Where to meet the group in Beijing?
Spring Time Hostel is located at Dongsi W St, DongSi, Fengtai, Beijing Shi, China, 100006.
If you are doing the Beijing- Shanghai 9 Day Trip – There is a pre-departure briefing in the reception of Spring Time Hostel at 10.00 am on Day 1 of your trip. Here you can meet your Adventure Leader and the rest of your group. Later on, you will be heading to the Great Wall, where you will be camping overnight or staying in the guesthouse(depending on the weather/ time of year).
If you are going to be late to the pre-departure briefing, then please inform us of this, by emailing china@thedragontrip.com and calling our Shanghai office on +86 (0)2161503200 or our China Adventure Manager on +86 158 0074 0761. To get to Spring Time Hostel, either take a taxi by showing the driver the address in Chinese characters – 东四南大街1号 ，近地铁5号、6号线东四站西南出口 South West Corner of Dongsi Subway Station (Exit. D) No 1 Dongsinan Street, Dongcheng, 100010 – or take a metro to JiShuiTan metro station and walk from there (email us if you need detailed instructions).
Please bring details of your travel insurance along with you to the pre-departure briefing. In the event of an accident, we may need contact your insurance company on your behalf, so we will need the insurance company’s name and phone number and your policy number.
China visa
Almost all nationalities require a visa in order to enter mainland China. Please ensure that you have obtained or are obtaining a valid visa for your trip.
If your flight into Hong Kong connects in mainland China (for example, in Beijing or Shanghai), you will need to tell the Immigration officer in the airport NOT to cross out a single-entry visa, as you are only transferring. If the Immigration officer crosses out a single entry visa, you will encounter difficulties when you start your trip with us and need to cross the border from Hong Kong back into mainland China.
Social media
If anyone doesn’t want photos of them published on our social media, just let your Adventure Leader know at the pre-departure briefing.
If you want to access Facebook and other blocked websites whilst in China, you will need to purchase a VPN, which allows you access via a proxy network.
Accommodation
Please note: accommodation is not included on the last day of your trip. If you need pre- or post-trip accommodation, feel free to contact us directly by email info@thedragontrip.com.
During your trip, we may stay at hostels different to those listed on your detailed itinerary, but equal or better in quality. This is most likely to happen when hostels have reached their maximum capacity or should there be an emergency where the hostel cannot provide accommodation.
For the purposes of the visa application, please write down the hostels indicated on your detailed itinerary.
Money in China
It is easy to withdraw money all over China at ATMs using Visa or MasterCard, but make sure you inform your bank that you will be travelling in China, so that they don’t put a block on your card.
There are so many different words for money in China, so you may see it referred to as yuan, CNY, Renminbi, RMB, dian (“chee-yan”) or kuai! If you want to avoid paying the international withdrawal fees at an ATM, then you can exchange money in most money exchanges around the world, as well as in Hong Kong and mainland China. We do not recommend travellers cheques, and finding a Western Union can be inconvenient, although is possible.
Passport scan
In order to receive your booking pack email, you should have already emailed us your passport scan. If for any reason you have not emailed us this, please do so as soon as possible, as we cannot confirm your booking without it. We need this scan in order to book your train tickets, as well as accommodation, in China.
Immunisations for the trip
As with any backpacking trip, before leaving home we recommend you visit a travel nurse in order to get fully up to date with the necessary vaccinations. If you take along your detailed itinerary, the nurse will be able to check what you need. We aim to enter no areas with tropical diseases on the trip. Usually Dragon Trippers don’t take anti-malarial drugs whilst travelling with us.
Terms & Conditions
Our Terms & Conditions are included in your booking pack email. Please read these carefully, as by making a booking with The Dragon Trip, you must adhere to these Terms & Conditions.
Illegal Substances
The Dragon Trip has a zero tolerance policy towards misuse of drugs. The Chinese government also take a very hard line on any recreational drug use and will impose severe penalties for this.
Feedback
We hope you have an incredible time travelling with us in China. If a problem occurs on your trip, please do let us know about it straight away, by emailing info@thedragontrip.com, and we will do our best to sort out the issue as soon as possible.