Tel. +44 (0)1273 600030 (UK)
This trip provides a wonderful opportunity for your kids to discover the unique cultures of China, to celebrate and respect cultural differences, and to learn to travel responsibly and respectfully. This trip takes in major highlights of China, but ensures that our small group treads lightly and leaves only their footprints on this remarkable and spectacular country.
While travelling in China we encourage all travellers to learn about and show respect for cultural differences. Small groups assist this process and allow for greater interaction with local people. In true style we travel by local transport to enable travellers to experience cultures at first hand, offering greater opportunity for cross-cultural understanding. 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. Your leader and the local guides we use along the way will help to break down your interactions with local people.
When taking trains we travel 2nd or 3rd class (hard sleeper in China) 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.
There are a number of other basic ways in which we trie to minimise travellers' impacts such as implementing waste reduction practices. Reusing plastic bags, water bottles and using our own set of chopsticks (instead of disposable ones). At the end of our journey travellers may donate any unwanted clothing, medicine and bandages, which are distributed to appropriate local charities. Encouraging use of “tea flasks” for drinking water (or tea, like the locals do!) so as not to purchase 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.
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.
We include informal local language lessons to give our travellers a head start into understanding the culture and communicating with the people we meet along the way.
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.
Our tour leaders are all Chinese locals.
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!
