China on a shoestring small group holiday

Environment

This trip visits much of China, both modern cities and rural areas. The majority of travel is by public transport where we not only mix with the local people but ensure a much lower carbon footprint than if we used our own dedicated vehicle. We also use locally owned hotels throughout the trip, ensuring benefit to the communities we are visiting.

On this trip you will stay in a mixture of hotels and guesthouses with a much more local feel than the many international chain hotels that can be found throughout China. However a real highlight is the 4 nights spent on a river boat on the Yangtse. Not only is this a spectacular way to explore the river it is also a much more sustainable means of transportation, rather than using road transportation.

In addition to the river boat we also spend 3 nights on an overnight train, which is a great way to meet local people and learn about local life. The accommodations are quite basic on the train but allow us to get more quickly to our destinations whilst really getting to the heart of Chinese culture and customs.

Community

We use local tour leaders and guides which means that we get in-depth information on the country we are visiting and generate wealth for the local people. China has wealth of history and culture to explore as well as how life is in modern day China; from learning about the education system, to making sure we don’t fall foul of any taboos!

Meeting the people is often a great highlight of a tour and our leaders are real facilitators; enabling us to meet and mix with local people wherever possible – all the more fun when we are travelling off the beaten track. Our local leaders take us to small, locally owned and run restuarants wherever possible throughout the trip, ensuring that small businesses benefit from our visit, and that we enjoy a very authentic experience.

In addition to the above, we are continually looking for ways to improve and are proud to be ‘Responsible in everything we do’. Education is key and so all staff, Tour leaders and partnering suppliers are trained in responsible and sustainable tourism. At our UK Head Office, we continually strive towards a sustainable and planet-friendly working environment, including having solar panels installed and a company commitment to reducing our plastic usage. As well as this, we have valuable and longstanding partnerships with UK charities Toilet Twinning and Send a Cow, plus many smaller initiatives and projects around the world. We’re members of UK travel industry bodies Tourism Concern and AITO because we believe it’s important to share our knowledge and experience, as well as learn from other operators. We acknowledge that air travel has a negative impact on our environment, so we work together with Cool Earth to offset carbon and protect our important rainforests.