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blinkyzero posted:You can get the report online from a lot of states if you don't need it notarized (we didn't when we got ours last year). I know Maine and Pennsylvania both do online criminal checks. I believe Massachusetts has that capability as well. Yeah Mass does, but you need a valid Mass driver's license which I no longer have so I gotta do it the old fashioned way.
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Sep 29, 2014 10:45
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I'm planning a trip to China with my mom. She is not experienced with travel at all, so we're going to buy a tour just to make things easier. I really want to see the Longmen grottoes near Luoyang. However, I haven't found a single tour of Beijing/northern China that includes them, even tours that include the terracotta warriors in Xian (which is actually further away from Beijing than Luoyang/the grottoes..). I'm considering asking if we can switch out the terracotta warriors in Xian for the Longmen grottoes. Is there anything about this plan that I should know? Is there a reason that none of the packages include the grottoes? I'm just so stunned that none of the tour packages include Longmen grottoes because the photos and history make this landmark look incredible. Also, is there a forum for China travel that is the equivalent of Indiamike for India travel?
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Oct 2, 2014 20:16
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I've never done a tour group before but if you are even somewhat experienced with travel you should be fine getting around without a tour group. A tour of Beijing probably won't include Luoyang, it is like 12 hours away by train according to Wikitravel. It's an hour and a half by high speed train from Xi'an, according to the same website. If you really want to go there then skip some of the tour or don't do a tour at all. You can fly in or train in and your hotel or hostel can have people waiting for you when you arrive. Edit: I've never been to Luoyang so take what I say with a grain of salt, that was literally a few second look at Wikitravel that gave me that info.
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Oct 3, 2014 00:38
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legsarerequired posted:I'm planning a trip to China with my mom. She is not experienced with travel at all, so we're going to buy a tour just to make things easier. I've seen the Longmen Grottoes twice and honestly the terracotta warriors are more impressive. Most of the smaller statues have been defaced or destroyed and the big ones have been damaged a bit. Luoyang is also within darkest Henan so be prepared for maximum China. Don't go on a holiday either because every farmer in the area will be there spitting everywhere. If you don't take a tour, just take the fast train to Xi'an. It's about 5 hours by the new fast train to Xi'an and it stops off in Luoyang at around hour 4. The grottoes aren't far from the station by bus but the bus is unreliable and I've never caught it. The taxi queue is usually reliable though and super cheap since Luoyang taxis start at 4 or 6 yuan. You could also see the Shaolin Temple but it's a ways away from Luoyang and you would have to take a bus. RocknRollaAyatollah fucked around with this message at 03:04 on Oct 3, 2014 |
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Oct 3, 2014 00:51
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Hearing that it's five hours away, I'm guessing that's why no tours go there. You would have to like...go walk around in super rural Henan to make the trip worth it and want to experience real China. This will include getting gawked at a lot and make sure your Mom is willing to use squat toilets (I know mine wouldn't be).
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Oct 3, 2014 01:00
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I recommend Yungang Grottoes near Datong in Shanxi. It's a lot closer to Beijing and (though I've never seen Longmen myself) better preserved and more awesome. Also it gives you a chance to experience China coal country and it's also not far from the Hanging Temple, which is really badass.
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Oct 3, 2014 02:12
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Long men grottos is underwhelming, go see the Shang capital museum in Anyang I think. It's a pretty good museum. Seriously though just go to Xi'An and the old walled city part of downtown and the First Emperor of Qin's mausoleum. (bloodnose is a gay) Arglebargle III fucked around with this message at 03:58 on Oct 3, 2014 |
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Oct 3, 2014 02:41
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Arglebargle III posted:Ice Horse Usage. Ha. Haha. Ha.  (this means Terra Cotta Army in a very stupid and unfunny way and this dumb idiot should die)
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Oct 3, 2014 02:53
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Arglebargle III posted:Long men grottos is underwhelming, go see the Shang capital museum in Anyang I think. It's a pretty good museum. Seriously though just go to Xi'An and the old walled city part of downtown and the Ice Horse Usage. I think Anyang is on the same line as the Xi'an train but you might as well stop off in Zhengzhou instead and see the provincial museum.
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Oct 3, 2014 03:09
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Thank you so much for the pointers everyone! I really appreciate it. I actually found the Yungang grotto in a guidebook and I was wondering if it would be easier to visit that than the Longmen grottoes. Are the terracotta warriors really that interesting? I was also considering switching them out for Shanghai or Suzhou. I'm booking a 9-day tour because my mom will be with me. She really wants to see China and she'll definitely adapt to food, bathroom differences, etc. I also notice she can be a fast-paced traveler when she's seeing new cities in Texas or Louisiana. However, because she's never been to Asia before and it's been 30 years since she had her last international trip (to Chichen Itza and another trip to London), I don't want to overwhelm her with a breakneck pace. I think booking a tour would be helpful for making sure I slow down to her pace, for giving us a set schedule for learning more about the country, and also for making sure we have a guide since I'm nervous about my ability to navigate since it'll be my first time in China or east Asia. If it were just me, I'd embrace the adventure, but this might be the only chance I have to travel with her since she's turning 60 next year and I want to make sure it is a relaxing, fulfilling trip. I've asked her what she wants to see in China, and she names the Great Wall, but she doesn't seem to know much else. I dug up the three guidebooks we've purchased over the years and I set up a notebook where she can write notes on places she wants to see as she finds them. We both love art, people-watching and animals. We aren't really into classical music or food (although I'm sure it'll be great). For my pipedream tour, I'd ideally want: Day 1-2 Beijing - Forbidden City Great Wall Day 3-4 Yungang Grottoes Xuankong Temple/Hanging Temple Day 5 Xian/terracotta warriors - I'd like to drive past the Huashan mountains, just to see them in the distance Day 6 Suzhou Day 7 (willing to axe Shanghai) Shanghai - Tour of urban architecture - Yuyuan garden I'm kind of sad because I want to see rice terraces and the karst landscapes in the south, but those seem to be very far south and we might not have time. My mom is saying she can for sure spend seven days in China, but not more than 9 days. legsarerequired fucked around with this message at 06:21 on Oct 3, 2014 |
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Oct 3, 2014 06:12
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Dude you're trying to see too much. Relax.
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Oct 3, 2014 08:27
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Yeah five things in seven days is just going to leave you miserable. At most split it between Beijing and Xian, I'd say. Or go to Nanjing/Suzhou/Shanghai.
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Oct 3, 2014 08:29
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I did Nanjing / Hangzhou / Shanghai in 10 days and that was perfect. Could add Suzhou too as it's en route between Shanghai and Nanjing. Beijing / Xi'an with a few day trips should be a lot better, unless you love staring at the Chinese countryside from a train.
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Oct 3, 2014 08:34
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legsarerequired posted:I'm booking a 9-day tour because my mom will be with me. She really wants to see China and she'll definitely adapt to food, bathroom differences, etc. I also notice she can be a fast-paced traveler when she's seeing new cities in Texas or Louisiana. However, because she's never been to Asia before and it's been 30 years since she had her last international trip (to Chichen Itza and another trip to London), I don't want to overwhelm her with a breakneck pace. I think booking a tour would be helpful for making sure I slow down to her pace, for giving us a set schedule for learning more about the country, and also for making sure we have a guide since I'm nervous about my ability to navigate since it'll be my first time in China or east Asia. If it were just me, I'd embrace the adventure, but this might be the only chance I have to travel with her since she's turning 60 next year and I want to make sure it is a relaxing, fulfilling trip. Well, you are certainly planning a breakneck paced trip. First I would start by trying to make the trip two weeks, 7 to 9 days is a ton of time to try to see a bunch of stuff. It's almost impossible to do it, on jetlag, without getting sick. At least it would be for me, but I am horrible at defeating jetlag. I've done Beijing enough. If you're flying into Beijing, you can do Tiananmen and the Forbidden City in one day, and probably squeeze in the Summer Palace or the Temple of Heaven. That's pretty cool stuff to see, and I'd recommend it. You should definitely try to get some Beijing Duck while you're in Beijing but there's a ton of places that are poo poo, so make sure you get your hotel or group to help you out with that. You probably wanna see the Great Wall as well if you're in Beijing, and that's another day. I did Xi'an for like half a week, went to the Muslim Quarter, had the famous foods there, went to see the Terracotta Warriors and the Big Goose Pagoda I think it was called. The Terracotta Warriors are insanely interesting and I'm glad I did them. I would recommend it. Guilin as an area is beautiful and the rice terraces are also really cool. You can fly from place to place, flying in China isn't that expensive and the airports are usually like an hour outside the city, but it is better than taking a bus. I'm not a big city person, I like historical monuments or the countryside. I've also been to Qingdao, Hong Kong/Macau and Taipei, and they were all good, but I liked Guilin and Xi'an more than all the other places I've been. My best advice is to skip Tianjin.
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Oct 3, 2014 08:55
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legsarerequired posted:For my pipedream tour, I'd ideally want: Do you believe in teleportation technology? How the heck can you get from one city to another AND THEN have a full day of sight seeing? I don't think buying more guide books will help. Oh and there's jet lag. Have you ever gone on tour/traveling before? Anyways enough with my snarkiness. Sorry I'm in a bad mood quote:Day 1 - Arrive Beijing. Suffer from jet lag and environment shock. Your mom said she can do 9 days. Well subtract 2 because of jetlag. I'm not sure of her physical shape and her tolerance for eating noodles/rice/dumplings everyday. If she's not comfortable with all that walking then take out a few items in the city itinerary. You just want 1 or 2 things a day and don't put big outdoor excursions back to back. Shanghai/Suzhou/Hangzhou is another region, if you have already been to Beijing you can skip Shanghai. Heck if you want to be in Shanghai you should come to Hong Kong. Oh and I am obligated to say WEST LAKE IS BEAUTIFUL ~~~~~ 
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Oct 3, 2014 09:24
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West Lake is indeed beautiful btw. Especially if it's sunny and there's very few other people (which is the case during most weekdays!)
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Oct 3, 2014 09:28
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The Great Wall is an entire day, really, if you want to appreciate it. I'd suggest not nailing down an exact day to do it. Allot X days in Beijing and use the first one with nice weather to get out there. Sure, the crowds can be bad then, especially in the spring and summer, but it gets better the farther you get from Badaling. We went out there in the winter and it was awesome -- pretty much empty, and the cold was nice since the Wall can actually be a pretty decent hike in places and you'll warm up quite a bit on the climbs. The pollution can still be lovely so there's that too, though.
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Oct 3, 2014 10:48
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Jeoh posted:West Lake is indeed beautiful btw. Especially if it's sunny and there's very few other people (which is the case during most weekdays!) Having lived about one block from west lake for over a year I can attest this is not the case. West Lake is packed pretty much every day that isn't thunderstorming between April and the end of the October holiday. This makes it miserable to get around since the whole city is built around West Lake.
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Oct 3, 2014 11:52
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Jeoh posted:West Lake is indeed beautiful btw. Especially if it's sunny and there's very few other people (which is the case during most weekdays!) I'll be there in a couple of weeks. 
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Oct 3, 2014 12:58
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Magna Kaser posted:Having lived about one block from west lake for over a year I can attest this is not the case. West Lake is packed pretty much every day that isn't thunderstorming between April and the end of the October holiday. This makes it miserable to get around since the whole city is built around West Lake. Have you been back recently? The emerging subway lines might've alleviated some of that. Actually we were there last fall and it was about 50 times worse than usual because the subway construction was totally loving up traffic.
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Oct 3, 2014 13:17
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Thank you so much again everyone! I'm going to take out Shanghai/Suzhou since they're so far south. My mom told me she's more interested in the Yungang grottoes than Xian so we might have to discuss axeing the terracotta warriors too. Thank you again for your input--when I plan solo trips for myself, I actually have a major problem with overscheduling. I personally don't mind traveling 10 hours to spend a couple of hours at a site as long as it's really cool, but not everyone shares that particular trait and I definitely want to avoid that on this trip. The reason the trip is 7-9 days is because she's afraid to take too much time off from her secretary job. Apparently nine days in China with two days of travel is fine, but 10 days with two days of travel is just right-out. Thank you again everyone! If anyone has further advice or recommendations for a tour company, please feel free to PM me or add more suggestions in the thread because I'm definitely going to keep reading.
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Oct 3, 2014 13:57
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I was there in the last weekend of August and it was not that packed. Especially once you got to the western side, it was very quiet. In the evening it was a lot more crowded, though.
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Oct 3, 2014 15:36
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That itinerary reminds me of when my Korean ex gf wanted to drive from LA to Seattle and back in one day.
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Oct 3, 2014 20:29
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VideoTapir posted:That itinerary reminds me of when my Korean ex gf wanted to drive from LA to Seattle and back in one day. Sounds like a great trip 
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Oct 3, 2014 20:38
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The bad thing with paying for a guided 7 day tour is when either of you get sick for a day or two (I always seem to feel like poo poo for at least a few days on a china trip), or just dog tired from all the china madness, you can't really take a break because you've got this set group itinerary. And the guy pushes you through these terrible side "attractions" or lovely tchotchke stores that pay him per head he delivers. I guess if you just hire the guide for the two of you, you have a bit more control over your itinerary, but still be prepared for the surprise stops. I'm never getting suckered into a tour again, and I just had a few days one in zhangjiajie. I understand if you aren't very fluent at all though.
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Oct 4, 2014 03:32
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We're both native English speakers and don't have any experience with speaking or reading mandarin. I have a good friend that studied near Beijing for a couple of years that I could ask to practice with me, but I don't want to bet my mother's trip on my becoming a fluent speaker. Thank you so much again folks. Now that I think about it, I have had at least one day on all of my international trips where I feel very sick. I'm definitely going to simplify the tour to two cities
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Oct 6, 2014 01:46
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I'm bringing poo poo back and can I be a hippie and bring back quinoa or on the off chance they look in my bags is that bad since its a grain or something?
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Oct 6, 2014 04:43
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The worst that will happen is they throw it away. I usually bring things like that in my carry on and nobody has ever checked anything.
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Oct 6, 2014 04:53
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Magna Kaser posted:I'm bringing poo poo back and can I be a hippie and bring back quinoa or on the off chance they look in my bags is that bad since its a grain or something? People haul rice around all the time, so... same principle?
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Oct 6, 2014 06:00
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legsarerequired posted:We're both native English speakers and don't have any experience with speaking or reading mandarin. I have a good friend that studied near Beijing for a couple of years that I could ask to practice with me, but I don't want to bet my mother's trip on my becoming a fluent speaker. If you want local assistance, try to find out when the "English Corners" are in the cities you are going to. Go to said English Corner when you arrive, chat to people and say you'd like some help. You'll be bound to get some volunteers who will actually help you out in return for practising English.
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Oct 6, 2014 08:12
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DontAskKant posted:People haul rice around all the time, so... same principle? Jokes on me! I forgot to throw the 5lb of quinoa in my bag! I did remember the 5lb of peanut butter m&ms though 
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Oct 6, 2014 13:13
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Why would you buy peanut butter MMs when you could buy Reece's Pieces?
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Oct 6, 2014 13:51
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Arglebargle III posted:Why would you buy peanut butter MMs when you could buy Reece's Pieces? this is a terrible post
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Oct 6, 2014 14:04
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Magna Kaser posted:I did remember the 5lb of peanut butter m&ms though
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Oct 6, 2014 14:31
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goldboilermark posted:this is a terrible post The pretzel M&Ms are Satan's most inspired form of temptation yet.
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Oct 6, 2014 16:22
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Arglebargle III posted:Why would you buy peanut butter MMs when you could buy Reece's Pieces? Why would I buy garbage when I can buy gold?
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Oct 6, 2014 16:35
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My Hong Kong map for Google Maps Engine is getting ridiculous. I need more barbecue places though and cheaper options. 688hkd cocktail prix fixe menu is there though.  and afternoon tea at the Mandarin. Need to populate the Macau one. Macau on Friday won't be super busy like a Sunday right?
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Oct 6, 2014 16:37
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Traveling during National holiday wasn't bad at all. Had a 2 hour flight.delay and ran into some traffic in Chongqing but otherwise non-eventful. Yangshuo was packed but had no reason to actually go into town so it didn't affect me, really. I know there are some legit horror stories and I don't want to diminish anyone's experience, but I definitely won't tell people to stay put over the holiday.
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Oct 7, 2014 03:13
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Anybody know where to get a good beer in Chengdu, craft or locally made? Thanks to this thread I found a place in Shanghai last year and it was great so I'm hoping someone has ideas for my trip next month.
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Oct 7, 2014 03:57
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Mackieman posted:Anybody know where to get a good beer in Chengdu, craft or locally made? Thanks to this thread I found a place in Shanghai last year and it was great so I'm hoping someone has ideas for my trip next month. Beer places in chengdu are so so. Go get Tibet food
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Oct 7, 2014 05:23
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