China Travel with Guide

[Frank Petronio]

Where would one start to find a good guide/translator/facilitator for a trip to China? Does anyone here have experience doing something like this?

Can a personalized trip be done for a reasonable price compared to these packaged tourist tours? Looking for a more rural, slower paced experience that would allow photography and "down time".

[John Powers]

Frank,

I know from previous very interesting posts here and Apug that Sandy King has done this. You can contact him through his website http://ssfilmholders.com/?page=film_holders.

Other sources whose trips are somewhat older.

Linda Butler, her book, Yangtze Remembered, The River Beneath The Lake, Stanford Press, 2004, http://lindabutlerphoto.com/

Lois Conner, her book China, The Photographs of Lois Conner, Callaway, 2000, http://www.loisconner.net/

I hope if you do go you will post stories and pictures.

John Powers

[Steve Goldstein]

I believe Lois Conner travels speaks Mandarin Chinese and travels unaccompanied. This is a fuzzy recollection from something I read several years ago.

The general challenge I foresee is that China is a big country, comparable in land area to the US. Finding a single guide who can take you anywhere you want to go may be tricky, though you should certainly be able to find help in localized areas, especially those of interest to tourists.

[Frank Petronio]

I was thinking of finding a service that could arrange a guide in the 2 or 3 spots we travel to, allowing us a little independence to manage ourselves in between.

It would also be ideal to find a service that could arrange transportation and hotel reservations for us.

[EdWorkman]

I went to Inner Mongolia in 2004.
There were 4 of us plus guide and when needed, van and driver.
I'm not much help onnacounta the arrangements were made by a Prof of Geography who knew the guide, etc., from previous treks.
i understood that guides are employed heavily in top tourist season, but are very available at other times- we went in late April.
It was a great trip.
Never been on a "real" group tour. In contemplating a trip to the Atacama next year, I see a tour is going in April, but I am hesitant- I will chat with Dr Guru tomorrow [he's been there many times as well]- to see what's up. Like you I'd like to focus on smaller areas for more days than take a wider look at higher speed.

[Drew Wiley]

You could certainly do it more cheaply, but don't expect to eat tourist style. There is
also the possibility of hiring locally in China after making connections, or even hiring
a Chinese student studying here. English is a very popular second language with them,
and has pretty much become mandatory in higher education. The greater problem is regional dialects. My wife has a degree in Chinese literature and lived and studied in China a year. Plenty of folks around here go on their own, but someone needs to know at least Mandarin to get around. Be aware of the health issues in a lot of places; one
of my relatives came back coughing for months afterwards due to the pervasive smog.
I'd prefer to go someplace like Yunnan or Schezhuan; but there the great fear is rabies.
You probably can't get treated in time for dogbite, and the dogs can allegedly be pretty aggressive. Here in the SF Bay area, of course, there's a constant traffic of
folks to and from all parts of China.

[CantikFotos]

Hire my son........he's in college in Beijing. He can use the cash. :D

[bob carnie]

Frank

email Ryan Pyle, the young artist I work with, he is well situated in China and can help you . He is the guy that one PDN best 30 under 30 a few years back and did the MK ride.
bob@elevatordigital.ca I will introduce you if you like.


Bob

[sully75]

I talked with Linda Butler a long time ago, she was quite nice on the phone. I think it wasn't cheap.

[joe a kras]

Frank,
I just got back from China. I was there for almost 2 weeks. The contact information for the travel agent we used was Wendy Song, China Supreme Travel. She hooked us up with a driver and guide for all Beijing tours. I spoke with our guide/translator and he said that they will do private tours to outer villages and that he had done them in the past. Our guide's name was Harry and he was very professional and understanding with large format photo requirements.
We were in Beijing for about 4 days then to Xian for the day, then went to Cheng Du for 3 days and finishing off in Lijiang for 4 days.
If you want any additional information just ask.

Joe

[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