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WildChina, USA Pavilion partner on iPhone app for Shanghai World Expo

September 1, 2010 in In the News, On the Road, Travel Tips by Alex G | No comments

Exclusive access to USA Pavilion content plus an interactive tour all in the palm of your hand. Sound appealing?

It’s here! We’re excited to announce that we have partnered with the USA Pavilion at the Shanghai Expo to offer users of the iPhone and iPod Touch our Expo Guide Shanghai application, which features exclusive USA Pavilion content that you can’t find anywhere else.


Through the mobile Expo Guide Shanghai application, users can listen to facts about the pavilion, view a video sneak peek of the venue and submit their favorite USA Pavilion photos to the official USA photo contest.

The application uses colorful 3D graphics and GPS navigation to guide visitors through a three-day, customizable tour of the entire Expo site. Navigation features enable visitors to locate themselves on an interactive map, look up bus routes and even call a cab from inside the Expo grounds.

Want to see more? The Expo Guide Shanghai is available for download for US$1.99 from the iTunes store. You can also find more details on our WildChina Touch page.

Our take on Wendy Perrin’s 6 Travel Agent Tips

August 19, 2010 in News You Can Use, Travel Tips, What We're Reading by Alex G | 1 comment

(Photo: Condé Nast Traveler)

 In addition to being honored to be one of Wendy Perrin’s 135 Top Travel Specialists for 2010, we’re a big fan of the related spread in Conde Nast Traveler‘s August 2010 print issue.

Perrin not only describes each selected travel agent, but also provides guidance on how to use the interactive listing on the CNT website, and features sport-and-adventure-themed agent recommendations.

Our favorite feature is her 6 Travel Agent Tips – found exclusively in print – which empower travelers to craft the perfect trip with their specialist. Smart and useful, these hints can be applied anywhere in the world. So, we’re showing you how to use them to create a memorable journey in China.

Perrin says: Define trip goals: “The better you are at articulating your needs, the better the travel specialist can meet them.”

We say: Perrin is right on the mark with this first tip. There are many angles from which to experience China, so it is important to know where your preferences and priorities lie. Ask yourself what kind of trip you want to create. To jumpstart your thinking process, here are a few key words to consider: luxury, adventure, local, modern, traditional, cuisine, monument, history, hands-on, expert.

Perrin says: Get personal: “The more information you share, the more potentially spectacular the results.”

We say: Information = customization, and customization = the trip of a lifetime tailored specifically to you. Do you love birds? Try our Winter Birding trip. Are you a self-professed gourmet? We’ll expose you to China’s many local cuisines and flavors. Can’t live without your morning cup of joe? Maybe a trip to get a taste of Yunnan‘s locally-produced coffee is in order. Travel specialists can use your personal interests and preferences to make the trip all the more special.

Perrin says: Be a collaborator: “The best trips spring from a team effort between you and the specialist.”

We say: The relationship between traveler and specialist is incredibly important, to develop mutual understanding and ultimately, an unforgettable journey. We like frequent email communication and phone conversations to build the rapport. These interactions not only give us facts for trip-planning, but help us to understand how the client thinks and interacts. We adapt to their style so that they can trust us – and from trust springs successful collaboration.

Perrin says: Establish a budget: “State up front how much you want to spend.”

We say: This is particularly important with customized travel. China can be explored at all levels, so it’s important to gauge how specialized and unique you want your trip to be. You might want to visit a remote village in Yunnan, but skip on the private visit with the local shaman. Alternately, maybe it’s important to you to try the very best roast duck in Beijing. Whatever your spending preferences, make them known early.

Perrin says: Expect to pay a fee: “A travel specialist’s fee is either a deposit applied to the cost of the trip… or a markup built into the total cost.”

We say: At WildChina, creating customized trips that are perfectly suited to our clients’ interests and needs is of utmost importance. As such, we do not require a fee for your initial consultation. When a client is ready to confirm the trip, we ask for a deposit.

Perrin says: Guide the guide: “It’s your job to communicate your interest directly to the guide.”

We say: We take guide training very seriously, making sure that our guides’ English level, local knowledge, problem-solving skills and flexibility are all up to snuff. They know to observe and adapt to clients’ needs and wants, but you should also never hesitate to let them know what you want. If you prefer your guide to discuss architecture instead of history, describe personal anecdotes on life in China, or just let you roam in peace, let them know.

Is it safe to go on a Yangtze River cruise this summer?

August 17, 2010 in In the News, Travel Tips, environment by Alex G | 1 comment

According to a recent Los Angeles Times article, China’s Three Gorges Dam, the country’s “largest construction project since the Great Wall,” is showing signs of strain. A summer of record-breaking rains and floodwaters has “severely tested the project’s capacity to control the surging Yangtze, the world’s third-longest river.”

Photo: www.lovelovechina.com

Given these conditions, a concerned traveler recently asked us if it would be safe to embark on a Yangtze River cruise in 2-3 weeks. We consulted our local partner in Yichang, where the cruises are run, to get the most up-to-date advice.

The verdict? Our partner gave travelers the green light.  Noting that flooding in the area has gradually subsided, our partner said that cruise operations have returned to normal. In 2-3 weeks’ time, travelers should have no problem embarking on a cruise.

That being said, we advise travelers to stay current on the latest information regarding travel conditions in China. Watch this space for any new developments.

Have a question about travel in China? Email us or send us a tweet.

Travel Tip: Dining with Allergies in China

August 13, 2010 in Food, Travel Tips by Alex G | No comments

Dining in China is a fantastic experience for the palate, with a myriad of new flavors, textures, and aromas to enjoy.

Don't let allergy fears get in the way of enjoying Chinese cuisines.

However, it can be a horrifying experience for travelers with allergies. If you don’t speak Chinese, cannot understand the menu, and have no one to ask, what can you do? Trying your luck is terribly risky; on the other hand, limiting yourself to, say, hotel restaurants with English-speaking staff is both boring and inauthentic.

We’ve compiled a list of useful tips and tricks for enjoying Chinese cuisine, without the stress of dietary restrictions gnawing at your plate:

  1. Keep a multi-lingual allergy card handy. Companies like SelectWisely can easily customize a card with your allergy and dietary restrictions for $7.50 – $9.50 (between ~50 and ~64 RMB) per card. Be sure to specify simplified Mandarin characters when traveling to Mainland China, and traditional characters if you visit Hong Kong or Taiwan.
  2. Pack your Benadryl. Be sure to have your medicines and epi-pens on hand when dining out. In addition to the language barrier, there may be some cultural misunderstandings in smaller areas. For example, nut allergies aren’t common in China, so there may be less awareness in smaller cities and towns about how severe reactions can be.
  3. Know your local China healthcare information. Your tour operator can provide you with contacts and policies for the nearest hospital, doctor, or other healthcare provider to where you are traveling in China. Keep this information handy, should an emergency arise.
  4. Study Chinese cuisines. Chinese cuisines are quite different from American Chinese food, so do a little research on culinary traditions for areas of China that you will visit. Get a sense for what ingredients and flavors are prominent, and brainstorm which dishes would best suit your restrictions. When traveling, you’ll have a better sense of what foods are safe choices.
  5. Stock up on your favorite foods (just in case). Coming prepared with your favorite snack foods will ease the stress of a restaurant successfully accommodating your needs. If you begin your China trip in Hong Kong, Shanghai, or Beijing, you can  purchase many popular Western food products from local Western-style grocers. Ask your tour operator for suggestions, and for starters, consult HK Magazine (Hong Kong) and CityWeekend (Shanghai, Beijing).
  6. Ask your tour operator to organize special meals in advance. Any good tour operator in China will be able to accommodate your needs and requests with restaurants. Let them know what you prefer to eat, which foods you must avoid, and any additional information they should know.

While the above tips may give you the impression that those with allergies have quite the struggle in China, don’t fret! Finding dishes in China that meet your dietary needs is truly easier than you might think. A young British China economist living in Beijing who is allergic to eggs, seafood and nuts had this to say about dining in the Middle Kingdom:

“Before coming to China, I assumed that Chinese food would be largely off-limits, as I believed that all ingredients were mixed together. In fact, it has been quite easy for me to avoid these foods.

Fish and seafood usually merit their own dishes, and are not mixed in with other foods – the one exception being small shrimp sometimes turning up in zhou [congee].

The worst has been nuts because of their prevalence in many Chinese dishes. However, I was relieved to find that fewer cooks use peanut oil because of the higher price. Most prefer soybean-based oils.

Chinese dishes are generally quite straightforward, and with an allergy card and/or guide to help, you shouldn’t have much problem navigating your meals.”

What Chinese dish do they suggest? Mapo doufu – a Sichuan-style mixture of tofu, spicy chili and bean oil, and minced meat.

Have questions on travel in China? Send us an email or a tweet.

Travel Tip: Choosing a Hotel in China

August 11, 2010 in Travel Tips by Alex G | No comments

Whether you prefer adventurous excursions or luxury getaways, an integral part of any trip to China is your choice of accommodations. A hotel, guesthouse, or homestay experience can greatly affect your experience. Especially in recent years, so many new options across China have made it easier than ever to find your ideal lodging. So, how do you go about it?
Here is our checklist of questions to ask when choosing your ideal place to stay in China:
  1. Lone traveler, or group member? Are you flying solo? With a partner or spouse? Bringing a family in tow? Your traveling companions (or lack thereof) will determine your desired comfort level, space, and amenities.
  2. Luxurious, or rustic? Which sounds most appealing: a suite with top-of-the-line facilities, a cozy and charming guesthouse room, or a cot in a local villager’s home? Be honest with yourself about your comfort level, and choose accordingly.
  3. Local flavor, or international standard? Maybe you’re looking for a lodge that oozes local flavor, to continue the cultural experience after a day out and about. Or, perhaps you just want to relax at an international hotel chain, whose name and reputation you trust, after a long day of exploration.
  4. Anonymous guest, or greeted by name? Do you care about hotel staff knowing your name, eating preferences, and favorite newspaper, or would you prefer to be an anonymous guest? Depending on the star rating, size, and location, you can find a hotel with staff that can cater to your every whim or simply let you be.
  5. City, or country? Whether you like being in the center of activity, or away from it all, there are hotels in most China destinations that can accommodate either preference.
Have more ideas for how to choose a hotel in China? Let us know.

If this is your first and only time to China, where should you go?

July 30, 2010 in Culture, Travel Tips, environment by Mei | No comments

A twitter post responding to a WildChina tweet prompted this blog piece.

@Chinaandbeyond said: “I would trade Yunnan for Gansu or Sichuan, personally RT @WildChina: First and only time to China? This is The Trip: http://bit.ly/csCDGq.”

Let me decipher this for those who don’t tweet: WildChina recommended a trip that goes to Beijing, Xi’an, Yunnan and Shanghai for those who are traveling to China for the first and only time. That link is a condensed link that goes to our website with the trip details.

Then @Chinaandbeyond account owner Ms. Jessica Marsden shared WildChina’s recommendation to her followers. And she also added her own commentary that she would trade Gansu or Sichuan for Yunnan.

What can I say? I am biased! I am from Yunnan, with a virtual identity called @yunnangirl! Everytime when a client calls me, I talk about Yunnan. That’s home to me. I can smell Yunnan if farmers burn the remaining rice stocks in their fields; I can hear Yunnan, even when I overhear visitors at the Smithsonian speak the local dialet; I can taste Yunnan, when I cut up mustard greens to make a jar of Yunnan Suancai pickles. It is in my blood.

And, I happen to be a lucky Wendy Perrin China Specialist, so I get to advise people who are interested in seeing China. Naturally, carrying the tradition of Yunnan hospitality, I want people to visit my home town, visit those villages where I grew up, and taste the spicy and sour cuisine, hike the mountains that I still dream about. More importantly, I want them to meet people of Yunnan.

How would I describe people of Yunnan? 纯朴，勤劳，善良。I am struggling with English equivalents here.  Down to earth, hard working, and kind. The word has a 纯朴 connotation of being on the simple side in Chinese. But, I don’t take offense to that.

People in Yunnan grow up land locked. Generations of locals from various ethnicity carve out their living in small patches of land in between mountains and rivers.  So, either they farm, bent over their knees in the watery rice paddy fields, or they tilt the corn and potato fields on the steep mountains sides. Life in Yunnan has always been hard. The only wealth accumulated there is from trading, with Tibet, with Myanmar, Laos, and Viet Nam. This goes back hundreds of year, and the horse caravan trails bear witness to that.

For some reason though, in places so poor, the locals learned to cook these incrediblely tasty meals. Since the province is tucked between Sichuan to the North, and Laos/Thailand to the South, its cuisine is a lovely blend of those two. Spicy, but not numbing; sour, but without making your mouth pucker. Fresh vegetables and wild mushrooms are blessings.

Hospitality is another side of the Yunnanese that I love. Just recently, I traveled to a small town in Henan Province as a guest of the local government. Upon checking in, the hotel staff said that my ID wasn’t enough but insisted on me identifying the organization that invited me. I didn’t get the full name right, and she wouldn’t check me in. This was 2010? The concept of party/government affiliation trumping personal identity is still in practice in northern China.

While in Yunnan, they hear my dialect, they’ll watch my luggage for me while I go out to pay the taxi; they’ll fish out my luggage from the behind the conveyer belt so that I can put my tea needle in checked luggage (I talked about this in my earlier blog).

The local villagers in Yunnan still greet you with this, “ 吃了吗？来家里坐！“ “Have you eaten yet? Come visit my house!”

I know — sadly, Lijiang is changing (see our WildChina blog piece on this). That’s all the more reason to visit the hidden treasures of China before they disappear.

Travel Tips for Backpacking in China’s Wild West

July 21, 2010 in On the Road, Travel Tips by Alex G | No comments

 

Nang got you down? Eat nuts and dried fruit.

 

I recently returned to WildChina’s Beijing office after spending 11 days in Gansu province, and a friend similarly returned via train to the capital city yesterday after a month in Xinjiang. Back in the comforts of Beijing, we compared notes about how to successfully, comfortably, and cleanly traverse China’s Western provinces. Here are our best tips, combined:

  1. Bring dried fruit and nuts for fulfilling and nutritious snacks/meal supplements: My friend loved Xinjiang’s famous nang bread and pulled noodles, but after five days of eating them for almost every meal, she felt neither inspired nor healthy from the carb-heavy Uyghur cuisine. To vary her diet for taste and health, she brought bags of dried fruit and nuts from Beijing, where she found cheap and delicious varieties at Sanyuanli Market (right by the WildChina office!). This way, she was able to get enough protein and fiber on the road when she didn’t have many dining options.
  2. Don a sturdy pair of jeans: This may seem obvious, but I could not have a) horse trekked, b) camped warmly, c) visited historic sites in the rain, or d) gone to dinner when the weather was cooler without my sole pair of blues. I wore them almost every day, and they served me very well. As the summer in the West is generally a bit cooler than in the East, jeans are a necessity for both outdoor and indoor activities.
  3. Be flexible with your time: Life in China’s West is much more laidback than that in the East – it’s less-developed, and so people feel less of a rush at work and at play. Make your schedule so that it accommodates the easygoing attitude. Your body will thank you, too – in places of higher elevation (such as Gansu’s grasslands), you’ll naturally feel more tired and less inclined to have a super-packed day.
  4. Learn to wash your hair in the sink: Less infrastructure and a lower standard of living in the West means fewer washing facilities. Work with what you have to get clean (i.e. sinks, streams, bottled water, hoses, etc.). The cooler, drier climate means that you’ll probably sweat less, so showering should hopefully not be as crucial. In any case, bring a bandana and moisture-wicking clothing.
  5. Bring toilet paper, hand sanitizer, and a stain remover stick: You’ll be set for any surprising situation (basic bathrooms [or none at all], dirty busses, oil from dinner on your only shirt) with these.

Have more questions? Send us a tweet.

Are taiqi and fan-making lessons tourist traps?

July 12, 2010 in Culture, Travel Tips, WildChina Experts by Mei | No comments

I saw a client email to my staff another day, requesting a series of changes to the itineraries we proposed. The client’s email read:

1. There is a scheduled visit to the Temple of Heaven in the morning of the 3rd day, and it says learning Taiqi from a master. Please delete that, we are not interested in activities contrived for tourists.
2. There is a visit to a sturgeon farm in Yichang while I only want to go see the 3 gorges, and have no interest in sturgeons.
3. Day 16 is a visit to Fuli. Fan making is of limited interest to us. What makes this an interesting place to visit?

As I read along, I knew we that we had found the ideal clients – they are engaged, well traveled, and want to make sure they see the authentic China. Yet, I cringed, knowing very well that if my staff followed the email instruction to delete these activities, the clients would miss out on exactly what they were seeking – the real China experience. So I hopped on the phone.

Activities like traditional Chinese shoemaking: opportunities for cultural exchange, or activities simply organized for tourism profits?

The clients told me that they were seeking a couple of things: a) a basic understanding of the history of China; b) a contrast to the developed and developing parts of China to understand its diversity; and c) exposure to the unspoiled, traditional China.

Why would WildChina staff arrange the guests to go to Temple of Heaven early in the morning to learn Taiqi? I remember that when I lived in Beijing, one of my favorite activities was to go to Ritan Park at 6 am and simply observe the Beijing residents do their morning exercises. Some would sing at the top of their lungs, some would do fan dances, some would throw their bodies against a tree, and some would do Taiqi. It’s simply the best time to people watch and connect.

I went back to the park again with my 1-year-old daughter strapped on my back in a carrier. Those old ladies in the park would walk up to me, grab my daughter’s thigh, and ask me in amazement, “孩子怎么这么胖？喂什么了？就喝你的奶呀?” (How can this baby be so fat? What do you feed her? She just drinks your milk?”) I’ll save you the answer here, but the point is, these parks in the morning are the real China. Fresh from a full night’s sleep, people connect as real people, with little inhibition or consideration of “cultural differences.”

Now, the sturgeon farm near the Three Gorges. I was delighted to know when my staff first added this visit to the itinerary. My distaste for the Yangtze Cruise is well known at WildChina, and I even spoke about this at the New York Times Travel Show on Sunday, February 28th earlier this year. There are better places to see the Yangtze River, but it’s most interesting to understand the environmental and economic challenges brought about by the dam. Visiting a sturgeon farm, for me, is a time when I get to meet the local entrepreneur to understand how their way of living changed because of the dam. When did they start the business, and to whom do they sell? How has that changed with the dam? To understand the real China, one has to get to these places that are off the travel industry route to find out.

As for Fuli village near Guilin: potential clients have never heard about this village. It’s not in tourist guidebooks, as most tourists on the Li River Cruise would bypass the village. That’s a blessing for the villagers, who still live a very traditional agrarian lifestyle, while hand crafting Chinese paper fans as a side business. Seeing how the local artisans carefully paint those fans is almost a Zen moment for me.

I remember when I was little, people told me that Westerners pay more for hand-made things and less for machine-made things. I couldn’t understand why, because I was eager to trade in the cotton-soled shoes (棉底布鞋), which my grandmother made under a dim light, for a pair of pink plastic sandals! Now, I would be willing to pay whatever to have one more pair of her 布鞋，if she were still around.

Strange how time changes, and how I long for the China I grew up with.

Follow Mei on Twitter: @yunnangirl.

Travel Tip: Using an iPad in China

June 23, 2010 in Travel Tips by Mei | 2 comments

I eagerly embraced the iPad 3G, hoping to shed the weight of my laptop when traveling to China. Sadly, my conclusion is that the iPad doesn’t quite replace my laptop, maybe because I haven’t done enough to unleash its power. Here’s what I’ve found:


iPad: useful in China? Mei Zhang shares her thoughts.

1. High roaming charges do not justify the 3G data roaming: I already travel with an iPhone, for which I was paying $50/month for 50MB of data roaming, and this was sufficient to address my basic email needs. So, I decided not to turn on data roaming for the iPad. Now, iPad comes unlocked, so there maybe a cheaper local solution. In China, you can buy a cheap 3G phone card for $30 and have it cut to fit into the iPad. There are professionals at stores like Guomei Electronics who can help cut the phone card for free.

2. Without data roaming, the wireless function is not as easy to use even in 5 star hotels: I tried a few, and surprisingly, the best place to use my iPad was at Songtsam Lodge in Shangri-La, Yunnan. From all 25 rooms of the lodge, you can get strong a wireless signal. One morning, after my jog at an altitude of 10,000 feet, I came back and was pleasantly surprised to find that I was able to make a Skype call to the US from my iPad!

I tried other hotels as well, with varying results:

I upgraded to try out the Songtsam Retreat, which is part of Accor Hotels. The rooms are beautifully done, but each room comes with only a cable for Ethernet connection. I quickly moved back downhill to Songtsam Lodge for the wireless.

Later on, I tested a series of Chinese five-star hotels in Baoshan and Tengchong. Guanfang Hotels are so luxuriously furnished that I couldn’t believe they were located in these remote unknown towns in Yunnan. However, they both came with Ethernet connection, and no wireless. (I am mystified that they don’t have a website either).

Hotel G in Beijing, a hip designer boutique hotel in the Sanlitun area, offers wireless in every room, but my iPad could not pick up the signal, and after 20 minutes I gave up.

Regent Hotel in Beijing is one of the hidden secrets of Beijing. It boasts a great location and the biggest gym within Beijing hotels, and yet still offers fairly affordable prices. There is wireless in the lobby as well as the executive lounge. But, again, I couldn’t make it work either on my iPhone or my iPad. There was one release of liability page the iPad keeps pulling up, but I couldn’t bypass it to access the free wireless internet. As I was about to give up, however, the hotel staff called in an IT specialist to help me. He input the IP address on my iPad, and voila, it worked!

3. Multimedia functions have not been tested: If anyone takes large files of photos and videos, test your iPad’s downloading capabilities at home first. I learned this the hard way. (To be fair, this is more a universal rather than China specific-issue.)

Overall, I’d say the best part of using an iPad in China is the “WOW” effect of using an iPad in public. Other than that, unless I figure out how to fit a local 3G SIM card in the iPad, I won’t travel with it again to China.

Follow WildChina and Mei on Twitter: @WildChina and @yunnangirl.

Travel Tip: Planning Luxury Family Travel in China

June 17, 2010 in Travel Tips, What We're Reading by Alex G | 1 comment

As China’s best luxury tour operator with a focus on customized, off-the-beaten-path tours to China, WildChina specializes in making family trips to China exciting, memorable, and hassle-free for both children and parents.

This morning at the WildChina Beijing office, we read Eva Vasquez’s excellent CNN article on luxury family travel with great interest, as this type of travel to China is increasingly common. Vasquez’s practical advice – from determining appropriate activities for your family and choosing how much to plan, to involving children in decision-making and more – helps traveling families decide how to make the most of our their experience.

Make a visit to Shaolin, Henan fun for the whole family: enjoy an afternoon kungfu demonstration together.

WildChina similarly subscribes to many of the ideas Vasquez writes of in her article. For example, for our Classic China Family Vacation: Beijing, Xi’an, Guilin & Shanghai, we make sure to choose hotels in these metropolitan cities with kid-friendly pools. Pint-sized travelers on our Cultural Family Vacation: Beijing, Henan, Xi’an, Yunnan & Shanghai can delight in hands-on activities to help them learn about traditional Chinese culture.

What are other important points to keep in mind for a luxury family trip specifically to China? Barbara Henderson, WildChina’s Director of Private Journeys, has a few key tips for successful luxury family travel in China:

1. Inquire about “wow” moments just for the kids. Rather than simply including your children on your family trip, ask for child-friendly activities to keep them entertained and engaged. Activities like kite-making, kungfu lessons and calligraphy will make China more accessible and interesting for them.

2. With young children, bring your own carseat and stroller. You can buy these in China, but they might not be up to the safety standards that you are used to. Keep your trip worry-free by bringing the products you trust.

3. Let guides know if your child is a picky eater. Some children are incredibly adventurous when it comes to Chinese (or other) food, whereas some prefer to eat macaroni and cheese exclusively. No one wants a hungry child and upset child if they refuse food at every meal, so be clear to arrange options and alternatives accordingly.

4. Educate your children on China’s culture and history. They’ll get the most out of their China trip if they have some concept of China beforehand. Read up on specific historic sites, monuments, and/or destinations you will visit, so that children can connect stories with the real thing once you arrive.

5. Want a special evening out? Arrange babysitters with your tour operator. See what your guides have to say about hired help for an evening where you are staying. Rather than just hiring someone to watch television, your tour operator might be able to find fun ways to engage your child while you enjoy a special performance or nice dinner out.

Want more tips for travel in China? Email us at info@wildchina.com, or send us a tweet @WildChina.

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