tailor made tour

Ask a Question

Code:


I accept the Privacy Policy.

Questions & Answers

Join a Tour Group or Travel on Your Own for a China Trip


For Indian travelers who are planning a trip to China from India, you are likely to consider one thing: is it better to join a tour group or travel on your own? Travelling to a foreign country might be a challenge to some of you, due to language barrier, and unfamiliarity with everything in China. This may bring you worries, and make you wonder: is it necessary to join a tour group for a better travel experience in China?

Here we will make a contrast analysis about joining a tour group or travelling on your own, answer this question for you, and solve your problem.

 

Things You Should Know Before Coming to China


Punjabi Indian Restaurant
(Punjabi Indian Restaurant/ Beijing)

► China is safe to travelers, especially solo travelers and backpackers.
Your safety in China is under protection, because we have strict safety check in airport, train station, and metro station. Another is that no one is allowed to have a private gun in China.

Large numbers of English signs. In places like airports, train station, attractions, scenic areas,  no need to worry, and you should just follow the English signs. In decent restaurants, there are menus in English for foreign travelers.

Western food & Asian cuisine. If you want to eat western food or Asian food, you could find them in big cities or popular tourist cities, like Beijing, Xian, Shanghai, Guilin, Chengdu, Hong Kong. But it could be really difficult to find a restaurant offering Asian cuisine in a small place.

Attractions with tour guide service. Most attractions have tour guide service available with extra charge, and some attractions have tour guides speaking foreign languages, like English, for travelers.

 

Should I Travelling on Your Own for a Trip to China from India


Yuyuan Garden-travelling on Your Own for a trip to China from India
(Yuyuan Garden/ Shanghai)

For travelling to China from India, you could totally travel on your own, as long as long you make a great China tour itinerary, and have confidence in tackling problems, since China is very safe to solo travelers. Travelling on your own in China has so many good points, and gives a free and great China tour experience.

Top 6 reasons for travelling on my own
 

Flexible itinerary. Go anywhere you want, and do everything cool as you like, within legal limit.
100 % control your time. You can allot your time according to your actual needs and mood. If you like a city or a place very much, you could stay as long as you like and have more time for sightseeing.
Private time for good moments. Private time is very important for couples or travelers who are have a honeymoon in China.
No need to worry social relationship and personal conflicts. Travelling on your own is only you and your travel partner, no anyone else, so you don't need to worry about how to deal with have-never-met-strangers, and wait for stragglers for sightseeing and dining.
Explore China totally by yourself. Travelling on your own will truly give you the experience that you actually explore China from one place to another place by yourself. From making the itinerary, booking hotel, buy entrance tickets of attractions to order food, you have everything in charge.
Challenge yourself. Always be brave to challenge new things, especially young people. Some of you are capable of dealing things well, and some just need the chance to practice your ability.



► Problems you may encounter
 

  • 1. Language barrier when communicating with local people or staff who can't speak English in restaurants or other places. Sometimes, you may be keen to talk to local people for more understanding about sightseeing or cultural things.
     
  • 2. Spend so much time in transport. Though you have searched information about transport, you might encounter new problems in buying tickets, waiting for cars, or others.
     
  • 3. Lose luggage when you leave in a hurry. Please mind your own luggage, and take them with you when you leave a place. It is a big probability that people lose luggage in airport, train station, and taxi.
     
  • 4. Large budget. When travelling on you own in China, you may spend money on something unnecessary. In ordering food, you might order food without good taste, and leave it almost untouched. If you are picky about everything, the cost would grow at breakneck speed.


How to solve your incoming problems
 

  • 1. Have a private tour guide. A private tour guide would accompany you to visit attractions, help you with hotels, restaurants, and other things. There won't be a problem if you want to talk with local people or know more local things in China.
     
  • 2. Car rental. For transport, you could charter a car with a driver, then you could save much time in getting around.
     
  • 3. Mind your belongings. If you have a tour guide or travel partners, the possibility of losing a thing will be reduced. 
     
  • 4. Minimize budget by checking in economy hotels, youth hotels, or hostels, and taking public transportation.



 

Should I Join a Tour Group for a Trip to China from India


Who is advised to join a tour group for a trip to China from India? Most Indian travelers don’t know much about China and China trip, and some want to save time and energy for something else rather than making a complicated China tour itinerary. Some travelers have a tight budget, want to minimize China travel cost, and few of you have an adhoc China trip. To those people, we suggest that you join a tour group, because a travel agency will help you solve your problem.

join a tour group
(Great Wall/ Beijing)

► Top 7 reasons for joining a tour group
 

Convenience. Best itinerary made by professional travel consultants, matching to your needs, preference and budget. All things are arranged in order, including best places to visit, hotel, restaurants, etc.
Save much time in making itinerary and doing research about China trip. For your China trip, you need to make itinerary and schedule, book flights, and hotels, pick restaurants, take public transportation to destination. There are so many things for you, and it would be a troublesome job to work all this out.
Save money. Another great advantage of joining a tour group for a China trip is that you could save much money, especially when you join a group tour, or a coach tour. Joining a group tour ranks first in the lowest China travel cost, then is joining a private tour, and the last is travelling on your own. When you are in a group, big or small, you have someone to split the bill and get the price on share basis.
Access to remote villages or less-known places, especially Tibet in China. The only way to visit Tibet China is to go with a travel agency, and you are required to apply for Tibet Travel Permit. For remote places, it is hard to get there, and the tourism facility may not be so good, therefore you could join a group for a better trip.
Stress-free trip. Everything is arranged by your professional travel consultant and a team from a travel agency, from your landing in China and your leaving. Those foreseen problems and unforeseen circumstances will be solved by them. Whatever problems you might encounter, you could ask your travel consultant for help at any time.
Knowledgeable tour guide. When visiting a place, especially a historical and cultural site, like Terracotta Warriors and the Forbidden City, you have a knowledgeable tour guide, who will explain everything, and make the tour completely worthy. When having a hiking to a remote pretty place, like Tiger Leaping Gorge, the well-travelled tour guide know the best hiking route, the best places for watching sunset and sunrise.
Making friends. Since you are in a tour group, you will go sightseeing with other foreign travelers, go dinning together, etc. It is a great chance for you to know someone cool just like you, and talk about things you known or never heard of. For outgoing people, you could keep in touch with newly-made friends in later days after this China trip.



► Problems you might have in joining a tour group
 

  • 1. Hotel and restaurant. Your travel consultant or tour guide recommend the best hotels and restaurants for you, but it might not be your type.
     
  • 2. Tight schedule. Some of you would like to visit many places a day, and the schedule could be a bit tight.
     
  • 3. Shopping or visiting factory. If you book a group tour at the lowest price, the schedule may include shopping and factory-visiting.


► How to solve your problems
 

  • 1. Hotel. When booking a group tour, you could choose to upgrade hotel or room, or book hotel by yourself.
     
  • 2. Dining. Usually speaking, only lunch is arranged by a travel agency, breakfast is provided by hotel, and you could decide what to eat in the evening. For lunch, you could order food you like, which may cause extra charge.
     
  • 3. For shopping, actually, you are not required to buy something. It is totally fine if you don't want to buy anything. If you want no shopping in the itinerary, you could book high-end group tour with no shopping.



The above is an useful analysis about joining a tour group or travelling on your own for a trip to China from India, the top reasons, problems and how to solve those problems. Firmly believe that you could decide to join a tour group or travel on your own, after reading this thorough analysis.

join a tour group
(Li River Cruise/ Guilin)

Here we also recommend 2 China tour  packages:
 


If you are interested, please feel free to contact us for more information.