The Well-Oiled Communist Tourism Machine

In all honesty, I wasn’t completely convinced about the group tour concept. I’ve never traveled with a tour group in the past, usually relying on a tour book, a local, or dumb luck to guide me through a new locale. But then again I have never traveled outside the safety blanket of western or Latin American culture. My sporadic spanglish and/or the locals mastery of English has usually proven sufficient in my previous travel experiences. So joining an organized tour seemed like cheating; a lazy excuse for lazy Americans who aren’t creative or self-sufficient enough to do it on their own.

The decision to do the tour this time however was based on different criteria. Specifically:

1. Cost: Since this tour is operated by CITS which is basically the tourism arm of the Chinese government, it was heavily subsidized, only costing $1300 for all the hotels, local flights, most food and the bus transfers and local tour guide in each city.
2. Health: We felt that participating in an organized tour with a local tour guide a larger group of people offered obvious health and safety advantages while traveling with my grandfather.
   

Aside from my preconceptions, the tour so far has exceeded my expectations.

The tour guide, Emily (her English name chosen for her love of the author Emily Dickenson) is VERY good. Her English is far beyond adequate, obviously mastered from University level education. She’s well versed in the history and relevance of our tour stops. And her organization skills are extraordinary as she is able to (in her surprising use of American vernacular) “herd cats.”

The hotels and intercity/inter-regional transportation was a big unknown for me as well, but once again, my low-expectations were wrong. The hotel was surprisingly good, comparable to a Marriott or other 3 ½ to 4 star hotel with efficient service, a health club, spa, clean pool and wireless web access in the lobby. The buses are modern, clean and air-conditioned. And the food, while not what I would consider fine dining, is certainly acceptable (think slightly better and oilier than Panda Express.) with each restaurant we are brought to specializing in a different regional style of Chinese cooking.

My only complaint so far is the expected, but still annoying periodic scheduled stops at tourist trap gift shops that are prevalent in these kinds of organized tours. In Beijing, we’ve already had the privilege of visiting a freshwater pearl store disguised as a museum, an overpriced Jade store that was billed as a “rest stop” on the way to the Great Wall, and a Chinese pottery store and "educational" tour that was required in order to gain access to the on-premise banquet room where lunch was awaiting us. The last stop was particularly humourous as they provided the only meal which included unlimited alcoholic beverages. Obviously, a great marketing technique!

These annoyances aside, I think Emily (and the larger Chinese Tourism machine) should be commended for a well priced, well organized tourism system. We’ll see if the quality holds up later in the trip.