Most Inspirational Moment
The most inspiring thing about our China trip was being able to experience the local life. I had in my naivety not realised that we would be a novelty to many of the Chinese people. They too are travelling in their country and are enjoying the sights we are seeing. Many of them have travelled very long distances from their homes where they never come across any foreigners. Many times they would ask to take photos of us on their phones. The Great Wall and Terracotta Warriors are everything you hoped to see. Beijing, Tiananmen Square, The Forbidden Palace are all much bigger than you realise. The whole tour enables you to see so many wonderful things. I feel pleased that I have had the chance to see how China is developing at a lightening pace. Go and see it now because it is changing all the time.
Thoughts on Group Leader
This was our first time with Exodus and the first time on a guided tour. Nothing prepares you for how amazing China is. It would have been really difficult to appreciate everything without our wonderful guide Vivian Xi. She translated the language, explained Chinese customs, took care of all the internal travel details, explained all about the tour destinations we were visiting, ordered our food in the restaurants when we could not understand the menus and made sure each member of the group was happy with the arrangements. A truly customer service minded, thoughtful person. I feel we would have missed so much without her.
Advice for Potential Travellers
I have mentioned above that you need to be fit to enjoy this tour. There were some travellers in our group of sixteen who had not done their research or benefitted from a good travel agent as we had. These people were not comfortable walking the distances needed and therefore unable to enjoy the full China experience. We travelled on local buses, mini buses, bullet trains, one internal fight and three overnight soft sleeper trains. All transport was well organised but the overnight trains are slow and noisy and you don’t get much rest. You need to know that sometimes you could be sharing a four bed compartment with strangers. We found the bunks clean but hard. There is usually one squatty and one potty toilet in each carriage. You only need a minimum of “pretty clothes” Comfortable clothes and shoes in practical colours suitable for any weather conditions. We had a little rain, clear days and some dull incredibly humid days. Laundry services are available in the hotels and our guide helped us with these details. We read lots of the previous reviews and gained lots of tips from them.
