General Tour Information
Note: The information presented here is an abbreviated version of our formal General Information for Tours to China: Beidaihe. Its purpose is solely to give readers a sense of what might be involved if they took this tour. Although we do our best to make sure what follows here is completely accurate, it should not be used as a replacement for the formal document which will be sent to all tour registrants, and whose contents supersedes any information contained here.
ENTERING CHINA: United States citizens will need a passport valid for at least four months from date of departure and a tourist visa to enter China. For information about entry requirements and restricted areas, travelers may consult the Embassy of The People’s Republic of China at 2300 Connecticut Avenue N.W., Washington. D.C. 20008, Tel. (202) 328-2500 through 2502. There are also Chinese consulates general in Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, and San Francisco. A visa service such as CIBT can also be used.
MAP AND COUNTRY INFORMATION: You can view maps of China here. To adjust the map size, click on the lower right corner. You can review the U.S. State Department’s Background Notes on China here.
HEALTH: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are currently recommending the following for travelers to China (see your doctor at least 4—6 weeks before your trip to allow time for shots to take effect): Hepatitis A or immune globulin (IG); typhoid, particularly if you are visiting developing countries in this region. And as needed, booster doses for tetanus-diphtheria and measles, and a one-time dose of polio for adults. You can review the latest CDC advisories here.
CLIMATE: In May the weather is essentially similar to England the Northern U.S. at the same time of year, although rain is less likely, its typically warmer, and the sun is stronger. The average daytime temperatures range from 12°C to 30°C. (54°F-86°F), (although lower temperatures can be experienced after a cold front has passed through). Humidity is usually low, and conditions for birding are often ideal. It can be hot, especially towards the end of our stay and during our time in Beijing.
DRESS: Dress is informal throughout the trip.
TRANSPORT: Travel from Beijing to Beidaihe will be by coach. In Beidaihe bicycles are the best means of transport for reaching most of the birding spots for those not on the Sunbirder excursions. Bicycles can be hired either locally or at the hotel at a daily rate of about $2. A taxi from the hotel to the Sandflats should cost about 10 yuan ($1.25) one-way. The Sunbirder excursions will use minibuses or a coach.
SMOKING: Smoking is not allowed in the vehicle, nor at meal times or when the group is gathered together for checklist. If you are sharing a room with a non-smoker please don’t smoke in the room. If you smoke in the field, please stand down wind of the group so that smoke doesn’t drift into their faces.
ACCOMMODATION: In Beijing stay at a 3-star Chinese hotel. All the rooms have two beds, television and private bathroom facilities with a western toilet and shower. There are also currency exchange facilities here. Their restaurant has an extensive menu with mostly Chinese items but also an increasing number of western dishes.
At Beidaihe our hotel, the best in Beidaihe, is right next to the seafront. All the clean and spacious rooms have two beds, television and private bathrooms with a sink, shower bath and western toilet. The hotel has two restaurants, one Chinese and the other western, a bar, a large shop and offers direct-dial international telephone facilities and a business center with faxes and other items.
On the optional four-day, three-night Happy Island excursion we will stay on Happy Island itself. The accommodation here is not as good as in Beijing or Beidaihe. Our accommodation on Happy Island used to be dormitory-style, but on recent trips we have stayed in much better, small chalet-style buildings. Each building has three bedrooms, two with twin beds and the third with a single double bed. There’s a large common room and also a bathroom in each building. The bathrooms are equipped with a western toilet and a shower. Five or six people will stay in each building. The rooms are clean and have full bedding (including sheets and pillow-cases), although the beds are quite hard.
DAILY ROUTINE: On most of our days we will have the option of starting early, often at 5:00-5:30 a.m., though most days we will return and intend to have breakfast at the hotel. More often than not there will be pre-breakfast options to a couple of areas within easy reach of the hotel, before breakfast at 8:30 a.m. After that we usually head out in our vehicle for the remainder of the day. There will be no fixed itinerary; instead the leaders will use their knowledge of the area to decide each day how and where the excursions will run. The aim will be for the excursions to be good fun, with a fairly relaxed pace and the accent on obtaining good views of the birds.
Most days we will have a picnic lunch “in the field’ or more often “on the bus’ and will stop off in the town to buy supplies from one of the small supermarkets or fruit shops. On very quiet, windy or wet days we occasionally return to the hotel for a sit-down lunch in the restaurant.
The emphasis will be on flexibility, and we try to make optional as many of the birding excursions as possible so that anyone who is tired, or who fancies a break, possibly to pursue other interests, can do so.
We usually have dinner together in one of the hotel’s restaurants at about 7:00 p.m. and will have a meeting and log call in the hotel bar after that.
GENERAL INFORMATION & CONDITIONS: Please take a moment to read the WINGS General Information & Conditions. This section contains important information about how we conduct tours, e.g., what is included in the tour price, refund and cancellation policies, pace of the tours and other information that will help you prepare for the tour.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: A more complete General Information for Spring Beidaihe Sunbirders will be sent to each registrant on receipt of their booking. Final information with instructions for meeting the group, hotel addresses, etc., will be mailed about three weeks before trip departure. Other news will be communicated as necessary. If you have any questions, please contact us.
Updated: February 2008