China Travel Guide 3

[appleberry9]

^ thanks

did anyone go to nanshan ski? is it worth going there?

[whitebishop]

^thanks sa forum na ito. I was able to process the visa of my mom and her four colleagues without bank certificate.  plane ticket, hotel booking, and invitation letter from an accredited travel agent lang ang nisubmit ko. also, I was able to get them a good itinerary.

[sweetviolet]

i miss Beijing and i am planning to have my 2nd visit this 2013. sana ..anybody wants to join, lets have a group trip

[cheskacutie]

Ano ang weather sa Beijing ng Feb? Planning to visit with the hubby sana:)
Hope to hear from you girls!

Cheskacutie

[vain_kixie]

Around 1 to neg 8 daw. Mid Feb ang Chinese spring festival. Paki google nalang exact dates. Super dami tao during that time.


We're leaving on the 1st. Oh GAWD I am so excited. Ready narin gears ko for Harbin. I'll bring just 1 winter jacket then buy in Beijing nalang.

Beijing- Harbin- Dalian- Shanghai kami.

Mga 4 days din kami sa Shanghai so baka mag singit pa ako ng isa pang city nearby.

[Cari]

Mga sis, mahirap pa rin ba kumuha ng visa?may mga na deny ba mga sis recently?

[akthung]

Around 1 to neg 8 daw. Mid Feb ang Chinese spring festival. .

that's without the windchill factor pa! don't be fooled. Beijing can be colder than say, vancouver or montreal because of the winds which can reach 20kph sometimes. add to that the haze (or smog) which blocks out the sun. 80% of the people here wear down jackets/clothing.


Beijing is pretty much a walking city. Malalaki din ang tabas ng Blocks. kaya wala ka masyadong makikitang mataba or bundat ang tyan.

Just imagine them having hordes of jeepneys and tricycle. chaos na  yun. mas maganda , sa opinion ko, na walang tricycle at jeep sa pinas. mas aasenso tayo.

As for colds, you can always take Gankan. very good for the flu/cold . 2 days lang wala na. hehe.

I'm currently in Beijing now . I enjoy everything except the trains. lol.

the trains are good. they can bring you around the city. but grabe during peak hours. you'd have to fight to go in. and fight to go out. kapalan na lang ng mukha. kung ayaw nila magbigay, you have to push yourself in/out. hindi pwede hiya hiya. if you have to pat the shoulder of the guy in front of you, you must do so. "switch tayo ng places" lol mas masarap pa ata buhay ng mga sardinas sa lata. 2 yuan lang per trip sa train.

knowing how to speak chinese is a big plus. imagine buying a pair of pants and the price is 1200 yuan. dadaan ka pa sa drama ng pag tatawad. but if your chinese is good and you have a good accent. they give right away, say, 1/10 of the price.

DIY tours are good as long as you know what to do and how to communicate with the locals. they also have some bias pagdating din sa marunong mag chinese. pag turista, big money!

My friends and I went to Mutianyu via a van that we hired. We ended up paying only 60 yuan per person.

[Cari]

hi mga sis, kung second week ng March ang alis, kelan dapat kumuha ng visa?

TIA!

[princess lorraine]

^sis i think mga feb ka kumuha. Kasi minsan 1 month lang ang validity ng visa. Minsa naman 3 months. 

[Cari]

Thanks sis! sana hindi na mahirap mag-apply ng visa.

[spicy_angel]

Anong travel agency ang nagproprocess ng Chinese Visa?

[whitebishop]

^sis kung kaninong agent ka nagpa book ng flight or nagpareserve ng pacakge tour or hotel dun ka magpaasikaso ng visa. if they don't do that you have to do it yourself. ako mga nakadalawang balik ako nung inasikaso ko visa ng mom ko and her colleagues. it's a good learning experience.

[cheskacutie]

Hi girls! Where is the Chinese Embassy here in Manila? Hubby and I are planning to get visas come February.

Can you girls suggest a nice hotel which is near everything? subway, shopping etc. hehe

Please share your itinerary too , we plan to stay for 4 days only.

Thanks much!

[akthung]

Dawanglu area seems good. the closer to the center the better. when you're in the center, mura na mag taxi to a lot of good destinations.

[eischied_21]

^^
World Center (not sure of the complete name basta may "World") along Buendia, near Mapua Makati.

[Cari]

Mga sis, kung wala kaming tag 100k sa bank ng friend ko..wag na kaming mangahas mag -apply ng visa, sa tingin nyo? TIA!

[whitebishop]

pwede naman kung magpapabook kayo ng hotel sa agency hanapin nyo yung nagbibigay ng invitation letter kasi yun ang pwedeng alternate sa 100K

[Cari]

sis whitebishop, agency dito or doon?

[whitebishop]

bro po ako. agency dito na may tie up dun. kasi ang irerecognize lang ng embassy is yung chinese authorized travel agencies

[Mom_S]

was at beijing last dec21-25 with my family & in laws (20 pax all). our group like the tour services of our guides, lily & cherrie. we availed the tour package here thru a local travel agent at $250/pax (child is at $175) which includes hotel accommodation at holiday inn express temple of heaven with breakfast, airport transfers, tour (bus ang service namin), lunch & dinner throughout our stay...
grabe sobrang lamig, temp. was between -12 to -15C and kahit we were fully dressed for winter, tumatagos pa rin sa gloves namin ang lamig. we bought na lang face mask as it was soooo chilly, our cheeks were like tomatoes na sa pula. heheh! was supposed to go to mutianyu great wall for the cable car & toboggan ride but because of the unbearable weather conditions & kasamang 2yr old baby & senior citizen, we opted for juyongguan as suggested by the tour guide to be safe. it was a dream for me to climb the great wall but sadly, hanggang 1st tower lang kinaya ko sa sobrang lamig & windy pa which make it more harder to go down.

our itinerary was tiananmen square/forbidden city temple of heaven, teahouse (but don't be enticed to buy their stuffs like tea sets as i bought a teapot at 120rmb & bought also a teaset na plus a teamug at the same price at silk market), & a kung fu show for day1; for day2, it was at ming tombs, juyongguan great wall & jade factory. for day3(dec24), summer palace, hutong, silk factory & shopping at silk market. we requested to skip the panda zoo as we wanted more time for shopping  besides, we already saw pandas in san diego zoo before.

despite the freakin' cold weather, we still enjoyed our beijing tour & it was one such memorable moment for us as it was a reunion in my hubby's side...