Making Plans...

How exciting! You are going to China! 

There are so many things to think about... and where do you start?

1. What time of year do you want to travel?

Important things to think about:

 Seasons- 
Summer is HOT! We traveled early to mid September and we were pouring sweat every time we left our apartments. BUT remember kids have their summer holiday July-August and you will most likely have more flexibility to meet and spend time with your kiddos.

January Snow in Wuxi

Winter is cold with the possibility of snow. Chinese New Year might be a time for low bookings in the classroom but I have heard NOT to travel during Chinese New Year or any other holidays. Many people are travelling making domestic travel extremely busy as well as many businesses shut down to celebrate. Your kids may be very busy travelling and celebrating as well.

The pollution is also said to be the worst in the winter due to coal burning. We dealt with some bad pollution while there in the summer but not very severe.

Morning in Beijing with bad pollution

2. What is your budget?

International travel may not be as expensive as you thought... I see many misconceptions of how much it would cost to take a trip to China. You CAN do it affordably!

The budget we planned for our self-guided trip was $2000 for everything! You can definitely do it cheaper and you can do it for more depending on your level of comfort.

Things to budget for:
    -Passport
    -Visa (picture)
    -Flight/Insurance
    -Hotel/Airbnb
    -Transportation (Taxi, subway, bus)
    -Currency Exchange
    -Food
    -Domestic Travel (Train/Flight)
    -Excursions (Great Wall, etc.)
    -Shopping/Gifts
    -Gifts for students/home office

We paid for all of these things with the exception of some dinners and transportation provided by our amazing families. We also did not go the cheap route when it came to an Airbnb. We stayed in some fabulous places that I can't wait to show you!

3. Self-Guided or Not?

If you don't want to do a self-guided tour and are unsure about an affordable price, here are some quotes I received from companies in China.

China Odyssey Tours and China Highlights provided me with an itinerary and estimate when we were still skeptical of doing this on our own. They quoted 10-11 day trips with private cars, nice hotels, and around 6 cities including river boat tours! The quotes were under $2500 for all of this (not including international airfare which you can find for around $600).

 Here are a few pages of the itineraries. I can send the full documents just leave a comment with your email!

 Odyssey Tours

 China Highlights

If you think a quote from a travel company sounds too high, it probably is! I've seen quotes for a 7 day trip to Beijing for $3500 and this is CRAZY! Get more for your money! :)