China Travel Tips

1. Travel Documents

All passengers to China must possess Chinese visa issued prior to departure from the U.S. Please inspect and read all other documents and materials carefully. This package includes your tour itinerary with daily descriptions and local contacts. Your domestic air and train tickets will be handled by your local contacts. Please get your passports ready in hand when going through the Chinese Immigration and Customs. Please also bring your ID such as Driver License, credit cards etc.

2. Check-In Luggage

Passengers can have 2 pieces of check-in luggage for Trans-Pacific flights; each can weigh up to 50 lbs. However, for China domestic flights, the maximum allowance is 44 lb. for check-in baggage for each passenger. So we urge our passengers to carry only one piece of luggage each for check-in. If your luggage is overweight, you will pay around $1USD for every pound in excess. Locks are required on all checked-in luggage for domestic flights in China.

3. Carry-On Luggage

Each passenger is allowed one carry-on by the dimensions of which should not exceed 25 inches by length. Valuables, passports, insurance policies, air tickets; and medications should be carried with you at all times. Most of the hotels offer safety deposit box for your valuables free of charge (ok for everything except passports). Please check with hotel front desk for details and make sure you retrieve your things from the safe deposit box before you leave the hotel.

4. Arrival

Upon arrival at each airport within China, your local tour guide will meet at the Exit with your name sign after you claim the checked-in luggage.

5. Money Exchange

Please bring travelers checks and some cash with you. Major credit cards are accepted at the hotels (and their attached restaurants and shops) and Friendship Stores. Bank of China maintains exchange at virtually all tourist spots (hotels, airports, and railway stations and friendship Stores from strangers as it is against the currency exchange regulation of China).

6. Clothing

Casual clothes and comfortable walking shoes are recommended. No formal dress is required for the evening performances (opera, concerts, etc.)

7. Electricity & Water

All twin-bedded rooms are furnished with private bath in Western style. Electric current is 220 volts, 50 cycles. As adapters are not always available, we suggest you bring your own two and three prong adapters/converters for your personal electrical appliances (some hotels have round prongs and some have flat prongs). Tap water is not drinkable in China (except hotels equipped with extra purification equipment). However, in each hotel room, boiled water is served in a flask and is safe to drink. Bottled water (mineral water or distilled) is readily available in hotel lobbies and large food shops.

8. Tipping

We endeavor to ensure that our guides, drivers and porters are courteous, professional and service oriented. Tipping is a personal matter and should be taken into measure for the quality of service provided. China Custom Tours only provides a suggestion for your consideration. We suggest you give $3-$5 each day to the tour guide and $2-$3 to the driver when you join the tour group; $8 -$15 to the tour guide and $5 - $10 to the driver from each of you if you take the private tours. You can give more if you are happy with their services.

9. International Departure Tax and Domestic Airport Taxes

From Sept 1, 2004, the international and domestic departure tax in China is paid in U.S.A. You don't have to pay at each airport.

10. Departure Information

Please ensure to be at the airport at least 3 hours prior to international departures and at least 2 hours prior to domestic departures.

11. Immunizations

There are no particular immunizations required for entry into China, unless the traveler is coming from a yellow fever infected area. The Canadian and US disease control and prevention authorities recommend the all travelers have current polio and tetanus immunizations. For traveling into the countryside and remote areas, immune globulin is also recommended to combat hepatitis A, as is typhoid immunization. It is very important that you consult your own doctor or local clinic for more information. We advise you to bring along a supply of antibiotics, an anti-diarrhea agent, and any other prescription drugs required by your current medical conditions.

12. Health & Hygiene

China is a remarkably healthy country despite its relative poverty and climatic variations. Standards of hygiene varies from place to place so all visitors must be aware of potential hazards and act cautiously. Tap water is not safe; all water consumed must be boiled or filtered unless it is bottled mineral water. Boiled water is available in all Chinese hotels and restaurants. Although food is prepared fresh and cooked or cleaned thoroughly, stomach upsets are possible so it is advisable to take some medicine with you.

Ailments such as sore throats and chest colds are also possible and can occur at any time of year considering China's climatic extremes. The summer months are brutally hot so it is imperative to combat the harmful summer heat with a sufficient supply of liquids to prevent dehydration.

* Prior to departing for China, it is recommended that you get accident and medical insurance coverage for any medical expenses that may arise during a trip.