China tour, Shanghai to Beijing

Planet

On this trip, we provide all travelers with reusable bags and chopsticks in order to avoid waste. We encourage the use of “tea flasks” for drinking water (or tea, like the locals do!). All travelers in the group will be encouraged to travel with refillable water bottles and purification tablets rather than purchasing water in plastic bottles to minimise waste and your group leader will also be on hand to advise on the responsible discarding of rubbish throughout the trip, recycling wherever possible.

We prefer that our passengers don’t purchase plastic water bottles, however any bottles that are purchased are given to the community of waste collectors who rely on this for an income.

Wherever possible we take local transport in China. This means 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.

People

Community:
The list of ways we help the local community:
All left over food after our group meals is collected, boxed up and left for homeless people. During the trip, our local leader will take the time to give all passengers and understanding of the local culture and about people you will meet along the way.
We will travel by trail and stay in the 2nd or 3rd class to give the maximum opportunity to meet other people, share stories, food, games and the journey with local travelers.

On this trip, we appreciate passengers donating unwanted clothes, toiletries or other goods which we then distribute to the local community.
Join your local leader for a walking tour through Old Beijing along the ancient network of alleyways and lanes known as hutong to see how important it is to protect cultural heritage in the face of rapid development.

After the closure of the Simatai section of the wall last year we needed to look for a new route. This has meant that we are now able to stay in a family run guesthouse in a nearby village rather than in a YHA hostel. We can be assured of great local hospitality and a welcome night sleeping out in the fresh countryside air! Most travelers will choose to eat dinner and breakfast at the guesthouse (not included) to sample great local produce and delicious home style cooking.

In Xi’an we meet with our friends at Xi'an Huiling (meaning "wise spirit"). Xi’an Huiling provides adults with learning disabilities opportunities to develop their personal abilities, helping them become fully integrated citizens of the community. All donations through our own Foundation support around 50 global projects.

Xi’an being one of them, monies raised go towards teaching materials, teacher training and equipment that supports independent living training for Xi’an Huiling’s clients, as well as helping to advocate for improved conditions for the disabled.