I got a VPN. And didn't really make any actual phone calls (mostly texting, messaging, etc.) As far as I know, everything was OK while I was in China. It also allowed me to access some websites and apps that aren't available on China's networks.
When I travel, I always use Travelpass (Verizon) as my international calling plan. For me, it’s not worth it to get a SIM card for the country I’m in because then my family would have to pay for an international call vs a local call to check on me. I’ve never had a problem.
Honestly, it really depends on your 7-year-old. When I did the China trip, we had brothers on the trip who were 8 and 9. A lot of it was too much for them. They fell asleep at dinner more than once, had trouble finding food they wanted to eat (they ate a LOT of rice) and spent much of the trip playing games on their phones. It may have just been them, or their parents, but they just seemed to be overwhelmed at times. There *were* times they enjoyed, but it was a mixed bag.
Probably too much, unless they've been on international trips before and can handle long days. You also tend to wake up early on these trips.
As far as I know, the season for China is pretty much the same from year to year.
I did the China ABD in 2019. In looking at the current 2024 itinerary, it is pretty similar to what we did. The 2025 itinerary seems to change the order in which things are done, some of the hotels, and extra time in Xi’an, but everything else seems to be pretty much the same. ABD will make adjustments based on customer feedback and other information. As long as you’re flexible and they’re visiting all the sites you want to see, you’re ok. For example, my trip never made it to Guilin due to heavy rain and flooding in the city on the day we were to fly out. They weren’t doing the river cruises due to it and those groups who were already there couldn’t leave due to the airport being closed. Fortunately, we were able to experience this from the comfort of a restaurant in Xi’an while ABD figured out the plan B. Plan B wound up being visiting/biking the walled city and seeing some other sites in Xi’an which we never would have seen if we hadn’t been able to go to Guilin. I wonder if that’s why they’re doing Guilin on day 2 and taking the train in 2025.
Thank you!!!! This is great info!
I hadn't noticed that Chengdu is gone in the 2025 version, and you spend more time in Xi'an, doing the Qunling Giant Panda Research Center in Xi'an instead of the one in Chengdu. That definitely *is* an improvement in the scheduling. It's still a lot of internal flights, but one less than before, and not that 2-flight day.
Agreed. You do miss out on the face changing opera in Chengdu as well, but I think the addition of activities in Xi'an will make up for it when you add in the fact that you don't have a 4am-12am day for that 2 flights day in the previous ABD itinerary.
Exactly. While I really, really loved the face-changing opera, I would love not having to do that death march day in order to see the terracotta soldiers way more! (Which was worth it in the end, but still a hellish day!)
