Enchanted China May 30, 2010

[Q's My Princess]

Checking in to see if there are any other Disboard families booked on this tour.

We are very excited about this tour...it is our first ABD tour and we are thrilled to read all the amazing trip reports.

Best,
Laurie

 

[2GirlsMama]

Hi Laurie!
Congratulations on booking your trip! We are booked for the July 4th trip, so we won't get to travel with you. But we will certainly be able to trade planning tips!

We aren't going for seven months, but I am already gathering things for the kids to do on the plane, and reading material. That is one LOOOONG flight!

 

[Q's My Princess]

Great!

Thankfully I was able to upgrade our flights...so it will be a little bit easier on all of us.

 

[Q's My Princess]

a little "bump"

 

[spyhill]

We went on this last August and it was fantastic throughout.

 

[DisFan10]

We went in Sept 2008 (just after the Beijing Olympics) and it was the most amazing trip ever.

 

[It's always cold]

We are going in July, so please do a trip report after your trip, I am sure it will be amazing.

 

[kennythepirate]

We are hoping to book for this date soon.

 

[toothbrush]

We went in july 2008 just before the china olympics, it was a tough trip but absolutely incredible, we still talk about it!!!

 

[WeLoveABD]

Hey toothbrush--did you have Dusty and Daisy as your guides? (We went on the June 2008 China trip with them)--they were great, and like you we still talk about the trip and marvel at all that we saw (and that was without seeing the Warriors at Xian or the panda reserve!). by the way--Dusty, like Brian and other guides, used the "no good, no bad, just different" phrase, which I just saw in a Rick Steves book (he says "it is different, not better or worse"). It's all good, if you ask me!

 

[toothbrush]

Yes we did have dusty and daisy, they were wondeful. We still stay in conctact with Dusty, he is guiding the adb south africa trips. we usually hook up with him when we go to disney world or on facebook. We actually flew to china a week before the trip to go to Xian for terracotta warriors, 3 days there then 4 days bejiing before the tour to see the things that disney was not going to visit. I think we were the first ABD trip allowed back to chengdu and the panda reserve following the eathquake, so luckily we did get to hold panda's it was intense!! so many amazing things , where does one start to explain? any single portion of the trip would have made it worth the journey.

 

[Q's My Princess]

We are hoping to book for this date soon.

Great!! Let us know when you've booked...and if ABD tells you how full the trip is...it was 1/3 when we booked in November.

How many in your family/group? There are three of us...DH, myself and our DD (8...almost 9 and in 4th grade).

 

[Q's My Princess]

We went in july 2008 just before the china olympics, it was a tough trip but absolutely incredible, we still talk about it!!!

Toothbrush...just curious why the trip was "tough"....bathrooms, food??

 

[Q's My Princess]

We are going in July, so please do a trip report after your trip, I am sure it will be amazing.

I will be happy to do a trip report...just have to figure the weight of my laptop into the baggage limits!! May just have to get a netbook!

 

[toothbrush]

Long plane flight to china
big time change especially for the kids
(one of the reasons we went 8 days before abd began)
Hot, dirty
alot of domestic plane fights, airports, security etc.
up early on "moving days" to get luggage out in hall for ABD guides to leave hotel.
different intensities of stomach discomfort depending on how adventurous you diet is while touring.
Sensory and excitement overload
Languauge barriers


Got lots of info/suggestions for you keep ?'s coming

Would i do the trip again knowing all the above?

I WOULD IN A NEW YORK MINUTE !!! and my family would agree!

p.s. the hotels are incredible with beautiful rooms , clean bathrooms,safe delicious food. really, five star quality; a pleasant and unexpected surprise .

 

[WeLoveABD]

We went in June 2008--was hot but not overwhelming at that time. Agree with toothbrush above--and this reminds me, drink only bottled water, and remember to use it for brushing your teeth too! We loved it all--a great trip

 

[Q's My Princess]

Long plane flight to china
big time change especially for the kids
(one of the reasons we went 8 days before abd began)
Hot, dirty
alot of domestic plane fights, airports, security etc.
up early on "moving days" to get luggage out in hall for ABD guides to leave hotel.
different intensities of stomach discomfort depending on how adventurous you diet is while touring.
Sensory and excitement overload
Languauge barriers


Got lots of info/suggestions for you keep ?'s coming

Would i do the trip again knowing all the above?

I WOULD IN A NEW YORK MINUTE !!! and my family would agree!

p.s. the hotels are incredible with beautiful rooms , clean bathrooms,safe delicious food. really, five star quality; a pleasant and unexpected surprise .

Thank you so much for the feedback!! I can't tell you how much I appreciate it!

I am really looking forward to the hotels...they look fantastic. I loved your comment about sensory and excitement overload! Was this for both you and your kids? How old were your kids when you went? Did anyone other than the ABD guides speak Mandarin or Cantonese in your group? How much interaction did you have with the Chinese people in each of the cities? Were there friendlier cities? If you spoke a little Mandarin are there opportunities to try it out? (our DD (8) has been studying Mandarin for almost two years)

Did you use ABD to make your travel plans before the tour started?

Thanks again and I promise to keep asking questions!

 

[toothbrush]

We were strolling thru the park in Bejiing temple of heaven, we see elderly people with bags of empty plastic bottles, i finish my water and I am approached by one of them to take it from me, no big deal they must be recycling and getting some sort of deposit back. Well come to find out they sell the empties to fake spring water sellers!! Always check the seal of every bottle of water before you drink if it seems loose or "funny" do not drink!!!
they are the masters of the partial open or reseal. The bottles disney gave us were the best. Was even suspicious of some of the hotel bottles, nothing can be trusted in china masters of imitations and fakes always procede with caution .Not a problem but they dont always tell you.

 

[Q's My Princess]

thanks for the heads-up!

 

[toothbrush]

let me start by saying that I am no authority on China
I can only speak from my 24 day one time trip to china which included the ABD trip. I will be happy to share my observations, experiences , etc.
they are not gospel and others may disagree but you asked :ready or not. My kids were 11yo boy, 13yo gril,15yo boy. our chinese was minimal. only Daisy the chinese guide spoke the language. There were very few english speaking people outside the hotel, You will have too many chances to use your mandarin. Americans/canadians are still a spectacle despite international exposure . They especially like young boys, many people wanted pictures with my 11 year old son, he felt like a rock star. Everyone was either nice or indifferent. Never rude, chinese live by rules and tradition not great thinking outside the box. they would get upset if you pointed out a simple mistake like giving you the wrong food or fork, etc. they pride themselves on doing whatever they do perfect. Cab rides are crazy cheap but not all cab drivers know or accept tips so it is a crap shoot, i gave a tip to an elderly driver and he threw the money back at me, i think i insulted him never met one that spoke english. use maps to show where you want to go. Never felt unsafe anywhere, crime is low only scams to get your money sell you crap etc. it really was humbling to go to a place where they look at you like you come from another planet, everyone seems to think alike , they really do consider themselves the center of the world, My kids became expert hagglers in no time, the chinese expect and respect it, if you dont i think they consider you stupid. Even in the nice department store they will come down 10-20%, on the street or small shops/carts/boothes/back alleys well any offer may work, no such thing as too low.
I planned everything without help from ABD except they extra night in hong kong which i did thru ABD
if this is too much info let me know