china
Hello: I am traveling with Tauck for 9-7-18 to China starting in Beijing.. Can anyone tell me how the weather was throughout the country? Also, I see where we have a free day in Hong Kong, Do we have to make travel plans by ourselves for that day or will our guide help us out. I appreciate any helpful hints for packing too.
Thank you
Thank you
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Weather information is shown on the Tauck trip page under Before you go / Preparing to go / Weather. You can also check websites like weather.com. (Always a good idea to check the 10 day forecast for each destination right before you leave).
Your Tauck Tour Director will provide some sightseeing suggestions for time on your own. Tauck is also rolling out an app for your phone or tablet that should have this information. Hotel concierges and Viator.com are good sources if you want to book a tour or excursion. You have a free afternoon on Day 15. On our trip, many people went to the open air markets in Kowloon (especially the bird market). We went to the Hong Kong Museum of History, also on the Kowloon side.
Unless you have a late flight on Day 16 or have booked an extra day, you don't have a full day on your own in Hong Kong.
As for packing hints, Tauck will send you a green spiral bound book after you make your final payment. There will be packing suggestons included in the valuable information in that book.
I am arriving 2 days early in Beijing and I always use Viator.
Thank you for your comments.
Safe Travels
We did this tour in the opposite direction. When we got to Shanghai, we had just enough time ride the Maglev train from the airport and take a stroll along the Bund after checking in and having a late lunch. Maybe someone who has done the tour in your direction recently can give a better idea. I do remember that we spent a lot of time on this trip sitting in airports.
As Ken said, on day 14, there really wasn't any significant free time due to travel from Shanghai. On day 15, after lunch, there was semi-free time to wander around Kowloon. The Tour Director offered a number of suggestions and a meet-up time to go back to HK via tour bus later in the afternoon. With the hotel location now on the Kowloon side, you should have a bit more time, as you can walk back to your hotel. In any case, my one criticism of this trip was insufficient time in HK. IMO, there really should be an additional day there. Personally, I'm not much of a shopper. Prices in China are expensive. As a matter of fact, one of our local guides said she went on a shopping spree on a trip to the US, as the prices were so much better. There's a lot of shlock and knock-offs in Kowloon, but again, you can do better on Canal St in NYC if you're looking for that kind of stuff.
Re packing, the northern cities will have similar temps to the northern US, so you probably won't need anything heavier than a windbreaker. The southern cities will be shorts weather. The best place to do laundry is on the cruise, but it's fairly expensive (though cheaper than any of the hotels). IIRC, I had 3-4 days worth of underwear, socks and shirts laundered and it was about 40 USD.
When I was there, the smog was horrendous, everywhere but HK (probably because it only rained about 2 hours the entire trip). I wore a mask most of the time outdoors, as did several others in our group. You can get one in Beijing from the concierge at the Waldorf, or bring one with you.
Thank you for that information. It was helpful. Vacation is a ways off but it is always fun to plan. I've decided I'm just buying everyone chop sticks. I should find plenty of those there. Thank you again for your thoughts.
Safe Travels
June
Funny you mention chopsticks. I was thinking of doing the same thing, but decided against it. You have no idea if they use leaded paint, or anything else potentially toxic, in them. Several years ago, China exported toxic gas-emitting drywall to Florida and poison pet food throughout the US.
I'm like you with planning. I have two Tauck trips scheduled - one in July and one in December, and am already getting tour books from the library to plan the free time activities.
There is no West or East bound choice any more. The tour begins in China and ends in Hong Kong
I had an N90 mask, made by 3M.