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A key feature of our Responsible Travel approach is the use of the public transport system wherever practical. This can mean anything from public bus, trolley bus, tram or subway. We also have the opportunity to explore on bikes and on foot and travel overland on all our basix trips. This trip exemplifies this, as we make use of the local subway in Beijing to see Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City, and other optional sites. When private transportation is necessary because of time constraints, we use small vans with fewer emissions than larger coach buses. When taking trains we travel 2nd or 3rd class (hard sleeper) which is the way the majority of locals travel - this gives us maximum chance to meet and share stories, food, games and the journey with local travellers.
One of the great advantages of taking the overnight trains, apart from the convenience of being delivered to the next city with the comfort of your own bunk in environmentally friendly mass transit, is the incredible local interaction opportunity. With no doors to hide behind, barriers (including the usual 'language barrier' excuse) are quickly stripped away, and before you know it you can find yourself involved in a game of cards, sharing a beer with a friendly local or giving an impromptu English lesson to a couple of students. There is hardly a better way to pass the time than getting to know how the people really live by spending time with them. Often the trains are full of business people going to another city for work reasons, or families returning home after a long time away. Every time it's different. In the same way that we are fascinated by their individual stories, a group of travellers can pique their curiosity, and the questions go both ways. Trying to explain to a local why we would rather take an overnight train than fly when we are on holidays is easy to translate but often hard to understand!
Most meals on this trip are not included; however, this gives our passengers a chance to sample real Chinese cuisine at various locally owned restaurants. We choose locally owned establishments throughout the trip to spread the business around as much as possible, which is greatly appreciated by the local owners. For the single included meal on this trip, we stop at a farmhouse in Xi'an. The food is delicious and we get to interact with the rural population, who contribute so much to the Chinese economy. Food left over after group meals is collected and boxed up to be left where homeless/street people might easily find it and take it without them having to go through garbage for a meal.
While in Xi'an, we make a stop at one of our foundation's projects that provides support to those with learning disabilities. This is often a highlight of the trip and a very moving experience for our passengers.
Other responsible travel initiatives for passengers on this itinerary include: informal Mandarin lessons to give our travellers a head start into understanding the culture and communicating with the people we meet along the way.
Reusable bags and chopsticks to avoid waste, free time activities like joining dancing and traditional activities in the park, and encouraging the purchase of tea "jars" to sip tea like the locals rather than buying multiple plastic bottles. Safe drinking water available in all our accommodation and transport. Any bottles that are purchased are given to the community of waste collectors who rely on this for an income.
100% of our leaders are locals as well as the majority of our office staff. Leaders are not permitted to take commissions from shops or restaurants despite the fact that this is rife in the Chinese tourism industry. We believe this is a much more responsible way of ensuring standards are maintained and our travellers receive great value.
All suppliers issued with RT recommendations in their local language and leaders and groups act as “ambassadors” for spreading the RT message beyond just our travellers but also trying to involve the local tourism industry.
At the end of out journey we encourage our travellers to donate unwanted clothes, toiletries or other goods which we then distribute to local organisations.
We invite every traveller who books a holiday via us to send in a review. Because we don't run the holidays they're completely independent and unedited... remember to read between the lines though, as two people on the same holiday can have different views!
