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General
information
Our
Terms & Conditions contain answers
to many of the questions you might have. Please be sure to read it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What happens after my
deposit is paid?
A: The invoice and other related documents will be e-mailed to you within
2 business days of receipt of your initial payment/deposit. Instructions
on China visa application will be provided when your balance due date is
close. Finalized trip documents including updated electronic tickets for
the international flights will be sent out via e-mail two (2) weeks before
the trip. Please refer to the 7-page Important Pre-trip Information for
more details. The pre-trip info document is only available after you pay
deposit.
Q: What is the group size?
A: We promote small group travel
and we limit our group size to 20 with select departures to remote regions
limited to 16. We require a minimum of 10 for a trip to be guaranteed.
However, tours with less than 10 participants may proceed as planned
subject to a surcharge and without a tour leader.
Q: Do I need a passport and visa to travel to
China?
A: Yes. Please visit our Webpage Chinese Visa
or wait till you sign up for detailed information.
Q: Can you help us obtain Chinese visa?
A: Yes. Please visit our Webpage Chinese Visa
or wait till you sign up for detailed information. Our visa service is
available only to our tour participants.
Q: Does Laurus Travel accept credit cards?
A: We accept Visa and MasterCard for deposit. Final payment can be by Visa
or MasterCard or American Express but all credit card transactions are
subject to a surcharge. If this information is important to you, please
contact us for the current surcharge before signing up with us.
Q: Who makes the ideal Laurus Travel customer?
A: The client must be both mentally and physically fit, free of any
physical disability that may require special attention. The client must be
respectful, friendly and willing to follow our rules at all times.
Q: What does the tour price include?
A: See Terms & Conditions and the itinerary for details.
Q: Does Laurus Travel have a recommended reading
list?
A: Please visit our Webpage
Recommended Reading
for the updated reading list.
Q: Where do we eat when meals are not included?
A: Your guides will recommend restaurants near the hotels based on your
preference and budget. You can count on the guides for reliable advice.
Q: Do you recommend any inoculation shots?
A: See Health & Hygiene below for details.
Q: Do I need Chinese currency before arrival?
A: No. See Money below for details.
Q: What is the baggage allowance on intra-China
flights?
A: Twenty kilograms or 44 pounds. See What to Wear & Pack below and Terms
& Conditions.
Q: Where do we meet the guide and the rest of the
group?
A: If you arrive according to the tour schedule, your escorted transfer
from the airport to the hotel will be provided at no charge no matter how
early or late your flight is. Otherwise, you will need to get to the hotel
on your own by taxi or public transit to join the group there. Clients
whose transfers have been confirmed should pick up their checked baggage
themselves and proceed to the arrival hall where the guide will be waiting
with a
Laurus Travel flag or the client's last name in hand.
Q: What time zone is China in?
A: China spans several time zones but the whole country operates to a
single standard time (GMT+8) all year round. Beijing Standard Time is 13
hours ahead of North America's Eastern Standard Time and 16 hours ahead of
Pacific Standard Time. The difference becomes one hour less during
Daylight Saving Time in North America.
Q: Do we eat Chinese food throughout the tour?
A: Please see Terms & Conditions - Food & Beverage.
Q: Is Internet access available at all the
hotels?
A: Yes. Almost all the hotels we use have free Wi-Fi in the lobby area.
Most of Sheraton hotels in China are furnished with Link@Sheraton
where computers with Internet connection are available to house guests
free of charge.
Q: Is it expensive
to call home from China?
A: There are many cheap alternatives to being gouged by the hotels. Never
use their long distance service unless it is free! The alternatives
include using e-mail, buying a phone card, getting a local sim card for
your smart phone or rent a local
mobile phone from us - we have many Motorola cell phones in our China
office.
Q: Do I get non-smoking rooms throughout the
tour?
A: Yes. See Terms & Conditions for details.
Q: Is laundry service available during the tour?
A: Hotels provide speedy laundry service but the price may not be cheap.
Laundromat style self-service facilities are very hard to find in China.
It's essential to bring clothing that can be worn in layers and easy to
wash by hand.
Q: Do I need to bring my own hair dryer?
A: No. The hotels all have it.
Q: How bad is cigarette smoking in China?
A: Chinese smoke everywhere including in elevators and restaurants. China
accounts for 20% of the world's population but consumes over 30% of the
world's tobacco products. The Chinese smokers amount to over 300 million,
equal to 9 times of Canada's population or the entire population of the
United States.
Q: How expensive is quality medical care in
China?
A: They can be as expensive as in the US and Canada. If you don't have
proper medical insurance, you may end up selling your house if you were
stuck in an ICU in an expensive Chinese hospital where advanced facilities
and doctors trained in the West charge as much as in your home country.
Q: Are public toilets outside hotels clean?
A: Generally, they are not. If fact, they can be very smelly and filthy.
Please carry a little perfume, antiseptic wipes and a roll of toilet paper
all the time. We sometimes buy a small bottle of alcohol in each city for
both drinking at dinner and hand cleansing. It is more effective than gel
sanitizer and also adds some fun to the trip. And alcohol in China is
cheap!
Q: How do we handle tipping?
A: Please refer to Terms & Conditions and the document titled
Important Pre-trip Information for
details.
Q: What airlines do you use for transpacific
flights?
A: For clients departing from Canada, we use Air Canada and Air China.
Both airlines are Star Alliance members and code-share many flights;
passengers flying Air China are eligible for Aeroplan points. Clients from
the United States should contact us for more information.
Q: What airlines do you use for intra-China
flights?
A: We choose the local airlines based on convenience and cost, with a
slight preference for Hainan Airlines. There is no Chinese air carrier
that ranks far below average in terms of flight safety and don't forget
that the overall safety record of Chinese airlines is as good as any major
airline in the US or Canada. We attribute the satisfactory safety record
much to laudable work of the Chinese civil aviation authorities and the
relative young age of the fleet.
Fleet age
as of March 2011
United Airlines: 13.9 years
Air Canada: 11.2 years
Air China: 7.4 years
Hainan Airlines: 5.4 years
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Tour
Leader and Local Guide
An experienced bilingual tour leader is provided for groups with more than
10 participants. The trip leader may be Canadian or American or a Chinese
national from our China office. The leader meets up with the group at the
Chinese port of entry and stays with the group throughout the tour except
Hong Kong, wherever applicable. Generally, a local guide is provided in
each city but the trip leader may double as local guide in as many locales
as we see fit. For groups with less than 10 participants, only local
guides will be provided.
Hotel & Room Type
We use mostly North American standard 5-star hotels for our tours and
choose them for their quality, comfort, location and service. However, it
is important to keep in mind that in some remote areas such as Tibet and
Xinjiang accommodations may be basic even they are the best.
We book hotels with the assumption that our
customers are all non-smokers. When a hotel is unable to accommodate our
request for non-smoking rooms, we make sure the hotel does its best to
minimize the odour of cigarette smoke. Rooms for tour groups are assigned
by a run-of-the-house system. Consequently we do not accept requests for a
specific floor or room type. Rooms booked under discounted group rates do
not qualify for reward points or free upgrades even if you enjoy elite
status with the hotels. Since the rooms are booked at group rates, the
hotels are not in a position to upgrade you or treat you better than other
guests on our list. Any effort to contact the hotels before arrival with
the hope to upgrade will be a waste of time. Clients asking for upgrade
must do so before the trip and will be charged an administration fee of
$35 per hotel in addition to the room rate differential.
Food & Beverage
Your daily breakfast is Western style buffet served in the hotel. Tea,
coffee, milk, fresh fruit and a variety of juices are included.
Lunch and dinner when included would be local
cuisine served in restaurants outside the hotels. Tea, bottled water and
soda are included with soda being limited to 2 glasses per client. Beer is
served at dinner and each customer is limited to 2 glasses. You may opt
for bottled water or soda or beer but can only chose one. Special dinners
may include wine, which is limited to one glass per customer. A standard
lunch or dinner consists of pork or beef or fish or chicken plus vegetable
dishes and rice or noodle. Serving utensils are provided.
Vegetarians and clients allergic to certain food
items such as nuts, MSG or sesame oil should disclose this information at
the time of reservation and also remind the guides once on the tour. Every
effort will be made to satisfy the client's needs, but for legal reason we
do not guarantee the dishes served contain absolutely no such ingredients.
Clients with special dietary needs due to medical conditions must disclose
their needs at the time of reservation and be prepared to pay extra.
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Motor Vehicle
Comfortable, air-conditioned motor vehicles are used throughout your
tour. The vehicles are professionally operated and well maintained. There
will be enough seats to ensure everyone's comfort. We do not share
vehicles with non-Laurus travelers except during Yangtze cruise where
shore excursions are arranged by the cruise operators.
Money
 The
Chinese currency is called Renminbi (RMB), or People's Currency, with Yuan
being its basic unit. For up-to-date exchange rates, please visit
www.bloomberg.com.
Bring a few hundred dollars worth of cash, which
can be in any of the major hard currencies such as CAD, USD, GBP, EURO or
AUD. The cash should be a combination of large and small bills and must be
in excellent conditions with absolutely no missing corner or heavy stain.
Canadians who already have US dollars should bring US currency because
cash exchange rate for US dollars is much better than for Canadian dollars
mainly due to the fact that the Chinese yuan is pegged to USD and the
volume of the USD banknotes processed by the Chinese banks is far larger
than Canadian dollar cash.
Clients should always carry a major credit card
in case of emergency or major purchases. Because more and more ATMs in
China accept bank cards issued by foreign banks, you should definitely
consider bringing a bank card. Warning: a bank card
with 7-digit pin number won't work in China.
Cash and travellers checks can be converted into
RMB at Chinese airports, hotels and banks. Although travellers checks do
get you a better rate, not all hotels in China are able to cash travellers
checks. The exchange rates are virtually the same across the country as
they are set by the central government.
Please do not buy Chinese currency
before arrival in China where the exchange rates are far more
favourable for you if you avoid those non-bank dealers at the airports.
Every time you change money you are issued a receipt. The receipt should
be kept because this proof allows you to change your unused RMB back into
a hard currency on exit.
Hong Kong Currency - Hotels and banks in Hong
Kong do not necessarily quote the same rates. Make sure you shop around
and also take the service fee into consideration.
Useful Links:
Bloomberg /
Bank of Canada
Extra Costs
Please see Terms & Conditions for details. When you deal with Laurus
Travel, you don’t need to worry about hidden costs because there is none.
We believe in full disclosure.
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Tipping
Please refer to the Terms & Conditions or pre-trip info document for
details. Our tour prices do not include gratuities to guides, drivers and
hotel bell service. Each client is expected to contribute the tipping pool
$10 a day.
Shopping
Laurus tours have no shopping stops!
We understand that for many travellers shopping
is an integral part of their international travel. During the tour you
will be given time to shop on your own. We disapprove of, and have taken
concrete measures to prevent, shopping stops initiated by the guides or
drivers. During the tour we may patronize restaurants, museums and
theatres where a souvenir store is attached. These visits are not shopping
stops and Laurus Travel does not benefit from your purchases at such
establishments or anywhere else during the tour. We suggest you ignore the
merchandise, especially the expensive items, as prices at these stores
could be significantly inflated with no guarantee of good quality.
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Weather &
Temperatures China is a
vast country where climate is extremely diverse ranging from tropical
in the south to sub-arctic in the north. Generally speaking, the best
months to visit China are April, May, September and October.
Please refer to the chart below for mean
temperatures of major Chinese cities or
click here for current weather report and forecast of any Chinese
city. |
|
Mean Temperature (Celsius) of
Major Chinese Cities
(Celsius x 2 + 30 ≈ Fahrenheit)
| City |
Jan |
Feb |
Mar |
Apr |
May |
Jun |
Jul |
Aug |
Sep |
Oct |
Nov |
Dec |
| Beijing |
-4 |
-2 |
4 |
13 |
24 |
24 |
25 |
24 |
20 |
13 |
4 |
-3 |
| Chengdu |
6 |
8 |
12 |
17 |
26 |
24 |
26 |
25 |
22 |
17 |
12 |
7 |
| Chongqing |
8 |
10 |
14 |
18 |
22 |
25 |
29 |
29 |
25 |
18 |
14 |
10 |
| Guangzhou |
14 |
15 |
18 |
22 |
29 |
27 |
29 |
29 |
27 |
24 |
20 |
15 |
| Guilin |
8 |
9 |
13 |
18 |
29 |
26 |
29 |
28 |
26 |
21 |
15 |
10 |
| Hangzhou |
3 |
5 |
10 |
15 |
21 |
25 |
29 |
29 |
24 |
17 |
12 |
6 |
| Hohhot |
-15 |
-10 |
1 |
9 |
18 |
22 |
24 |
24 |
17 |
14 |
-10 |
-16 |
| Hongkong |
13 |
12 |
15 |
21 |
24 |
26 |
26 |
26 |
25 |
25 |
24 |
13 |
| Jinan/Qufu |
-1 |
-1 |
7 |
15 |
22 |
27 |
28 |
27 |
22 |
16 |
8 |
1 |
| Kunming |
8 |
10 |
13 |
17 |
19 |
20 |
20 |
19 |
18 |
15 |
11 |
8 |
| Lanzhou |
-7 |
-3 |
5 |
12 |
17 |
20 |
22 |
21 |
16 |
7 |
2 |
-6 |
| Lhasa |
-2 |
1 |
5 |
8 |
13 |
14 |
15 |
14 |
13 |
8 |
2 |
-2 |
| Nanjing |
2 |
4 |
8 |
15 |
20 |
25 |
29 |
28 |
23 |
14 |
11 |
4 |
| Shanghai |
3 |
4 |
8 |
14 |
17 |
24 |
28 |
28 |
24 |
16 |
13 |
6 |
| Tai'an |
-1 |
-1 |
7 |
15 |
22 |
27 |
28 |
27 |
22 |
16 |
8 |
1 |
| Urumqi |
-15 |
-10 |
1 |
10 |
19 |
25 |
25 |
24 |
18 |
-6 |
-10 |
-16 |
| Wuhan |
3 |
5 |
10 |
16 |
21 |
26 |
29 |
28 |
23 |
18 |
11 |
5 |
| Xi'an |
-3 |
2 |
8 |
14 |
20 |
26 |
27 |
26 |
20 |
13 |
7 |
1 |
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What
to Wear & Pack
Clients are advised to travel light. Please read our
Terms &
Conditions for baggage allowance and penalties for violations.
Bring casual clothes and comfortable walking
shoes. T-shirts, shorts and jeans are fine – you won’t offend anybody.
Clothes that can be worn in layers and easy to wash by hand are highly
recommended. Checked luggage allowance on intra-China flights is 20kg
(44lbs). Air Canada and United Airlines both limit passengers in economy
class to one piece of checked bag that must weigh no more than 23kg
(50lbs). Since you need some allowance for your souvenir purchases in
China, your suitcase itself and the contents inside should weigh less than
15kg when you leave home.
Overcoat or heavy jacket is not needed except
during winter (December - March). During the Yangtze cruise, a clean and
pressed shirt would be adequate for the captain's cocktail party and
farewell dinner. At no time during the tour is formal attire required. So,
no suit or fancy dress please.
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Health & Hygiene
You are not required of any inoculation certificate to enter China.
However, we do suggest you visit your family physician or a travel
medicine clinic to determine what precautions you should take. We
recommend inoculation shots for hepatitis A and B and suggest that you
check out advice provided by the US
CDC and
Health Canada.
Travellers going to Tibet, Zhongdian (Shangri-la)
and Kashgar are strongly advised to visit their family doctor a few weeks
before the trip to discuss if it is necessary to get on acetazolamide/Diamox,
which is believed to be an effective remedy for altitude sickness. The
altitudes of the above locations range from 3,300 metres (10,824 feet) to
4,700 metres (15,416 feet) above sea level.
Tap water in China is not safe to drink; bottled
water is readily available. Although food is prepared fresh and cooked or
cleaned thoroughly, stomach upsets are possible.
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Electricity
The standard in China is 220/240 volts AC, 50Hz. Two-pin and three-pin
sockets are in use. If you don't have proper plugs for your camera or
laptop computer, you can always borrow one from the hotel but it may be
necessary to bring your own power adaptor. Please check your device first.
BAGGAGE ALLOWANCE
During the tour each client is limited to one (1) piece of checked
luggage. Violation of this requirement will result in extra charges to
cover our handling and/or excess weight. Our handling charge is $25 per
piece per city or port. Charge for excess weight will be decided solely by
the airline at the time of check-in. According to the Chinese air
carriers, your checked luggage must weigh no more than 20kg (44 lbs). One
carry-on weighing no more than 5kg is allowed. The client must be able to
lift and comfortably transport their own luggage short distances as porter
service may not be available at all hotels, airports, train stations,
cruise and ferry terminals.
Maximum Size of Checked Baggage
Maximum dimensions should not exceed 100 x 60 x 40 in centimeters (39.5 x
23.5 x 15.75 in inches). Baggage exceeding the weight and/or size
limitations should be transported as freight.
Minimum Size and Weight of Checked Baggage
Minimum weight of each checked baggage should not be less than 2kg (4.4
lbs), and the minimum dimension should not be less than 30?0?0 in
centimeters or 12 x 4 x 8 in inches."
Air Canada and United Airlines both limit
passengers in economy class to one piece of checked bag that must weigh no
more than 23kg (50lbs). Since you need some allowance for your souvenir
purchases in China, your suitcase itself and the contents inside should
weigh less than 15kg when you leave home.
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|
China tours since 1998
