Viking China (Part 2)

I would bring a converter for your curling iron - just in case. One member of our group "fried" hers when trying to plug it directly into the wall socket. Mine worked perfectly with the converter. Both curling irons were dual voltage.

Some dual voltage curling irons require positioning a switch to the proper voltage. Your friend may have had one of that kind and did not move the switch.

Did not go to Peking opera and Peking duck last night. People thought the duck was greasy and a lot of fat and meat tough. We went on our first night to Made in China. The duck there was crisp and not greasy at all. Plus they said they could not see the show very well due to the positioning of the tables. Off to Xi'an today!

Some dual voltage curling irons require positioning a switch to the proper voltage. Your friend may have had one of that kind and did not move the switch.

Interesting point.

I had a dual voltage hair dryer and a dual voltage curler in Italy last summer. The hair dryer requires flipping the switch between voltages and the curler does not. They both worked fine with just the adapter for the plug. I hope this is the case for China.....I'm lost without my curler!

I just rec'd a Viking 2013 brochure in the mail today, and it contains a new China itinerary for 2013 -- China Explorer, 18 days, which appears to be Imperial Jewels with the addition of a second night in Xian (giving time to see the City Walls), and two more internal flights, taking people to the Panda Research Base at Chengdu, as well as to Lijiang.

I have to say, if there was more we could have done on our Imperial Jewels trip, it would have been a second night in Xian so we could see the City Walls, and adding Chengdu. I imagine Viking has gotten many requests to include Chengdu in one of their trips.

Five internal flights, though (not counting any optional extension to Guilin and Hong Kong); wow. We were exhausted after only three! But what a trip this will be...

http://www.vikingrivercruises.com/rivercruises/china-yangtze-beijing-shanghai-lijiang-2013/itinerary.aspx

I just rec'd a Viking 2013 brochure in the mail today, and it contains a new China itinerary for 2013 -- China Explorer, 18 days, which appears to be Imperial Jewels with the addition of a second night in Xian (giving time to see the City Walls), and two more internal flights, taking people to the Panda Research Base at Chengdu, as well as to Lijiang.

 

I have to say, if there was more we could have done on our Imperial Jewels trip, it would have been a second night in Xian so we could see the City Walls, and adding Chengdu. I imagine Viking has gotten many requests to include Chengdu in one of their trips.

 

Five internal flights, though (not counting any optional extension to Guilin and Hong Kong); wow. We were exhausted after only three! But what a trip this will be...

 

http://www.vikingrivercruises.com/rivercruises/china-yangtze-beijing-shanghai-lijiang-2013/itinerary.aspx

I am glad to see that China Explorer is in addition to Cultural Delights, not instead of it. I really loved the extended sail along the river; I thought the lower Yangtze was fascinating. Maybe eventually they will be able to offer a grand deluxe all inclusive combo of Roof-Delights and Explorer--why have to fly multiple times?

Leave April 21 for Shanghai and the start of our Imperial Jewels trip. I am totally excited.

I won't be doing the Peking Duck as I'm a vegetarian. Someone suggested Made in China as a substitute restaurant. Any other suggestions for restaurants? We will be staying an extra night in Beijing.

I'm a vegetarian.

Let the guide assigned to your group know and he/she will help you with food selection at every restaurant when on land tour. This includes identifying which foods are vegetarian when it is a buffet and asking for a special vegetarian dish for you when necessary. He/she can communicate effectively with the waitstaff to let them know your needs.

On board, meet with the head chef who will make sure you enjoy your meals on the ship.

Leave April 21 for Shanghai and the start of our Imperial Jewels trip. I am totally excited.

 

I won't be doing the Peking Duck as I'm a vegetarian. Someone suggested Made in China as a substitute restaurant. Any other suggestions for restaurants? We will be staying an extra night in Beijing.

Also, don't rule out the Peking Duck/Peking Opera evening just based on the food. Duck is only part of the menu for that evening and vegetarians (and those who don't like duck) can easily be accommodated. The other part of that evening is the visit to Peking Opera and while perhaps not our taste in music, it is certainly a cultural experience to be considered.

I posed this question over on the River Cruise forum and they suggested I post it here. My question is:

We are thinking of China for 2013, and are seriously looking at Viking. We have narrowed it down to two options. One is the 17 day China Cultural Delights and the other is the 12 day Imperial Jewels. The difference seems to be that you spend more time on the Yangtze, below the dams, on the longer cruise. My question is, is this part of the Yangtze worth doing? Or would we be better off doing an extension in Beijing or Hong Knog (we're not big shoppers however) and forgetting the lower Yangtze? Any advice on which you would choose? Thanks!

I can only tell you my reaction to our experience in China with Viking.

We loved Cultural Delights. I really enjoyed the long cruise and the added stops that are not part of the shorter Imperial Jewels itinerary. The lower river is very different from the upper river. Where the upper river is now flooded gorges that permit easy transit all the way to Chongqing, the lower river is all flood plain. The additional stops are fascinating and they are places that I just would not have thought to visit were I planning such a trip on my own. It is very easy to visit the major cities but after a while, they are all alike. It is much more difficult to get into the heartland--and it is very different from the cities. To be honest with you. I liked the lower river better. As beautiful as the upper river was, I could not help feeling regret, that we had come too late and that we had missed the true majesty of these ancient gorges. For even more thoughts on this itinerary, check out my travel blog.

I would have liked another day each in Shanghai and Beijing just to have some free time to wonder around--and this we could have accomplished had we decided to make our own air arrangements. It was just one of the trade-offs that we made when we decided that we wanted Viking to be responsible for everything including transfers and not have to deal with language issues.

BTW, Viking has added a brand new China itinerary for 2013.

Meddykay, my wife is not a vegetarian, but limits her eating to no red meat, white meat only chicken, and other restrictions. While you're on the trip (or after if you prefer) we would appreciate any tips you have for special food requests. We're not too worried on the ship, but what about the cities? (If you'd prefer, you can e-mail me at: jimmydear@aol.com.) Thanks.

Meddykay, my wife is not a vegetarian, but limits her eating to no red meat, white meat only chicken, and other restrictions. While you're on the trip (or after if you prefer) we would appreciate any tips you have for special food requests. We're not too worried on the ship, but what about the cities? (If you'd prefer, you can e-mail me at: jimmydear@aol.com.) Thanks.

At the Vikinmg hotels, there will be plenty of selections and English speaking waitstaff are available to help you.

When eating lunch or dinner while touring, your Viking guide can make sure you get what you want, translating as needed to the restaurant staff. So be sure to let your Viking guide know the dietary restrictions and then you wuill have no problem.

http://www.shangri-la.com/shanghai/pudongshangrila/rooms-suites/

Is this the hotel that Viking uses? :confused:

I just got the XP software loaded in order to print and see Chinese Characters on my computer and would like to print off their home page with address in Chinese like one person suggested in case something goes wrong and I need to find my own way to the hotel.

Thanks so much

Mike & Bushy Hartman

18 Sep 2012 Imperial Jewels of China tour

Leave April 21 for Shanghai and the start of our Imperial Jewels trip. I am totally excited.

 

I won't be doing the Peking Duck as I'm a vegetarian. Someone suggested Made in China as a substitute restaurant. Any other suggestions for restaurants? We will be staying an extra night in Beijing.

Hi there,

I am using my Ipod to record in the voice messages, various phrases, one is "I do not eat seafood" since the first night we will be on our own it will prove useful. Also "How much does that cost?", "Thank you so much", "Have a nice day." I recorded the phrases from "Google Translator" in Mandarin I think that is the language north of the Yangtze. I'll see if this works. I'll also carry a pad and pen to have the vendors write down the price of things.

We arrived home today after completion of our second Cultural Delights tour...the first in 2009 from Beijing to Shanghai with this one reversed. What an amazing experience we had in China! We were concerned about duplication since it's practically the same itinerary, but the whole experience was fresh and this time even better because we knew what to expect! Going Shanghai to Beijing provides a natural increase in excitement level...ending the tour with the warriors in Xian, then the Great Wall,Tiananmen Square and Forbidden City in Beijing. Places that you heard about from a young age then experience as your last memories of China does leave an impact. But we enjoyed the 3 gorges more going the opposite direction Qutang Gorge is more beautiful shrouded in "China Mist" then seen at 2pm in smoggy sunlight. We saw Wu and Xiling Gorges in their entirety going downstream, but the lower portion of Xiling Gorge and some of Wu Gorge is transited in darkness going upstream. Fengdu only has 100 steps to climb now vice the 200 plus in 2009 due to the rising water level behind the dam. The hydraulic lift portion of the dam still is not operational...2015 is now the target date. The only difference in itinerary between the two directions is a trade off between seeing pandas at the zoo in ChongQing vs visiting a neighborhood in Beijing including a home visit.

We walked on the grounds of the Bird's Nest and Cube in '09, but now only a quick drive by.

We skipped the porcelain factory in Jingdezhen in favor of walking around the city of Jinjiuang and what a positive experience that was. There are no tourist attractions in the city so foreigners are totally magical to them. We bargained at the local appliance store for a washer/dryer with the sales people...everyone laughing and joking about the serious price reductions they were giving us. We visited the river promenade and a lake in downtown where we mingled with the locals playing music and dancing...everyone having their picture taken with foreigners. Parents even had their children blow us kisses.

The crew of the Emerald was more than phenomenal to us! Several crew members we met the first time had moved up into management positions where they could "thank us" for visiting them again. We were blown away by how much they remembered about us from the last time...our waitress could even tell me subtle mannerisms I did when I ordered "two" desserts. 44 cruises a year times 200 passengers a cruise is a lot of people ...so we felt very special when they knew our names without seeing our name tags.

We spent all 1 hour and 45 minutes on the Great Wall...about 30 to reach the last tower to the right and the remaining time having our photos taken with the locals. The left side is more difficult, but less crowded so we did it the first time. This trip we wanted to experience the Wall as the Chinese do...

We experienced Shibaozhai without a tourist in sight which was wonderful. Our first visit, the entire town brought their children to greet us since we were one of the first ships to pull in after completion of the cofferdam, but only vendors greeting us this time.

There was much more walking to reach the various sites this time vs 2009...at the Great Wall our bus let us off adjacent to the Wall, but this time we walked like everyone else. The same for the Terra Cotta Warriors and the Forbidden City pick up location.

The lighting in Pit 1 of the Warriors in Xian is much better now and there is a lot more activity in the pit by the archaeologists. Our local guide explained they are trying to increase attendance by keeping Pit 1 ever changing so local tourists will keep returning.

They made special arrangements for a person on a gluten free diet in our group in the normal course of doing business for those concerned about a restricted diet.

We enjoyed both the Peking Opera and duck...our guide cringed when one of the passengers explained how great their duck back home was with all the fat trimmed;-)

We enjoyed temps in the high 60s and low 70s...even climbed the Great Wall in T-shirts even though the locals kept trying to give us jackets or rub our arms to indicate how cold it was...temp was 22C or about 71F with a strong wind which created a chill.

We travel the world to eat food that hasn't been Americanized and we did the same in China...a few precautions and we ate from a hot pot, noodles prepared from scratch in front of us that were heavenly, every part of a duck you can imagine so hot our lips went numb. We basically ate at the local dives where the Emerald crew eats at the various ports...all the noodles we could eat for about $1/pp, hot pot with 3 beers and water for $5/pp, 5 duck necks for $1, or a thigh/drumstick for around $.50 with all the sampling you cared to do. Lotus root is really tasty and bok choy comes from the same family as rapeseed, better known as canola.

The Chinese want to interact with you...I had one young Chinese lady around 70 explaining to me that she was open minded because she watched CCTV(chinese cable) and knew about worldly things. I wasn't sure if she was proportioning my wife and I or what;-) Immerse yourself into one the Chinese group photos if you want to get some unique people shots...it's amazing how well the Chinese can pose;-)

http://www.shangri-la.com/shanghai/pudongshangrila/rooms-suites/

 

Is this the hotel that Viking uses? :confused:

 

 

It is one of several hotels in Shanghai that Viking uses, and it is the one we stayed at when we did the Imperial Jewels tour.

Great location. Our room had a very good view of the river. Across the street is a mall which had reasonably priced restaurants for when we did dinner on our own.

I'll also carry a pad and pen to have the vendors write down the price of things.

Or carry a calculator and they can key in the price. It may be hard to read their writing if they write it down.

Or carry a calculator and they can key in the price. It may be hard to read their writing if they write it down.

If the vendor doesn't already have a calculator. ;)

It's finally here! Tomorrow we leave for Shanghai. We're both so excited I doubt whether either of us will sleep a wink. Thankyou everyone for all the helpful information posted here' date=' we've used most of it to plan our China adventure.[/quote']

I pictured you sitting in front of your computer arms waving wildly in the air..haha

Received our visas!! Now it is official. Monday I will call a travel clinic to see if any vaccines are recommended. I had the Hep A in 2002 and wonder if a booster is needed? Did anyone take the malaria pills? I read, here, about taking along Cipro so I will ask about that as well.

Received our visas!! Now it is official. Monday I will call a travel clinic to see if any vaccines are recommended. I had the Hep A in 2002 and wonder if a booster is needed? Did anyone take the malaria pills? I read, here, about taking along Cipro so I will ask about that as well.

You aren't going to the tropics or into any area where malaria is an issue.

Bringing along your own antibiotics is a good move. As it turned out my sister-in-law got a bad rash on her leg while we were cruising and the ship's doctor prescribed an antibiotic. Fortunately, my in-laws had both Cipro and c-pak with them and she was able to use the c-pak to fight the infection.

I've been taking Cipro with me now for a number of years. It's my good luck charm, because I have yet to use it.

Received our visas!! Now it is official. Monday I will call a travel clinic to see if any vaccines are recommended. I had the Hep A in 2002 and wonder if a booster is needed? Did anyone take the malaria pills? I read, here, about taking along Cipro so I will ask about that as well.

I will second Peregrina's excellent advice to take Cipro with you. (Unlike Peregrina, I actually had to use mine in China.) You are already ahead of the game by consulting a travel clinic; they will make sure you have what you need (which, as Peregrina said, does not include anti-malaria drugs).

Have a great trip!

You aren't going to the tropics or into any area where malaria is an issue.

Hi Peregrina,

While I will not be taking anti-malarial drugs, I will be taking precautions and ensuring that we take repellant and use it if necessary. It is not an issue in the urban areas, but there is potential along the river, so I will be careful. Malaria and Dengue fever are not something I want to risk.

From the CDC (http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/yellowbook/2012/chapter-3-infectious-diseases-related-to-travel/yellow-fever-and-malaria-information-by-country/china.htm#5441)

"Areas with malaria: Rural parts of Anhui, Guizhou, Hainan, Henan, Hubei, and Yunnan Provinces. Rare cases occur in other rural parts of the country <1,500 m (4,921 ft) May–December. None in urban areas. Some major river cruises may go through malaria-endemic areas in Anhui and Hubei Provinces.

Estimated relative risk of malaria for US travelers: Low

Drug resistancec: Chloroquine, mefloquine (see Map 3-11).

Malaria species: Primarily P. vivax, P. falciparum in select locations.

Recommended chemoprophylaxis: Along China-Burma (Myanmar) border in the western part of Yunnan Province: Atovaquone-proguanil or doxycycline.

Hainan and other parts of Yunnan Province: Atovaquone-proguanil, doxycycline, or mefloquine.

Anhui, Guizhou, Henan, and Hubei provinces: Atovaquone-proguanil, chloroquine, doxycycline, mefloquine, or primaquine.e

All other areas with malaria, including river cruises that pass through malaria-endemic provinces: Mosquito avoidance only."

Wuhan is in Hubei province, and the cruise portion of the trip goes through an area where malaria is endemic. Mosquito avoidance is the recommended action, and using a repellant containing at least 30% DEET is what was recommended by our travel medical clinic.

Less than a month for me now! Getting very excited.

We travel the world to eat food that hasn't been Americanized and we did the same in China...[snip]

 

The Chinese want to interact with you...[snip]Immerse yourself into one the Chinese group photos if you want to get some unique people shots...it's amazing how well the Chinese can pose;-)

Kohola, thanks for the great review.

Your trip sounds fantastically immersive. I have been to China before, but my husband hasn't and I was worried that it might be too "tour-y" and prevent him from being able to experience the authentic elements of China that are so engaging. Your post reassured me that the opportunities are there, we just have to make them happen.

Welcome home, and I can't wait to go!

You aren't going to the tropics or into any area where malaria is an issue.

 

Bringing along your own antibiotics is a good move. As it turned out my sister-in-law got a bad rash on her leg while we were cruising and the ship's doctor prescribed an antibiotic. Fortunately, my in-laws had both Cipro and c-pak with them and she was able to use the c-pak to fight the infection.

 

I've been taking Cipro with me now for a number of years. It's my good luck charm, because I have yet to use it.

I went to the travel clinic and received a vacine for polio, flu vacine, Hep A, and typhoid. I also received a prescription for the anti-malaria drug Malarone. We are traveling through areas where malaria is possible, but the doctor recommended calling Viking and asking them what they think. Also, avoidance by wearing long sleeves and repellant with DEED is recommended. I also received a prescription for cipro and doxicyclene. The flu vacine is because of the bird flu. The malaria drugs are started right before the trip, so you wouldn't take them now anyway.