China Tours & Holidays

Health and Vaccinations

There are no mandatory immunisations for travellers to China though you should be up-to-date with Typhoid, Tetanus, Polio and Hepatitis A. We recommend you seek advice from your local GP or travel centre as to the correct immunisations and preventative treatments.

Currency

In China the official unit of currency is the Chinese Yuan.

To check out the latest exchange rate for the places that you are visiting you can go to www.oanda.com.

Cultural Sensitivity

On our tours you will frequently interact with local people, each with their own distinct customs and traditions. We therefore ask you to be considerate and to treat them with respect. Your tour-leaders and guides will always be able to advise you accordingly.

Language & Religion

With several major linguistic groups within the Chinese language, Mandarin is spoken by the majority and over 70% of the population. We will also come across Tibetan and Uighur speakers during this trip.

Buddhism remains the most popular single religion in China, although the largest group of religious traditions is that of Shenism – also known as Chinese Folk religion – the ethnic religion of the Hans. Uigher people are one of the minority ethnic groups in China who are Muslim.

Time

China is 8 hours ahead of GMT. Xinjiang Autonomous Region additionally operates a parallel local time zone only 6 hours ahead of GMT. Generally speaking, national time is used by government and other national entities, such as railways, airlines and hotel chains; small local services such as shops, restaurants and guest houses use regional time. A useful website to check the time zone differences is www.worldtimezone.com.

Food and drink

Food in China is surprisingly varied and rarely like the westernised dishes you find at your local takeaway! Outside of the big cities, travellers should forget about western food and should also prepare for alternative conventions about eating norms: breakfasts are light and often contain a selection of dishes you may not expect, such as rice and vegetables; meals are generally taken early - lunch sometimes takes place around noon and dinner typically 5pm; desserts are not common, and meals usually end with soup!

The Chinese are completely omnivorous, which has led to a wealth of exotic dishes. Vegetarians will need to be apprehensive, but a non-meat alternative is usually possible. However, vegetarianism is not something Chinese chefs are particularly familiar with, so such dishes frequently feature a limited variety of vegetables and are not richly flavoured or spiced. As we travel further west, the variety of vegetables available will also diminish.

The variety of climate and local produce has created outstanding regional cooking in China. West of Xi’an, in the colder, wheat producing north, noodles, flat-bread, dumplings and casserole-type dishes predominate as well as the imperial speciality, Peking Duck. Again, as we move further west the variety of available food and meat will become more limited and is dominated by lamb.

Local beer, which is light and very popular, is available in many restaurants along the way, although some of the local Muslim restaurants will not serve alcohol. We would suggest bringing duty-free spirits with you for your own consumption at your hotel, if this is your preferred tipple.