Vacation Advice: China

[Krypto]

My wife and I are looking to take a trip to China. Anyone have any personal experiences about good places to visit or recommendations for travel companies/websites to use? Anyone ever have trouble getting a visa when the military occupation comes up? Bad experiences, good experiences, funny stories all welcome...

thanks!

[PapaJu]

Aren't there issues involved with holding a security clearance and going to certain countries?

[Toro]

Aren't there issues involved with holding a security clearance and going to certain countries?

Shouldn't be a problem unless you make a lot of trips to those countries.

[letsgofast]

Hong Kong and Macau are musts if you have the time and funds to venture outside the mainland. I was just there this past summer prior to EAD and Hong Kong was amazing. It's like the UK but with Chinese signs and minus the Euro. Macau used to be a Portuguese colony so signs are still in Portuguese and there's a lot to see.

[Stitch]

Hong Kong. Red light district. No extra charge for the wife to join in/spectate. Shucka shucka pow wow. Long time, short time twenty dollar.

[Krypto]

Anybody have trouble with the visa/military/security clearance?

Does transiting between the mainland and Macau/Hong Kong require anything special on the visa? In other words, is that considered a separate entrance/exit to the country?

[Sierra Hotel]

My wife went a year ago right before the Olympics. Beijing is a must, so is the terracotta soldiers and the great wall!

[uhhello]

We did a 7 city tour a few years back out of Okinawa. Had a blast. Didn't have any issues what so ever with the VISA.

[brickhistory]

Dated (just prior to the handover back to PRC from UK) so take it for what it's worth:

Hong Kong? Yes, please!

Go for at least one fancy night and dinner at the Peninsula Hotel. Very old school cool.

[Krypto]

How was getting by without knowing Chinese? Did most of you stay with a guide for the majority of it? I'm not normally one to get into the touristy thing and be the awkward group with cameras all the time, but it seems like this is one of those situations where you can't avoid it.

[uhhello]

How was getting by without knowing Chinese? Did most of you stay with a guide for the majority of it? I'm not normally one to get into the touristy thing and be the awkward group with cameras all the time, but it seems like this is one of those situations where you can't avoid it.

My wife speaks fluent Cantonese so that wasn't an issue. We mostly stuck with the guide for most of the time, not normally how we do it either but our guide was pretty good.

[LockheedFix]

Beijing has everything (Great Wall, Forbidden City, Tienamen Square, etc.) if you only have the time/money to go to one place. My wife and I got a guide and a driver, plus hotel and great meals for every meal for about $800 total. That obviously doesn't cover the plane trip there. Having a guide and a driver was amazing, never had to worry about how to from one place to the next or backtracking. We'd walk all the way through one place and the driver would be waiting on the other side to take us to the next place.

[Magnum]

Gsplease,

What is your current position in the military? You might want to visit your security office prior to leaving. Just my suggestion.

[uhhello]

Gsplease,

What is your current position in the military? You might want to visit your security office prior to leaving. Just my suggestion.

PACAF required a pre-trip brief and post trip de-brief regardless of position.

[Guest Barbarian]

For the other side of the story, I also reccomend Taiwan. Taipei isn't all that exciting but has some good stuff to do and the southern part of the island is all about eco-tourism.