Viking China (Part 2)

[xlxo]

When getting SIM's in Hong Kong and China..... I found China Unicomm worked with my unlocked North American phones on my trip 7 years ago.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China_Unicom

 

Other branded SIM's work give me voice, but not data.

 

I'm curious what brands worked, and did not work, for others.

[ProFun1]

Has anyone used a MiFi and SIM in China?

I'm looking at a few different Huawei devices (5330 (3G), 5573 (4G)). Best I can tell, the 4G won't work so it seems like we might as well get the slightly cheaper 3G model.

 

We're also looking at SIM cards and thinking about getting a Hong Kong card to get around any China firewall issues - I think the only thing we might use that may be blocked is Google Maps.

 

We just returned from the first "Imperial Jewels of China' trip of the season (Feb. 24 through Mar. 10, 2017). Loved it!

 

We didn't use MiFi or a SIM (we used our own Samsung Galaxy/Verizon cell phones), but we got around the "Great Firewall of China" by purchasing and installing a VPN on all of our devices before we left for China. The one we used is ExpressVPN, which is highly rated and very easy to use. We had no trouble accessing Google, Facebook, Gmail, LinkedIn, or any other site when we were connected to the VPN. We only used it when we had access to WiFi, because we didn't want to incur any roaming charges. There was a slight possibility that I would need to do a Skype conference call while on our trip, so I needed the connectivity. On the whole, I used my smartphone mainly as a camera and sparingly for everything else. It was refreshing.

 

I'll post more reflections on our experiences soon. Enjoy your trip!!!

Edited March 22, 2017 by ProFun1
Posted before I finished.(sorry)

[rpfin]

We are on the Viking Roof of the World trip, April 11, 2017 Beijing to Shanghai, staying at the Regent in Beijing. Would like recommendations for a quick dinner near the hotel for the day we arrive.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[divot33]

We;re doing the Imperial Jewels trip - are their opportunities to do alternate things on our own?

 

We're on the Shanghai to Beijing trip and might like to swap out and/or add a few things:

 

- In Wuhan, we'd be interested in adding a tour of the city. If we could do both, we'd do the Viking stuff (museum and bells) and add a tour on our own. If both aren't possible, we might choose to go on our own. Possible?

- Jinngzhou - instead of the school tour, could we find a local guide and do something on our own?

- Xian - maybe skip the Tang Dynasty dinner and do a night tour of the town?

- Beijing - seems like it would be easy to skip the Viking things at night (duck dinner which is optional anyway, and the Kung Fu show)

 

Overall, I guess we aren't as interested in the 'entertainment' options as we are seeing the towns and architecture.

 

Thoughts?

[Mark_T]

Yes, you can certainly arrange your own activities and yes the evening events are the easiest ones to skip but do be aware that you often have little time between the afternoon and evening activities so do allow some time to eat if you are trading out a dining event for a tour...

 

Jinngzhou didn't appear to offer very much as a cultural alternative and I'm not sure how easy it would be to find a local guide as it didn't seem to be a 'tourist' type destination.

 

In Wuhan the amount of free time you have depends a bit on which direction you are sailing, if you are going from Shanghai to Beijing then the ship will be sailing in the evening so you'll need to check the times carefully (in the other direction you spend the night there so time is more flexible).

[caribill]

We;re doing the Imperial Jewels trip - are their opportunities to do alternate things on our own?

 

We're on the Shanghai to Beijing trip and might like to swap out and/or add a few things:

 

- In Wuhan, we'd be interested in adding a tour of the city. If we could do both, we'd do the Viking stuff (museum and bells) and add a tour on our own. If both aren't possible, we might choose to go on our own. Possible?

 

After flying to Wuhan, there may be very little actual time spent there. Most likely after the museum/bells, by the time you get to the ship it will be close to dinner time.

 

Of course you will not know what time your flight arrives until you have started the Viking tour in Shanghai.

 

(When we did the tour, due to river water heights, the ship could not make it to Wuhan. We had to go straight from the airport to where the ship had been able to go without seeing the museum/bells.)

[caribill]

- Jinngzhou - instead of the school tour, could we find a local guide and do something on our own?

 

 

Jinngzhou didn't appear to offer very much as a cultural alternative and I'm not sure how easy it would be to find a local guide as it didn't seem to be a 'tourist' type destination.

 

 

Actually, the school visit is quite interesting. The differences between that school and ones we are used to at home are substantial.

 

By the way, the tour from the boat goes in the morning and as soon as it returns, the boat resumes sailing on the Yangtze. If you do anything independently, you must be back at the boat by the time the Viking tours return.

[Mark_T]

After flying to Wuhan, there may be very little actual time spent there. Most likely after the museum/bells, by the time you get to the ship it will be close to dinner time.

 

Of course you will not know what time your flight arrives until you have started the Viking tour in Shanghai.

 

The itinerary seems a little different now, people fly to Wuhan on day 3, and yes, on that day there will be little to no time before dinner, but on day 4 there is only the museum/bells and the itinerary shows sailing in the evening...

[divot33]

The itinerary seems a little different now, people fly to Wuhan on day 3, and yes, on that day there will be little to no time before dinner, but on day 4 there is only the museum/bells and the itinerary shows sailing in the evening...

 

Thank you, all!

 

Yes, the current itinerary (Shanghai to Beijing) shows us flying to Wuhan on the 3rd day and the museum/bells on the morning of the 4th day.

 

Sounds like we might be best just looking at side excursions only in Shanghai, Xi'an, and Beijing - which sounds good to me.

 

31 days until we leave!

[divot33]

We just got back from our Imperial Jewels trip this morning. It was an amazing vacation; so much more than we expected.

 

A few overall comments:

- We did the Shanghai to Beijing itinerary

- We skipped the Yuyan Gardens and Silk Factory tour and went to Shanghai Disneyland instead.

- Took the Metro there and back and it was very easy.

- Locals helped us when we had questions and when my wife's card didn't work at a turnstile. A local saw us struggling and came over and scanned her card so we could get through.

- Jane, our Viking guide, was worried about us being out so long. We had told her we wouldn't be back in time for dinner or the acrobat show. When we didn't make the dinner, she had the food sent to our room. Very sweet.

 

- The weather was very hot and very humid. Record setting temperatures in some of the cities. The highest we had was 105 at the Shibaozhai Temple and in Xi'an.

 

- We didn't see much smog until Beijing. The day we did Tianenmen Square and Forbidden City was the worst day. You could taste the air.

 

- We won't be going out for Chinese food any time soon. Many of the meals had the same dishes: sweet and sour pork/chicken/beef, kung pao chicken, dumplings, buns, noodles, watermellon/dragon fruit, etc. Many of the dishes were pretty bland. For the most part, the best food was on the ship.

 

- The Yangtze was high so we couldn't board the boat in Wuhan. We took a 3 hour bus ride from Wuhan to Yueyang. I actually enjoyed seeing the country from the bus, too.

 

- We liked the school visit. The kids were very sweet. It was a Saturday and some still came in to meet us. It started to rain lightly as we were leaving and we had umbrellas out. Some of the girls ran to catch up to us and walked under our umbrellas. When we got to the exit of the schoolyard, parents were waiting for the kids. One of the grandmothers came over and grabbed our arms and thanked us for keeping her granddaughter dry.

 

- The Three Gorges were stunning. There was heavy fog before we got to the first lock prior to the scenic part. We had to anchor overnight then go through the lock in the morning. The fog cleared out and we had pretty clear days through the Gorges.

 

- We had an afternoon flight out of Chongqing, so we were able to visit the zoo and see the pandas. The three cubs were out playing and it was so much fun to watch. We also saw 5 or 6 adults, most of them were up and moving around. We had great timing and it was very different from any panda experience we had before where you just saw them sleeping.

 

- The Terracotta Warriors were a highlight, too. You can't really get the scope of it until you see it in person. It is a long walk back to the buses, so save some water. I wanted to buy some cheap warriors from the street vendors, but it was so hectic that I decided it wasn't worth it.

 

- We wanted to do Black Sesame Kitchen on our first night in Beijing. I couldn't get my credit card to work with AliPay, so we weren't able to put down a deposit. BSK said it was their slow season, so we could just pay when we got there. Our flight was delayed a bit, then we had the Hutong tour (that was unscheduled, but we were still able to do it), so we couldn't make it to BSK. We could have skipped the Hutong tour to do BSK but we felt the Hutong was a better choice. We ended up loving the rickshaw ride and put it up pretty high on our 'favorite things' list.

 

- The Great Wall was amazing. Again, we had good hot, but good weather. It was cloudy, so the sun didn't beat on you and there was a light breeze. Visibility was okay, but hazy. We went left and made it almost to the 2nd tower. We had walked so much that first day at Disney, we never really recovered. We decided that the view wasn't going to be that much better from the next tower and we knew we had a lot of walking the next day.

 

- Tienanmen Square was a lot of walking and didn't have much to see. Forbidden City had a lot more walking. Both are "must do's" when in Beijing, but weren't our favorite stops. It's also possible that we were just too exhausted to really experience them.

 

- Jane was our guide and we loved her. Her passion for her country and being a tour guide really came through. She was funny and had a great personality. She was organized and handled any issues seamlessly.

 

- Jane was very worried about us when we were at Disney. We had told her we probably wouldn't be back in time for dinner. When we got back to the hotel, there was food in our room that she had delivered. Very sweet.

 

- We packed toilet paper but never needed it. Every rest room we visited had some. Never had to use a squat toilet, either.

 

- We did all of the optional tours (Tang Dynasty dinner show, duck dinner, and Kung Fu) and enjoyed them all.

- Tang Dynasty meal was pretty good and the show was beautifully costumed.

- We thought the duck dinner was one of the best meals that we had and everyone at our table enjoyed it. Walking out, we heard other tables say it was the worst meal they had. They talked up the green tea shrimp a lot. The Viking guide that took us to the restaurant probably talked about it for 15 minutes. Our table all agreed that it wasn't very good and was probably the worst dish of the meal.

- Kung Fu was probably my least favorite of the three, but I still thought it was worth it.

 

- This was our first Viking experience. We heard a lot about how this trip wasn't really like any of the other Viking cruises. We heard the ship 'wasn't as nice'. We heard the days were 'too busy' compared to other Viking cruises. We felt everything was great and we'll look at choosing Viking again in the future.

 

- We packed facemasks, antibacterial wipes, and bug spray wipes and never used any of them. Your mileage may vary. It's up to you to decide if you want to take them. It was nice knowing we had them if we needed them.

 

- I had packed some duct tape in case we needed it to pack souvenirs or something and we ended up using all of it on our feet to help prevent blisters or as additional security for bandaids on blisters. I wrapped the tape around pencils for easy storage. It was the first time I've ever done this and I will never travel without it from now on. It saved our feet. On about day 6 of the trip, my left sneaker developed some odd bump right under the ball of my foot. I suffered through it for about 2 days before thinking of using the duct tape.

[caribill]

 

- The Yangtze was high so we couldn't board the boat in Wuhan. We took a 3 hour bus ride from Wuhan to Yueyang. I actually enjoyed seeing the country from the bus, too.

 

 

Thanks for your very comprehensive report.

 

Were you still able to see/hear the Hubei bells at the Hubei Provincial Museum in Wuhan?

[divot33]

Thanks for your very comprehensive report.

 

Were you still able to see/hear the Hubei bells at the Hubei Provincial Museum in Wuhan?

 

Yes, we still were able to attend the bell concert. My wife plays handbells so she would have been disappointed if we had missed this.

 

We didn't have much time at the museum, though. Jane gave us a guided tour of some of the first floor highlights then gave us maybe 20 minutes of free time. The ladies spent a lot of that time in line for the western toilets. ;)

[m2inor]

We just got back from our Imperial Jewels trip this morning. It was an amazing vacation; so much more than we expected.

 

A few overall comments:

...

- This was our first Viking experience. We heard a lot about how this trip wasn't really like any of the other Viking cruises. We heard the ship 'wasn't as nice'. We heard the days were 'too busy' compared to other Viking cruises. We felt everything was great and we'll look at choosing Viking again in the future.

...

 

Thanks for the comprehensive report. We are on the Beijing to Shanghai cruise in September.

 

A few questions:

- how was the WiFi on the cruise and at your hotels? We're Gmail, Google, and Facebook blocked? Did you use WeChat, Messenger, WatsApp or similar messaging services?

- how were the in-China flights? Carrier? Seating? Any issues with carry-on?

- what did you wish you had brought along with you?

 

This will be our 2nd Viking Cruise. First was Eastern Europe this past May. Exceeded our expectations!

 

Thanks in advance

[divot33]

Thanks for the comprehensive report. We are on the Beijing to Shanghai cruise in September.

 

A few questions:

- how was the WiFi on the cruise and at your hotels? We're Gmail, Google, and Facebook blocked? Did you use WeChat, Messenger, WatsApp or similar messaging services?

In the hotels, WiFi was very good. On the cruise, it was intermittent. My wife's iPad seemed to always have a good connection. Our iPhones weren't as good and my Chromebook didn't work well most of the time.

 

Others that had Android phones seemed to have a lot less luck with the WiFi for some odd reason (could have been user error, too). If my iPhone connection was slow, I'd reboot it and it would work. We didn't use a ton of internet on the ship, but I don't remember any specific time where we felt we needed a connection and couldn't get it within a few hours or so.

 

One thing to keep in mind, if your browser defaults to Google search, you will need to make sure to load to another search engine first - like Yahoo or Bing. We'd constantly forget that and just try entering something in the Chrome URL bar and it would look like the internet wasn't working. Then we'd remember we had to pull up yahoo and search that way.

 

In public spaces, like the airports, you often had to enter a phone number to get a WiFi PIN. Pretty easy at most of the airports. Some had English translations, some didn't but were easy enough to figure out. We struggled with it at the Beijing airport, but there are kiosks where you can scan your passport to get a PIN. At Disney, it would only accept a mainland phone number. We asked a Cast Member and he used his phone number to get us PINs.

 

As for Google and Gmail (and Goolge Drive, Google Maps), if you feel you must have those, look into a VPN. The only time we were able to access those were at our first hotel in Shanghai (Westin). They had a VPN that would redirect through Hong Kong. Once we left that hotel, we were pretty much out of luck. Depending on your hotel assignments, you may have better, or worse, luck.

 

There were some odd times where I would get to my Google Drive for a few minutes, then it would drop.

 

In Beijing, I tried accessing Google Maps directly and by changing it to the HK site and it wouldn't work. However, we were looking for a spa and found one that had one of those 'click for directions' that brought up a Google Map that I could use for other things. I left that page open just kept going back. (We never went to a spa).

 

Bing maps is lame and frustrating after using Google Maps for so long.

 

Didn't try Facebook, but I think it's the same as above.

 

I have WeChat loaded and used it a few times before we left then once we got there. About the third time I opened it, it asked for a password. I entered my password and it said it was wrong. I tried that several times then it said my account was locked. You had to jump through the recovery hoops (like a Captcha that you'd get right about 25 times before it would say you got it right) then it finally sent me a temporary password. When I logged in with the temp password, it said I needed another WeChat user to verify me - problem is, you needed someone who had an active WeChat account for the last 6 months and I didn't know anyone so our WeChat experience ended quickly. Being an iPhone/iPad family, we used iOS messenger to communicate with folks back at home.

 

- how were the in-China flights? Carrier? Seating? Any issues with carry-on?

In-China flights were pretty good. I don't remember the carriers, but I can see if I still have my boarding passes - it will probably vary by group, though. We weren't all on the same flights.

 

One the first flight, my wife and I weren't seated together and no one in our rows could understand that we were asking to switch seats. We probably could have had a flight attendant help, but the flights are short so we figured it wasn't a huge deal. On the other flights, we were seated together. It's the luck of the draw.

 

The flight crews are very efficient and we got meals on 2 out of 3 of the flights (the same 2 that Viking gave us boxed lunches (that were not very good)). Part of their efficiency was due to no choices - you got water to drink and there was one meal - you either ate it or you didn't. They'd drop the bottle of water in your lap and move on. If the person next to you was sleeping, they'd drop another bottle in your lap and you had to deal with it.

 

I think US crews get a bit of a bad rap for being slow and much of that is due to customer choices. On one of our domestic flights home, the lady next to me asked for tomato juice with 3 ice cubes and half a glass of Coke with no ice. That one order took the same time as about 5 rows of water chucking on the China flights. ;)

 

The flight attendant uniforms are stunning - and so were the flight attendants.

 

No issues with carry-ons or checked bags. No one ever checked the weights.

 

Some differences are: they are more strict about batteries, cameras, and umbrellas. Portable battery chargers must be in your carry-on. If you leave it in your checked bag, you will get pulled aside. One person left their Whisper Vox in their checked bag and got pulled aside for the 2 AA batteries in that.

 

The portable battery chargers have to be put in a bin and pushed through the xray. They will inspect it for mAh. I don't know what the limit was; both of our packs made it through each time and I didn't hear of anyone who had one taken.

 

'Large' cameras have to be put in a bin to go through the xray. Beijing airport also pulled out my point and shoot camera.

 

Umbrellas also go in a bin through xray.

 

Same liquid rules apply through security. One odd one was in Beijing - even if you bought the liquid after you were through security, they wouldn't let it on the plane. They were only doing visual inspection, though, so it wouldn't have been hard to get it through. Not that I would recommend trying that.

 

- what did you wish you had brought along with you?

I can't think of anything that we wished we would have brought. We could have gotten away with bringing less than we did.

 

For outer wear, I only packed shorts, tshirts, and sneakers. There were a few times (mostly the optional excursions) where others were more dressed up. If you'd feel out of place in that situation, you might pack one or two nicer outfits.

 

This will be our 2nd Viking Cruise. First was Easter Europe this past May. Exceeded our expectations!

 

We had an amazing time, you will too! The country was fascinating.

[caribill]

 

Some differences are: they are more strict about batteries, cameras, and umbrellas. Portable battery chargers must be in your carry-on. If you leave it in your checked bag, you will get pulled aside. One person left their Whisper Vox in their checked bag and got pulled aside for the 2 AA batteries in that.

 

The portable battery chargers have to be put in a bin and pushed through the xray. They will inspect it for mAh. I don't know what the limit was; both of our packs made it through each time and I didn't hear of anyone who had one taken.

 

 

We recently connected flights at the Beijing Airport. They confiscated any portable battery charger anyone had, no matter how small.

 

My suggestion is to leave that item at home or risk confiscation at a Chinese airport.

 

They also confiscated any liquor bottles in sealed duty-free bags even though there was a sign in English saying they would be allowed. Did no good to try to discuss it with them as they spoke no English.

[m2inor]

Wow! Great and timely reply. Thank you for sharing.

 

I was last in mainland China well before the Internet was an essential tool, and with our world travels we expect to use the Internet a lot.

 

With what I've read so far, I expected issues, so you are confirming most of them.

 

I will be bringing a dual-SIM phone, with AT&T and HK Chinacom plans. I know I can get full Internet calling/text/data for $10/day from AT&T. The HK Chinacom SIM will give me 7 days of data and 2GB for $20, and I'm told I can top-up for an additional 7-days. The HK SIM includes roaming in mainland, and in theory, also bypasses the "great firewall of China".

 

For WiFi, I have VON already for phones and tablet if that is needed.

 

The 2 weeks in China are part of our 7 week RTW trip, so we are trying to travel light with carry-on only. Did this before to Europe and India in 2010 without any issue. Only had concerns for China airline carriers from what I've ready elsewhere. Not excited about checking luggage. We've also always carried our electronics and batteries in our back-pack carry-on.

 

Our carry-on is IATA hardside luggage and a cordura backpack, each.

[m2inor]

We recently connected flights at the Beijing Airport. They confiscated any portable battery charger anyone had, no matter how small.

 

My suggestion is to leave that item at home or risk confiscation at a Chinese airport.

 

Interesting, since almost all of these are manufactured in China!

 

Which airlines? And I imagine confiscation was at security.

[divot33]

We recently connected flights at the Beijing Airport. They confiscated any portable battery charger anyone had, no matter how small.

 

My suggestion is to leave that item at home or risk confiscation at a Chinese airport.

 

They also confiscated any liquor bottles in sealed duty-free bags even though there was a sign in English saying they would be allowed. Did no good to try to discuss it with them as they spoke no English.

 

Good advice. The Chinese security seemed to be much more hit or miss than in the US. The line we got into in Beijing moved very slow compared to the others and they were looking at things much more closely.

 

In some airports, in one line, large cameras were taken out and inspected, in others they were fine in the bags. In Beijing, the line we were in made me take out my camera lenses separately. They also inspected my iPhone because I have a small metal plate in the case for a dashboard magnetic mount.

 

You're right about the duty free liquids, too. The jacket that Delta gave us for our boarding passes had a note that said no liquids over the security limit would be allowed on the plane including those that are sealed and those bought from a duty free shop.

[caribill]

Interesting, since almost all of these are manufactured in China!

 

Which airlines? And I imagine confiscation was at security.

 

It was at airport security, not by an airline.

 

It is not a matter of where they were manufactured, it is a fear they will start a fire.

[Mark_T]

The HK Chinacom SIM will give me 7 days of data and 2GB for $20, and I'm told I can top-up for an additional 7-days. The HK SIM includes roaming in mainland, and in theory, also bypasses the "great firewall of China".

 

I've seen comments elsewhere that the HK SIM needs to be activated while in HK before it will let you roam on the mainland.

 

If you are passing through HK on the way there, that will not be a problem...

[m2inor]

I've seen comments elsewhere that the HK SIM needs to be activated while in HK before it will let you roam on the mainland.

 

If you are passing through HK on the way there, that will not be a problem...

Hopefully not. Bummer if that's a requirement. Did not see any similar comments on Amazon site, from where I purchased it.

 

No passport or other ID or process required for activation according to seller. Just insert in unlocked phone, and turn on.

 

I'll report back, but also will ask seller.

[m2inor]

...

 

I'll report back, but also will ask seller.

 

I heard back from another user, and he reported he had no issue activating the SIM upon arrival in Shanghai.

[Mark_T]

I heard back from another user, and he reported he had no issue activating the SIM upon arrival in Shanghai.

 

Good to know.

[SBJB8184]

We recently connected flights at the Beijing Airport. They confiscated any portable battery charger anyone had, no matter how small.

 

My suggestion is to leave that item at home or risk confiscation at a Chinese airport.

 

They also confiscated any liquor bottles in sealed duty-free bags even though there was a sign in English saying they would be allowed. Did no good to try to discuss it with them as they spoke no English.

 

 

Caribill, you suggest to "leave portable battery chargers at home or risk confiscation". My digital camera battery might only last one day if not re-charged. How can one survive without a camera battery charger?

 

 

On a similar topic, what about charging cords for cell phones/ I-pads?

 

Thanks.

[caribill]

Caribill, you suggest to "leave portable battery chargers at home or risk confiscation". My digital camera battery might only last one day if not re-charged. How can one survive without a camera battery charger?

 

 

On a similar topic, what about charging cords for cell phones/ I-pads?

 

Thanks.

 

Sorry, I had poor wording.

 

It is power banks that are not allowed. These are devices that are basically batteries you have charged and then can be used to send power to or recharge other devices such as cell phones.

 

Regular camera batter chargers that you plug into a USB port or a wall outlet are 100% allowed.

 

Also no problem for the cords you use to get your devices recharged.