Tour Information
Note: The information presented here is an abbreviated version of our formal General Information for Tours to China: Beidaihe and Manchuria. Its purpose is solely to give readers a sense of what might be involved if they take this tour. Although we do our best to make sure that what follows here is completely accurate, it should not be used as a replacement for the formal document which will be sent to all tour registrants, and whose content supersedes any information contained here.
ENTERING CHINA: United States citizens need a passport valid for at least six months from date of departure and a tourist visa to enter China. Visa can be obtained from the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China or by using a visa service such as CIBT. When completing your visa application, please list only Beijing and Beidaihe as the areas to be visited; do not name any of the other places visited on this tour.
MAP AND COUNTRY INFORMATION: You can view maps of China in the University of Texas series here. You can review the U.S. Department of State background note on China here.
HEALTH: It is essential that you consult your physician at least 4-6 weeks before departure to make certain that your routine vaccinations, such as for influenza, chickenpox (or varicella), polio, measles/mumps/rubella (MMR), and diphtheria/pertussis/tetanus (DPT), are up to date. The Centers for Disease Control also recommend vaccination for hepatitis A, hepatitis B, and typhoid; consult your physician about your need for these and other vaccinations such as Japanese encephalitis. Yellow fever is not a disease risk in China itself, but travelers arriving from countries where yellow fever is present are required to present proof of vaccination. Malaria is not a problem in the Beijing or Beidaihe areas.
Biting insects are not numerous, although mosquitoes occur locally. Spray repellent should provide adequate protection. We recommend bringing antihistamine if you are sensitive to insect bites.
Tap water is not safe to drink, but bottled water and soft drinks are readily available. Thermos bottles of hot boiled water, safe for making drinks, are provided in most of our hotel rooms; if not, then kettles are provided for boiling your own mineral water. We suggest bringing an anti-diarrhea medicine such as Immodium; also be certain to bring adequate supplies of all other personal medications, as it may be difficult or impossible to obtain them during the trip.
Note that any health information provided here is gleaned from websites and other sources devoted to traveler’s health. Please consult your physician and the website of the Centers for Disease Control for detailed and up-to-date information.
CLIMATE AND ALTITUDE: May weather in Beijing, around Xianghai Nature Reserve in Jilin, and on the coast at Beidaihe and Happy Island is similar to that of the northeastern US. Average daytime temperatures range from 55°F to 85°F; cooler temperatures may follow the passage of a front. Gloves and a warm hat may be useful on the colder days, especially during early mornings on Wulingshan Mountain. Humidity is usually low and conditions for birding are often ideal. Especially towards the end of our stay, it may be hot; bring a sun hat, perhaps shorts, and good sunscreen. Rain is generally infrequent but possible.
Beijing, at 250 feet, and Xianghai National Nature Reserve, at 575 feet, are at low elevations, and Beidaihe and Happy Island are low-lying coastal areas. We spend two nights at Wulingshan Mountain, where our hotel is at about 5,300 feet. This is just about high enough for some of us to experience mild altitudinal problems such as breathlessness or even a headache. On at least one of those two days we will be in the park we will probably venture higher, possibly as high as the summit at 6,948 feet. At all these higher elevations our birding will be fairly leisurely: we expect to stay almost exclusively on the road and to spend much of the time walking slowly back down the upper part of the mountain. We’ll try to avoid excessive uphill walking and move at a slow pace. Most altitudinal problems can be overcome by sitting quietly in or near the vehicle and drinking plenty of fluids.
PACE OF TOUR AND DAILY ROUTINE: While this is not a particularly strenuous trip, neither is it especially easy; there is a lot of traveling and a number of the days are long and tiring. A modest degree of fitness is recommended. We will want to be out in the field early each day to take advantage of morning bird activity. This will often mean being out by 5:00 (and occasionally earlier) and having a picnic breakfast in the field.
We’ll spend parts of three days in the Baicheng/Xianghai National Nature Reserve area. Here, as elsewhere on the tour, the early mornings are the most productive times of day, and we anticipate early starts on at least two of these days. Throughout most of China, hotel breakfasts are rather poor, so we will have picnic breakfasts provided for us by our ground agent. These will usually consist of instant noodles, packets of muffins and biscuits, boiled eggs, yogurt and flavored milk, and cheese (where available), plus tea and coffee supplemented by chocolate and fruit.
We’ll compile a checklist of the birds we’ve seen just before or just after dinner and then retire early, especially when we have an early start the next day.
On most of our days at Beidaihe we have the option of starting early, often at 5:00 or 5:30, though most days we’ll return to the hotel for breakfast. More often than not there will be pre-breakfast options, usually to visit Lighthouse Point or the Sandflats, a couple of areas within easy reach of the hotel, before breakfast at 8:30. After that we’ll usually head out in our vehicle for the remainder of the day. Our activities at Happy Island will be similar, but our explorations here will be entirely on foot. We’ll return to the central restaurant for all of the day’s meals. Our excursions should be good fun, with a fairly relaxed pace and an emphasis on good views of the birds.
We try to make as many of the birding excursions as possible optional so that anyone who is tired or would like a break can take time off. At both Beidaihe and Happy Island we can easily arrange for anyone to return to the hotel before the rest of the group. Of course, we’ll also provide plenty of opportunities for those who wish to enjoy dawn-to-dusk birding. Our train rides are an ideal time to catch up on some rest.
As elsewhere in China, participants should have a sense of adventure and be prepared to expect the unexpected. Travel in rural China is considerably easier than it once was, but there are still occasional delays or problems, requiring improvisation or itinerary changes. The leader and our Chinese ground agent are experienced travelers in China.
ACCOMMODATION: The first night of the tour will be spent on the train traveling north to Jilin; this is the first of two overnight train trips.
Once in Jilin Province we will stay in a new and fairly comfortable hotel near the headquarters of Xianghai National Nature Reserve. All of the rooms will be clean and all have private bathrooms with western-style toilets and showers. The water here is heated by solar panels, and though it has never been a real problem, the water may not be very hot on cloudy days.
After another night on the train, our next hotel will be the excellent Jin Shan Hotel in southeastern Beidaihe, right next to the seafront and only 400 yards from the excellent birdwatching at Lighthouse Point. All of the rooms are clean and spacious, with two beds, television, and private bathrooms with a sink, shower/bath, and western toilet. The hotel has two restaurants (one Chinese, one western), a bar, and a large shop, and offers direct-dial international phones and a business center with fax. Laundry service is good and cheap.
We’ll spend six days and five nights on Happy Island. The accommodation here is more basic than at Beidaihe, small chalet-style buildings each with three bedrooms; five or six people will stay in each building (single rooms cannot be guaranteed here). The rooms are clean and have full bedding (including sheets and pillowcases); the beds are quite hard. There’s a large common room and a bathroom with western toilet and shower in each building. There is 24-hour electricity, though there are occasional power outages (rarely more than a few minutes). There is also 24-hour cold running water in the bathrooms, each of which has a small water heater supplying just enough hot water for one person to shower; it takes 15 to 30 minutes to heat sufficient water for the next person.
On Wulingshan Mountain we’ll stay in a government-run hotel. The rooms are fairly spacious, with two single beds and a private bathroom with sink, shower, and western toilet. Much of the plumbing isn’t up to western standards; showers and toilets don’t always work, and we may find ourselves washing with cold water or using hot water from the thermos bottles that are provided.
Moving from there to Miyun, on the edge of Beijing, we’ll spend our final night in a comfortable 4-star hotel.
FOOD: Chinese cuisine is well-known and widely appreciated. Beer, soft drinks, and green tea will be served with the food. Western brands of alcohol are not always easily obtainable (and usually expensive), so you may wish to consider bringing your own.
Coffee and real tea are uncommon in China, but hot water is readily available in hotel rooms and restaurants and on trains. Cups are rarely provided, so you may wish to bring your own, along with instant coffee, cocoa, or tea bags. Soup packages and other items that only need to be mixed with water can also be useful. If you are not used to eating with chopsticks, you may want to bring your own silverware.
Our trains have restaurant cars where we will eat together; we’ll also try to purchase snack foods and possibly fruit before the trip.
Bottled water and/or a soft drink or a beer is provided at lunch and dinner, as is coffee or tea. All other drinks or “personal” drinking water are the responsibility of the individual.
TRANSPORTATION: We’ll use a variety of small buses and taxis, and there are long train rides from Beijing to Xianghai Nature Reserve in Jilin Province and back. On these train journeys we will travel first class, in soft sleeper berths in cabins with four comfortable bunk beds, a small table, a lockable sliding door, and plenty of space for us and our luggage. At one end of the car is a washroom and toilet reserved for first-class passengers. Warm bedding, usually quilts, will also be provided. Private single or double rooms are not available on the trains; there are always four people in each cabin. We’ll attempt to segregate men and women in our party, but it may not be possible.
Some of our bus rides may take as long as seven hours, but we will, of course, make regular stops along the way to stretch and to birdwatch. The leader will arrange a seating rotation, and participants should be able to ride in any seat in tour vehicles.
SMOKING: Smoking is not allowed in the vehicles or at meals, or when the group is gathered together for the checklist. If you are sharing a room with a non-smoker, please do not smoke in the room. If you smoke in the field, please stand away from and downwind of the group. If any site where the group is gathered has a stricter policy than the WINGS policy, that stricter policy will prevail.
GENERAL INFORMATION & CONDITIONS OF WINGS & SUNBIRD TOURS: Please take a moment to read the WINGS General Information and Conditions. This section contains important information about how we conduct tours, e.g., what is included in the tour price, refund and cancellation policies, pace of tours, and other information that will help you prepare for the tour.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: A more complete General Information for Tours to China: Beidaihe and Manchuria will be sent to each registrant on receipt of their booking. Final information with instructions for meeting the group, hotel addresses, etc., will be mailed about three weeks before trip departure. Other news will be communicated as necessary. If you have any questions, please contact us.
Updated: November 2008