Imperial China, Tibet & the Yangtze River (2012)

What a fantastic adventure! Yes, we saw all of the highlights which were fantastic, but we also learned so much about the country and the people. All of the tour guides were very open about any topic we asked them. Our tour leader, Alex, was the "glue" that held us together and made sure we had that great adventure.

I was not looking forward to the overnight on the train or the overnight in someone's home, but each of those experiences turned out to be additional highpoints of the trip.

I highly recommend this trip to anyone who wants to learn about China and wants and adventure.

Traveler: Barbara K Yahnke from Naperville, IL traveled on April 05, 2012

We went in March 2012, returned in April. What a fabulous experience! China is a country of multiple contrasts, and it is changing fast. I can't possibly review the whole itinerary here. That would take days!

Instead, a little advice for advance preparation: If you are a woman and you aren't used to squatting, get a gym membership and work on your lower-body strength. You WILL have to use an eastern toilet at least a few times on this trip. Also, I don't know how to say this politely, practice your aim! It's no wonder there are more mops in China than anywhere else I've ever been!

Also in the bathroom, frequently toilet paper is OUTSIDE the stall, on the wall by the sink. A pocket pack of Kleenex is a good idea as back-up. ALWAYS roll up your pant legs before you go into the stall.

Next, if you are addicted to Diet Cokes, get over it! They are not available in China. I quit drinking Diet Coke 6 weeks before our departure and am very glad I did.

Pack more Kleenex than you think you could possibly use. The pollution is as bad as everyone says. On our 22-day trip, we saw bits of blue sky two or three days. Bring throat lozenges, or be prepared to buy mystery lozenges that you have no idea what flavor they are or what's in them.

If you have an inhaler for wheezing and it malfunctions, your guide can help you find Chinese medicine in a pharmacy. They won't know the English word "wheeze" but if you wheeze for them, the pharmacist will know immediately what you need. I took Chinese medicine for wheezing (four pills three times a day for three days); had no idea what was in them but experienced no side effects, and it worked!

Bring more memory cards or memory sticks for your camera than you think you could possibly use. There are infinite opportunities for amazing photos, and a memory stick malfunction can ruin your day!

As for the trip itself, don't expect marvelous hotels or splendid food. Things will be OK, but different from what you may be used to. Beds will probably be hard. Windows may be screwed shut with no access to AC. The food has a certain sameness after a while, but believe me, Chinese food in China is way better than Western food in China! (If anyone offers you "steak", don't bother to order "rare" or "medium". The steaks we got were 1/4 inch thick, and were well done within seconds of hitting the grill. Order the spaghetti instead. You won't recognize it as spaghetti, but it's fresh and delicious!) Maintain flexibility and humor!

Don't believe for a minute that your "factory tours" are real factories! They are examples of factories, and are fascinating in their own right. You will NOT have access to real factories on your trip.

Also, although the showrooms you will be taken to are interesting and beautiful, you will find similar products over and over again throughout your trip, at much better prices. The showrooms are geared to wealthy tourists, and the prices are exceptionally high, even if you bargain.

I found the museums disturbing. China has a long and fascinating history, but it seems most of their artifacts have been looted, or were destroyed in the Cultural Revolution. Their museums are dark and dirty with poor signage. It is not clear what's a "real" artifact and what's a reproduction. Whole sections of history are skipped, or blended in with others. Often there is no clear chronology. If I were to return to China, I might give the museums a miss, because I left each one feeling vaguely distressed and unhappy.

Some questions will never be answered. And some bizarre and inexplicable things will happen. Again: flexibility and humor!

Now that I'm home, I'm changed. I will NEVER complain about traffic in Honolulu again, and I will never complain about air quality, even when the volcano is spewing and the trade winds are gone! I will never again consider a city of a million people "crowded".

I met wonderful people and saw amazing sights and experienced things I didn't even know existed. In retrospect, I wish I'd known my Chinese history and geography better before I went. It was a real trip-of-a-lifetime. Thank you OAT.

Traveler: Cj Burrell from Honolulu, HI traveled on March 21, 2012

Sorry the review is so delayed but since most of the reviews discuss the ChinaTibet part of the trip, I decided I needed to submit one to review Mongolia and Cambodia. Our trip to Mongolia, China, Tibet, and Cambodia was incredible. In China, our favorites were the home hosted visits and overnight at farmers village, Terra Cotta soldiers (wanted more time there), Chengdu Panda Sanctuary (where we held a 9 month old panda), the orphanage in Tibet, and all of Tibet. Unfortunately, it was rainy when we went to the Great Wall. Had we gone before lunch it would have been better.

We were the first OAT group to go to Mongolia. As a result there were issues but nothing insurmountable and it added to the adventure. We started out with a young female guide who was suffering from allergies and her Chinese mentor missed his plane so she was on her own with the 7 of us. We spent about a week in Mongolia, based out of the city of Ulaanbaatar where we visited several museums (recommended they eliminate 1 museum visit). The hotel had a problem with no hot water so we had to go to a local public shower (which wasn’t for everybody’s taste) but we discovered they also had massages there which were very cheap ($10 for an hour) and good. We flew to Dalanzadgad then drove by van to a lodge where we slept in a ger. Bathrooms were in the main building or you simply went outside. Next day we went to the Flaming Cliffs, which are beautiful, and what was once an ancient inland sea where dinosaurs were discovered. We saw a baby dinosaur skeleton and dinosaur eggs . A nomadic family took us on their camels for a ride in the sand dunes of the Gobi desert. After we visited with the nomadic family (in their ger ) where we were served some of their traditional foods.

The next day on the drive back to Dalanzadgad the van broke down twice. The second time the front seat had to be removed and the driver got out a coffee can of nuts and bolts and started sifting through it for parts while I sat on the seat on the Gobi desert taking pictures. Not much around that time of day. He got the van running again and we just made it for our flight to Ulaanbaatar. Then we drove to another lodge in the Khogno Khaan mountains for 2 nights in a ger. They make up their own roads as needed in Mongolia which was a bumpy adventure. After getting settled, we visited the Ovgon Monastery. The next day we visited the Erdene-Zuu Monastery with lots of temples and a surrounding wall with stupas. Went hiking in sand dunes (Moltsog Els ) with mountains nearby - seemed strange. In the afternoon we visited another nomadic family with horses and had the best time. The 85 year old grandfather was there with his son, son's wife, and their 2 kids (a baby and a 12 year old) and we had interesting conversations through our guide interpreting. The home visits included them serving us their traditional foods like cultured mare's milk, goat yogurt, and curd. The food was challenging - the visits wonderful!!!!!!!!!
Our last night in Ulaanbaatar they had traditional entertainment for us - 3 people playing instruments, one of them did a throat song which is most unusual, and there was also a contortionist who was unbelievable! It was a beautiful concert.
To be a traveler you have to be flexible and that’s what allowed us to enjoy this trip very much and we recommend it. We loved the Mongolian people!

After the main trip we headed to Siem Reap, Cambodia which we absolutely loved (plan on going there again in 2013)! The beauty and artistry of Angkor Wat is extraordinary. Could have spent more time at the temples. Enjoyed the night market, a home visit, took an ox cart ride to the owners home, visited a silk farm and artisans workshop. But our favorite was the boat ride along the river villages to Tonle Sap. The Cambodian homes were on stilts on the river and the Vietnamese homes floated on the river. They were open and exposed which gave you a birds eye view of everyday living which was incredible. A 300mm lens allowed me to get some awesome pictures of faces and activities of everyday life. The Cambodian people were very friendly and welcoming. We highly recommend Cambodia.

The whole trip was an incredible life experience as have been all of our OAT trips.

Traveler: Anita Warnet from Royal Palm Beach, FL traveled on July 30, 2009

There are already some great indepth reviews here. Our tour guide Handsome Mark was wonderful and I am really glad I went on this trip,. I would like to add some cautions:
1. If you are a solo traveler, you do NOT get a single supplement for the overnight train from Bejing to Xian. You have to share the tiny compartment, including you have to share with the opposite sex if that's the case. When I was told I had to share with the other single male on the tour, I offered to pay extra for a single compartment and was told this is not possible. I'm not sure if they are worried about our safety? but this was not made clear when I signed up. I was really angry and disappointed with Oat at the time.

Personally, I agree with other reviews here that I would encourage Oat to rethink the train trip. I could have used a good night's sleep and the train wasn't a great cultural experience for me. It was just very noisy, most of us didn't sleep at all and you can't read or do anything because you'll disturb your cabin mate. There's no place to walk to sit in with chairs. The hot water is turned off all night, so you can't make a cup of soup or tea. Plus I would have loved another night at the hotel in Xiang which is so beautiful, comfortable and the cultural park next door is a really great walking experience. I skipped the next trip and stayed in Xian by myself just to enjoy the city and walked the cultural park all day (it's quite big) and that was a highlight of the trip for me because I met Chinese people, had tea with a Chinese woman...we couldn't speak so we drew pictures to communicate! great fun and a warm memory for me.

2. The air polution in China is staggering. There is nothing OAT can do, but as others have reported, the air is so poluted that you often can't see or take pictures! There are no insects, flies, mosquitoes or birds..they are gone due to the polution. I found Beijing to be the worst city for this. A few weeks after we left, they closed the airport and 4 freeways in Beijing due to low visibility! Yes..it's really bad and they have no plan in place to improve the air quality. I took a special silk mask with a charcoal liner that I loved but felt self conscious wearing it on the tour, so I wore it when I was out alone and it helped atleast get rid of the smell. It also doesn't overheat...I ordered it online. I wore it a lot in Tibet, not because of polution, but the air is so dry that everyone wears a mask to help increase the moisture.

3. Post trip to Cambodia: I loved Cambodia and can't recommend this post-trip enough. It's beautiful, the temples, the forest, the sunny weather is just a blessing after the dark, smoggy days in China. One big caution: OAT books us on the flights from hell, probably to save money, and the result is you spend an entire day (both ways) waiting in the airport in Vietnam for your connection flights. That airport has no real coffee shops or dining at all so recommendation: take some good books, buy a serious picnic lunch for the wait in Vietnam and stock up on water or drinks after being scanned etc. in Hong Kong, cause what little you can find will cost way too much. As I recall a small bottle of water was $4.00 or more. We were better equipped for the trip back as we stocked up on food and drink in Siem Reap before boarding.

I can highly recommend this trip to anyone with a burning desire to see some amazing feats. I did the pre and post tours and loved Shanghai (as did all of us..it was the most enjoyable city on the trip) and LOVED Cambodia (as did the 5 of us who went). Part of the great joy in Cambodia was in Mid November getting off the plane and seeing beautiful blue sky and warm, not too hot weather. It was glorious and I want to take Oat's trip of Vietnam, Thailand and Cambodia.

So Happy Trails and I hope I've helped make your journey a bit more enjoyable or comfortable.
Suzanne

Traveler: Suzanne Thurston from Rohnert Park, CA traveled on October 26, 2011

Too slow paced! Need to be out seeing more sights. We barely saw anything in Beijing and practically nothing in Hong Kong! More variety in the meals would be nice - too "Americanized."

Traveler: Ryan Burnett from Apex, NC traveled on October 30, 2011

We chose OAT for our China trip for a number of reasons:
1) We know a couple in our church who had been on the same trip a year or two earlier, and they had a very positive experience.
2) The trip went to Tibet, and if I was going to China, it had to include Tibet.
3) OAT included more meals than the others! and...
4) We liked the idea of OAT attempting to provide us a more authentic experience than just a travel group doing the typical rounds.

We were not disappointed. This was a wonderful trip, made particularly so by our outstanding trip leader, Mike Ma Xiao Jian, who was knowledgeable, had a great sense of humor, was very patient (and did a great job of shepherding us, usually from the rear, to make sure we didn't get lost), took detailed care of every aspect of the tour, and in general went beyond the norm to maximize our trip experience. Mike called our room soon after we arrived in *every* hotel we stayed in to ensure that things were OK.

Shanghai: We took the pre-trip to Shanghai because I had heard that Shanghai was a city to experience, and I was right. My wife didn't have a strong feeling one way or the other, but halfway through our visit to Shanghai she said she was really glad we'd chosen that pre-trip. Mike met us at the airport, and we had a good local guide, too.

Shanghai is a very vibrant city, and a very interesting one, with the Bund, and buildings and history dating back to colonial times. It has art deco buildings, and on the opposite side of the Huangpu River is the amazing new skyline, which didn't exist 10-15 years ago. We were told that Shanghai has over 5,000 building projects going on at any given time. Talk about a city on the move!

The hotel in Shanghai, the Bund Riverside Hotel, was pretty good. Despite its name, it really isn't terribly close to the Bund, but still it was within walking distance in an interesting area.

The Shanghai excursions were in general pretty good and worthwhile. In particular, we took a high speed train to Suzhou, a 2500-year old city. The train really moved, and Suzhou was interesting.

Beijing: We flew from Shanghai to Beijing, where we stayed at the Kang Ming Hotel. I would rate this hotel merely average, and while it was supposed to be conveniently located, we didn't find it very convenient if we wanted to go off by ourselves.

There is so much to see in Beijing: Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City, the Great Wall, the Summer Palace, a visit to the Beijing Opera School, followed by a (brief) experience at the Beijing Opera (the singing voices take some getting used to!).

Xi'an: We travelled to Xi'an from Beijing via an overnight train. While we appreciate the attempt on OAT's part to provide an authentic experience, our group universally felt that the overnight train ride wasn't worth it. We had a not very good night's sleep, and would have been much better off if we'd flown to Xi'an instead.

The hotel in Xi'an was the Xian Garden Hotel, probably the best hotel of the entire trip. It had beautiful grounds, a great location, lots of space, and good rooms and meals -- even a good gift shop!

The highlight in Xi'an was the Terracotta Warriors, which are pretty amazing. While you have probably heard about them, you have to experience them directly to see how large the site is. An amazing experience!

We also explored Xi'an's city wall. Unfortunately, because of the ever-present pollution, we couldn't really appreciate it fully, because we couldn't see very far.

It was in Xi'an where we experienced "A Day in the Life", by staying overnight in Hu Xian Donghan village. It was quite an experience! My wife and I and another couple were hosted by a family; the wifemother of the family had us "help" in the cooking, showing us how to produce the noodles and stir-frying various dishes. While there was a language barrier, I think we were able to share a good experience. The meals were very good, and in the evening we were taken to the local basketball court, where some of us danced the Macarena, and the Chicken Dance, among others, with the women of the village. That was a real highlight!

Chengdu: From Xi'an, we flew to Chengdu, where the main highlight was the Pandas at the Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding. Another highlight was the Changing Faces Opera, an evening performance.

The Chengdu Furong Hotel was OK. It didn't seem to be near anything significant when my wife and I took a walk around. But the rooms and breakfasts were fine.

Lhasa: We flew from Chengdu to Lhasa. Lhasa was a great experience, despite the altitude issues (see below). It's an amazing place; we saw Buddhist temples with devoted Buddhists marching three times around the temples, and supplicating in front of them. We saw markets and the Potala Palace (the palace of the Dalai Lama). The people were very interesting, and had great character, not to mention costumes.

The Shangbala Hotel was pretty good. It had an excellent location (in addition, there was a very good coffee house steps away from the main entrance of the hotel - see below). We visited monasteries and temples: Buddhism is definitely a religion (as opposed to a philosphy) in Tibet!

A highlight was the climb up the 400 steps to the Potala Palace on the third day (we probably couldn't have managed it earlier because of altitude issues -- see below). The view of Lhasa from the top of the Potala Palace is spectacular!

Yangtze River Cruise: We flew from Lhasa to Chongqing, where we boarded the Victoria Cruises riverboat. By this time, we felt the need to take a break and relax for a few days on the Yangtze. The boat, which had been represented as being a 5-star experience, was somewhat less than that. However, it was still a good experience; the cabins were good, and (in particular) the staff on board (waiters, bartenders, stewards, housekeeping, cruise director) were all very good. The staff were responsible for the entertainment, and did an excellent job of that.

Unfortunately, the Yangtze cruise was also subject to pollution (see below), so we did not have the best of photographic experiences on the cruise. However, the excursion to the Daning River (the Three Little Gorges) was great! We managed a sunny day, and the scenery was spectacular.

One highlight was the Three Gorges Dam. Unfortunately, the 'fog' didn't allow us to see the entire dam, but the riverboat navigated the 5-stage ship lock by the side of the dam, and that was fascinating (albeit late at night). It takes about an hour per stage, so after experiencing one stage out of five, we went to bed!

The tour of the Three Gorges Dam later on was good, but the 'fog' didn't help.

YichangWuhan: We docked at Yichang, and then had a 5-hour bus ride to the city of Wuhan. Wuhan is yet another of the amazing cities of China; all of them have huge populations, and have major industries to boot.

The hotel in Wuhan was basically a way-station to allow us to sleep before heading on to Hong Kong. The Central International Hotel was certainly adequate, albeit not great.

Hong Kong: We flew out of Wuhan to Hong Kong the next day. Hong Kong, as you would probably expect, is the most Western of all the Chinese cities we experienced. Certainly, more people there speak English, although many do not.

The Charterhouse Hotel, Causeway Bay was a very conveniently situated hotel. In general, it was a very good choice for us. It had a great coffee machine for breakfast (see below), and allowed us to go off on many individual forays. The excursions (both included and optional) in Hong Kong were particularly enjoyable. Hong Kong is an amazing city, and we enjoyed it thoroughly.

We left Hong Kong from the new airport (in our case, bound for Vancouver, Canada -- OAT had arranged for us to fly Air Canada). It was a long flight back to LA (via Vancouver), but ultimately a good one. It would take us another day to get back to Boston, and ultimately to New Hampshire. And another 3 0r 3 weeks to adjust back to the timezone and recover (see below).

This was a wonderful trip, but one that wasn't an easy one.

Here are some things we learned that were not apparent from the OAT materials (which in general were very good):

1) As mentioned by a fellow traveller in another report on this page, we experienced a lot of pollution during our trip. It was referred to as 'fog', but really was smog, and pretty dense at that. Shanghai had some pollution, but we were lucky enough to have some sunny days there. Once we got to Beijing, it really set in; XI'an and Chengdu continued in the same vein. We saw some reports in the 'China Daily' newspaper and on TV news that Northern China was experiencing particularly severe conditions (they tended to avoid the term 'pollution'). We don't know whether this indicates whether we were there at particularly bad time (or not).

It was nice to arrive in Lhasa because it was relatively pollution-free. However, when we flew back from Lhasa to Chongqing, and boarded our Yangtze River cruise, the pollution"fog" returned, even during the cruise. We could not see more than halfway across the Three Gorges Dam because of the 'fog'.

It may be that the presence of this smog is dependent on time of year, but unfortunately I can't make any statements about that, because I only have experience of our trip (Oct 20 - Nov 14).

Most of our party suffered as a result of this pollution. We had coughs and sore throats, sinus problems and related issues. When we returned to the US, several of us were diagnosed with bronchitis and underwent antibiotic treatments.

So, if you go, be prepared. We saw many people wearing masks (even in Lhasa, which we didn't really understand). Wearing a mask might well help, and a couple of people in our party did that. We think that many people in China may wear masks because of the SARS epidemic of a few years ago. Take cough lozenges -- there are the regular Halls type, but then there are also those that contain benzocaine (Chroraseptic, Cepacol for example), which provide more of a throat inflammation relief. Our fellow traveller suggests some kind of antibiotic, but I am not sufficiently familiar with those to make recommendations. It's not easy to pick those up during the trip, so take them along.

2) This may be obvious, but still bears stating: Be prepared for gastro-intestinal issues. On the third day in Shanghai, I was up all night throwing up (sorry, there's no polite way to get it across effectively). Several others in our group had similar problems around the same time. We have our suspicions about where we might have eaten that might have caused the problem, but we can't really prove that. Besides, it's academic; when you make such a major change in diet and surroundings, such things are almost certain to occur. We had taken Immodium to alleviate the symptoms of (but not the causes of!) diarrhea, but never used it. We also took Cipro (Cipprofloxamine) to counter severe conditions, but never used it either. We should have brought something like Pepto Bismol, but didn't.

Don't misunderstand: While having some kind of a gastrointestinal problem is probably likely, it's probably not going to last, or be really serious. Mine subsided in a couple of days, and didn't impact my experience of the trip in any serious way.

2) Don't underestimate the effects of altitude sickness. On our arrival in Lhasa, Tibet (12,000ft), virtually all of us experienced some symptoms of altitude sickness: headaches, lethargy, lack of appetite. And these lasted for at least a couple of days. Even Mike, our tour guide, experienced symptoms (and apparently does every time he goes to Tibet). My wife and I, and several other members of our group, were prepared with prescriptions for Diamox (acetazolamide), which you're told to take 24 to 48 hours before you move to high altitude. We took these prescriptions; even so, my wife was laid low with a headache for a day, and a reduced appetite for a second day, but was well enough to climb the 400 steps of the Potala Palace on the third and last day of our visit. I experienced mostly a lack of energy, but otherwise was fine. Some among our group did not take their Diamox, and suffered as a result.

Again, don't get me wrong: I expected some altitude effects, and was willing to suffer them in order to see and experience Tibet. Lhasa was one of the highlights of the trip, so don't get the idea I regret going there in any way.

3) (This is a small one, and specific to my peccadillos.) I'm a coffee drinker. I consider instant coffee, or even regular American-style coffee to be something to avoid. I love real coffee (Starbucks French roast, for example). However, I can and do drink tea (after all, I did grow up in England). But I found pretty quickly on this trip that Chinese tea doesn't do much for me. We had it for just about every meal (green or black or both), and it was often only lukewarm and rarely really hot. (Incidentally, we found that the Chinese don't go in for cold drinks much.) Coffee wasn't available at most meals (except breakfast, and then it usually wasn't great). I began to pine after good coffee. I found a Starbucks in Shanghai, a really good coffee shop close to the hotel in Lhasa, and the hotel in Hong Kong had a great coffee machine at breakfast, but elsewhere it was pretty much a coffee wasteland. So, if, like me, you are likely to miss your good coffee, I recommend that you take a supply of coffee bags -- the kind that you can pour hot water over to make a reasonably good cup of coffee. The sachets of coffee available in the convenience stores (and Mike our tour guide had a supply, too) were just too much like instant coffee for my taste.

4) At the start of the trip, our tour leader Mike told us that he would ask us at the start of each week: "How do you like Chinese food?". He said at the start of the first week, the typical response was "Good!", at the start of the second week, it was somewhat more muted, and at the start of the third week it was "Where's the KFC?" (they are omni-present in China). While we never reached a desire to eat KFC food, we certainly felt that one can have too much of a good thing. Chinese food is good (albeit different from what we are used to at home -- they don't have fortune cookies; they are apparently a US invention), but by the end of the trip we were looking for a little more variety.

This was a wonderful trip. But if you decide to go on this trip, I hope these words of advice help!

Traveler: Bryan Higgs from Milford, NH traveled on October 20, 2011

The pacing of this trip was a 3 ring circus. Chatting with local Chinese not always easy, but where there is a will, you will succeed.The many different travel modes gave us insight into the faces of China..since many Chinese are now travelling, we always felt we were more than just observers viewing locals through a window..the expert leadership of Danny added to our knowledge of where we were.He is a great ambassador for OAT. OAT attracts discerning travellers who appear to be frequent OAT repeat clients...for very good reasons. We hope to become regulars.

Traveler: Jack Rosenthal from Stowe, VT traveled on October 10, 2011

Do not miss this adventure. Start with shanghai to get the full picture of changing china.
Bring lots of single dollars for daily guides, and lots of tiny gifts for the many locals who opened their homes for lunches and visits.
The best o a t ever!

Traveler: Ruth Zales from Tucson, AZ traveled on October 07, 2011

This was a wonderful experience. Everyday I said to myself, "If this is the last thing I ever get to do, it's been enough". I couldn't believe I climbed the Great Wall of China, sailed the Yangtze River and visited with a displaced woman (due to the building of the locks and dam), explored the site of the Terra-Cotta Warriors (and actually met the farmer on whose land they were discovered), visited the Panda Sanctuary, spent the night with a farm family and danced with them in the town square,, visited schools, markets, an orphanage and oh-so-many shops. I walked among the pilgrims and their prayer wheels in Tibet as we explored the Potala Palace. I saw junkets in the middle of Hong Kong, combining the old and the new. The view of the city from Victoria Peak is indescribable.

Our guide, Michael, could not have worked harder or been more intelligent and informative. We called him "Daddy", as he took such good care of us as he taught us with his Chines pride, the history, geography, culture and beauty of his homeland.

The optional tours were great. There was a variety of food at every meal, something for everyone, and it was plentiful.

Yes, I would and have recommended this trip. I have tons of beautiful pictures which may fade, but no one can take my memories from me.

Go on this adventure while you still have the energy and stamina. You won't want to miss anything.

Traveler: Ellyn Goldberg traveled on October 14, 2011

This was definitely the trip of a lifetime. it was our second trip with OAT and it definitely exceeded our expectations. Our trip leader, Johnny was fantastic. He was knowledgeable, caring and always there for us. Tibet was fabulous and exotic. Save your shopping for Tibet and Hong Kong.

OAT should mention that travellers should figure on 10% above the cost of the trip for tips. The quality of the local guides was mixed- some needed a great deal more training in English. However, our tour leader more than filled in the gaps for us.

There are a lot of "factory visits" but we found them interesting for the most part. They could each be shortened by at least 12 hour. The shows were terrific, as were the optional trips, especially the one in Hong Kong which was jam-packed with interesting stops, and timed so that we missed the big crowds at each stop.

The hotels were quite nice, especially in Beijing, and Xian. The hotel in Tibet was charming and well-located. Food is good particularly on the cruise which is first rate throughout.

OAT does a terrific job, and we will definitely look to them for our next trip.

Traveler: Marsha Cohen from Tucson, AZ traveled on October 07, 2011

I did this trip in September of 2011. Generally, this was a very good trip (although there were some problems), which covered the major highlights of China. The trip is a good value compared to other companies with a similar itinerary. However, in order to get the true cost of the trip, you also need to take into account the cost of the numerous optional tours and the multitude of tips that need to be doled out. The following are some of my observations for those considering this trip:

Guides - Eddie (our OAT guide) was terrific. He contacted me prior to the trip to see if I had any questions and was available to us 24 hours a day while in country. He was very well organized, knowledgeable and enthusiastic about his country. He didn't back down from discussing matters of controversy such as sweat shop factories, Tibet and matters of free speech. A highlight for me was a slideshow and discussion of his personal family history. The local guides were very good, especially our guide in Tibet, who was outstanding.

Itinerary - the highlights for me were Tibet, the Giant Panda Breeding Center, the Terra Cotta Warriors and the Great Wall. No one signed up for the optional tour in Kowloon (most thought it was far too much money), so we had a free day. I could have done with one less day in Hong Kong (or just made it an optional extension) and more time in Tibet. Other than a trip to Victoria Peak, unless you are into (more) shopping or gambling in Macau, there isn't much to do here. A number of people had problems with the altitude in Tibet (those that took Diamox did better than those that didn't) and missed the tour of the Potala Palace since they didn't want to climb the 300+ steps the day after we arrived. Others didn't do the optional tour to Sera Monastery (which was wonderful) because they wanted more time around the Barkhor Bazaar. A better itinerary would have been to have an extra day in Tibet with the first full day (day 2 in Tibet) being free in the morning for people to continue to acclimatize and then the visit to the Jokhang in the afternoon, the Potala Palace on the 3rd day and then the 4th day with the optional tours (and then remove a day in Hong Kong).

Shopping - From the comments below, shopping on this tour seems to be a problem and my trip was no exception. I actually like to shop, but this was overkill. I had suggested that we change the itinerary so that we visit the Great Wall in the early morning when the weather is cooler and the light is better for photography and then go to whatever shop we were supposed to go to on the way back. I was told this couldn't be done. Rumor has it that guides in China get commissions (or kickbacks) for bringing people into the shops. I'm not sure if this has something to do with the timing. On the way to the Terra Cotta Warriors, we spent almost 2 hours in a lacquerware shop waiting until one person was finished negotiating the purchase of an entire bedroom set. After an hour and a half I suggested to the guide that all of us go to the Terra Cotta Warriors and that this person meet us there, which is what ultimately happened. I suggested that unless a shopping trip is on the way to Point B and we aren't coming back to Point A, that future shopping excursions be at the end of the day so that those that aren't interested or are finished shopping can go back to the hotel, either by bus if the majority want to leave or by cab if the majority want to stay. I hope OAT considers this schedule change on future trips since it really was a problem.

Hotels - as mentioned in some of the other comments, the Kang Ming in Beijing wasn't exactly an international quality hotel. It was located in a local area not near any sites of particular interest. The rooms were very small, but since I wasn't sharing, that was fine. The hotel in Xian was very nice, except for the fact that they turned off the AC (this was mid-September and was a bit warm for most). My hotel room in Chengdu was very large and in walking distance to many stores and restaurants. I personally liked the Shang ba la Hotel in Lhasa. While the rooms were very small, they were clean and you couldn't beat the location of the hotel - one block away from the Jokhang Temple. Every day after touring, I would walk around the Barkhor Bazaar on my own, which was great from a photography standpoint. The downside of the Shang ba la is that a number of rooms (including mine) were located off a busy alleystreet which didn't quiet down until around 11:00 p.m. But since China is all on one time zone and it was dark in Lhasa until after 8:00 a.m., we didn't start touring until 9:30, so the activity past 10:00 p.m. wasn't a problem for me. My hotel room in Wuhan was very nice, but the hotel isn't near anything - literally nothing - not even a convenience store. Fortunately, we arrived late and were only there for one night before leaving for an early flight to Hong Kong the next morning. The rooms at the Charterhouse Hotel in Hong Kong were very small, but the hotel was in a good location. For those people who need or want to keep in touch with friends and family from the States, all of the hotels had fast wi-fi (free everywhere except in Hong Kong, where it was available for a fee), so anyone with a GSM enabled smartphone could easily check and send e-mails while away. Except for the boat (which had the best beds of the trip), the beds were all very, very hard - in some cases a thin mattress on plywood. I had remembered this from my trip to Yunnan province and brought a lightweight blow up air mattress and was glad I did. This also worked well to provide firmness to the bed in Hong Kong which was very bouncy and soft.

Food - the food was better than the last time I went to China in 2006 (Yunnan provinence). There were some dishes that were quite good and others that barely got touched. It would have been better if they ordered more of the dishes that people liked (which were closer to the type of Chinese food Americans are used to and which were quickly eaten) and less of the steamed bok choy and tofu. However, I did lose 4 pounds, which maybe isn't a bad thing!

Traveler: Ann Schneider from Gurnee, IL traveled on August 31, 2011

We just returned from our China trip with OAT.
In general, an excellent trip for the value. Also, a key ingredient to trip success was our Team Leader, Mike Ma, who was outstanding.

However, there were some issues that we wish OAT was more explicit about in advance of our trip:
1. Pollution (Chinese call it "fog") was almost intolerable in Beijing and other large cites. Most of our group came down with some form of upper respiratory illness that affected our enjoyment of the rest of the trip. Suggestion to future travelers- - bring an appropriate antibiotic such as Augmentin, as well as expectorantdecongestant medicines.
2. Tipping. While OAT provides some guidelines in advance, we reached a "tipping point" of about $1K USD which was about 20-25% higher than OAT estimates. In addition, there seemed to be a tip required at every turn - -an inconvenience. While the team leader and bus drivers earned their tips, most of the local guides were superfluous. OAT needs to re-evaluate its tipping guidelines for this trip.
3. About 6 "tourist shops" (called factories) were on the tour. An observation for OAT: the time spent in each could be reduced by 50% without diluting the experience.

Traveler: Tom O'Brien from Santa Fe, NM traveled on October 24, 2011

A once in a lifetime trip is how I would describe our adventure in China and Tibet. Our OAT guide provided excellent leadership in coordinating all of the details of the trip and providing insight into Chinese culture. The trip was a well-balanced blend of historic and natural sights, artisan shops, inhome visits, and cultural events. The inhome visits gave us a personal glimpse into daily living, missing from most excursions. Accommodations and food were excellent for the most part. None of us lost weight and we all adjusted to the harder beds. Bring a sense of humor, however, for adjusting to eastern toilets! If you come with an open mind, you will leave enriched.

Traveler: Janice Mcmullen from Shelton, WA traveled on October 06, 2011

This was our trip of a life-time, and did it ever turn out to be just that! Sally (our Trip Leader) took her "Sticky Rice" thru the adventures and wonders of the "new" China. Every where we traveled we saw building of better housing for the people of China, shopping seem to be wide open, with both locals and tourists buying what they needed.
For those of you who have not gone, I truely believe that you will find this a "TRIP OF A LIFETIME".
Larry Poole - NC

Traveler: Larry Poole from Concord, NC traveled on September 11, 2011

This was a wonderful experience. There are so many great things to tell about, I find it hard to begin. The Forbidden City, be prepared for a lot of walking as it is very large, ornate and wonderful. The Summer Palace was beautiful, I could see the Empress and her ladies walking the covered promenade. We went to the Badaling area of the Great Wall. It was so nice, as there were no other people to jostle you on the MANY steps. What a thrill, to actually be there.
I would recommend that you do not take the September trip if you want to avoid large crowds, as it is the National Holiday and everyone is out to have a vacation.

I loved Xian, home of our trip leader, Mark. There are so many wonderful parks there. Of course, the Terra Cotta warriors were awesome. We had an overnight family visit. I was wary of the language differences, but it became a non-issue. PingPing was a great hostess.

Flight to Chengdu, and the Panda Sanctuary, What a thrill to have my photo taken with a chubby little one year old. Be sure to see the Changing Faces show, I loved it.

Tibet, what can I say. I think this was my favorite. The people are so colorful, so devout, it was refreshing to be amidst their way of life. The Temple was my favorite experience. My roommate and I had tea in a local teahouse near the Potala Palace. Very unusual experience for both of us.

The ship and the River Cruise were wonderful diversions from the rush of sight seeing. The ship is very elegant and the scenery was outstanding. Pictures will never tell the whole story. Some of my photos were taken from the balcony of our room.

Hong Kong was not my cup of tea. Too many people, however, the harbor was a unique sight and the view of the city at night was a wonderful from Victoria Peak.

I have to say over all the trip was more than I had anticipated. Our trip leader, Mark, was wonderful. He made the trip come alive. He was so knowledgable, caring,( especially when one of us was not well), and trying to herd 13 people around with always a smile and a story about something that we are seeing out our bus window or while walking down a street, or in an open market.

Mark made the trip.

I would caution anyone interested in the trip, there are a lot of stairs and a lot of walking. It is very fast paced, (I would slow it down a bit, if I could). But a trip not to be missed.

As with my other OAT trips, I have made new friends and at the same time, learned that although China is on the other side of the world, people there are the same all over the world.

Traveler: Carol Hargan from Royal Oak, MI traveled on September 27, 2011

My wife and I recently completed OAT"S Imperial China trip. It was so disappointing that I sent Alan Lewis, OAT"S CEO a registered return receipt requested letter detailing all the problems with the trip. I also filled out the OAT evaluation questionnaire and to date have not receive a response to either.

The hotels were so substandard that I enclosed photos of the dirty stained carpets, peeling wallpaper, and mildew coated bathrooms. Our Wohan, China hotel even had broken emergency lighting that was dangling from the ceilings and the walls in the hallway out side of our room. We were so afraid with staying the night in this hotel that we felt it wise to improvised our own emergency exit plan, should it have become necessary to evacuate from our ninth floor room.

While our lead guide was terrific and absolutely fluent in English. One of local city guide spoke English so poorly that most of what he said was incomprehensible to me. A second city guide had her speech memorized, but was unable understand or answer our questions. A third city city guide was definitely lacking people skills.

I would strongly recommend that you do not Travel to China with OAT.

Traveler: Robert Giordano from Silverthorne, CO traveled on September 19, 2011

My wife and I added the pre-trip to Mongolia and the post-trip to Cambodia. We enjoyed Tibet and China more than we expected especially the Great Wall, Xian, Terra Cotta Warriors and the pandas; however, Mongolia and Cambodia were our favourites. The most memorable part of this OAT trip for us was the opportunity to really experience local life and interact with the people.

In true OAT style every day was early, busy and full of learning and discovery. Transportation is the best that OAT can arrange locally; tourism is still very new to some of the areas. There are long drives in Mongolia and the weather is changeable (dress in layers). If you go to Tibet be prepared for the altitude and lots of steps at Potala Palace. While the timing of the itinerary occasionally varied throughout the entire trip we saw everything that OAT promised and more. All our guides worked hard to ensure our experience was enjoyable and enlightening.

In most places simple accommodations were chosen for their location rather than amenities; still we found them clean and comfortable for short stays. Be sure to try the Summit Café in the Courtyard of the Shambala Hotel in Lhasa (excellent espresso and carrot cake!) Expect hard mattresses throughout Asia; however, sleeping on an extra blanket helps. Washrooms or “Happy Rooms,” as they are known in China were frequently pit-style except public stalls designated for the handicapped or in your hotel room. Remember to always carry tissuewipes and hand cleaner.

We ate a range of Asian-style meals daily: the food was fresh, well prepared and tasty. The dishes generally reflected the local tastes and products including fruit and vegetables. Accordingly, do not expect north American-style Asian dishes. There was fermented mare’s milk, yak butter & burgers, Hot Pot and a variety of “animal, mineral or vegetable” items to sample. Some of the hotels and Victoria Cruises offer western-style breakfast items.

This trip would be improved by reducing andor eliminating the many factory visits in China. With only one or two exceptions most of our 16 member OAT group was not interested in purchasing carpets, cloisonné, jewelry or artwork. That time would be better spent at the key destinations or allowing travelers some free time.

We saw some fantastic scenery and had many real adventures: camel riding in the Gobi; snow in Kharkhorin; milking mares; camping in gehrs; hiking hundreds of steps to Buddhist temples (wear good footwear – the floors are very slippery with yak butter!); riding the overnight train to Xian; sailing on the Yangtze; dancing in the local square after dinner with the Donghan villagers; visiting local schools and an orphanage supported by the Grand Circle Foundation; and eating fish fresh from the market on Hong Kong bay. Watching the sun set on Ankor Wat sipping local wine and trying local snacks was a fitting end to our journey.

Traveler: Roger Strong from Sumas, WA traveled on September 07, 2011

My wife and I took this trip in the summer of 2011. To be truthful, I was disappointed with the quality of this trip compared to the two previous trips with OAT that we had taken. The day to day itinerary that OAT provided was not accurate many times. In quite a few instances things to do and places to visit were changed and sometimes significantly. The schedule of the trip and the actual trip I took were in variance quite a few times. In addition, we visited too many shops or factories during our visit. After the presentation, the group was stuck at a place until the last member of the group was done shopping. This could last endlessly while many of us sat around bored. In regard to the Day in the Life experience, the home where we stayed was a negative experience. The woman whose home we visited did not speak any English, and, therefore, no one in our group was able to communicate with her. In addition, the bed in our room was like a rock and gave us a backache. No one in our group got much out of the experience. It was a waste of a day. Time management was another problem that appeared too often on this trip. For example, we were only given a very brief period of time to visit the renown Shanghai Museum. We also were rushed through the Temple of Heaven in Beijing because we spent so much time visiting a Hutong family earlier in the day. Lastly, two of the hotels we stayed at - the Kang Ming Hotel in Beijing and the Shangbala Hotel in Tibet were totally unacceptable. The Kang Ming was a dump. Several things, including the toilet in our room, did not work until repaired. The Shangbala was another dive. Bad room, terrible food. How could OAT put us in these places? In conclusion, there were three major problems on this trip. First, some hotels were very substandard, secondly, time management was poor at times, and thirdly, the tours stayed too long at all the many shops that we visited. This is not your trip unless you have a high tolerance for disappointment.

Traveler: Gary Pechersky from North Hil traveled on July 22, 2011

The whole trip is a great value for the price. My only complaint is that it is not physically active enough.
If you want activity Hong Kong has some great hiking trails. My wife and I did everything on our own. (Public transportation is easily accessible and inexpensive.) Use the web site www.discoverhongkong.com . Then go to Great Outdoors - Hiking Trails. You can fill your 3 days with non stop activity.
I would recommend these 3 in this order - first day, The Peak Circle Walk; second day, skip the included tour and do Cheung Chau Island hike; and on the third day, Dragon’s Back - voted the Best Urban Hiking trail in Asia by Time (Asia Ed.).
Print all the info from the web site before you go.
My wife and I (both 63 yrs old) did the first two by ourselves and the third day, two other people from our OAT group joined us - one was a 69 year young woman.
If you are active, these hikes are not to be missed.

Traveler: Paul C traveled on September 26, 2011

This was our 7th OAT adventure and it is one of the best. Again we had an excellent trip leader named Jinghua (Jill) Zhang. If you take the trip and have Jill as your leader you are very fortunate. As part of this review we want to share some learning’s and recommendations specific to this trip, our perspective on our favorite itinerary items and some spontaneous adventures we had as we learned about China.

Recommendations:

We found that in China they prefer tips in Yuan’s versus US Dollars. Don’t get me wrong, they will take USD but the strict banking controls make the Yuan much easier for the receiver. We found exchanging USD for Yuan at the hotels to be somewhat difficult since they are so picky about accepting any bills with even slight tears and markings. We took what we thought were nearly new bills but about 1 out of 5 could not be exchanged due to some minor tear on an edge or an ink mark or excessive wrinkles. We found that the ATMs were the best and least painful way to get Yuan’s.

We took altitude medicine in Tibet and having it made our time there much more enjoyable. Within an hour of landing in Tibet most of us on the tour were complaining of headaches and some nausea due to the altitude. We followed our trip leaders advice and rested that arrival afternoon and the next day were able to climb the stairs to the Potala Palace with minimal problems. If you have never taken the medication before, have your doctor give you a couple of extra days worth and test for side effects at home. The folks who did not have the medication were at a disadvantage and did not enjoy Tibet as much as we did.

As far as optional tours we would recommend the Chinese Acrobats and the two tours in Hong Kong. We wanted to take the Changing Faces tour but a delayed flight put us in Gehnedu too late to make the play. OAT would do better to put this on the next night to avoid this problem.

If you have breathing problems, consult with your doctor or travel nurse prior to coming on the trip. The air is very polluted and the temples have incense fumes along with yak butter candle smoke. An asthmatic traveler with us brought along a special inhaler and wore a mask in the temples and did very well.

Favorites:

Of course our favorites include the great wall and the terracotta warriors. The great wall location chosen by OAT is somewhat remote and on the wild side. We really enjoyed the opportunity to hike and CLIMB as far as we wanted without hordes of people. Our pictures do not have lots of other people in them. We were glad to see that China is really preserving the warriors and treating them as a true archeological treasure. The facilities are modern and were not that crowded.

The panda preserve and breading station in Chendu was very interesting. The preserve is zoo-like but the focus just on pandas and the learning’s about their breading efforts makes it better than any big city zoo we have seen in the US. A site you don’t see every day were the baby pandas in incubators.

Getting to mix with the Chinese people and really see small bits of how they live was exemplified by taking the overnight train to Xian. OAT purchased four tickets for each couple so in theory we had private sleeping compartments. Because it was a national holiday, Moon Festival, the railroad was not able to guarantee that all four tickets were in the same compartment. Our trip leader knew this could happen and told us to just wait in the hall if we found other Chinese travelers in our compartments. She negotiated like crazy and when the dust settled each couple had a compartment to them selves, Thank You OAT!

The fast pace of the trip is complemented very well by the relaxing river voyage. The trip through the Three Gorges was spectacular; we just wondered how great it would have been pre dam. The afternoon on a smaller boat in the lesser gorges was really the best scenery and provided most of the best photos.

The five-hour bus drive from Yichang to Wuhan was really quit enjoyable. We were able to see the countryside, watch the farmers in the fields, see the rural China, and catch up with a nap or two. This was an opportunity to see a part of China that was not a city.

No cost added adventures:

While in Tibet we experienced an earthquake, which was centered in Nepal. Since we live in Wisconsin it was the first quake my wife had ever experienced.

The water was very high on the Yangtze River and our sailing was delayed by almost a full day waiting for the ok from the river authority. Finally the cruise company put all the passengers on busses and bussed us around the problem area on the river. The bus ride in the rain over twisting roads at night was another adventure but true to their word the 16 OAT travelers had a private bus. The boat we were transferred to was almost a mirror image of our first boat. We all had the same room numbers but there were just enough differences like light switch locations to make it seem like the Twilight Zone.

We were scheduled to transit the Three Gorges Locks at 11:00 pm but delays had us begin the journey at 2:00 - 3:00 am. When we were woken by the noise, we threw on our shoes and joined the pajama party on the sundeck. It is not every day you get to make a transit through five large locks with such a great view as we had. PS - there was only one other couple in the PJs the rest of the folks had taken the time to get dressed.

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Traveler: Robert Colvert from Green Bay, WI traveled on September 05, 2011

We took this trip in September 2011. It was outstanding and a superb value. I HIGHLY recommend it to anyone who wants to see a lot of China at a reasonable price.

I was greatly impressed with the itinerary, the professionalism of our tour guide (Qu Yi) and the number of things we were able to see and do in a relatively short time. Virtually every element of the trip surpassed my expectations. In general, I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the hotels, the meals and the cruise boat.

In addition to our absolute professionalism of our guide, I was particularly impressed at the number of "extras" in the trip. Seeing the Peking Opera, the Tibetan Dancers, the Performing Arts school and the Tang Dynasty show were particularly welcome surprises.

Even the moments I thought might be uncomfortable (time in the orphanage, school and with local families) proved to be not only great learning opportunities, but highlights of the trip. View these with an open mind.

The internal logistics of the trip (busses, flights, hotels, dinners, etc.) were flawlessly executed.

How OAT was able to put together a trip with this many "adventures" and with this degree of value is beyond me.

I would like to add a few tips, if you are considering the trip. First, it's great - GO! That said, this is a demanding trip, physically. You get up early and go, go, go. If you have compromised health or tire easily, this may not be your trip. I also recommend that if you have a sleeping preference (single bed, double bed) you advise OAT when you make the arrangements. Nothing is guaranteed, but they try hard to make you happy.

I hope this is helpful as you consider this trip. Bottom line, my wife and I liked it so much we're all set to go again!

Traveler: Charles Carey from Palm Coast, FL traveled on August 29, 2011

Simply a great trip. I've talked to many people who have been to China, but their trips were so limited, one or two cities. The OAT trip covered all the major sites and more. We visited homes, neighborhoods and interacted with residents. I have a very good appreciation for the people of China now. For anyone who wants a better understanding of how the world is being influenced by China they should take this trip.

Traveler: Michael Ragen from Springfield, IL traveled on August 08, 2011

I really enjoyed the whole trip and really appreciated the fact that our trip leader.Johnny , took the time evrn when we were on free time to show us things.

Traveler: Elizabeth Kryzak from Fresh Meadows, NY traveled on August 04, 2011

we were detained in Beijing for 18 hrs when we should have been in Mongolia beginning our trip. OAT representative had no explanation for delay. we later found our the airplane only made trip to Beijing late at night. we finally met our trip leader at 10AM on 2nd of our 7day trip.she was unfamiliar with where,when,how the trip was to happen. she had never been to place we were to visit. we were 9 people in a foreign land with one Fedora's tour book. OAT did not do much to make our trip worth the money or even care about our safety. the country was remarkable and we did see lots of land & people. the promised camel ride was a 5 min walk with a child leading the camel same for horses. the accommodations were spartan at best also the mode of travel. we spent 10 hrs in van with no bathroom,no food and one water bottle. needless to say we felt we did not receive the trip we were sold.
we returned to China for 22 day trip. the first problem a child was one of the members of the group he was 13 in age but acted like 10. he made many events and days very un enjoyably. our Guide was wonderful. he not only spoke English but was well informed on days activities and location of attractions. the problem were the local guides hired by OATS. they were not knowledgeable of events and history or were unable to discuss. the weather was very hot and we were not given sufficient time between attractions to respond to heat. we were rushed by many attractions unable to enjoy or learn about ie:the forbidden city. we were promised TIBET but day before we departed were notified unable to go. OATS made a minimal deduction from cost of trip in a refund on a future trip. not satisfactory to those16 on trip. we had some good hotels but many were a 1 star at best. most meals were adequate but some were just not acceptable(part of the china experience?). we found some great entertainment on our own that cost far less that the optional tours charged by OAT. the tour did get us to far away parts of china and the experience was good. we LOVED the river cruise. probably the highlight of trip. but then maybe we were so beat up any released would have been good. many many problems during trip that will make me very reluctant to travel with OAT again. since i was small child i have traveled . experience with many travel companies & OAT gave me the least for my expectations.

Traveler: Jewell Ferguson from Lincoln, CA traveled on June 15, 2011

This was a wonderful trip, even though we were blocked from entering Tibet. The alternate sites were excellent. I don't know how those could be improved. Loved Lijiang!

Our guide Danny Wu was the heart and soul of our trip - very informed, fun, courteous, focused, timely, great problem-solver, professional.

Traveler: Judith Carter from Dunwoody, GA traveled on July 12, 2011

My husband and I decided that this trip would include Cambodia at the end. Seeing China, Tibet, down the Yangtze and then on to Hong Kong before going to Cambodia is one adventure after another.
We were told in Beijing that there are 60,000 new cars sold each month in just that city. We were amazed! Our program director Eddie was a marvelous guide and got us to every destination with a smile. We enjoyed our home stay in a farming village outside of Xian. Visiting the panda sanctuary in Chengdu was a treat. We were impressed with the airlines within China. The stewardesses were exceptionally polite.
Tibet added a different dimension to the trip. So glad we were able to see Lhasa. The trip down the Yangtze was also quite beautiful...and one opportunity for some rest.
Hong Kong was a welcome sight as we finally saw blue skies! Great hotel in Hong Kong.
By the time we got to Cambodia, half of our group were sick so they didn't get to completely enjoy the beauty of the country. Because this trip is at such a fast pace, day after day, it can wear you down. For those of us who were still healthy, we were amazed by Angkor Wat and the humbleness of the Cambodian people.
Overall, it was an incredible experience...and gave us a different perspective on that part of the world.

Traveler: John Witteman from San Antonio, TX traveled on October 05, 2010

Our Trip was outstanding. Only an occasional bad weather day spoiled some of the grandeur of China. Our adventure was made complete because of our excellent trip leader. Susan, Li Jie, guided us through her country with complete attention to detail. We found the people of China to be very friendly and always willing to pose for photos with their children. We thought that OAT showed us with a good cross section of life in China. I thought that seeing the Great Wall or the Forbidden City wouldshould have been the most impressive highlight. However, for me the farmer’s village (overnight stay) had the greatest impact. I will always remember the wonderful children at the village and especially the young (4-5 year old) boy who took my hand. I had a great time playing with him. Our visit to Tibet was also a highlight. However, for me personally the high altitude was difficult to deal with. I didn’t sleep well and had headaches every day. Certainly OAT provided the traveler with opportunities to “help the local economy” at the factory stores, but I never felt any undue pressure to buy. My wife and I highly recommend this OAT trip.

Traveler: Christiaan Van De Weerd from Glendale, CA traveled on April 18, 2010

Over all the trip was excellent with a few exceptions. Our guide, Frank was outstanding. He spoke perfect english and was very easy to understand. He was also very willing to share his views about the country polotics. The itinerary was laid out very well to see as much as possible. My complaint is I fee there were to many maufacturing stops (carpet weaving etc.) they expect you to support the local economy. Also, at every home hosted stop they had something to sell. Hold on to your pocket book.
Be able to get into Tibet was one of the highlights of our trip. But be aware, OAT does not fully disclose up front how difficult it is to get there. don't be surprised it that part gets cancelled.
The people were all friendly and helpfull and much more open then expected.
The trip was very worthwhile takeing and I would recommend.

Traveler: Vernon Alexander from Frisco, TX traveled on March 18, 2010

Overall, good value, educated guides and memorable cultural experience. To my pleasant surprise, the restaurants were quite good. The hotels were mixed -- three were excellent and well located while others were third-rate and out of the way. The Beijing hotel was especially unpleasant and unacceptable. The so-called farm stay was a rather shoddy B&B. Better to have visited and moved on without the stay-over. Another sour note were the many visits to factory outlets (carpets, jewelry, furniture, etc). We felt like a fly entering a spider's parlor. It took perserverance to stave off the high pressure sales people. Lastly, bring plenty of crisp dollar bills because the tipping seems endless given the local guides, bus drivers, bell hops, boat crew, etc. By the end of the trip, we felt like a human ATM. Perhaps it makes more sense for OAT to embed the tips for the drivers and local guides in the cost of the trip and simply have the traveller attend to the trip leader. Lastly, travelers are also advised to bring maps of the cities since they were not always available in the hotel. That all said, we would readily recommend the trip, especially the Tibet segment. China is so on the move that in a few years it may well seem like just a cluster of other large international cities.
For the record, kudos to OAT for providing excellent preparation and organization from start to finish.

Traveler: A&A Bianchi - NYC traveled on March 25, 2010

Overall I thoroughly enjoyed our trip to China--from our wonderful trip leader, Joan, one of the best we’ve ever had, to the scope and breadth of the trip. The contrasts between modern China and ancient customs were fascinating! Experiencing city life as well as the countryside was memorable-- for example, seeing the mounds of cornstalks drying on the side of the road in the Xi’an countryside and having contact with the farm workers who were husking the corn was great. The fact that our first hotel in Beijing was in a neighborhood allowed us to sample a little bit of everyday life from playing ping pong in the park with the locals to practicing tai chi in the morning.

We had read in the guidebooks about the crowds hiking the Great Wall--however, with OAT we were taken to a section of the wall where we were virtually the only people, and a guide had been hired to help us over the very steep parts of the trail.

I loved the fact that we had the opportunity to enter Tibet, even though we were unable to see all the sights on our itinerary because we visited during the National Holiday on October 1. It was truly a different world. The hotel’s proximity to the Jokhang Temple was a great opportunity to explore a little on our own. I was upset with the pre-trip literature which stated that we could only bring a small carry-on for the 3 days in Tibet, which turned out to be untrue, as it took considerable time figuring out how to manage that.

The home stay was disappointing, as in our particular experience, it was more of a bed and breakfast with little contact with our hostess.

The four days on the Yangtzee River was very interesting, there were always activities and lectures on the ship that were very enjoyable. The ship amenities were excellent! Everybody had their own balcony which allowed us great views of the countryside. Having the opportunity to go into a small town market allowed us some good contact with the local people.

All of the shows we attended on the trip were excellent and provided great photos! It was amazing that we could use flash everywhere.

We did not appreciate that we were taken to 5 different, very expensive stores during the trip--it would have been nice to have an alternative to those of us who did not want to shop.

We enjoyed having a free day in Hong Kong to explore on our own.

The complaints I have are minor compared to the wonders that we experienced on the trip--it was a marvelous travel opportunity and we had a wonderful group of 15!

Traveler: Bob and Dottie from Oak Park, IL traveled on September 17, 2009

The hallmark of the China trip was the people. First of those being our outstanding OAT guide, Mike Ma, who is the best guide of our many years of roaming the world. Mike went to extraordinarily lengths to ensure that our trip was informative, pleasurable and entertaining. Mike enhanced the OAT itinerary to perfection.

The Yangtze River and Tibetan local guides were outstanding, providing a taste of the local culture and environs.

Second was our OAT group. They were by far the nicest, friendliest, and most fun people with whom we have traveled.

Third were the Chinese and Tibetan people who welcomed us to their country and were gracious hosts. We enjoyed the many interactions with the local people.

We highly recommend this trip.

Traveler: Charles from Webster, WI traveled on October 04, 2009

Recipe for a GREAT TRIP to CHINA:

1 warm, intelligent, fun trip leader (Sally)
1 supportive OAT office sales & service
16 excited, interesting travel companions
6 exotic cities

Mix with some of the worlds greatest historical sites, excellent hotels and food, and a river cruise. Fold in regional dance, music, temples, soldiers, and Panda viewings.

Pour into safe trains, planes and auto coaches that move at a quick pace. Stir in yak - lung, cheese, butter, ears, tongue, etc., and you have a near perfect adventure trip.

Serve to everyone your know - because this is one great dish you want to share with every traveler and non-traveler you know. Great trip.

Traveler: Edna from San Diego, CA traveled on August 19, 2009

On the whole, the trip met the expectations that led me to take it – it gave an amazing overview of a wonderful, exciting country and did it in a very short time. By and large, we hit all the major sites at our destinations and the tour showcased the variety of the country and did so in a remarkably short time. At the end, I certainly felt I’d learned a lot (but only a start) about the country. It was obviously well thought out, in terms of the places we visited. Our guide was knowledgeable, thoughtful and forthcoming about her home country, which she clearly loves. I wish more of my fellow US citizens could get to China, especially in light of how we are poised for a very significant shift in global power leadership.

The variety of the country is mindboggling - the mix of ancient civilizations and the current construction driven economy (with evidence of the problems associated with the pace of the construction everywhere) was constantly thought-provoking. The terrain was often spectacular. The sheer size of the population is hard to comprehend - over 1.3 billion people. The tour exposes you to all of these factors.

However, there were some disappointments. I totally agree with the recent reviewers who bemoaned the absence of any really excellent Chinese meals - especially in a country renown for some truly exceptional cuisine. The pre-trip materials seriously misrepresented restaurant meals with the description “dinner at a local restaurant”. For the most part (and always in Beijing and Xian), the “local restaurants” were huge tourist restaurants – typically with many busloads of diners. When I invite someone to a local restaurant in my neighborhood, it certainly doesn’t mean the equivalent of mega fast-food dining hall. I don’t know if the meals were “dumbed down” for those of us on the tour, or just the product of large assembly line kitchens, but they were generally overcooked and underwhelming, which was a big disappointment.

On a technical note, It would have been much easier to learn about, and do some discovering, of local destinations if we had been provided with simple maps that showed us where we were in the cities we were visiting, where our scheduled tours went, and where the optional tours went. Perhaps I had mistakenly assumed that this material would be provided (there was a lot of descriptive material about the sites we visited) -- had I known ahead of time I would have been better prepared. The quality of the maps we could get at local hotels varied considerably and I would be hard-pressed to say just where we were in the cities and towns we visited (with the exception of Hong Kong). If you take this trip (and I urge you to), bring your own maps.

This tour is very ambitious in scope and, by and large, it delivers on its promises. I could have done with fewer of the stores we visited (hard to find real bargains there, unless you were buying in big bulk or making very expensive purchases) and the whole tipping issue felt a bit strained at times, but I'm very happy I took the trip and certainly recommend it.

Traveler: S J from Brooklyn, NY traveled on October 09, 2009

Overall, this trip was really great. I felt that we did lots of different things, seeing all the important monuments and sights while focusing on the CHinese culture and people.

Our guide Joan was great. Her imputs added greatly to the experience.

Again, overall, it was a great time. I just have a couple of negatives, but that should not detract from someone wanting to go on this trip.

I recommend that travelers not underestimate the difficulty of getting around in high altitude. Both on this trip and on our one to Peru, a group member ended up in the hospital

Although I enjoyed visiting the farm and seeing how things were done in Chinese agriculture, I did not care to spend the night there. Our home was dirty (especially the kitchen where our food was prepared). I just thought the farm experience would have been much better as a day visit. Staying overnight added nothing .

Especially since one can eat like a king for less than $10 in most of China, surprisingly many of our meals were dull and plain. It seemed that we had the same types of dishes most nights. (Chinese veggies and cooked pieces of bone that were supposed to be meat!). I imagine that it would be amazing at how much the evening meal could have been upgraded had OAT only spent another $50 or so on each person for the whole trip. I personally didn't mind experimental or plainer fare for the early meals, but a great dining experience in the evenings would have been nice. Most nights we ate at large places that catered to other buses of tourists. In contrast, when we were with OAT in Peru we often ate in local restaurants where we were the only tourists in sight.

Hotels were generally good, although the Beijing location could have been improved upon. The Yangtze boat was much better than expected.

Traveler: Tom from Carmel, IN traveled on September 17, 2009

All of the other OAT customer reviews talk about how China is a great a travel destination. That is certainly true. China has a huge range of historical and cultural sites to visit and the government has spent a huge amount of money in recent years to make these more accessible and attractive to both domestic and foreign tourists.

The OAT tour does a great job of showing you the ancient China and the modern China. Perhaps most importantly, OAT gives you several opportunities to meet the real people of China. The different city guides all give you a different picture of their homeland. There are also several visits to schools and family homes. And the tour schedule is slow enough (several hours of free time during most afternoons) that you have lots of opportunity to explore on your own.

A couple of practical tips. First, if you want a smooth tour, do avoid visiting China during the first week of October (the "National Holiday" period). There are lots of closures, crowds, and security checks during this period. Several OAT tours even skipped the Tibet visit this year, which was a tragic loss for those people. Fortunately, our tour was one of the first to make it to Tibet after the holiday period.

Second, a little fitness training will help you a lot on this trip. Two of the most spectacular attractions that we visited were the Great Wall of China and the Potala Palace in Tibet. Both of these visits involve climbing several hundred stairs. The footing is good, but the Great Wall steps are steep and the Tibet steps are at a 13,000 foot altitude. It is very common for foreign tourists to miss these attractions because of fitness issues.

Third, bring lots of dollar bills to use as tips. OAT uses lots of different day guides and bus drivers and this is a long trip. You can use Chinese Yuan, but banks and hotels may not have that many small denomination Yuan bills for you.

I was very impressed by the quality of all the hotels on this trip, including the Yangtze cruise ship. The rooms were all large and clean with western-style toilets. You can't drink the hotel tap water, but bottled water is always available. All the hotel and cruise ship staff were very friendly and made the stays even more enjoyable.

My only complaint about the hotels is that the Beijing hotel was in an odd location, not in walking distance of any significant attractions. There was a subway station a couple of blocks away, but our guides recommended against using the subway because security was very tight and many of the downtown stations were closed for the National Holiday. A downtown hotel would have been much nicer.

I was less impressed with the restaurants that OAT used. If you're a fan of delicate Cantonese food or spicy Sichuan food at home, you can forget about finding that on this tour. There were a few memorable meals (such as the home cooked meals), but most of the restaurant food on this tour was over-cooked and bland. I think OAT dumbed down the fixed menus for American tourists and some of the restaurants dumbed it down even more for foreigners.

Our tour guide Eddie was excellent. At the beginning of the tour, he told us that his main job was to keep everything moving smoothly and that is what he did, despite the problem of traveling during the National Holiday period. Eddie kept us informed about the Tibet issue and we all cheered when he got our Tibet visas and plane tickets just a few days before we were to arrive there. This tour involved lots of different hotels, airplanes, buses, etc. and even trains and boats. Eddie managed all those travel details perfectly.

In addition to his logistical wizardry, Eddie was also very open with us about his life and his opinions about China. But he also encouraged us to ask other Chinese (and Tibetans) about their opinions so that we could get a more complete picture about life in China. I recommend Eddie without hesitation to any potential OAT customers.

China is one of the world's most interesting countries, with a long and rich history as well as a complicated modern social and political environment. The OAT tour is a good overview of the country. During this tour, I did see a lot of wonderful things, and I did learn a lot about the past and future of China.

Traveler: Ken from Palo Alto, CA traveled on September 30, 2009

This trip was awesome. China is a huge country with 1.3 billion people, but I believe the OAT trip captured the essence of China and gave us life- time memories.

I really enjoyed the train ride from Beijjing to Xian, and the farmers village visit was a highlight. The people were friendly, cordial and really wanted us to have a good time.

Xian was special, seeing the "soldiers", the wonderful Musuem, and the water fountain show.

The people of China were very friendly, waving to us and wanting to have their pictures taken with us.

The great wall visit had to be the highlight, what an awesome sight. The cruise on the Yantze was special too.

We had a great tour leader Sharalyn Yuan who really looked out for our best interest and was very sensitive to our needs.

We really enjoyed our stay and would certainly recommend this trip.

Traveler: Phil from Waynesville, NC traveled on September 21, 2009

China is a fascinating country, with wonderfully friendly people.

I’ll never forget the aged grandmother (or great grandmother) who was having a fine time at table tennis (ping pong is for gross amateurs) smashing the ball back to her several-generations-younger competitor.

The Great Wall must be seen, if you are to imagine what it must have been like when all of its 6,000 miles of stonework was intact.

Chengdu with its huge mass of humanity, all living in relative harmony, reminded us of Times Square in New York during a New Year’s Eve celebration.

The Yangtze is much like our Mississippi, in color, size and busyness but has such beautiful chasms, gorges and mountains. It is magnificent.

Our guide Joan, working before our arrival, acquired permission for us to visit Tiana Men square, and, miracle of miracles, also got us into Lhassa, Tibet, the last group to get in before it was closed for the 60th anniversary of the New China. She also handled all the issues related to health, water, eating arrangements, transportation by plane, boat, bus, or by foot, with utter calm, dispatch and authority. What a wonderful, guide, yet typical of all five Overseas Adventure Tour guides we have used over the years!

Who could forget the scores of elderly, middle aged and young people using the many parks to dance the tango, or waltz; to exercise, do tai chi or sword dancing, listen to story tellers, comedians, musicians or to simply enjoy the balmy weather and each other.
What marvelous people enjoying themselves in marvelous parks.

I can’t say enough about our wonderful visit to China and about the people at OAT who made it possible.

Traveler: William from East Setauket, NY traveled on September 17, 2009

My published review of events leading up and through the 60th anniversary of the PRC appears in The Durango Herald Sunday, August 4, and can be accessed through the newspaper's website. I'm a practising journalist, and this is my second published article on the OAT trip to China. A previous article appeared on the Chinese National Opera.

Traveler: Judith from Durango, CO traveled on August 19, 2009

If you enjoy traveling, you will love this trip. Filled with planes, trains, boats, buses, and even the subway if you want, 21 days go by very quickly. The sites and the history are amazing--The Great Wall, The Forbidden City, Terra-cotta Warriors, the 3 Gorges, Tibet and Hong Kong. To me the best part was meeting and interacting with the chinese people--from 2 to 92 years in age, they were all delightful. In addition to home and school visits, we interacted with everyday people near our hotels and in the parks of Beijing and Xi’an. I also will never forget making homemade noodles with my hostess at the farm village bed and breakfast. She was an amazing cook. The food on the trip was excellent and we had quite a variety of food types. Our guide Frank--was the bonus that kept on giving. He made sure that everything went smoothly, we saw the many sides of China and had a safe and wonderful experience. Certainly one of our best guides ever, and we have had some good ones over the years.

Traveler: Ron from Plano, TX traveled on July 01, 2009

It’s been a few weeks since returning from our 28 day trip to China, Tibet, Hong Kong and Cambodia. The trip was crammed full of experiences but the most memorable are clear in my mind: great food, mingling with everyday people in city parks of Beijing and Xi’an, The Great Wall, everything about the farm village bed and breakfast, Terra-cotta Warriors, floating on the Yangtze, the Tibetan experience (I want more), Hong Kong double-decker tram, Angkor Wat, every school visit, home visit and home cooked meal, and did I mention, great food? Even with Swine Flu health checks at every turn, the trip went very smoothly due to the extraordinary care taken by our guide, Michael Yang. Great Trip!

Traveler: Ann from Chandler, AZ traveled on June 18, 2009

Excellent trip at a great price. Being able to see the forbidden city, the great wall, Xian, Tibet, pandas, the Yangtze and 3 Gorges dam, Hong Kong and more with great air connections to China was a real bargain. Our guide, Jessica, was superb, filling every monent with information. Our group was fitter than on many OAT trips, with only one lady unable to keep up, but she very courteously didn't impose her limitations on the rest of us.
Hotels and food were good to very good.
The overall pace of the trip was a little slow, often with only one or two (or no--"free day") sites visited each day, but this didn't seem to bother most.
The overall highlight of the trip for me was seeing the incredible progress the Chinese have made in the 16 years since my last visit! Shopping malls with well dressed people buying everything you'd see in America. Wide tree-lined avenues with flowers--even in the country. Toll roads! In "communist" China! The country is converting to capitalism as fast as possible, and succsuccessfully--we did not see one person who wasn't in "Western" dress.
Hong Kong was even more vibrant with more huge bridges, buildings, tunnels, etc. than before. The Chinese perspective on birth control and relocation was forthright and should be heard by every American--not just those of us lucky enough to visit. To say this trip was educational would be a gross understatement, at least for those with open eyes and minds.
On the downside, there were way too many "factory" visits--thinly disguised overpriced stores strictly for tourists trapped with nowhere they could go--not one Chinese bargain hunter here! Does OAT get a "commission"? Do our guides? If not, why aren't we going to real stores that must compete with their prices? The "farm stay" wasn't--it was a simple Chinese bed and breakfast in a new (ie, "relocated") neighborhood!! Some even had signs advertising above their doors! It undoubtedly helped keep the costs down, but it was anything but a "farm stay" with a typical farm family.
Don't mistake these suggestions to OAT on needed improvements to the trip for a condemnation of the trip as a whole. Visiting China will be one of the best trips of your life, and may even be "lifechanging". I highly recommend it.

Traveler: Randy from San Antonio, TX traveled on May 14, 2009

Our trip to China and Tibet from May 1-21st was everything we could have asked for and more. We had terrific weather fortunately but the itinerary, the tour guide, the group we traveled with were all superb.
The hotels were quite comfortable and surprisingly spacious and well equipped for the most part. The meals were all unique and interesting. All in all it was a fantastic trip-the best we have taken yet (it was our 6th OAT trip).

Traveler: William from Belchertown, MA traveled on April 30, 2009

Hi Everyone
Made it back from a great OAT trip to China. Our trip leader was Michael Zhang Hao and some great local guides. All of the cities were amazing. The parks were busy and well used by all, especially during the day by grandparents babysitting and just a lot of activity there. A special treat was to arrive at the Great Wall during a snow storm - a little slippery in coming down the steps but very beautiful. We were told that snow doesn't happen that often at the Wall. We didn't miss any of the Optional Tours and all were worthwhile.

The travel was by train, planes, and bus. The farmer homestay was a treat. We visited a school, the old part of the city, Hu Xian, and stayed with a family in the new part. Every night the women meet in the Square nearby to dance for about an hour. What fun for all of us.

The cruise through the Three Gorges included seeing the Dam and riding a Sampan (sp?) up
one of the tributaries of the Yangtze, and spotting the hanging coffins that are up to 1,000 years old, as well as some monkeys.

We flew to Lhasa. A colorful city. Visited a farm and saw all the yak manure patties. All that work and one pattie only burns for 5 minutes. After the Potala visit, we visited the Dickey Orphanage. Happy kids with mascot dog, a mastiff named Snow lion. At a local home we tried Yak butter tea. We did see quite a few Yaks.

Liked Hong Kong - such a beautiful city. Enjoyed a ride in a sampan in one of the harbors. I liked Stanley Market the best. Ate a real hamburger there at Groucho's.

A great trip.

Traveler: Katherine from Eugene, OR traveled on March 26, 2009

We just returned from this fantastic trip on March 31, 2009 and strongly recommend it. The active pace is just right with a variety of transportation modes and destinations. Do you like trains, planes, boats? This one has it all. Our trip leader, Mark provided the best experience you could possibly hope for. He added so much to the overall trip with his knowledge, attention to detail and sincere effort to please everyone. Much about the sights and itinerary is covered from other travelers reviews. Let us just add that it is a good mix with a well designed itinerary. We would encourage you to take this one if you like adventure and diversity and wish to get off the beaten path. OAT has the resources and ability to get you into places other travel companies wouldn't consider. You will be most impressed with the warm and social friendliness of the Chinese people. We are hooked on the OAT concept of small groups and energetic pace. Five trips under our belt and planning more.

Traveler: Kaare & Mary from Sturgeon Bay, WI traveled on March 10, 2009