Fam of Five: Having Fun in China and Japan without a Tour Guide By Mike Chan With my daughter leaving for college in the fall, 2006 was the optimal time for our family of five to complete our planned mini-tour of world cultures with a trip to China and Japan.  Having already traveled as a family to Canada, Australia and Europe, we felt the kids were ready for a more challenging trip to Asia. It had been 20 years since my wife and I had visited China and Japan, and we weren’t sure what to expect.     OUR PLAN We decided to narrow our 3-week timeframe down to the following itinerary. For China, it would break down to: Hong Kong – 3 nights Shenzhen – 1 night Guilin – 1 night Yangshuo – 3 nights Beijing – 4 nights Then we’d hit the honorable country of Japan to visit these cities: Tokyo – 4 nights Kyoto – 4 nights Tokyo – 1 night The total cost of the trip, including transportation, hotels, food, tickets and gifts was roughly $2,800 per person. When planning a trip to China / Japan, here are a few tidbits in the areas of transportation, accommodations, and food: TRANSPORTATION     Airfare was the most expensive portion of our budget.  We chose Northwest Airlines because they allowed us to travel “open jaw” which meant we could arrive in Hong Kong from San Francisco, but leave for home from Beijing with a stopover in Tokyo at no extra charge. Roundtrip tickets were around $1,100 each.  We flew on the new Airbus A300 jets, equipped with comfortable seats, personal video monitors and even video games you could play against other people on the plane. We also arranged, through a friend, to fly twice within China on several very good local airlines, Southern China and Hainan Airlines.  These flights were a far cry from the less than optimal conditions we flew in 20 years ago with planes and service on par with western airlines.  Hong Kong, Guilin and Beijing have very modern airports with signs in English and helpful staff to ease the confusion. We took the subways in Hong Kong, Tokyo and Kyoto and found them to be excellent, with stops announced in English, even in Japanese.  There was always a ticket kiosk with English instructions, although sometimes the frantic pace of the crowds made the situation more stressful, especially during rush hours. We took along a compass to orient ourselves once we got outside the stations and this helped immensely, along with a good map as a guide.  In Kyoto, we bought all-day tourist passes from the bus driver.  Many of Kyoto’s main tourist attractions are best served by bus due to the limited subway system.  In Tokyo, there are many subway and above ground railways to reach almost any destination in the city at reasonable prices.  We were not able to find any family ticket packages as in London or Carnets as in Paris. For the trip between Tokyo and Kyoto, we took the Hikari Express bullet train. The trip took around 2.5 hours at speeds approaching 180 mph. The ride itself is smooth and comfortable; very similar to being on an airliner. If the weather is clear you can see Mt. Fuji in the distance. We picked up bento box lunches at the station before leaving. LODGING Accommodations in China can still be very reasonable, even in Beijing, with the exception of Hong Kong, which for some reason seems to charge New York prices. We would recommend the Salisbury YMCA for its reasonable price, clean and modern facility and can’t be beat location. Once outside HK, we stayed in a nice family suite at the Sihai Hotel in Yangshuo for $30 for each night ( http://www.chinahotels.org/Yangshuo/Sihai_Hotel_Yangshuo.html ) and in Beijing at the Nanjing Grand Hotel at $49 US / night for a double ( http://www.travelchinaguide.com/hotel/nanjing-great-hotel-beijing.htm ). For a more unusual stay, the Evergreen Resort outside of Shenzhen offers a tree house for two at $40 US / night, including a full Chinese breakfast. These tree houses are manmade and have all the niceties. A good website for finding hotels in China is www.sinohotel.com Finding reasonable accommodations in Japan for a family of five proved more problematic.  Rooms for five are rare.  In Tokyo, we booked two rooms for around $225 total at Hotel Fukudaya in the Shibuya area of the City.  Their website is www.fukudaya.com This was a charming Japanese-style inn with nice tatami rooms and private baths in a location 10-15 minutes by foot from the Station. In Kyoto, we stayed at the Hotel Karasuma, which we booked as part of a Japan Rail Shinkansen (bullet train) package from the U.S. at a discounted price. DINING Food was uniformly of excellent quality at reasonable prices throughout both China and Japan.  On average, we spent about $20-25 for dinner in China and $30-40 for dinner in Japan.  We never went to bed hungry.  Our most expensive meal was eating sushi in Tokyo at around $70 for the five of us.  Our least expensive meal was eating steamed buns off the back of an old woman’s bicycle in Yangshuo for $.60. We especially enjoyed eating in some of smaller, family-owned restaurants, where friendly service and pride in their craft created memorable meals.  Oftentimes, these restaurants would be tucked away in back alleys or side streets if you don’t mind wandering for a while to find a place to eat.  Many places had plastic food on display, some had English menus, and of course you can always point.  Some of the kid’s favorite dishes: Hong Kong dim sum, Guilin fried noodles, Beijing steamed dumplings, sushi in Tokyo, Teppanyaki noodles, fresh sashimi over rice and snacking through food floors at major department stores. In many places, western dishes can be found.  My son Kevin had a Chinese version of a burrito and cheeseburger (wasn’t quite the same) at a place called Mac’s Café in Yangshuo.  We had some great Brazilian food in Shenzhen.   We even had a Starbuck’s in the middle of the Forbidden City (How did they get permission?) OVERALL IMPRESSIONS China has changed dramatically over the past 20 years, especially Beijing.  Where bikes once dominated the roadways, millions of cars and smog blanket the city and make travel excruciating (we hired a driver). Customer service at restaurants, hotels, and shops is much improved.  China is gearing up for the 2008 Olympics so tourist attractions such as the Forbidden City are undergoing massive renovation (the main buildings were covered in shrouds). People were friendly and polite most places we visited, and the rude trinket sellers only added to the fun of bargaining. Tokyo seemed even more frenetic and flashy than we remembered, especially in the Shibuya Station area.  It was hard to find evidence of the traditional Japanese culture amidst the glamour and glitz. Kyoto, on the other hand, offered us a more traditional, more relaxed picture of Japan.  The cobbled streets, lush gardens, and ornate temples reminded us that Kyoto was the imperial capital and center of Japanese culture for over 1,000 years. In preparing for this trip, we realized that Asia is much more expansive than Europe and that one can only scratch the surface in terms of learning about Asia with a 3-week tour.  We had to remove places like Singapore, Bangkok and Seoul from our itinerary due to lack of time.  But, it is our hope to visit these places on our next trip.  The important thing is, the kids want to go back to Asia. BEFORE YOU GO, REMEMBER: · Respect the reality of Jet Lag. Recovery was especially hard for us after our return home. · Asia in the Summer can be very hot and humid. On average, daily weather during our trip was 90 degrees with 90 percent humidity.  In these conditions you can easily overexert yourself so drink lots of fluids and rest often. · Try to speak the native language; even a few phrases can open doors. · Bring a diary and record you thoughts. Give one to each child. · Take lots of photos and video, it won’t seem like enough later on. · Hong Kong has it’s own currency, different from the rest of China. NOTEWORTHY WEBSITES FOR LODGING: http://www.chinahotels.org/Yangshuo/Sihai_Hotel_Yangshuo.html   http://www.travelchinaguide.com/hotel/nanjing-great-hotel-beijing.htm   www.sinohotel.com www.fukudaya.com Sunnyvale resident Mike Chan and his family love to travel internationally. His last article was about a trip the clan took to Europe. [Back to Top]    [Back to Index]