FAQS
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FAQS
1. How do I work out the suitable schedule with China Exploration?
You can send us an email, fax, or call us directly when you have any clear or rough plan of visiting China, then we will suggest the schedule for you. We will be greatly grateful if you can tell us the details of your plan as more as possible, such as the spots you want to visit, the program or way of transportation you are interested, the season of your arrival, the length of your holiday in China, the level of accommodation, and the possible number of your group.2. What months in China are considered peak season, shoulder season and low season?
Generally speaking, the Peak Season refers to May, September and October; the Shoulder Season refers to March, April, June, July and August; the Low Season refers to January, February, November and December. In addition, different cities, hotels and cruises have exact concept of the Peak Season, the Shoulder Season and the Low Season respectively according to their own practices.3. What do I need for international travel?
You will need a valid passport, which has at least 7 months validity from departure date, and a visa to China. You can apply the visa from China Embassy nearby, or ask help from the visa agent locally.4. Shall I need to bring too much cash?
Don’t bring too much cash with you for the safety if you have international credit card or travel check. We have Bank Of China and ATM in every big city of China, in which you can draw cash with your credit card and exchange money with your travel check. But please make sure if they can work China.5. How much is the free luggage carriage in the flight of China ?
The free luggage carriage in the flights of China is 40Kgs for the first class cabin passengers, 30kgs for the Business cabin passengers, and 20kgs for the economical cabin passengers. You need to pay extra money for the overweight luggage.6. What is the electricity voltage and frequency in China ?
The standard electricity voltage in China is 220V and 50Hz in frequency.7. Is it easy to find international telephone call service in China?
In every town of China, even the remote town of Tibet, you can find the telecomm office providing international telephone service. And international telephone call service is provided in every standard hotel. You can also buy the IP card and make a international call at the self-aid IP phone machine which will save you quite a lot in service charge.8. Is it easy to find Internet service in China?
Most of the hotel in China have the internet service in the room and business center. And internet bar nearly exist in every corner in any town of China.9. What to expect from the tour?
This tour is for people who are interested in learning about China and exploring that far off land. The spirit of adventures and good will are traveler's best friend. Politeness and courtesy always enhance the experience of a trip. The Chinese are very friendly, and the services of hotels are up to international standard for quality. A few people might experience anxiety when traveling far from. Don't be; just be yourself, follow directions and your trip will be smooth and most enjoyable. Your tour is fully escorted in China and the tour guides are all experienced and friendly.10. How do I meet my guide upon arrival?
After you have cleared custom formalities and claimed your baggage(s), please proceed to the exit. Your guide will be waiting for you there and holding a sign with your name.11. What about the Chinese tour guides?
Tour guides working for China Exploration are highly-motivated, well-trained, licensed specialists who are proficient in English language or other languages.12. Are there any tips for travel safety in China?
We recommend the following 18 tips for ensuring safety:1. Plan ahead;
2. Take a valid passport and secure a valid visa;
3. Insure your life and precious items;
4. Check your air tickets and other travel documents before departure;
5. Ensure treatment for chronic diseases during the trip;
6. Prepare a back-up pair of eyeglasses or contact lenses if you wear them
7. Do not take any knife or other sharp tools because they may be confiscated;
8. Do not put your home address in the address in the luggage labels lest thieves break in while you are out;
9. Tie your luggage tightly to prevent spills;
10. Keep vigilant about your surroundings;
11. Keep important phone number in handy;
12. Always lock your room and close windows;
13. Do not wear flashy clothes or expensive jewelry;
14. Do not lose your keys in public places;
15. Get a receipt after paying a taxi;
16. Do not change money with individuals;
17. Learn some local expressions, such as greetings;
18. Walk in street lamp-lit areas at night.
All in all, it is very important to choose a reliable tour company to arrange the out for you.
13. Do we eat Chinese food throughout the trip?
All breakfasts are western style buffet with fruits, cold and hot cereals, Chinese dim sum etc. Lunch and dinner are Chinese food. The round table dining accommodating 8-10 people provides an opportunity for quiet camaraderie.14. What are the hotels in China like?
Chinese hotels offer the standard services at the international level. Tourists who have been to Beijing, Shanghai, Guilin and Xi'an note that hotels in these cities match any tourist hotels in New York, London, Paris or Sydney in services and facilities. In a recent poll, many foreign tourists rated very highly services at Chinese hotels.15. Can I travel to Tibet independently?
According to the Chinese official regulations, you cannot travel to Tibet independently. You have to book a tour package to Tibet through a travel agency. You need a special travel permit to enter Tibet in addition to a valid China visa. China Exploration can arrange any tailored tour packages to Tibet for you. Please contact us for further details.16. Do you have recommendation about the amount of tips for the guides and drivers that are usual for each?
Certain tip can greatly encourage the service of the guides and drivers and we suggest that in a group tour you may tip your guide and driver on the approval of their services: $1.50-2.00 USD per person /day for guides, $1.00 USD per person/day for drivers.17. Should I make a reservation with you first, or with an airline?
You can make the international flight reservation after we have confirmed the final itinerary. But you can also book the flight first and we will design a trip according to your flights.18. What evidence of payment do I get from you after payment is made?
We will send you a formal confirmation through email or a receipt of the total payment as soon as we receive your payment-
Travel is becoming the most popular human being activities in the world, also one of the most important industries in the world. It is very important for travellers to know clearlly what to do when they start to plan for their tours. Therefore we wrote this article for your information based on our 20 years’ travel experience in worldwide and working experience in travel company.Why do you want to travel? May be you want to know the new or different world, to know new people who may have different cultural background, or to visit different nature. But you must understand clearlly these points before you take action.Firstly, your safety is always the top element you need to consider. Nothing is more valuable than your life, so you need to visit the safe place and meet with the friendly people, not risk your life in a completely unknown and dangerous world. China is a safe country due to its stable political situation, low criminal rate, minor conflics in religions. And Chinese people are also very friendly to foreign tourist.Secondly you need to consider the means of your visit. The places you plan to visit would be interesting or unique either in culture or nature, or it has no means. You may want to anknowlege culture differs to your own culture, to know people different with you, or you want to enjoy a beautiful nature, which might not be so beautiful as your home, but still unique or interesting, or just for a holiday for killing time. You need to find the means of this travel. And then start to find the destinations.Thirdly, you need to find the easiest way of travel. You can travel individually, booking all of transportation, accommodation yourselves, or you can entrust local tour company to arrange your tour, both are ok, depend on your budget and experience. But try to make things easier for you. Using more time to enjoy local attraction, don’t tire up yourselve on the road or settling troubles. And many people use local tour company to arrange everything for them, including search tour companies on line.There are millions of webs on line claiming they are the best and strongest tour companies, but you can hardly know their real situation and who is the real people, naturally it leaves certain risk for you, so reliability of the local tour company is the top question you need to consider. Below we would like to talk about our opinion and experience on how to find a reliable Chinese travel company for your information.Firstly you need to find a legal registered tour company. Reliable means this tour company should be legally registered firstly, not a private personal web, if some accidends happened, they can be responsible for you or your friends in stead of escaping or shirking their responsibility. For all legally registered tour company in China, which should have two licenses: the license from business bureau and license from tourism bureau. It is easy to have license of business bureau, but difficult for license of tourism bureau, because tourism bureau supervise all legel tourism companies strictly, and require all legal tour company leaving huge security deposit in local bank, also oblige all tour company buying enough liability insurance in case of any accident.Because webs online are out of control of tourism bureau, so there are also a lot of illegal or prviated webs on line, or even using some big companys’ name and license illegally. When things are smoothly, nothing happen, but when something happened beyond their ability, then these webs shut down, cell phone closed, and people disappeared. It might be a little hard for tourist to tell them cearlly, but just a little effort you can find many doubts about them: They can not give you the two license and always give you their private bank account, not company account. And it is also easy to find out thoese using big companies licenses: it is strange that one company would have many webs or many departments and they are competing for same business, the staffs don’t know each other, and on their web showing different address, phone/ TEX number, email. And when wiring money, they gave you their private personal bank account, not company account.Secondly you need to consider the service of tour company. Good service means the staffs of tour company are knowlegable enough and easy for coummication. And they can understand you very well, and can plan for you rightly. An experienced staff of tour company can always recommend you right destinations for your tour, cut down your budget, make your tour more confortable. And when problems appeared, they are trying to settle it for you, not escaping.Price should be the lastly considered factor for your tour. You know good service requried good price, and the lowest price may not guarantee the service. Since you have already paid so much money, why not paying a little more for a better service ? It is also reality that sometimes your budget is really limitted and the price must be cut down, therefore we recommend you to change the way of travelling smartly to lower the cost, not cut down the price directly by lowering the service.Lastly you need to sign contract rightly with local China tour company, and it is also required by the law of China. Without contract, Chinese tour company will have failed the case according to China tourism bureau. Your contract will protect your right, which will state both sides’ rights, responsiblity, payment, etc. When dispute arises, then contract will settle it. By the way on the contract, the tour company should use their offical registered name, not web name. For example, our web name is China Exploration for the convenience of clients and web promotion, but out registered offical name is Chengdu Jason Tour Co. Ltd, it is also the formal name when we sign contract with our clients.Well, now you are already a smart tourist and you can take action now.
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Driving into China with foreigner’s own vehicle is not a simple game by only an international driving license; actually it is a complicated project work. The government is strict with the driving overland tour with foreigner’s vehicle for some reasons. So the permits from a lot of government departments are required and it is really a complicated project taking months normally.
Firstly your travel route and application will underthrough strict checking by the government departments . The route and date must be fixed in advance before the application went through the checking, therefore the route can not be changed once it has passed the checking of government departments. Many government departments will be involved in this procedure, such as miliatary, police, China Custom, tourism, and some of other local government departments.
Only all of the permits are done can the traffic police issue temporal driving license and temporal plate for the foreigner. Many tourists thought they could drive in China merely with an international driving license or carnet paper, actually it is wrong. Without these documents, they will be stopped at the gate of China for sure. And international driving license is not valid in Chin.
And you will be required to rent a Chinese tour guide, or tour escport from the tour company you entrusted to operate for you. He will accompany you for your whole trip in China according to the government request. It means that your vehicle must have a seat for our guide. And it has been proved that a Chinese tour escort can be very useful, he can settle many problems for you besides working as an interpreter.
So it is very important for you to find a reliable Chinese tour company operating your tour for you. And right tour company can make things every easy for you, you just send them the necessary files, and then meet with the guide at the border on time! China Exploration has long been expert in the overland tour with 25 years’ history.
Our service falls into two types:
Option 1. Driving through China by your own vehicle, also self-driving tour in China. Self-driving in China with your own vehicle is favored by more and more travelers. We have successfully provided service for both individual tourists and overland companies worldwide. Their vehicle varied from deluxe motor home, 4WD Off-road Jeeps, motorbike to big camping trucks. And they either drove into China from the land boarders or shipped their vehicles into China; and their routes covered any part of China: Xinjiang, Tibet, Inner Mongolian, Beijing, Shanghai and more.China Exploration ensures the successful application of government permits, driving licenses, Custom and more paper works. Everything will be ready when tourist arrives at the boarder of China. Our guide will be waiting for them and help them into China.Option 2. Overland with rented Chinese vehicle. It is the easiest and most popular way of overland travel in China. We provide various vehicles according to the road condition, which ranges from 4WD of TOYOTA, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Cherokee and other brand to business vans. During the overland tour, you will either stay in hotel or camp according to local condition and your interest. And a Chinese guide and driver will deal everything for you; you can start your trip! And in some area we also apply Chinese temproal driving licenes and rent Chinese vehicle for clients, therefore clients can make a happy self-driving tours easily and more conveniently.
