China Travel with Guide

[jonreid]

Some good leads there Frank. I know the Reuters shooter in China, been based in Beijing for a few years so I suspect he's got some good contacts. Lemme know if you need me to put you in touch.

Jon

[Frank Petronio]

Thanks everyone. Now to sell my wife on the idea of freeranging instead of a canned cattle trip ;-p

[dperez]

Frank,

I spent 4 months in China in 2005. One other suggestion is university students who are majoring in English and are about to finish their degree. The university will let them take off in order to gain some experience. You pretty much have to tell them what you want to do and where you want to go, and it's their job to help you get there.

I had this idea that it would be neat to see the countryside via train during my travels. I took my translator on two long train rides, one for 10 hours and another for 23 hours. It was brutal. Some of the trains use coal heating, so when you wake up you have a fine layer of coal dust on your face. Domestic flights in China are pretty cheap, so depending on where you go it might be wise to fly.

I spent time in Qingdao, Beijing, Xi'an, and Pingyao.

You'll definetly want to stay away from organized tours if you can. If you have solid dates I might be able to put you in touch with someone that can help depending on where you will be traveling.

In Beijing you really don’t need a translator all that much. I spent a few weeks in Beijing without a translator. I carried a notebook with things like internet café, laundry, some food dishes that I liked, and some other things written in Chinese for me. Whenever I wanted to go somewhere, I just pointed on a map, or to a word on my notepad. To get back to my hotel, I just showed the driver my motel key… I never had a problem. Plus it was easier to just do stuff on the fly. Traveling from place to place and making arrangements is where having a translator comes in handy.

However; I will say I got along with my translators really well and communicate with them regularly to this day. A lot of good times drinking Chinese beers and telling lies. You will have a blast there.


-DP