My Dad hates to travel and going to China is on my Mom's bucket list so to speak and she taking me along. I have never really traveled with a tour before but since neither of us speak Chinese and don't know a lot about China it seemed like the way to go. This is the specific tour we are taking http://www.chinafocustravel.com/tour/HC10 We are not going until March but we have already done our initial booking.

I would be interested in ideas to supplement our tour or ideas for our free time on the tour. I have traveled a lot in the western hemisphere but this will be very new to me. I know a number of people on this board have traveled extensively so any suggestions and of course any China specific info would be appreciated.

The other thought is I know believe THE PACIFIC CIGAR CO. LTD. is the distributor of Cuban cigars in China but any specific information about their shops in Shanghai or Beijing would be appreciated.
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Sounds pretty cool! Hope you have fun :-)

Can't help really with store advice, but I have heard the Opus' are impossible to find over there and go for $60+ I have hear of guys trading a few Opus's for a box of Party Salamones and such

Backup on that??

aj
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You gotta see the great wall. IMO this is the best part of the country. I was in Beijing in 2005 and honestly I will never go back. Don't drink the water. If your in a nice hotel they should have an electric kettle in the room to boil water. You can get giant bottles of beer for $1. If your going in March take some warm clothes.
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I was in China back in 1999... Well I never left till 2000 so I saw in the Millennium in while in a hotel in Xian (Terra Cotta Warriors are COOL). I LOVED China and will get back one day.

One thing to remember is you haggle for everything you buy on the street!

I was looking at your tour and it looks wonderful, the only place I was that is on your tour is Beijing. The Forbidden City is something to see, and of course the Great Wall!

I spent almost all my time in Chengdu with is Western China.

I am sure you will have a great time, go with an open mind and be ready to try different food and take LOTS of pics!
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Thanks for the advice. I may have to pick a box of opus x to trade. I'll definitely take the ones I have. I'll also stick to bottled water. I'll just buy Evian. It's expensive but when you need water that isn't local tap relabled it's worth it.

I am very open to food and am looking forward to everything. I'll take a ton of pictures and annoy everyone with a long photo post when I get back.
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