So here's the deal:
Sarah found this tour that covers all the bucket list hotspots in China.
The Great Wall, Tiananmen Square, Summer Palace and The Forbidden City are all within reach of Beijing. In fact, all of them except for the wall are virtually walking distance from each other.
The only one left was the Terracotta Warriors, which are outside Xi'an.
The tour starts in Beijing and spends 3 days working through the list. You then fly to Xi'an for the Warriors.
The tour includes 3 nights at a hotel in Beijing, a flight to Xi'an, and one night in a hotel there.
All hotels include breakfast.
We also get a guide and vehicle for the three days in Beijing, escorted to BJS airport, picked up from Xi'an airport and taken to the hotel. Finally, we get a guide and vehicle to the Warriors.
The deal we signed up for has us meeting our first guide in Beijing at the hotel after breakfast, and leaving our second guide at the hotel in Xi'an. We were to make our own way from Beijing airport to hotel, and from Xi'an hotel to airport. Just so we're clear.
When selecting the package, we had a choice of 3 standards of hotel. For a few reasons, we chose the top one.
So in Beijing, we are staying at The Regent. Nice hotel.
After breakfast on our first day, we met our guide, Ricky, in the foyer. Or is that Lobby? Not sure which one is posher... We had spoken to Ricky on the phone the evening before, so knew when and where to find him.
Now we have done the odd tour before. We have certainly seen them descend upon our terminal in Christchurch. Everybody will have their own opinion of which nationalities are going to be pushy, which will be demanding, and which will be impossible.
We were expecting Ricky to escort us out to the bus parked out the front, to join the others from the other two hotels. Odd, nobody else from the Regent were looking for Ricky.
But no. He took us to a VW sedan, with a driver. Seriously? Before we had pulled out onto the street, we asked Ricky about the bus. "If you'd rather a bus group, I can arrange it". Smart Arse.
No, we're good. Surprised. Ecstatic. We're good.
Clearly, Sarah's PhD didn't pick up the fact that this is a private tour. A very nice surprise.
Ricky is a young guy, mid to late 20s. Very good English. Very chatty, very friendly. Nice guy.
So day one began well. Comfortable car, water bottles supplied (temperatures are expected in the high 20s), private tour of Beijing.
Sarah found this tour that covers all the bucket list hotspots in China.
The Great Wall, Tiananmen Square, Summer Palace and The Forbidden City are all within reach of Beijing. In fact, all of them except for the wall are virtually walking distance from each other.
The only one left was the Terracotta Warriors, which are outside Xi'an.
The tour starts in Beijing and spends 3 days working through the list. You then fly to Xi'an for the Warriors.
The tour includes 3 nights at a hotel in Beijing, a flight to Xi'an, and one night in a hotel there.
All hotels include breakfast.
We also get a guide and vehicle for the three days in Beijing, escorted to BJS airport, picked up from Xi'an airport and taken to the hotel. Finally, we get a guide and vehicle to the Warriors.
The deal we signed up for has us meeting our first guide in Beijing at the hotel after breakfast, and leaving our second guide at the hotel in Xi'an. We were to make our own way from Beijing airport to hotel, and from Xi'an hotel to airport. Just so we're clear.
When selecting the package, we had a choice of 3 standards of hotel. For a few reasons, we chose the top one.
So in Beijing, we are staying at The Regent. Nice hotel.
After breakfast on our first day, we met our guide, Ricky, in the foyer. Or is that Lobby? Not sure which one is posher... We had spoken to Ricky on the phone the evening before, so knew when and where to find him.
Now we have done the odd tour before. We have certainly seen them descend upon our terminal in Christchurch. Everybody will have their own opinion of which nationalities are going to be pushy, which will be demanding, and which will be impossible.
We were expecting Ricky to escort us out to the bus parked out the front, to join the others from the other two hotels. Odd, nobody else from the Regent were looking for Ricky.
But no. He took us to a VW sedan, with a driver. Seriously? Before we had pulled out onto the street, we asked Ricky about the bus. "If you'd rather a bus group, I can arrange it". Smart Arse.
No, we're good. Surprised. Ecstatic. We're good.
Clearly, Sarah's PhD didn't pick up the fact that this is a private tour. A very nice surprise.
Ricky is a young guy, mid to late 20s. Very good English. Very chatty, very friendly. Nice guy.
So day one began well. Comfortable car, water bottles supplied (temperatures are expected in the high 20s), private tour of Beijing.
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