dumpling capital of China.  Guess what you're going to be eating one night for dinner?  Yup.  Dumplings.  But dumplings like you've never tasted before.  Beijing is famous for Peking (Beijing) duck.  Guess what you're going to be eating for dinner one night when you're in Beijing?  Yup.  Beijing duck.  You not only get to see the sights and sounds but you're going to smell and taste the different varieties of cooking found in each region of China. 

Always a glass of beer or cola at lunch and dinner.  Only one glass.  If you want an extra bottle of beer, it's always very cheap - ¥10 - ¥15 (yuan) (about $1.75).  Local beer but always very good.  Not a high alcoholic content but always refreshing.  Cola is available but in a very large 1-1.5 litre bottle.  And never, ever put ice in your cola (or beer)!

BTW, you might want to practice a bit with some chopsticks.  However, if you're all thumbs instead of nimble fingers, there's always a fork close by.


A Word On The Water
The last thing you want while on any trip is a bad case of Montezuma's revenge.  One of the ways to get a close look at the porcelain telephone in your hotel room is to get a bad case of diahrea.  The best way to meet that white porcelain beast is to drink the tap water.  DON'T!!!

In your hotel room, you'll find one bottle of water that will be free for each day.  If you take more than one bottle of water, you'll have to pay for it.

However, you'll quickly find that you'll be going through more than one bottle of water a day - more like 6-8 bottles a day.  You'll be drinking water constantly (it's hot in China).  You'll need bottled water to brush your teeth.  To swallow your medication.  Don't throw away those empty plastic bottles, eh!?  You're gonna need them.  And here's why. 

Each hotel room has a kettle.  Fill the kettle full of tap water first thing when you get to your hotel in the evening and last thing before you leave in the morning (in some places you'll be staying a couple of days).  Bring the water to a ROLLING boil and keep it there for 2 minutes.  Leave it overnight and let it cool down. Pour into those empty plastic bottles.  Use this water for brushing your teeth, taking your medication, and sipping while in your hotel room.  Take a bottle (or two) on the bus in the morning  ....... or alternately  ........

...... your bus driver will have a cooler full of bottled water on the front seat.  It will cost you about ¥10 (about $1.75) for 5-6 bottles of water.  This will be on the honour system.  Throw in a ¥10-¥20 bill and take out one bottle of water at a time.

And while you're at it, why not make yourself a cup or a pot of tea?  There's always tea bags, ground coffee sachets, sugar/sweetener in your hotel room.  As an alternative to that bottle of water, make up a pot of tea in the evening, let it cool overnight, and then pour it into a plastic bottle or two for use during the day.  Tea is a very refreshing beverage in the hot sun. 

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In spite of the seriousness of all these tips-and-tricks,  you will be embarking on a fantastic adventurous journey.  With a bit of research, a few small things to remember, you're going to have a lot of fun.  We did!

Enjoy!

So let's get started and go back to the beginning .......