Viking China (Part 2)

[Peregrina651]

It is a long time until we are on our China trip. But I like to obsess early!

 

I'm with you, Recyclelady, early and often!! Thank heaven for Cruise Critic.

 

I'm a big fan of Custom Air. We would have been routed through Hong Kong to Shanghai if we had not done Custom Air--and it didn't cost us any extra (guess we lucked out on that).

 

BTW, allow more like three hours to check in at ORD (O'Hare). The lines are long and there is a lot of ground to cover between security and the gates themselves. Boarding starts about 40 minutes before departure. IMHO, better to sit waiting at the gate than do an OJ through the airport.

[Peregrina651]

 

Someone on another thread mentioned this magazine article in Virtuoso Life. I read the first page of it and decided to share the link.

[Turtles06]

 

Someone on another thread mentioned this magazine article in Virtuoso Life. I read the first page of it and decided to share the link.

 

Great article (and great publicity for Viking). Thanks for sharing the link.

[kbert92069]

Don't nickel and dime yourself here, pay for Custom Air .....

 

We decided to follow this advice and that of many others here and went ahead and paid for the custom air. Basically that gave us the right to talk to their air people.

 

Fortunately our TA isn't too far away and we could be there on speaker phone when he called. It ended up costing half again the fare altogether but in return we got non-stop one way (in the other direction there were no non-stop flights possible) got a later more reasonable times leaving Bejing (as recommended here) and leaving LAX so we can drive up same day and upgraded to the Plus seating on United flights both ways so have a little more room to stretch.

 

We're glad we did this and feel it was worth it and we got good value going through Viking. These discussion have been quite helpful in achieving that.

 

Karl

[Kodi'smom]

I have been putting off writing this for the last few weeks as we had many negative comments of our China Cultural Delights trip to China. There were also many positives so I'll start there:

1. Hotel accommodations: all outstanding, we stayed in Westin Bund in Shanghai, Westin in Beijing, Shangri la in all other locations. Everyone we talked to from the other hotels were equally satisfied.

 

2. major sites visited were also wonderful ie; Great Wall, Forbidden City, Bell Museum (outstanding), Terra Cotta Warriors (outstanding)

 

3. Chinese people were charming and as interested in us as we were in them. Small children trying out their "hello" on us.

 

4. Inter China airports and planes were very modern and efficient. The planes had larger seats than most of ours.

 

5. Viking's logistical efforts were outstanding. Everything was planned and executed with fine precision.

 

6. The guide you are appointed from Viking is knowledgeable about eastern and western cultures and will answer any question intelligently and philosophically. Our guide was Simon and he was the best guide I've ever experienced but everyone said the same thing of their guide.

 

7. Hotel buffet breakfasts were extremely good with great variety. If you don't like your breakfast it's your own fault.

 

And now for the negatives:

1. China is horribly polluted. They will call it fog but the US embassy has it's own monitoring equipment and on a day Beijing reported the air particulate level as "fair" the US embassy monitored "hazardous"

 

2. We went in cooler November when the temperature is a lot more moderate and the humidity is a killer. We didn't have a problem with the boat but hotels in China can't cool and heat at the same time so if your hotel has the heat on you can't effectively aircondition your room. It wasn't too crazy hot in November but the rooms in 2 hotels were uncomfortable (82 which we attempted to reduce to 65) and when we called the concierge the best they could manage was about 72.

 

3. Filth everywhere except the main attractions.

 

4. food on the boat (except the buffet breakfast) was only just passable, and for many meals just edible. Food in local restaurants with the exception of a very good dim sum in the silk carpet factory was not good. Two meals offered, my husband and I chose not to eat and instead ate some granola bars I had in my purse. One lunch was in a restaurant/hotel where the carpets were so filthy you could barely make out the design on it.

[Kodi'smom]

continued:

 

5. The lower Yangtze is a work horse river which is far from beautiful. Other than no more than 2 or 3 attractive boats we passed, the other boats numbering in the hundreds were either rusty old tubs or equally ugly barges. The only 2 days on the river where the scenery was either beautiful or interesting were the days we went through the Three Gorges Dam and our day cruising in the Three Gorges vicinity.

 

If I could go back in time with the knowledge I now have:

1. don't fret about which direction you go Shanghai to Beijing or the reverse. The Pandas you see on the one direction aren't worth the trek (although many people reported the zoo as deplorable and we were very impressed with it)

 

2. I would have started in Beijing and taken 2 extra days before the tour started to tour the city on your own. You see very little of it and it looked like an amazing city.

 

3. On the day you have a choice do the caves not the city. Our guide had us believe it was much more strenuous than it was and we made a bad choice selecting the city.

 

Of Interest:

1. takes cough drops and cipro and only the medical supplies you would normally take on a vacation. Most things can be found there and you will not be eating unhealthy food or put in suspicious circumstances.

 

2. most of the sites have stone surfaces for sidewalks which are very slippery. Because of the humidity they are always slippery, not just in the rain. Take shoes with good grips.

 

3. This holiday is not too strenuous. Many in our tour group were very overweight and many had health issues. There were a couple of sites with many stairs but both sites had a place to wait for the group to return. the walking, although in some cases quite far, was at an extremely leisurely pace.

 

4. The shorter cruise, Imperial Jewels, with some added days in Beijing would be much better then the longer cruise with the lower heavily industrial river.

 

5. Take the Hong Kong extension if you can. The day on the Li river is one of the most idyllic days I've ever spent and Hong Kong is wonderful.

 

6. I hauled my Canon Rebel with all the lenses on this trip. I had bought a new Canon Powershot SX230 with 14x optical zoom but didn't trust it's capabilities against the Rebel. I decided I didn't want to get all that way and regret not having my old reliable with me. To sum it up the Rebel was used for the first half day and from then on never even came out with me. My pictures are excellent with the added bonus that a few times I took pictures of people playing instruments or cultural activities with sound and the new camera shot movies with sound.

 

7. We did the two "optional" evenings. The Tang Dynasty Dinner Show was worth the money. It was eye appealing, food was good (not great), the orchestra of ancient instruments was pleasant to listen to. For the money, great. The Peking Opera was, let's just say it was a cultural experience. You wouldn't call it enjoyable, even the modern day Chinese don't enjoy it. If you are looking for beauty in music you won't find it here. For all the complaining about the Peking Duck at the Opera night I found it quite decent. There are many other dishes for dinner as well and the food quality was good for the money. If you compare what you pay for a dinner show back home it's not overpriced. If I could do it again I would do the Tang Show and possibly not the Opera, however, I don't regret the experience.

 

8. The boat is very attractive with decent size rooms and hotel style mattresses, pillows, and bedding. For me the comfort of the bed and pillows is extremely important and the Emerald gets full marks for this. In fact it gets full marks for everything except the food. The service is as you expect on a cruise, the wait staff are charming and attentive.

 

The reason I left this review for awhile before writing it was the pollution every day, the filth, and less than acceptable food was very fresh in my mind and I wanted to leave this until I could put everything into proper perspective. This was our first river cruise after about 25 ocean cruises. When we first returned we vowed to never take another river cruise but after some time to rethink our experience we have decided it was not Vikings fault and except for the food they can hardly be blamed for filth and pollution. We will try another river cruise with Viking, but I think we are more the Amsterdam to Budapest kind of travellers with beautiful scenery from the ship, fine cuisine, wonderful music, and luxury. Life is too short to put up with discomfort.

[caribill]

I have been putting off writing this for the last few weeks as we had many negative comments of our China Cultural Delights trip to China.

 

Thanks for your very honest report.

 

We did the "Imperial Jewels" tour last year in August so our experience was a littele different than yours.

 

We did Shanghai to Beijing and thus did see the Pandas and were very glad that we did. It was a highlight for us. We also did not find the zoo deplorable.

 

We were fortunate in that there was very little smog. Two pictures from Shanghai are below. Also below is a picture from the Great wall. The fourth picture is in Beijing. Can you compare your smog experience with these?

 

Of course in August it was hot. The hottest day was in Shabioshai where the inside stairs climbing the pagoda were especially hot.

 

A year ago it was a different boat (the Century Sun). We enjoyed the food on the boat and appreciated the variety of choice with both Chinese and western style food served.

 

I agree 110% about the Viking Guide and the logistics.

 

The only site that we would have liked more time at was the Shanghai Museum.

 

However, our tour had to skip the bell museum in Wuhan as the river was too high for the ship to go there and we had to spend extra hours on a bus to get to where we could board the ship.

 

We agree with you on the two optional dinners. We did the T'ang Dynesty show and enjoyed it. We skipped the Chinese Opera, but those that did go essentially said a root canal would have been a better choice.

 

Again, thanks for your report.

Edited December 29, 2011 by caribill

[caribill]

We were fortunate in that there was very little smog. Two pictures from Shanghai are below. Also below is a picture from the Great wall. The fourth picture is in Beijing. Can you compare your smog experience With those?

 

 

 

Don't know what happened to the pictures, so they are here now. Click on them for a larger view.

Edited December 29, 2011 by caribill

[Kodi'smom]

Don't know what happened to the pictures, so they are here now. Click on them for a larger view.

No comparison! When we drove from the airport to the hotel in Shanghai the traffic had to go slowly as you could barely see one car length ahead. The Great Wall is not fair as it was legitimate fog, Beijing was the same white sky but you could only see one building ahead of your hotel. I am a reasonable photographer so I tried to utilize the smog in my photos to add some mystery and asian flair!!!! I will dig through my photos and post a couple of examples. One thing I forgot to mention was the Black Sesame Kitchen. Our taxi sent us the wrong direction on foot, so after about 10 minutes I thought something wasn't right. We stopped a young couple (if you need help the youth often speak some English) and they decided they had enough time to personally walk us to the restaurant. They delivered us on foot to the restaurant where we had the best Chinese dinner of our lives. This is just one example of the positive experience we had with Chinese people.

[meddykay]

No comparison! When we drove from the airport to the hotel in Shanghai the traffic had to go slowly as you could barely see one car length ahead. The Great Wall is not fair as it was legitimate fog' date=' Beijing was the same white sky but you could only see one building ahead of your hotel. I am a reasonable photographer so I tried to utilize the smog in my photos to add some mystery and asian flair!!!! I will dig through my photos and post a couple of examples. One thing I forgot to mention was the Black Sesame Kitchen. Our taxi sent us the wrong direction on foot, so after about 10 minutes I thought something wasn't right. We stopped a young couple (if you need help the youth often speak some English) and they decided they had enough time to personally walk us to the restaurant. They delivered us on foot to the restaurant where we had the best Chinese dinner of our lives. This is just one example of the positive experience we had with Chinese people.[/quote']

 

Where is the Black Sesame Kitchen? I'd like to put it on my list for next April's cruise.

[Turtles06]

One thing I forgot to mention was the Black Sesame Kitchen. Our taxi sent us the wrong direction on foot' date=' so after about 10 minutes I thought something wasn't right. We stopped a young couple (if you need help the youth often speak some English) and they decided they had enough time to personally walk us to the restaurant. They delivered us on foot to the restaurant where we had the best Chinese dinner of our lives. This is just one example of the positive experience we had with Chinese people.[/quote']

 

So happy to hear you loved Black Sesame Kitchen as much as we did!! I feel like I've started a little eating trend here on this thread, to the good!:)

 

Meddykay, I'm on my cell phone so can't easily get the info for you, but just Google Black Sesame Kitchen and you'll get their website. They are a cooking school in the hutongs of Beijng, but you can arrange a private dinner there. To say it's worth it is an understatement. Not only the best Chinese food we've ever eaten, but one of the best meals, period.

[Turtles06]

 

 

This was our first river cruise after about 25 ocean cruises. When we first returned we vowed to never take another river cruise but after some time to rethink our experience we have decided it was not Vikings fault and except for the food they can hardly be blamed for filth and pollution. We will try another river cruise with Viking' date=' but I think we are more the Amsterdam to Budapest kind of travellers with beautiful scenery from the ship, fine cuisine, wonderful music, and luxury. Life is too short to put up with discomfort.[/quote']

 

Welcome back; thanks for posting your review and adding to the wealth of knowledge on here. I'm sorry you reacted as you did to China. I'd go back again if it weren't so far away.....

 

 

 

If I could go back in time with the knowledge I now have:

 

....

2. I would have started in Beijing and taken 2 extra days before the tour started to tour the city on your own. You see very little of it and it looked like an amazing city. ....

 

I wanted to flag your comment above for those planning their trips. We started in Bejing specifically so that we could spend several days there before the Viking tour started and while we were still "fresh;" it was one of the most interesting cities we've ever visited' date=' and our three days there before the Viking tour were absolutely fantastic.

 

I posted a summary of what we did on our own in Beijing (and with a private guide) when we returned. Because it's on the now-closed original "Viking China" thread, I'm re-posting it here for future travelers who may not find it on the old, really long thread. (Also, MeddyKay, there's info about Black Sesame Kitchen):

 

 

As I noted in my Imperial Jewels post-trip comments above, my partner and I spent several days in Beijing prior to the start of the Viking tour. Specifically, we arrived late on a Thursday afternoon; Viking “Day One” was Sunday. This gave us Thursday evening as well as all day Friday, Saturday, and Sunday on our own. We used that time to see some places of interest to us that were not included in the Viking tour as well as to have two fantastic dinners. By the time the Viking tour started, we’d already had a wonderful time Beijing. In a snapshot, here’s what we did:

 

Hotel and night one. Viking had us in the Ritz Carlton Financial Street, which is a fine hotel but a bit removed from the center of the city. For purposes of convenience, we opted to spend our first three nights at the Grand Hyatt, a fabulous hotel that is only a ten-minute walk to Tiananmen Square and very close to two subway stops. (It’s a pricey hotel but we got a great AARP rate many months in advance.) After we settled in on Thursday, we walked over to Tiananmen Square for the evening flag lowering ceremony at sunset. It’s an impressive ritual – all traffic is stopped on the avenue between the Square and the Forbidden City, a platoon of soldiers marches over from the Forbidden City and the flag in the Square is then lowered and meticulously folded. There were thousands of people on hand, mostly Chinese. The minute the ceremony was over, soldiers ushered everyone out of the square and locked it down. It was amazing. Welcome to China. (There’s also a daily flag raising ceremony at sunrise, but we weren’t up early enough for that!) BTW, you have to go through airport-like security to enter the Square. We saw Chinese men being wanded, but apparently the police did not feel that two middle-aged western women were any sort of threat, and all we needed to do was put our bags through the x-ray machine.

 

Friday and Saturday. Although Beijing is do-able on your own (the subway is easy to use, and taxis are plentiful and cheap, though be sure to have your destination written in Chinese as the drivers don’t speak English), we opted to hire a private guide for these two days in order to ease our getting around quickly and maximize what we were able to see. After some research here on CC and on Trip Advisor, we hired Sunflower Lee (sunflower9811@hotmailDOTcom). Aptly nicknamed “Sunflower” for her wonderful disposition, Lee was great and took excellent care of us; it was like spending two days with a friend. If we ever went back to China, we would not hesitate to hire her again, which is as good a recommendation as we can give. We planned our itinerary in advance with her, and adjusted it once we were in Beijing.

 

On Friday morning, we met Lee at our hotel and took the subway to the Temple of Heaven Park, which was one of the highlights of our time in Beijing. (I would strongly recommend seeing this during any free time you have before or after the Viking trip.) Apart from the famous Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests and other buildings, what made this place so special is that retirees gather there in the morning in groups to dance, sing, practice Tai Chi, do calisthenics, play chess, etc. So different from Americans. It’s a very happy place; we joined a line dance, and we easily could have spent the day there.

 

But we didn’t as we had more to do – we walked back through the Park to the subway and took it to the Lama Temple, also well worth seeing, particularly the 26-meter-high Buddha carved from a single piece of white sandalwood. Lee then took us to lunch at a local dim sum restaurant, a wonderful place we’d never have found on our own. By the time we’d finished eating, it was well into the afternoon; jet lag had hit us and a rest was in order. Back to our hotel for a couple of hours (including a swim in the Hyatt’s extraordinary pool, worthy of Las Vegas).

 

We had a dinner reservation that evening at Black Sesame Kitchen (described below), located in the hutongs; the directions to the place were complicated, and Lee insisted on meeting us later that afternoon to escort us there. On the way, Lee took us around one of the beautiful lakes in the middle of the city, and then gave us a walking tour through the hutongs before seeing us off at Black Sesame Kitchen. (Walking through the hutongs at night after dinner on our own was another memorable experience, as we watched local residents out and about buying food from stalls, etc.)

 

On Saturday morning, as planned, Lee met us with a car and driver and we drove out to the Great Wall at Mutianyu. This section of the Wall is about a 90-120 minute drive from Beijing (depending on traffic), and a far less visited part of the Wall than is Badaling, where you will go with Viking. Also, unlike Badaling, where you drive right up to the Wall, at Mutianyu you have to take a cable car up to the Wall. We spent several hours on the Wall at Mutianyu, and the whole experience was absolutely spectacular. We enjoyed Badaling with Viking as well. The two sections of the Wall are different enough that we were very glad to have been able to visit both, and we were particularly happy to enjoy Mutianyu at our own pace.

 

On our way back into Beijing, we stopped to walk around the Olympic Park. We’d read that the Viking buses sometimes slow down here for a photo op (ours did as it turned out), but we wanted to actually walk around the Bird’s Nest. Not surprisingly, it was even more impressive in person than on TV. Lee told us it was not worth the money to go inside the stadium. We went anyway (stubborn Americans!) and realized she was correct. As impressive as it is outside, that’s how ordinary the stadium is inside. So don’t waste your money going inside. (That night, we had a great Peking Duck dinner at Made in China, described below.)

 

On Sunday, truly on our own now, we moved over to the Ritz Carlton, got settled in there, and then took a taxi over to Beihai Park, a huge imperial garden in the center of the city. The park has a beautiful, large lake, and throngs of Beijingers were out on pedal boats, strolling the grounds, picnicking, and having a wonderful Sunday afternoon. There are many pavilions in the Park, and one of the highlights of the Park is the White Dagoba, built on an island in the lake. You climb up a very long, steep set of stairs to get there, and are rewarded with wonderful views of Beijing. Overall, during the course of our time in Beijing, we were struck by how much beautiful green space and water there is in this city.

 

Two great meals. Thanks to the recommendation from a “foodie” friend and the good fortune to be in Beijing on a Friday, and having made reservations months in advance, we were able to enjoy the “Friday Wine ‘N Dine” private dinner at Black Sesame Kitchen (http://www.blacksesamekitchen.com), located in the hutongs. This is a cooking school opened by Jen Lin-Liu, but on Friday nights, there’s no school, just cooking, and a maximum of 20 lucky people get to enjoy a ten-course gourmet Chinese meal made by two extraordinary chefs in the two-wok kitchen right in front of you (watching the cooking is part of the fun!) and served family style over the course of three hours, with all the wine or soda you care to drink. It was not only the best Chinese food we have ever eaten (including the most perfect dumplings we’ve ever had), it was one of the best meals we have ever eaten, anywhere, period. If you are going to have a free night in Beijing on a Friday, we can’t recommend this highly enough. (Reserve as early as you can!) It’s a meal we’ll remember forever. I’m getting hungry just typing this.

 

On Saturday, we ate dinner at Made in China, one of Beijing’s best-known Peking Duck restaurants, and conveniently located in the Grand Hyatt where we were staying. We’d made a reservation in advance through the concierge, who pre-ordered half a duck for us. This was sufficient for two people, along with a couple of other dishes. You can see the ducks roasting in the open kitchen, and of course your duck is expertly carved table-side for you and served with pancakes, plum sauce, green onions, celery, garlic (great on the meat) and sugar (excellent with the skin). It was delicious, as were the other dishes we’d ordered, and the service was fine.

 

Beijing is an amazing city, and we had a wonderful time there even before the Viking tour started. If anyone has specific questions, just ask.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=29264391&postcount=4680

[Viking Cruises]

continued:

 

5. The lower Yangtze is a work horse river which is far from beautiful. Other than no more than 2 or 3 attractive boats we passed' date=' the other boats numbering in the hundreds were either rusty old tubs or equally ugly barges. The only 2 days on the river where the scenery was either beautiful or interesting were the days we went through the Three Gorges Dam and our day cruising in the Three Gorges vicinity.

 

If I could go back in time with the knowledge I now have:

1. don't fret about which direction you go Shanghai to Beijing or the reverse. The Pandas you see on the one direction aren't worth the trek (although many people reported the zoo as deplorable and we were very impressed with it)

 

2. I would have started in Beijing and taken 2 extra days before the tour started to tour the city on your own. You see very little of it and it looked like an amazing city.

 

3. On the day you have a choice do the caves not the city. Our guide had us believe it was much more strenuous than it was and we made a bad choice selecting the city.

 

Of Interest:

1. takes cough drops and cipro and only the medical supplies you would normally take on a vacation. Most things can be found there and you will not be eating unhealthy food or put in suspicious circumstances.

 

2. most of the sites have stone surfaces for sidewalks which are very slippery. Because of the humidity they are always slippery, not just in the rain. Take shoes with good grips.

 

3. This holiday is not too strenuous. Many in our tour group were very overweight and many had health issues. There were a couple of sites with many stairs but both sites had a place to wait for the group to return. the walking, although in some cases quite far, was at an extremely leisurely pace.

 

4. The shorter cruise, Imperial Jewels, with some added days in Beijing would be much better then the longer cruise with the lower heavily industrial river.

 

5. Take the Hong Kong extension if you can. The day on the Li river is one of the most idyllic days I've ever spent and Hong Kong is wonderful.

 

6. I hauled my Canon Rebel with all the lenses on this trip. I had bought a new Canon Powershot SX230 with 14x optical zoom but didn't trust it's capabilities against the Rebel. I decided I didn't want to get all that way and regret not having my old reliable with me. To sum it up the Rebel was used for the first half day and from then on never even came out with me. My pictures are excellent with the added bonus that a few times I took pictures of people playing instruments or cultural activities with sound and the new camera shot movies with sound.

 

7. We did the two "optional" evenings. The Tang Dynasty Dinner Show was worth the money. It was eye appealing, food was good (not great), the orchestra of ancient instruments was pleasant to listen to. For the money, great. The Peking Opera was, let's just say it was a cultural experience. You wouldn't call it enjoyable, even the modern day Chinese don't enjoy it. If you are looking for beauty in music you won't find it here. For all the complaining about the Peking Duck at the Opera night I found it quite decent. There are many other dishes for dinner as well and the food quality was good for the money. If you compare what you pay for a dinner show back home it's not overpriced. If I could do it again I would do the Tang Show and possibly not the Opera, however, I don't regret the experience.

 

8. The boat is very attractive with decent size rooms and hotel style mattresses, pillows, and bedding. For me the comfort of the bed and pillows is extremely important and the Emerald gets full marks for this. In fact it gets full marks for everything except the food. The service is as you expect on a cruise, the wait staff are charming and attentive.

 

The reason I left this review for awhile before writing it was the pollution every day, the filth, and less than acceptable food was very fresh in my mind and I wanted to leave this until I could put everything into proper perspective. This was our first river cruise after about 25 ocean cruises. When we first returned we vowed to never take another river cruise but after some time to rethink our experience we have decided it was not Vikings fault and except for the food they can hardly be blamed for filth and pollution. We will try another river cruise with Viking, but I think we are more the Amsterdam to Budapest kind of travellers with beautiful scenery from the ship, fine cuisine, wonderful music, and luxury. Life is too short to put up with discomfort.[/quote']

 

Dear Kodi’smom,

 

Thank you for writing a review of your trip. We are happy to hear you had an overall enjoyable experience, except for the onboard meals. Your feedback is greatly appreciated and if you would like to provide us with details so that we can consider changes for next season, please email us at TellUs@vikingrivercruises.com. We look forward to hearing from you.

 

Kind regards,

 

Viking River Cruises

[Kodi'smom]

While in China we bought some great souvenirs. While in Shanghai we went to the pearl market and bought some great large gold coloured salt water pearls. Still expensive but less than half what I could ever get them for at home, I've since had them valued and been told they were a great price. Now on this item our guide erred but luckily we didn't listen to him. He told us to wait until we got to Hong Kong as the jewellery was a better quality and price. We checked out the store he recommended and it was much more expensive than the string we bought in Shanghai.

 

We also bought a bronze Terra Cotta Warrior bust in the Xian museum store. They shipped it back to Canada and it arrived 2 weeks after we returned home in perfect condition. It was about $1900. but for a bronze this isn't bad and it is stunning. We also brought back 2 6" warriors which came free with the bronze.

 

We bought one Mao watch as a gag but it only worked for 1 day. From that point on we decided we didn't go all that way to bring back cheap knock-offs. Some of our smaller items included large silk kites very reasonably priced that pack flat and weigh nothing. Silk kimono wine jackets which worked out to about $1.50 - $2.00 each and were a huge hit with neighbours and as Christmas wine bags. Jade medallions from the Jade market in Hong Kong which were about $2.00 each and were about a 2" diameter and carved in Zodiac shapes (dragon, rabbit, snake, etc). They look smashing on a black cord and worn as a pendant. We also brought back fans and paper sun umbrellas. Also in the Jade Market in Shanghai we bought "chops" these are like a wax seal we use to seal envelopes but with your western name carved into the surface in Chinese characters. In a nice silk box with ink they were about $10.00 each. The stone ones were the cheapest, slightly more expensive were the wood and verdigris copper ones. Everyone loves this more personal gift. We have some little girls next door and we brought them back some colourful floral Chinese headresses which they love. Lastly we bought some lots and lots and lots of tea chrysanthemums. We pay a lot for these and we bought them for about .50 each. For those of you that have never heard of them, they are round greenish brown balls that when dropped in hot water open up like huge pink or yellow flowers. The tea is both beautiful and very tasty. They are quite a novelty for your tea drinking friends. I also brought back little silk gift bags to put the gifts in.

 

Hope this helps at least one of you with trips still in the planning stage.

[Turtles06]

We bought one Mao watch as a gag but it only worked for 1 day. From that point on we decided we didn't go all that way to bring back cheap knock-offs.

 

 

A whole day? You got a good one! :)

 

We brought several back with the full knowledge that waving Mao watches were a unique souvenir for the right people, not timepieces....;)

[TMLAalum]

For those who've taken Viking's Roof of the World tour, what were the highlights and why did you select this itinerary over China's Cultural Delights?

 

I'm leaning toward the latter, but my BIL's brother who's been to Tibet suggests that it's a once-in-a-lifetime destination that shouldn't be missed if there's an opportunity to visit.

 

Thanks for all input-

[caribill]

For those who've taken Viking's Roof of the World tour, what were the highlights and why did you select this itinerary over China's Cultural Delights?

 

I'm leaning toward the latter, but my BIL's brother who's been to Tibet suggests that it's a once-in-a-lifetime destination that shouldn't be missed if there's an opportunity to visit.

 

 

We did not do the Roof of the World tour, but your BIL's brother has summarized it perfectly.

[seanf]

... destination that shouldn't be missed if there's an opportunity to visit

This says it all. I went on a Roof of the World tour and was so glad that I chose it over the others

 

Sean :)

[ruthlynn]

Thank you, Kodismom, for all of the valuable information. We are going on the Roof of the World tour October 8...leaving a couple of days early. Planning on making reservations at Black Sesame Kitchen...have read lots of good things about it. Did you have problems with baggage with the intraChina flights? Just one bag plus a carry-on for each person or did you have more than one bag? We are also taking the extended trip to Hong Kong. Thanks again for all of the information.

[Peregrina651]

Thank you, Kodismom, for all of the valuable information. We are going on the Roof of the World tour October 8...leaving a couple of days early. Planning on making reservations at Black Sesame Kitchen...have read lots of good things about it. Did you have problems with baggage with the intraChina flights? Just one bag plus a carry-on for each person or did you have more than one bag? We are also taking the extended trip to Hong Kong. Thanks again for all of the information.

 

Ruthlynn, word is that unlike the other China itineraries, the baggage restrictions are strictly enforced on the Tibet itinerary because of the airport in Tibet. So, while many of us have reported no problems with carrying multiple carry-ons on the intra-China flights, it is because we were not going to Tibet. We would hate for you to follow the advice of those of us who have not been to Tibet only to find that the restrictions are strictly enforced. That would really ruin your trip.

 

Perhaps someone who has done the Tibet itinerary could chime in about baggage restrictions.

Edited January 2, 2012 by Peregrina651

[seanf]

Perhaps someone who has done the Tibet itinerary could chime in about baggage restrictions

Tibet was the same as all other flights, it is Hong Kong that has tighter baggage restrictions

 

Sean :)

[pacmom]

Thank you all for the good wishes for DH's knee surgery. We are really excited about this trip. There have been so many good tips that I have filed away for Oct. Pat

[TMLAalum]

This says it all. I went on a Roof of the World tour and was so glad that I chose it over the others

 

Sean :)

 

Were you affected by the altitude in Lhasa? We are skiers and get a bit short of breath with physical exertion such as lugging our skis and boots to the lodge at about 10k feet elevation. DH is about to become a septugenarian and I'm midway to that decade- we're in decent physical shape. e.g. just climbed to the top of the Xunantunich ruin in Belize- are there any caveats against seniors doing this tour?

 

Thanks!

[seanf]

Were you affected by the altitude in Lhasa?

I wasn't apart from feeling a little short of breath for an hour or so when first arriving and sometimes when going from inside to outside (or vice versa) and when showering. I should point out though that I was a lot younger than every other member of my group (I am in my late 20s) and other people did struggle and some needed help from the on-site hotel Doctor. I would not let this put you off though because it was such a fantastic place to visit. Just take it easy and know that your Tour Guide will really go the extra mile to look after you and will be there if you need any help

 

Sean :)

[Jaxlady]

Hi everyone. My Husband and I are going on the Viking Emerald June 1,2012, for the Imperial Jewels of China tour. This is our first river cruise after many cruises. Do they give you time to get cleaned up for dinner? I know it is casual. Also going in the summer, do you need bug repellent?

 

Thanks for information:)