Environment:
- We provide all travelers with reusable bags and chopsticks in order to avoid waste
- 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
- 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 travelers but also trying to involve the local tourism industry.
- Wherever possible we take local transport in China. 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
Community:
- 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
- Include informal local language lessons to give our travelers a head start into understanding the culture and communicating with the people we meet along the way
- 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 travelers
- At the end of out journey we encourage our travelers to donate unwanted clothes, toiletries or other goods which we then distribute to local organisations
On this trip you are joined by a leader and many local guides along the way who are always eager to share their country and culture, and help you break down barriers in your interactions with local people. Our tour leaders are all Chinese locals.
During our stay in Xian, you will have the opportunity to visit Huiling, a Chinese-run charity which provides support and education for young adults with disabilities. Lunch is provided and the students are always very excited to perform some traditional dances and show off their skills.
We show our support for conservation in China by an included visit to the Giant Panda Reserve in Chengdu, where all money received from entrance tickets is put towards conservation of this endangered species through research, breeding, rescue and education.
There are also plenty of opportunities to visit markets, whether to shop for a cooking class, bargain for a souvenir, or taste a local delicacy at a night market. These times give you a great opportunity to interact with the locals and enjoy the smells and colours of the country.
This company started in 1989 with a passion to get travelers off the beaten track. It was started by best friends who wanted to develop a style of travel that was all together different; wanting travelers to become a part of a country - and not just tourists looking in. Wanting them to have fun, meet people, learn things, explore, and do stuff they could never do at home, to travel by anything and everything, and stay anywhere and everywhere! Fast forward two decades and they now travel to more than 110 countries and offers over 800 itineraries however their philosophy on travel is unchanged. Their core purpose is to enrich people's lives by creating unique, interactive travel experiences. Providing fun, affordable and sustainable travel adventures that are beneficial to local communities.
We invite every traveler who books a vacation via us to send in a review. Because we don't run the vacations they're completely independent and unedited... remember to read between the lines though, as two people on the same vacation can have different views!
