By Peter Greenberg
Raise your hand if this has ever happened to you: You book a trip to see one of the world's most iconic cultural sites, only to discover hundreds—even thousands—of other tourists had the same idea and are there on the exact same day, and at the same time. For most people, long lines and crushing crowds are just a part of the experience when visiting major attractions.
By Peter Greenberg
Raise your hand if this has ever happened to you: You book a trip to see one of the world's most iconic cultural sites, only to discover hundreds—even thousands—of other tourists had the same idea and are there on the exact same day, and at the same time. For most people, long lines and crushing crowds are just a part of the experience when visiting major attractions. But, according to travel expert Peter Greenberg, savvy travelers know how to avoid the masses.
Want to see the world's greatest sites? Set an alarm. Whether it's a visit to the Pyramids of Giza, the Taj Mahal, Ayers Rock or the Great Wall, the trick is to get there early—and I mean early...
If you've got money to spend, look into Beijing-based Imperial Tours, with packages starting at $1,000 per person, per day. As part of a tour [to a remote section] of the Great Wall, which sees only about 10,000 visitors a year, guests walk into a turret scattered with rose petals and enjoy a gourmet meal on top of the Great Wall.
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Michele Cook of Mansour Travel Company in Beverly Hills has relied on Imperial Tours for years. Her Clients have raved. So, in March, she decided to see what the fuss was all about – in person.
China was a new frontier for me. I had confidently used Imperial Tours several times for my clients and now I was about to experience the company’s extensive knowledge and impeccable service firsthand.
From my arrival at Beijing to my return from Shanghai, our March trip went without a hitch.
I flew nonstop on Hainan Airlines from Seattle to Beijing. The Check-in and in-flight services were extremely efficient. Going through customs and immigration in Beijing was seamless – it took less than 20 minutes, courtesy of a company representative who met us upon arrival. I was then welcomed by our China Host from Imperial Tours, Todd Pang, who ensured our trip went smoothly. I couldn’t imagine experiencing China for the first time without him!
For the first two nights, I stayed at the Aman at Summer Palace, Beijing, a 45-minute drive from the airport. General Manager Mark Swinton oversees and excellent property. I loved the “secret” gate leading to the Sumer Palace. When you are outside the grounds, the hotel equips you with a cell phone. Upon return, you call and a staff member meets you at the gate.
After two days of indulging in the spa, pool and gym, Imperial Tours took us to the Raffles Beijing Hotel, a 14 minute walk from Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City.
Next Morning we woke up to snow falling softly over the city – this was spectacular and unexpected! When we went to see the temple of Heaven, we were intrigued by the locals who met in the morning for tai chi, socializing, dancing, and games – and due to the snow, they had all gathered in the covered walkways between the buildings. From the Temple of Heaven, we explored the Antiques Market, a large outdoor emporium of statues, furniture, and other hodgepodge.
For lunch, we dined at the China Grill restaurant in the Park Hyatt Beijing, which opened in 2009 as the tallest building in the capitol. We then ventured out to the Forbidden City in a comfortable minibus. The snow gave a surreal touch to the historical buildings. The highlight for our excursion in the Forbidden City was a private viewing of one of the small palaces where the emperors resided. Note: if you want a primer on the Forbidden City, check out Bernardo Bertolucci’s The Last Emperor.
Our day ended with an outstanding dinner at the Lan Club, a restaurant I would highly recommend to anyone visiting Beijing. Our China host joined up each time we dined and answered questions we had about the cuisine as well as the sites we had visited during the day.
On our hour-long drive to the Great wall, we listed to our excellent guide’s experiences as a young student [during the Cultural Revolution]. Due to the snow, our plans had to be altered a bit, but Imperial Tours handled everything with ease.
Typically, the company arranges a private banquet in a seclude section of the Great Wall, but because of the snow we were transferred to the top of the wall by cable care. Although we couldn’t walk more than a few steps, being atop one of the world’s most famous historical monuments was a memorable experience. Then, Imperial Tours arranged a lovely surprise for us – lunch at the Green T. House. An hour from Beijing, the Green T. House provides an excellent escape from the city, and one I’ll consider for my clients.
Before leaving Beijing, we took a brief tour of the Summer Palace, had lunch at Aman and then drove to the airport for our flight to Xi’an. All internal flights were on China Eastern Airlines, and they were all on time.
The highlight of our time in Xi’an was the Terracotta Warriors. Although I’ve read about the Warriors, experiencing this treasure in person took my breath away. Imperial Tours has expanded its portfolio of distinctive Imperial Moments with Special access to a section of Pit #1 at the Terracotta Warriors site.
We stayed at the Sofitel Xi’an on Renmin Square, within the city walls. Post dinner we were given a demonstration on how to make dumplings and noodles. It all looked so easy until we tried it ourselves! Then we strolled through Huimin Jie Muslim Bazaar looking for handmade kites and souvenirs.
The next day, we left the big cities behind and traveled to Guilin. We stayed at the Hotel of Modern Art, a unique property built in a Sculpture Park. One of my favorite activities was drifting down a tributary of the Li River on a bamboo raft.
Our day in the country concluded with a delicious lunch on the banks of the river and a stopover at our guide’s village – where the traditional (soybean grinding) and modern (large flat-screen TVs) seem to merge. We met the children at the local school, and paid our guide’s parents a visit in their house.
The final leg of our journey was Shanghai. Our home for the next three days was the Park Hyatt Shanghai in the Pudong area. The hotel occupies floors 79 to 93 of the Shanghai World Financial Center. What a view: its rooms overlook the Huangpu River or the city.
Besides the fantastic shopping, we were treated to a tour-cum-lecture of colonial architecture of the city by a member of the Shanghai Historical Society. Before we set off on the excursion around the Lane Houses in the French Concession, our guide shared some of the city’s history and showed us the various areas on the map.
On return, inspired by the Imperial Tour of China, I’m already planning my next adventure! When you match a historically rich and intriguing country like China with the quality service, knowledge and flexibility of Imperial Tours, the result, like mine, is going to be an unparalleled travel experience.
The Best way to set up a tour with Imperial Tours it to contact Directory of Sales & Marketing Margot Kong, who is based in San Francisco.
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By James Shillinglaw
A sample tour of the city’s top attractions, accommodations and dining.
A first visit to Beijing should take in well-known attractions but also provide a sense of the city as it exists today. That’s exactly what Imperial Tours, an upscale operator offering FIT and small-group programs, provides in its tour of the city, which in this case was during a three-day segment of a 10-day program that included stops in Xian, Guilin and Shanghai.
Beijing itself is a modern capital city with wide boulevards lined by government buildings and corporate offices. But it also is one of the great repositories of China’s imperial past. Here’s a rundown of the sightseeing, accommodations, dining, guides and transportation offered during this Imperial Tours program.
Sightseeing: On the first day in Beijing, the tour visited the Temple of Heaven (first built circa 1420 during the Qing Dynasty), the most famous of the four main temples in the city. A complex of courtyards and buildings for worship, all surrounded by trees and gardens, the Temple of Heaven is a popular gathering place for local residents seeking to socialize, exercise (Tai Chi), dance, and play music and games.
From the Temple of Heaven, the tour group then drove to Beijing’s antique market, a large outdoor emporium of statues, furniture, china, old phonographs and Chinese military uniforms. If your clients are into Chinese antiques, this is the place to send them.
This was followed by a visit to Tiananmen Square, the giant open space where the famous student protests occurred in 1989 and where massive rallies took place during the Cultural Revolution in the late 1960s. Visitors can see Mao Zedong’s Mausoleum and the Great Hall of the People, where the annual National Party Congress is held. On one side of the square is the giant gate to the Forbidden City, adorned with a large portrait of Mao.
The tour proceeded through the gate into the inner sanctum of the Forbidden City, where some 24 Chinese emperors resided over the centuries. Visitors pass through a series of courtyards and gates to Chong Jing Dian (the Hall of Adoration), the throne reception room of the emperors. The highlight of the visit was a private viewing of one of the many small, intimate palaces where emperors actually resided—the Chong Hua Gong (Palace of Double Brilliance), which features exquisite sitting rooms and sleeping chambers.
The second day of the Beijing program showcased the Great Wall of China, with one of its access points located a little more than an hour’s drive on a superhighway from the center of the city. The Great Wall remains one of the seminal wonders of the world, stretching as it does for more than 4,000 miles over steep hills and through five provinces of China. Construction began in the 7th century B.C. and continued for hundreds of years as various stages of the wall were linked to keep out the invading Mongols.
Imperial Tours usually organizes a special lunch on the Great Wall, but winter weather forced a cancellation of those plans. Instead, the tour group visited the wall at Mutianya, a highly developed tourist area where visitors take a cable car (four to a car) up the mountain since the wall is located on a ridge high above the valley. There they can walk in either direction on the wall’s wide top as it climbs and descends steeply along the ridge. They can also take in spectacular views from ramparts of the structure as it undulates along the ridge.
On the third day in Beijing, the tour spent time visiting the famous Summer Palace in the outskirts of the city. The complex centers around Longevity Hill and the Kunming Lake, which is entirely man-made. Construction was begun in 1750 by Emperor Qianlong. In 1888, it was given the name Yihe Yuan, and served as a summer resort for Empress Dowager Cixi, who reconstructed and enlarged it. In December 1998, UNESCO put the Summer Palace on its World Heritage List as “a masterpiece of Chinese landscape garden design.”
Like many other parks in Beijing, the Summer Palace also serves as a gathering place for the local residents, who use it for outdoor dancing, exercise and games. You can rent small pedal boats on the lake and see a giant stone boat (not one that floats), once used for ceremonies and now for parties.
Accommodations: This particular tour group was housed in the Raffles Beijing, located on Chang’An Avenue just a short walk from Tiananmen Square. The 171-room Raffles Beijing was originally known as the Beijing Hotel, the first official hotel in the city, dating from 1900. It has a long and colorful history (Mao reportedly enjoyed taking tea and dancing in the ballroom at one time). Under Raffles’ management, the property has been transformed into a well-appointed luxury hotel with very traditional décor but modern conveniences. The old building flows into a newer addition, which houses restaurants, spas and shops.
Another lodging option is the Park Hyatt Beijing, which opened in 2008 as the tallest hotel in Beijing, in a 63-floor building. The hotel’s 237 very modern and spacious rooms take up only floors 27-49, while the lobby, spa, pool and restaurant are located on other floors.
More bucolic but less convenient to the center city is the Aman at the Summer Palace, located next to the Summer Palace. The property, which seems to be part of the palace, has just 57 rooms spread out among buildings situated around nine courtyards. Accommodations include eight guestrooms, 10 courtyard guestrooms, eight suites, 17 deluxe suites, seven courtyard suites and an Imperial Suite. While the Aman property is very traditional in its accommodations, it offers a giant spa, pool and fitness center (a total of 29,000 square meters) capable of serving far more than its guest population. There are also squash courts and a large screening room with reclining chairs.
Dining: One of the great pleasures of China is its cuisine—and this Imperial Tours program offered a wide variety of dining experiences. The tour began with a Western-style meal in the Raffles Beijing at Jaan, decorated in 1920s style and offering a dance floor and crystal chandeliers. Breakfast was in East 33, another restaurant in the modern section of the hotel, which offered a buffet featuring a large number of selections.
Lunch on the first day was in the China Grill restaurant at the top of the Park Hyatt Beijing. The fare included a wide variety of Asian specialties, but the main reason for dining here is the great views of the city. Dinner that night showcased a very modern side of Beijing—a trendy restaurant called the LAN Club Beijing, which is located on the fourth floor of the LG Twin Towers. Designed by Philip Starck, the restaurant features framed paintings that hang upside down from the ceiling and different kinds of chandeliers over a large dining area. It serves a new wave version of Chinese cuisine.
Lunch on the second day was at a restaurant, spa and bath house called Green T. House Living Bath House & Spa (www.green-t-house.com). Located in the Beijing suburbs in a warehouse district, this restaurant serves modern Chinese meals all themed around tea. Guests dine on massive long communal tables and sit in designer chairs that have backs soaring to the ceiling. The tour group then visited the adjacent bathhouse and spa, located in another building similar in construction but containing two loft rooms, where guests can book an overnight stay, and a giant in-ground tub that can be filled with tea for day spa treatments. There’s a full kitchen, bathrooms, a large fireplace and a hot tub on the roof.
Dinner that night was in a traditional Beijing courtyard house called the Cheng Courtyard Restaurant near the Forbidden City. The establishment is overseen by a young chef whose grandfather served as personal cook to Mao. The chef himself comes out during dinner to show photographs of his grandfather with Mao and other Chinese Communist Party officials. The cuisine is very traditional Chinese, but the exclusivity of the encounter is what sets this dining experience apart.
Guides: Imperial Tours provides a China host, often an American or European who speaks fluent Mandarin, who acts as the tour leader but also is available to dine with guests and help them shop or interact with locals. The company also employs knowledgeable local guides who provide a commentary on top attractions and insight into life in China.
Transportation: For ground transportation, Imperial Tours uses an 18-seat mini-bus for groups of six or more (plus the China host and local guide). It can also offer a private car or minivan depending on the size of the group.
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By James Shillinglaw
So there I was in my room on the 82nd floor of the 174-room Park Hyatt Shanghai, the tallest hotel in the world (or so I’m told), overlooking the Huangpao River and the city of Shanghai far below. I was sitting in a comfortable desk chair behind a large desk gazing out a picture window at the magnificent view far below. What a great home office this would be!
The room was sleek, modern and well-equipped with the latest technology (bedside controls for lighting, shades and TV). It had an ultra-stylish bathroom with a rain shower and fast-fill oversized tub, as well as a separate WC with one of those fully automated Japanese toilets. As I gazed out the window again, I found myself surrounded by the skyscrapers of the Pudong district of a very modern, even futuristic Shanghai.
A few hours later, however, I found myself touring the famous Bund, the former European district of beaux arts and art deco banks, hotelsand corporate headquarters along the river that once upon a time (mid-20th century) was considered the most modern city in the world. Just an hour or so later, I was in a traditional Shanghai alleyway, a maze of small, traditional buildings, each housing up to 25 families. This was “old” Shanghai – and it’s a part of the city that’s disappearing rapidly in favor of high-rise apartments and corporate buildings.
As those of you who may have been reading this space over the past few weeks know, I visited Shanghai as part of a 10-day travel agent fam trip organized by Imperial Tours. We stopped in Beijing, Xian and Guilin, before ending our journey with three days in Shanghai. On this last part of our trip, we toured the city with our local guide Patrick, an American expatriate who has lived in Shanghai for a number of years. He also is an expert in the history and architecture of the city.
With Patrick’s help, we explored the various neighborhoods of Shanghai, still divided into the “concessions” granted to the Britain, France, the U.S. and other European powers late in the 19th century. We toured the French concession, with its tree-lined streets and ornate houses and buildings that seem a bit more like Paris than Shanghai. We visited the Shanghai Museum of Arts & Crafts, housed in a former mansion once owned by a rich French businessman.
We also toured the famous old quarters of Shanghai, the alleyways that I referred to above. Most of the city was once just two stories high (quite a contrast from the 90-story-plus buildings today). We walked down a narrow “lane” of a traditional neighborhood, where many older Shanghai residents still prefer to live since they enjoy the community of the place. It had cramped housing, a small clinic, a Communist party meeting hall and a few stores. We then had lunch at Ye Shanghai, which offered the traditional cuisine of the city.
After lunch we were joined by a new local guide, Lilly (also known as Hurricane Lilly for her irrepressible energy and directness). We found ourselves in a low-rise shopping mall area, which included a Starbucks (one of 72 in the city). We had a few minutes to shop, but I chose to go with Lilly for a tour of a nearby museum where the first meeting of the Chinese Communist Party was held on July 21, 1921.
The museum housed exhibits about the history of the party and its struggle against the Chiang Kai-shek’s nationalist forces and then the Japanese (a lot of propaganda here, of course). There was also a wax figure relief depicting the leaders of that first meeting, dominated by Mao himself. But as Lilly noted, at the time Mao would have been a fairly minor figure in the party and scarcely someone the rest would have looked up to. History is certainly written by the victors. But I had to think, here was the site of the first meeting of the Chinese Communist Party only a few steps away from a Starbucks.
We then proceeded to experience more shopping in Shanghai, visiting a store called Lilly’s Shanghai (no relation to our guide), housed on the first floor of a somewhat nondescript office building. It offered some very good merchandise, including designer jade and pearl jewelry, scarfs and silk. We visited another store called Spin, a two-story emporium specializing in very modern (and very affordable) ceramics (plates, cups, tea service sets, vases). I even purchased a few items, getting into the spirit of things (my traveling companions were quite the avid and experienced shoppers).
Later that evening we ate an early dinner at a restaurant on the Bund called the Whampoa Club. This top eatery offered Shanghai specialty cuisine in a very fashionable neighborhood overlooking the river. The same building (Number 3 on the Bund) housed an Evian Spa, an Armani story, and a Jean-Georges restaurant. We dined quickly because we had a very special evening planned – a night at the circus.
After a short drive, we reached Shanghai Circus World, located in a giant, permanent, white geodesic dome, where we were lucky enough (courtesy of Imperial Tours) to have ringside seats. The circus featured amazing acrobats, jugglers and aerialists – better acts than I’ve ever seen. It reminded me a bit of Cirque de Soleil performances, only better. And with our seats, the performers were quite literally in our laps or directly over our heads much of the time. One performance featured a couple who flew high above on long strips of cloth while engaged in a romantic aerial dance. But the finale was quite a bit different: Motorcyclists who raced around the interior of a giant steel globe at high speeds, up to eight at once.
James Shillinglaw is editor in chief and editorial director of Performance Media Group, LLC, parent of TravelPulse.com, Agent @ Home magazine, Vacation Agent magazine and Virtual Travel Events.
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By James Shillinglaw
Shanghai – the very name evokes images of immense modernity, buildings touching the sky, and a center of commerce that is now one of the world’s great cities. Yet, Shanghai also has an ancient and colonial past; it was a city dominated by Western traders for a good part of the 20th century, at least until the Communist revolution swept capitalism aside — until today at least!
I finally got a chance to visit this amazing metropolis last month on a 10-day travel agent fam trip organized by Imperial Tours. We visited Beijing, Xian and Guilin, before ending our journey with three days in Shanghai. We flew from a modern airport near Guilin to the even more modern Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport. Indeed, the terminal we arrived at had just been completed, in time for the upcoming Shanghai World Expo, set for May 31-Oct. 31, which expects to attract 70 million visitors.
We arrived in the afternoon after a two-hour flight from Guilin, during which Imperial Tours had thoughtfully included a box lunch for our China Southern Airlines flight. We drove for 45 minutes on a traffic-filled superhighway into the city. Imperial Tours had arranged for us to take a brief tour of the Four Seasons Beijing (www.fourseasons.com), an elegant property that it uses for clients. So we took a look at the rooms and suites and had a drink in the lobby. One thing about Shanghai: There is absolutely no shortage of superb five-star hotels.
But then it was time to cross the Huangpu River to where we were actually staying – the Park Hyatt Beijing, located in the Shanghai World Financial Center. The Pudong district of Shanghai, the most modern of the city’s regions, is where many if not most of the massive new skyscrapers are located. And the 467-room Park Hyatt (http://beijing.park.hyatt.com) just happens to be in one of them, making it one of the tallest hotels in the world (with the property occupying floors 79 to 88). My room was located on the 82nd floor, several levels below the pool and spa (on 95), the lobby (on 87), the restaurant (on the 91st floor) and bar/nightclub (92nd floor). You can take an express elevator to the lobby in under a minute from the ground floor.
The Park Hyatt is extremely modern but provides great conveniences, especially if you are there to work, as I was. Indeed, I think I could get used to working at desk that sits at the “top of the world” overlooking a massive city like Shanghai from the 82nd floor.
My room also had automatic bedside controls for lighting, shades and entertainment systems; a very modern bathroom, complete with stone tiled rain shower, oversize fast-fill tub; and a separate Japanese toilet (if you don’t know what that does, I won’t describe it here). That evening we had a nice dinner in 100 Century Avenue, the eclectic restaurant upstairs, which not surprisingly has incredible views of Shanghai. The fare included Chinese, Japanese and Western food – all of which we sampled.
The next day our group – which included three agents, two of their companions, two Imperial Tours China hosts and me – got back on our tour bus to meet our local guide Patrick, an American expatriate who has lived in Beijing for a number of years. Our goal, with Patrick’s help, was to visit what used to be the most modern city in the world on the other side of the river. I’m referring of course to Shanghai’s famous Bund, the strip of ornate bank, insurance and corporate buildings constructed early in the 20th century as the headquarters of Shanghai’s Western elite – the British, French and Americans who truly ruled this city between the two world wars. Nowadays this district is being refurbished and given a new sheen as a tourism zone in time for the Shanghai World Expo.
Patrick proved to be an expert in Chinese politics, the history of Shanghai and the architecture of the city. He gave us a quick summary of the city’s history on the bus ride to the Bund. Each of the colonial powers had their own districts, so the city was divided into the different “concessions” (the French Concession, the British Concession, the American Concession, etc.). In fact, the city is still somewhat divided by those old colonial boundaries. We drove by what had the Shanghai Race Course in the 1930s, but is now People’s Park; the Shanghai Museum; the Museum of Urban Planning; City Hall; the modern Grand Theater; and the Shanghai Art Museum.
We finally arrived at the Bund, where we took a walking tour with Patrick as he described each historic building in turn, including what they formerly housed. We saw the British Consul General’s residence, the newly opened Peninsula Beijing (more on that hotel in a future column) and the former headquarters of the Hongkong & Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC), with two impressive stone lion sculptures guarding the entrance.
For me, however, the most moving sight was a building on the corner of the Bund and Nanjing Road. The art deco style edifice was formerly called the Palace Hotel (and also the Peace Hotel at certain times). And it just happened to be where my father stayed as a young U.S. Navy lieutenant back in 1945 just after the war ended. He was there to help train the Chinese Nationalist Navy. Naturally I took about a zillion photographs to give to my dad. But I’ll also have to tell him that it will soon house a giant Swatch store.
As Patrick told us, Shanghai has always been about being modern, whether it’s the skyscrapers of Pudong or the colonial edifices of the Bund. On the other hand, Shanghai also can be very old as well. Next week I’ll detail our explorations of that “older” Shanghai, as well as the remainder of our visit to China with Imperial Tours.
James Shillinglaw is editor in chief and editorial director of Performance Media Group, LLC, parent of TravelPulse.com, Agent @ Home magazine, Vacation Agent magazine and Virtual Travel Events.
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Beijing is the heart of “official” China, Xian is the historical center of China’s imperial past, but Guilin offers a taste of Chinese rural life as well as some of the most scenic vistas in the country. After nearly three days in Beijing and one in Xian, our Imperial Tours travel agent fam trip group flew to Guilin to experience a very different China.
Our group – which included three agents, two of their companions, two Imperial Tours China hosts and me arrived in the evening after a less than two-hour flight on Air China from Xian. Imperial Tours had even provided box dinners for our evening flight, though the onboard cuisine actually didn’t look that bad. We arrived in darkness, so we did not get a chance to see the amazing mountains that characterize the region around Guilin.
After a relatively quick drive, we arrived at the Hotel of Modern Art (HOMA), an eclectic property set what’s known as the Yuzi Paradise modern sculpture garden. At night many sculptures are illuminated, so as our bus entered the complex we could view many of these fascinating art pieces. The next day, we could see these sculptures set against the surrounding mountains, which resemble modern-art objects themselves.
The 46-room Hotel of Modern Art (www.guilinhoma.com) is a Relais & Chateaux hotel built in 2002 by a rich Taiwanese businessman, Rhy Chang Tsao. The property is not only a museum, it’s a haven for resident artists, who create and exhibit their art objects on the hotel grounds. Its grounds are populated with roughly 200 sculptures and the hotel itself uses modern art throughout its interiors. There’s also a large artist’s studio for the artist in residence, an indoor art gallery and conference space for both artists’ conventions and other meetings.
The hotel also has some rather unique suites, including some duplex accommodations, all containing paintings, sculptures and furniture made by many of the artists who have visited or resided at the property. There is a spa and a pool, but the chief activity is just walking the grounds to see the large sculptures and other art installations. It is indeed like staying at the Museum of Modern Art.
The next morning, after a quick breakfast, we boarded our small tour bus for the short drive to our first activity: A raft ride down a tributary of the Li River. We passed through the spectacular countryside, including the region’s famed limestone, vegetation-covered mountains, which rise abruptly from the flat rice paddies, almost like a child’s drawing of mountains instead of the real thing. The morning we drove past them, they were enveloped by mist and clouds, giving them an even more mysterious quality.
We stopped to pick up our local guide, Annie, who directed us to a place near the river where we would board our rafts. We walked on narrow paths past rice fields and small farm houses until we reached the river. Waiting there for us were four boatmen and four bamboo rafts (each raft had a pair of seats on it). We boarded the rafts and our boatmen started to pole down the river. Once again we were able to take in the spectacular green scenery, farmland and rice paddies in the valleys below those impressive and beautiful mountains.
The region had been going through a bit of a drought, so several times our boatmen had to laboriously push the rafts over stone water breaks when the rafts got stuck. They would push the rafts over those breaks and we would splash down on the other side, or they would pole us through small gaps in the break creating a flume-like ride. Our tranquil and scenic ride down the river lasted an hour and a half.
We finally arrived at the terminus, where our bus was waiting for us. We took a rather rough ride to lunch (the roads in this rural area are fairly rudimentary). That said, the region is a holiday destination, so there are a number of small hotels and resorts on the river. We stopped for lunch at one of them, a 29-room inn called the Yangshuo Mountain Retreat (www.yangshuomountainretreat.com), which overlooks the river and the mountains. Imperial Tours had arranged an outdoor lunch at a long table in front of the hotel.
After lunch we took the bus through downtown Guilin, a city of 300,000 that is also a popular tourist destination. There seemed to be many small hotels and restaurants. But our goal wasn’t the town; it was a visit to a small mountain village known as Ping Ling, which just happened to be our guide Annie’s hometown. Our bus climbed a steep and curving mountain road until we reached the village, which was surrounded by plantations with rows of kumquat trees full of fruit. It turns out the region is the kumquat capital of China.
We were greeted by about 50 elementary school kids (we arrived just as the break for lunch was ending). One of Imperial Tours’ goals is to have its clients interact with the local population, so we spent about 20 minutes playing with the children, most of whom seemed happy to say “hello” in English and race around mugging for our cameras. When trecess ended, we proceeded to Annie’s parents’ home, where her mother and father had prepared a demonstration of how to make tofu from soy beans. Using an ancient stone grinder, we took turns mashing the beans into soy milk, which we later drank warm while eating some kumquats. Annie’s parents’ home was rudimentary but comfortable, and dominated by a recent purchase – a large flat-screen TV.
We then walked back to what effectively is the town hall to meet with the village elder, who also happens to be the local representative of the Communist Party. More like a mayor, he resolves local disputes and watches over the town. We got a chance (with Annie’s translating skills) to ask him about life in the village, politics, laws and more. It was a fascinating exchange, especially since this clearly was a fairly well-off village (a new sports court had recently been built in front of the town hall).
Then we boarded our bus once again for the ride back to our hotel. We had a short tour of the property and I got my own guided tour of the sculpture garden and artist’s residence. There apparently are plans afoot to build a golf course next to the hotel as well.
That night, however, Imperial Tours and the hotel had prepared a surprise for our group: Dinner in a massive cave located inside one of the magnificent mountains surrounding the property. We took a golf cart through the grounds to the cave and then walked back through lighted passageways until we found ourselves in a giant cavern lit by floodlights. A long table had been set up with hotpots at every place setting and we cooked various meats and vegetables for the next hour or so.
As we were about finish dinner, someone remarked they’d seen a bat (this was a cave after all). Then again, as I later learned in Shanghai, bats are considered a sign of good luck! In any event, it was a spectacular way to end our day in the Guilin region, a place I’d recommend to anyone visiting China. It has spectacular scenery with its rivers and farmland, interspersed with those magnificent bulbous mountains. Tomorrow, I’ll write about a very different kind of China –the giant modern metropolis called Shanghai.
James Shillinglaw is editor in chief and editorial director of Performance Media Group, LLC, parent of TravelPulse.com, Agent @ Home magazine, Vacation Agent magazine and Virtual Travel Events.
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© 2010 Performance Media Group, LLC.
CONTACT:
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IMPERIAL TOURS SETS 2010 ‘FAMILY TOUR’ DEPARTURE & PRICING
FOR LUXURY ESCORTED GROUP PROGRAM IN CHINA
SAN FRANCISCO, CA (March 3, 2010) – Imperial Tours, the leading luxury tour operator based in China, has set the 2010 date and pricing for its annual escorted group Family Tour.
Ideal for families (with young kids to teenagers), the 11-night Family Tour takes travelers to Beijing, Xian, Guilin and Shanghai from July 9 (arrive in Beijing) to July 20 (depart for home from Shanghai). Recognizing that too much history and sightseeing can be overwhelming for children, Imperial’s Family Tour strikes a superb balance by incorporating kite flying, pandas, boat rides, kung fu, a shadow puppet show and more into an enchanting program for all ages. Specially crafted experiences indulge children and inspire their interest in China, and all hotels and restaurants selected are extremely family-friendly without sacrificing the upscale quality of the vacation.
The Family Tour includes:
To view the Family Tour program in detail, visit http://imperialtours.net/family_tour.htm.
The 11-night Family Tour is priced from $7,270 per adult and $6,580 per child (under age 12) based on two adults and two children. Domestic internal China air in economy class (Beijing – Xian, Xian – Guilin, and Guilin – Shanghai) costs an additional $1,065 per adult and $535 per child (under 12).
Prices do not include international airfare to/from China, visa processing, travel insurance, personal expenses (such as alcoholic beverages, imported mineral waters, excess luggage fees, telephone charges, room service and laundry charges), and gratuities to the China Host.
The Family Tour can be extended to include visits to other destinations such as Chengdu, Dunhuang, Hangzhou, Hong Kong, Lhasa, Lijiang, Sanya, Shangri-La and Suzhou.
The Family Tour is limited to 20 people (an eight-person minimum is required for departure). Upgrades to accommodations in suites and first-class domestic China air cost extra. For more information on Imperial’s Family Tour or other scheduled group departures, please visit our tours page. Imperial Tours also has a Spanish-language website at www.imperialtours.es.
Imperial Tours – Traveling China…in Style
The leading luxury tour operator based in China, Imperial Tours offers customized private tours and scheduled escorted group departures that combine local expertise with the high levels of service and quality expected by sophisticated Western travelers. For the ultimate journey in style, bilingual, China-based Western hosts accompany each group and private tour. Through its portfolio of programs and themed excursions, Imperial Tours provides the ‘best of the best’ in China encompassing accommodations, dining, sightseeing, experiences and much more at unrivaled value. Founded by Westerners in 1999, Imperial Tours has offices in Beijing, San Francisco, Offenbach (Germany) and Poole (UK).
A testament to its unparalleled knowledge and experience in planning luxury customized programs to China, Imperial Tours has been awarded the distinction of a ‘top travel specialist’ by Condé Nast Traveler in 2008 and 2009 and has been named to Travel + Leisure’s ‘A’ List of Super Agents every year between 2002 and 2009. In addition to top accolades, Imperial has been privileged to bring celebrities and royalty to China including Anthony Edwards, Natalie Portman, Michael Phelps, Sara Lee, Baroness Katherine de Rothschild, Katie Couric and the late Eunice Kennedy Shriver.
Contact Information
For more information, please call (888) 888-1970, send an e-mail to margot@imperialtours.net. Become a fan of Imperial Tours on Facebook at http://tinyurl.com/imperialtours.
Note to Editors
High-resolution digital images of Imperial Tours/China are available upon request.
After nearly three days in Beijing, my Imperial Tours travel agent fam trip moved to Xian, site of the famous Terracotta warriors and the original seat of the Chinese empire. The Terracotta warriors, of course, are one of China’s most famous attractions, though they were discovered only late in the last century. But I found there is much more to Xian than the clay-figure warriors themselves.
We began our journey with a short flight (under two hours) from Beijing to Xian. A note on air transportation within China: While I knew it was modern and efficient, those booking China might let their clients know they will be flying on modern Boeing aircraft on all of the country’s domestic airlines, which include Air China, China Eastern and China Southern). I found the service to be exceptional, to be honest. And nearly all of the airport facilities were as modern or in many cases, more modern than those in the U.S.
Upon arrival in Xian, our group of eight two China hosts, three travel agents, two companions to those agents, and me – was picked up by a small motorcoach for the drive into the city. We traveled on a superhighway as our local guide explained the history of the city and the surrounding countryside. Indeed, we saw a few burial mounds on the trip into Xian, our first clues to the vast imperial past that this 3,000-year-old city had when it served as the seat of power for some 73 emperors of China. At one time Xian was the largest city in the world, with one million inhabitants, situated as it was on one end of the famous Silk Road.
Beyond its imperial past, Xian is embarking on a very modern future. It now has close to eight million inhabitants and an ever-growing population of automobiles (and yes, traffic can be a challenge). Surrounding the center city are literally hundreds of construction sites for high-rise apartment buildings. In the old city, however, construction is limited by height, so that modern high-rise buildings do not dwarf the historic stone walls of the city or the structures within those walls. Indeed, Xian’s thick city wall, running nine miles around the city, is an attraction unto itself. Surrounding by a thin green park and a moat, the wall, which dates to 1370-1379, offers visitors a great way to hike and bike their way around the city.
Once inside the old city, we checked into the Sofitel Xian on Renmin Square (www.sofitel.com), a modern property with comfortable amenities, including a spa and large indoor pool, that is actually part of a complex of Accor hotels within the city. Called Renmin Square, the area has the Sofitel, a Grand Mercure, a Mercure and a three-star property called the Xian People’s Hotel dating from the 1950s (a Communist-style structure). We were treated to dinner by the hotel, including a special demonstration of dumpling and noodle-making techniques (a few in our party gave it a try, but I decided simply to observe). Later that night, our Imperial Tours China Host Todd Pang took us to the local night market and bazaar called Huajue Alley, near a mosque. There we could sample all manner of local foods and buy jewelry, clothing and handmade kites.
Of course, we were in Xian to see the major attraction – the Terracotta warriors. So the next day we got up, packed our bags once again and boarded the bus for the 40-minute ride to the city’s eastern outskirts. There we found the burial complex for Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor of China, who unified the country and then built himself a massive burial mound surrounded by pits containing the objects he wished to carry with him to the afterlife (the entire complex is 56 square kilometers). In 1974, a local farmer (who still resides in the area and interacts with tourists on a daily basis) discovered one of these pits containing the first Terracotta warriors when he was digging a well.
The life-size Terracotta warriors, clay representations modeled on actual soldiers (no two faces are the same), date from 210 B.C. The figures include warriors, generals, chariots, horses, officials, acrobats, strongmen, and musicians. Archeologists estimate that there are more than 8,000 soldiers, 130 chariots with 520 horses and 150 cavalry horses, though so far only 2,000 figures have been uncovered. Our guide described the project as the “largest jigsaw puzzle in the world,” since the warriors were found broken into many pieces.
There are three “pits” that archeologists have been working on. The first, and largest, is housed in a large hanger-like building. Visitors can view several rows of warriors from a walkway around the pit, including an area where they are pieced together and then put back where they were found. We could see archeologists at work in the pits carefully brushing away dirt and rock to uncover the figures.
We then moved to the other two pits, which are located in more substantial buildings, though there are fewer figures in those facilities. The fourth building houses two miniature bronze chariots with horses, exquisite sculptures found intact among the burial treasures. These and other artifacts are part of a large museum complex. In all, it’s an amazing place to visit and you can spend hours with the warriors and the rest of the emperor’s creation.
But we were on a strict timetable (our trip was a bit faster-paced than the usual Imperial Tours program). We got back in our bus and drove back into the city to have lunch at a combination restaurant and spa called Real Love Changan. And no, despite the name it really was just a restaurant and spa, with some great local food. We had lunch one of the restaurant’s many private rooms for groups (and the place seemed to be quite popular with the locals).
Then we were off again, this time to prove that Xian is much more than just the Terracotta Warriors. Our bus drove along the superhighway again to yet another historic site, Hanyangling, an underground museum that is yet another mausoleum of Western Han Emperor Liu Qi. There, in much smaller pits, are the artifacts buried with the emperor. In this case, however, they are miniatures, rather than lifesize figurines, with vast processions of small soldiers, officials, chariots, enuchs and concubines. All of these figurines were originally dressed in silk and their arms were made of wood. Imperial Tours also had arranged a special visit to the archeological office where these figurines are painstakingly cleaned and repaired. We even got the chance to hold one or two of them (very carefully, of course).
Thus ended our encounter with the tombs of the emperors in Xian – a marvelous destination that truly illustrates just how ancient and sophisticated Chinese civilization is. We departed for the Xian’s modern airport where just before the passenger x-ray machines we were greeted by the mangled English sign “Joy Security and to be with you!” (Let’s see the TSA use that as a slogan!) Now it was time for us to escape the city and travel to the incredible mountains and countryside of Guilin, our next destination in China.
James Shillinglaw is editor in chief and editorial director of Performance Media Group, LLC, parent of TravelPulse.com, Agent @ Home magazine, Vacation Agent magazine and Virtual Travel Events.
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© 2010 Performance Media Group, LLC.
By James Shillinglaw
After two days visiting some of the iconic sights of Beijing, including the Forbidden City and Great Wall, our Imperial Tours fam trip spent a final half day visiting the famous Summer Palace in the outskirts of the city. Beijing was still cold but the weather had turned clear as we left the Raffles Beijing by bus to drive through the wide boulevards of the city.
We passed massive government buildings, high-rise corporate headquarters and traditional “hutong” courtyard buildings (what old Beijing consisted of before the capital was rebuilt in its current form). And yes, we got a good look at the “Bird’s Nest,” the now famous stadium where those spectacular opening and closing ceremonies were held during the Beijing Summer Olympic Games.
In about half an hour, we arrived at the Summer Palace, which is actually a complex of buildings and gardens in park located next to a large lake. The complex centers around Longevity Hill and the Kunming Lake, which is entirely man made. Construction was begun in 1750 by Emperor Qianlong. In 1888, it was given the name, Yihe Yuan, and served as a summer resort for Empress Dowager Cixi, who reconstructed and enlarged it. In December 1998, UNESCO put the Summer Palace on its World Heritage List as “a masterpiece of Chinese landscape garden design.”
Like many other parks in Beijing, the Summer Palace serves as a gathering place for the local residents, who use it for outdoor dancing, exercise and games. You can rent small pedal boats on the lake and see a giant stone boat (not one that floats) used for ceremonies at one time and parties today. Our guide Carl showed us many of the palace buildings, including a long covered passageway used to access the lake.
After a walk through the grounds, we met a representative of Aman Resorts, which has a hotel adjacent to the Summer Palace. The great thing about this property is that its buildings fit in well with those of the palace itself. Indeed, some were former palace buildings while others are replicas. The Aman at the Summer Palace Beijing (www.amanresorts.com) has just 57 rooms spread out among nine courtyards. A common room displays Chinese artifacts, a library and demonstrations of Chinese calligraphy.
Accommodations include eight guestrooms, 10 courtyard guestrooms, eight suites, 17 deluxe suites, seven courtyard suites and an Imperial Suite. The latter has three separate pavilions, including one devoted to living/study, another private pavilion, and a formal pavilion, all with high ceilings and traditional furniture, and even a private massage room.
While the Aman property is very traditional in its accommodations, it offers a giant spa, pool and fitness center (a total of 29,000 square meters) that is one of the best I’ve ever seen – capable of serving far more than its guest population. The indoor pool is incredibly beautiful and inviting. There are also squash courts and a large screen room with reclining chairs. Altogether, the property offers a very different experience than the hotels in downtown Beijing. It is indeed a palace by a palace. And like the Raffles Beijing and Park Hyatt Beijing, it’s one of the luxury properties offered to guests of Imperial Tours.
We had lunch at the Aman and then departed on a short ride to the airport for or flight to Xian, our next destination on our 10-day trip offered by Imperial Tours, the upscale operator that features private and small group programs to China. Tomorrow, I’ll detail our visit to Xian and the famous Terracotta warriors. Next week look for columns on Guilin and Shanghai.
James Shillinglaw is editor in chief and editorial director of Performance Media Group, LLC, parent of TravelPulse.com, Agent @ Home magazine, Vacation Agent magazine and Virtual Travel Events.
http://www.travelpulse.com/Resources/Editorial.aspx?n=69462
© 2010 Performance Media Group, LLC.
By James Shillinglaw
Now I have to admit the title of this column may be a little misleading. No, I didn’t exactly go skiing on the Great Wall of China, but I did slip on the snow and ice a bit as I hiked the steep path along the top of the wall. And I did take a cable car up the mountain to a place where we could access the wall (minus my skis, of course).
It was a beautiful but cold morning last week in Beijing as we left the Raffles Beijing aboard our small bus for the hour-plus trip to the Great Wall. I was in China as part of a 10-day travel agent fam trip offered by Imperial Tours (www.imperialtours.net), the upscale operator that features private and small group programs to China.
With five other members of our party, including three agents, as well as two of Imperial Tours’ China hosts (one in training) and a local guide, we drove down the wide boulevards of Beijing. We passed large government buildings, art museums, company headquarters, and bank buildings – all the trappings of the modern capital city that Beijing truly is today. Then we drove on a superhighway up to one of the access points to the Great Wall.
During the trip we talked politics with our local guide, Carl, who told us how he had been sent to the northern countryside as a young student during the Cultural Revolution in 1966. He was forced to stay for six years helping farmers, although he was occasionally allowed to visit his family. Things have certainly improved since then, Carl told us, with most people today focused on making money and caring for their families.
But progress across China remains uneven, with some areas lagging. Indeed, despite its modern cities, China still considers itself a developing country, Carl told us. One of the great things about our tour was the chance to speak directly with him and other local people about conditions in China today.
Our discussion with Carl made the time go by quickly, and soon we arrived in the mountains, which loom up abruptly from the plains around Beijing. Imperial Tours usually features an outdoor lunch on another section of the Great Wall, but snowfall the day before had forced us to cancel those plans. Instead, we went to another section of the wall at Mutianyu, which proved to be highly developed for tourists. The winter weather fortunately reduced the crowds and we pretty much had the place to ourselves.
After a quick pit stop for coffee and a snack at a café innocuously called The Schoolhouse, we reached the access point after passing rows of souvenir stands. Our guide Carl purchased admission (45 yuan per person) with another 65 yuan for the cable car ride (a total of about $15).
The Great Wall, of course, is one of the seminal wonders of the world, stretching as it does for more than 4,000 miles over steep hills and through five provinces of China. Construction began in the 7th Century B.C. and continued on for hundreds of years as various stages of the wall were linked to keep out the invading Mongols. Much of the wall today is in ruins, but roughly five sections near to Beijing have been painstakingly reconstructed.
At Mutianyu, visitors take the cable car (four to a car) up the mountain since the wall is located on a ridge high above the valley. And as I gazed around me at the snow below the car, the mountains and the valleys, I had a momentary feeling I was indeed on a ski trip. When we reached the top, we climbed up some more steps to access the wall itself. Standing finally on the Great Wall, seeing it undulate up the ridge to the next mountain and down to yet another, I began to understand what an amazing accomplishment this great project was (I wonder very much if any society today could do something similar).
The Great Wall is steep, so it was rather challenging negotiating it in the ice and snow. But we did manage to climb up and down one section and visit some of the ramparts. This is a place that you need to stay at for several hours just to soak it all in, but finally it was time to leave. We took the cable car down the mountain and negotiated our way past the many vendors to get to the bus (our Imperial Tours China hosts, Todd and Gwen, helped a few in our party to buy t-shirts and other souvenirs at a bargain price). Then suddenly we were on the superhighway heading back to Beijing.
On our way back, we stopped for lunch and a visit to one of those places that I believe sets Imperial Tours apart – a restaurant, spa and bath house called Green T. House Living Bath House & Spa (www.green-t-house.com). Located in the Beijing suburbs in what seems to be a warehouse district, this establishment serves meals all themed around tea. The food also is served in a setting worthy of a modern art museum (the building has glass walls and an all-white interior plus many art objects). Guests dine on massive long communal tables and sit in designer chairs that have backs soaring to the ceiling. The surprisingly good meal (new wave Chinese fare) was served on massive designer platters and dishes.
We then visited the adjacent bathhouse and spa, located in another building similar in construction but containing two loft rooms (where guests can book an overnight stay) and a giant in-ground tub that can be filled with tea for day spa treatments. There’s a full kitchen, bathrooms, a large fireplace and a hot tub on the roof. The entire project is the dream of an artist and musician named Jin R and her husband, Robbie Gilchrist. I’m not sure how anyone finds the place, but it’s a rather unique experience and a totally unexpected aspect of China. And the spa has already been recognized for its design by Asia Spa Magazine.
We finally boarded the bus for a quick ride back to our hotel. There we had a presentation by Guy Rubin, who with his wife Nancy Kim owns Imperial Tours. Guy reviewed what the company offers, as well as what the opportunities are today for travel to China.
We closed out the day with a very special private dinner in a traditional Beijing courtyard building. After a short bus ride to a location near the Forbidden City, we passed through a nondescript door into a courtyard and then on through to a small dining room (there are just four private dining rooms). Called the Cheng Courtyard Restaurant, it’s a place frequented by Chinese government officials. It also happens to be run by a young chef whose grandfather served as personal cook to Mao Zedong himself. Indeed, our chef joined us for a few minutes during dinner to show us photographs of his grandfather with Mao and other Chinese Communist Party officials (our dining room also had a large painting of Mao just to emphasize the connection).
So, from snow on the Great Wall to dinner (of sorts) with Chairman Mao, it was a rather eventful day in Beijing. In future columns I’ll detail the remainder of our stay in Beijing, plus our visits to Xian, Guilin and Shanghai.
James Shillinglaw is editor in chief and editorial director of Performance Media Group, LLC, parent of TravelPulse.com, Agent @ Home magazine, Vacation Agent magazine and Virtual Travel Events.
http://www.travelpulse.com/Resources/Editorial.aspx?n=69122
© 2010 Performance Media Group, LLC.
