FAQs

For those who have confirmed your tour to China, you may need to know more practical and useful information by clicking here: http://www.chinahighlights.com/faq

1. What is Beijinghighlights.com and it's mission?
Beijinghighlights.com is one of the online service platforms of CITS Guilin. It focuses on travel service in Beijing, and from Beijing. CITS Guilin provide professional, person-to-person, customized travel service to any individual, family or organization. The China experts are trying hard to offer Reliability, Flexibility and Unbeatable Price.

2. What is CITS Guilin?
CITS Guilin is one of the top ten full service "International" travel companies in China. It was established in 1959. As the biggest travel agency in southern China, CITS Guilin have long established relationships with a vast array of suppliers in all over China, with prices to match.

3. How do I know it's not a Virtual company but a legitimate and licensed tour company?
Please check CNTA(China National Tourism Administration)'s record of our legitimate status: http://www.cnta.com/lyen/service/view.asp?ID=51

4.      Can I get any authoritative proof to know that you are not a virtual company but a legitimate company?
Yes, of course you can. You may:
1) Call us to find a real person and real voice;
2) You can also visit the web site of China National Tourist Administration (English version: (http://www.cnta.com/lyen/ )
You can find us by making a search at:http://www.cnta.com/lyen/service/index.htm
Please note we are located in Guangxi Province, so you don¡¯t need to fill in the search box but just choose Guangxi in the drop-down menu, then hit ¡°Search¡±. Our company will show in the first cell of the result table. The name is CHINA INT'L TRAVEL SERVICE GUILIN, not CITS Guilin. CITS is the abbreviation.  The company data will be available when you click on the name.

Or you may visit the following URL directly:

http://www.cnta.com/lyen/service/view.asp?ID=754

5.      What is the quality guarantee for a guest traveling with CITS Guilin?
Our guarantee is that we have deposited RMB1,600,000.00 (about USD200,000) at the account of the China Tourism Administration. This is the top official organization that deals with guest complains. Thus the service is guaranteed and ensured.

6.      What is your Pata No.?
SO-026697 - (ID#26697)
You may click here to see our company information from Pata Official web site.
When you get Pata web site, click "Members and Industy" then click "Members directory", > than click "G" (because we registered our name as Guilin CITS"), > Browse down, we are listed on no. 50 at time year 2002, June 3rd. (this maybe changed by time due to more members will be listed)

7.      CITS GUILIN License No?
L-GX-GL00003

8.      What is your bank account?
Our bank information:

US$ Bank account
Bank of China, Guilin Branch
No.5 Shan Hu Road,
Guilin, P.R.China
Acct# 00070708091014
SWIFT NUMBER: BKCHCNBJ49C (Please use this if your bank require ID or Beneficiary Bank, Routing / ABA Number)
Company: Guilin China International Travel Service

For bank info of RMB account and HK$ account, please contact us.

9.      What Information do you need in order to refund me?
In order to make the refund to your credit card, we need you to confirm or let me knowing the following info:
1. Credit card type:
2. Credit card number: For security reason, there is no need to write the credit number here if it is the same number as the one that we have charged to you.
3. Bank name that issue the Credit card.
4. The address of the above bank.
5. Credit card holders name:
6. Billing address:

10.      I have confirmed my order with you and agreed to pay the cost by submitting my credit card to you, but I noticed that my credit card has not been billed for the deposit as we have agreed. Is this the correct procedure?
When we have the tour we finalized together successfully booked, our billing department will submit ¡°Payment Guarantee¡± with your credit card to Bank of China, Guilin, who will mail (snail mail) the ¡°Payment Guarantee¡± fax to the Bank of China, Hong Kong. The Bank of China Hong Kong, who is entitled to contact your bank, will ¡°snail mail¡± the fax to your bank. Upon receiving the request from Bank of China, Hong Kong, your bank then will let the charge go through from your credit card after finishing all the necessary legal processes. The whole process may take 2 to 3 weeks, so, it will take the same amount of time before you can see the charge from your credit card.
If you see that there is no bill to your Credit Card, that not means that there is something wrong with the confirmation of your reservation.

11.      What is your payment policy?
Please click here to know more about payment policy

12.      What is your Cancellation Policy?
Please click here to know more about payment policy

II.  About our travel service.

1.      I have never purchase any tours directly from China Online, What are the Procedures for Online Reservation? ( Very Important for you to know) (please click here to lear more about the Online Reservation Procedures by clicking here)

2.      What is a package tour?

We provide many elaborately designed China highlights tour packages and some special tour packages. All these are fully escorted packages. When you arrive in each city, our professional tour guide, who will speak your language, and a private air-conditioned car or coach, with driver, will meet you at the airport. They will be at your service for the duration of your tour, and will transfer you to the airport (or train station) when you are leaving for your next destination. For some packages it might be organized for you to take part in a sit-in-coach(SIC) city tour. This will be in an air-conditioned coach and you will have a tour guide who will speak your language.

3.      Are your tour packages customizable (tailorable)?
Yes, all the packages we offer are customizable to meet your satisfaction. We know every one wants something different, so we don¡¯t mind amending your itinerary as many times as you require.

4.      How long before the tour beginning date do I need to make the reservation?
Late reservations can not be guaranteed for the hotel rooms and tour prices, especially tours during the high season. We usually suggest our clients make reservations a least two months before the departure date. If you come to China in September or October, we recommend you make the reservations three months prior to your departure date.

5.      What is ¡°high season¡±?
¡±High season¡± refers to the part of a year when the weather conditions and other elements for traveling are very good. This means that there are more people traveling than at other times. It¡¯s the busiest time for the hotels, airlines, and travel agencies. All hotels are overbooked. If you plan to go traveling during the high season, you need to make the reservation two to three months prior to your departure date. In China, May, September and October are defined as the high season by most of the hotels, airlines and travel agencies.

6.      How can you pay?
Because the Internet infrastructures are not completed yet, we presently can not processing online payment. But with the cooperation of Bank of China, we now can charge your credit card SAFELY. Please check out the easy steps for the payment by reading our Payment Guide. 

We proudly annmouce that we are the first and by far the only travel agency who can provide safe and quick credit card payment.

We also take wire transfer. Guide is also available here.

7.      What guarantee we have if we send our money to your bank by wire transfer?
Actually we understand your worries to book a tour online. Any worries are reasonable. We will inform you once we receive you payment by email or fax. Also we will fax you the receipt of your payment.  But we know that is not enough.

In China every travel agent is imposed to deposit a certain amount of money to a guarantee fund at the China National Tourism Administration (CNTA). We deposited RMB1,600,000.00 (about USD200,000) at the account of the China National Tourism Administration as our quality guarantee fund in case of guest complains. So we have to serve our guests as your itinerary states. Otherwise our fund would be deducted and refunded to you if the complain meets any breaches of items of the tourist law. Please keep the receipt your bank gives you if you wire transfer a deposit.

8. When I will get confirmation letter?
Once we have received the¡°Payment Gurantee¡± Fax from you, we will proceed your booking order immediately and send you confirmation letter when everything confirmed as what we proposed. The process of confirming your tour will take 1 to 10 days depending on how early and how unique your tour is. All of the proposed hotels, flights were available at the time when we were proposing for you, but we are not able to guarantee the availability of the same proposals since booking status are changing fast. If we are not able to book what we have proposed for you, we will give you other alternative options and ask for your approval before securing the booking.

9. Do we need an e-tickets or any vouchures to board the ship?
You do not need any e-tickets or vouchures except to boarding the Victoria. If your booking is on Victoria, we will fax you a vouchure when we get it from the ship company. If your booking is on other ship, our guide will escord you to board and the check in procedure is as the same as that in a hotel.

10. What is the difference between Private tours and SIC tours?
Usually, we provide a car for 1 to 3 guests, a van for 4 to 9 guests, etc. For guests who purchase our private package, you will never be mixed with other tourists when sightseeing and transferring. For group size bigger than 5 guests, we would recommend you take our private package because the price gets very close to that of SIC. Compare to SIC tour, private tour is more flexible, for instance, you may change your itineraries with your guide directly at the last minutes and make stops at places you did not have in your original itinerary, or you want to spend more time at places you feel like than what has been scheduled.

SIC stands for Seat in Coach. Guests who participate our SIC tour will require to give us your hotel name and your own names. Our stuff will contact our guests the night before to set the next day¡¯s departure time with you. Our coach and guide will go from hotel to hotel to pick up guests who signed up the tour for the day. Usually our SIC tour will have around 15 guests share one coach and one English-Chinese speaking guide, our guide will take you to all the scenic spots as what listed in the Itinerary. Compare to Private tour, SIC tours are usually less expensive than the Private tours and you have chances to meet unknown people on this tour, but SIC tours are not as flexible as Private tours.

Like in Guilin, we have 2 kinds of Li-river Cruise.
Seat in Coach tour and private car and private guide tour.
SIC tour cost US57$; Private car and private guide tour cost US$141;
Both of the tours will have the same ship, same river, same lunch, the
only difference is on the way to the dock (1 hour) and on the way back
from Yangshuo(the place you disembark the ship), one is using private
car and guide transfer, one is using coach transfer with other guests
on coach as well.

11. What about train travel in China?
To be frank, we received many different feed backs about train travel in China, some said it is a lot more better than what they have expected and on time, some said --> "Hard seat is hell. Soft-seat is limbo. Hard-sleeper is purgatory with a pillow, and soft-sleeper is comparely comfortable even though you still need to share the 4 beds cabin with others and share one "A-hole-on-ground-and-maybe-no-flush-toilet" with the whole cart members."

12. What are the deference between deferent star hotels?
The deference between 1,2,3,4 and 5 star hotels:
One-Star: hotels must have air-conditioning, coffee shop, dining room, and at least 20 guest rooms, cleaned daily. Of course, 75% must have private baths. They must have central heating, a lobby with information and reception desk, postal service, and 12-hour a day cold and hot running water.
Two-Star: hotels must have at least 20 guest rooms, 95% with private baths, 50% with telephones, and 16 hours of cold and hot running water, Western and Chinese breakfast must be offered.
Three-Star: hotels must have at least beautifully-decorated guest rooms with dressing table, desk, drawers, and closet; carpet or wood floor; telephones in every room with international direct dial(IDD); mini-bar and refrigerator; color television sets, in-house movies, music; writing materials; sunproof curtains; and bed turn-down service.
They must have single rooms and suites, western and Chinese dinning rooms(with English-speaking attendants, and the last order no earlier than 8:30pm),16-hour coffee shop, banquet hall or function room, buffet breakfast and bar service(until midnight), and 18-hour room service.
They must also have elevator service, public telephone and washroom, equipment and service for disabled people, disco or karaoke, foreign exchange, safe deposit boxes, store, camera film developing, fax and telex service, luggage storage, 24-hour laundry and drycleaning, wake-up calls, shoe polishing, and taxis. They should be able to mend articles of everyday use for guests. They should accept major credit cards. They must have an emergency electricity supply for public areas, medical services, 16-hour a day doorman, and message service, guest reception, and managers on call. An assistant manager should be in the lobby 18 hours and railroad timetables available. China Daily and China Tourism News should be on sale(or free)
Four Star: hotel should have luxurious and spacious sound-proof rooms, low-noise toilets, and hair dryers. They should have guests and service elevators, background music, health club, swimming pool, sauna, business center, greenhouse, 24-hour doorman, reservations accepted through fax/telex, 24-hour room service, and onward reservations in China for guests. A guest reception and assistant manager should be available in the lobby 24 hours a day. Laundry should be returned by next day.
The restaurants in four-star hotels should provide two kinds of Chinese food with the last order no earlier than 9pm. Bar service should be available to one am. There should be a 24-hur coffee shop and a breakfast and dinner buffet. A clinic should be on-site. A business center with photocopying, typing and translation services should be available, as should a ticketing agency with city tours and babysitting services
Five-Star: hotels are usually palatial with huge lobbies, their standards not quite matching the best of Paris or New Year, but very close. Service should be better than the four-star hotels described above. See Top hotels section below.
Top Hotels: There are many hotels of five-star international standard, just as good as hotels in Washington or Ottawa except for the standard of English. Some hotels have their own fleets of Mercedes limousines of Toyata vans that make regular runs to the airport or city center. At least two hotels have Rolls Royces. Many have executive floors with concierges, free continental breakfasts, and fast check-in. Many have magnificent ball rooms and lobbies and cater to foreign business people on expense accounts. They have the best western food and probably the best Chinese food in town, and the most luxurious breakfast buffets. Some leave chocolates on your pillow, or a rubber ducky on your bathtub, nice litter touches that bring a smile.
The danger of a luxury hotel, in China as elsewhere, is its great economic disparity with the life of the ordinary citizen. The cost of one night in such a hotels could be the equivalent of several months income. If you go to learn about China, you will have to make a great effort to do so if you stay in luxury hotel.

13. Why don¡¯t we include some of your dinners in your tours?
We China Highlights used to include all meals for our clients travelling in China. But from the previous customers¡¯ responses, we find that most of our clients prefer to leave the dinners open on their own so that they can enjoy some time themselves after a day¡¯s tour with our guide and driver. They can choose either to go to a local restaurant for a little adventure or to have a simple dinner in the hotel where they stay. They may also prefer to choose a unique restaurant which appeals to their own unique interests. We have previous clients saying that they missed western food after 10 days¡¯ lunches and dinners all in Chinese style and at last they decided to skip the Chinese dinner in local restaurant and choose to have a western dinner in hotel.

If you decide to have local meals on your own in local restaurant in different cities, please do ask our guides¡¯ recommendations according to your interests.

For some ¡°off-the-beaten-road¡± destinations, we will take the liberty to include dinners in those places where we think it is better to get meals pre-arranged, because our clients may find it very difficult to communicate with the locals or hard to find a restaurant

14. Special notes for those going to Longsheng
Longsheng is located in the mountainous region on the northeastern part of Guilin. It takes 3 to 4 hours¡¯ drive for 100km. The natural beauty and the colorful ethnic Chinese cultures and customs attract people from all over the world. But the zigzag road to Longsheng is a bit rough and can be dangerous in rainy day. If you have booked tours to Longsheng and it happens to be a terrible rainy day, we reserve the right to offer you alternative activities and, probably, hotels also (if you have planned to stay there overnight) in case the weather keeps the vehicle from going there.

15. What is the schedule of the dam? when will the yangtze river be flooded and the sights can no longer be seen?

Schedule of the Three Gorges (dam) water conservancy project (TGP).

In the second phase, the dam will be built to a height of 87 metres (285 ft). By 2003, the first turbine will have been installed on the southern bank to start generating power. From April 10 to June 1, People can only cruise between Chongqing and the Dam.

When the second phase is complete, 14 turbines and a 135-metre- high (442-ft-high) permanent ship-lock will have been built on the southern bank.

In the final phase, 2003-2009, the dam will be raised to a maximum height of 175 metres (574 ft) and an additional 12 turbines will be installed on the northern bank.

The dam is due to begin generating its own revenue by 2003 and by 2009, when all 26 power generating units are operating, it will have an annual capacity of 85 billion kilowatt hours -- or one- ninth of China's total capacity.  

III.   About traveling in China.

1.      How to get a visa?
Please visit Getting a Visa for Your Journey to China.

Do I need visa for China?
Americans traveling to China, whether for business or pleasure, require a visa. You are exempt from this requirement if you travel and stay ONLY in Hong Kong. However, if you travel beyond Hong Kong, even for a few hours, you will need a China visa, which should be obtained in advance. Listed below are what we need to process your visa application, as well as answers to frequently asked questions.

What type of visa do I need?
Single-entry China visas are usually valid for 3 months after the issuing date, and will permit you to stay in China for a maximum of 30 days. This visa will allow you to travel as a tourist or conduct general business activities. Most people need only to apply for a single-entry.

What do I Need for visa application?
Your passport (original, not a copy), which must be valid for at least 6 months from the date of travel, with at least one blank visa page (amendment pages and pages with bar codes are not acceptable for visa stamping).
One completed, signed Visa Application Form for each passport, with two passport-style photos (please contact China Travel Service to obtain a current visa application form).

What about the cost?
Visa processing fee:
$ 50.00 for single entry
$ 60.00 for double entry
Applicable rush service fees: It takes approximately 7 working days to process a standard visa application. If rush service is required, please add the following fees (Note: all materials must be received in our office before noon):
$ 20.00 for three day service
$ 30.00 for next day service
$15.00 passport mailing fee: We will return your passport to you via FedEx standard overnight service (where available). You may waive this fee by supplying us with a FedEx airbill, your FedEx account number, or the account number of another trackable express courier service.
Payment for visa processing is accepted in the form of check or cash ONLY. Make all checks payable to: U.S. China Travel Service.

What do you mean passport-style photo?
The Chinese consulate requires a photo similar to the one in your passport. They will only accept photos which are head-only, full frontal, with a white background, approximately 1-1/2" by 2". You can obtain this type of photo anywhere that advertises "passport photo" service. Cut-outs from personal photographs are not acceptable.

How to get a invitation letter from your company for my visa application?
In order to apply a visa to our country, you need an invitation letter from an official travel company. we will give this letter to our clients when you signed up our tour by fax. Please send us the following information in order to give you the invitation letter.

Please E-mail us the following information,
1. The exact date of entering China:
2. How long will you stay in China:
3. Cities that you will be visiting:
4. Names as the same as on the passport;
5. Sex: male or female
6. Date of birth:(Example:SEP.6th, 1962)
7. Passort No:
8. Passport expire: (Example:2004-7-25)
9. Occupation;
10. Your Telephone and your fax number;
11. Your addresss.

Upon receiving your information, we will fax you your tour confirmation letter of our official stationery with our company seal, you may go to the nearest China Embassy or consular in your region with our letter, you will be able to get your visa. You may also ask for mailing service from our Embassy.

How to get Tibet Permits in Hong Kong?
The 2nd Floor of Yixing Mansion, No.118, Zhuangdun Road, Wangzi, Hong Kong
Contact number: 00852-29221028
Contact person: Danzeng
Working Time: 9:00-18:00 for the weekdays, 9:00-13:00 for Sat

Can I travel to Tibet independently?
According to the Chinese official regulation, you cannot travel to Tibet independently. You have to book a tour package to Tibet through a tour company. You need a special travel permit to enter Tibet in addition to a valid China visa. CITS GUILIN can arrange any tailored tour packages to Tibet for you. Please contact us for further details.

Do I need visa for visit to Hong Kong?
For US passport Holders, visa is not required if your stay is less than 90 days as a tourist. For other passport holders, please inquire with your nearest PRC embassies or consulate.

I am not a U. S. citizen. Can you still process my application?
We can process applications for anyone with a valid passport. However, the above charges apply only to standard service for U.S. passport holders; for citizens of other countries, or for special situations, please contact us for current fee information.

How to obtain Visa to China in Hong Kong?

Obtain by yourself in Visa Office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of The PRC.

Obtain Visa in Hong Kong
A. 1 recent passport photo.
B. Passport which needs to be valid at least more than 3 months.
C. Usually you can get the visa within one working day. Cost 100HK$ or more.
D. Fast process is available when paying 150HK$.
E. Please call them before going to their office. Their Address:

Visa Office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of The PRC
Addres: 5th Floor, Lower Block, 26 Harbour Road, Wanchai, Hong Kong. Tel: ++852-25851657 OR ++852-25851680 OR ++852-25851794
Note:
1) You need to go there during working day, Monday to Friday.
2) "Within One working day" means: Suppose you went to the visa office this morning with all required documents and submit your visa application, you will be able to get it tomorrow morning.
"Fast Process" enable you receive you visa during one day.

Obatain visa in CTS (H.K.)

Obtain visa in CTS(H.K.):
A. 1 recent passport photo
B. Passport, which needs to be valid at least more than 3 months and have a full empty page inside passport.
C. CTS(H.K.) obtain tourist visa type only. Not available for official or diplomatic type. Journalist or reporter...is not accepted.
D. Usually you can get the visa in three working day. Cost HK$160.
E. Fast process in half working day is available when paying more HK$380-HK$720. (Half-day visa is charge in HK$380 for Monday-Friday only, HK$720 for Saturday, Sunday & holidays)Guest apply in 09:00, then can be pick-up at 14:00 on same day.
F. CTS(H.K.) Kowloon branch office -

address: 1/F, Alpha House, 27 Nathan Road, Tsimshatsui, Kowloon
Tel: 2315 7106 working hours: 09:00a.m.-17:00p.m. (Monday-Saturday),
09:00a.m.-12:30p.m./14:00-17:00p.m. (Sunday & public holidays)

2. Please read a very good Travel Tips offered by CNTA.

3.      What is the luggage limit in China?
The luggage limit for the flights within China is 20 kilograms (44 pounds) per person.

4. When is the best time to visit China?
Deciding when to visit China depends on which places you wish to visit, what type of weather you enjoy, and how much a bargain you want. Remember that China is a huge country with many different climates and types of terrain. Think of it in terms of United States, which China resembles in size and shape. Traveling along the Golden Route (Beijing, Xian, Shanghai, Guilin) is like visiting Philadelphia, Knoxville, and Southern Florida all in one trip. May, September and October are the peak tourist months at China's most popular destinations when the weather is most comfortable. Prices drop a bit in the shoulder season, which runs from late March through April and from June through August. The offseason arrives in late November, and continues through the winter when crowds are few and prices lower.

5. What Currency should I bring?
The local currency in China is Yuan. Currently, One US dollar is about 8.2 Yuan. We recommend that you bring your major credit card, traveler's cheque and small amount of cash. Most hotels and shops in major cities accept major credit cards. You can change your traveler's cheque into local money. The exchange rate is a bit higher than using American cash. Personal checks are not accepted there. In Hong Kong, the local currency is HK Dollar. One US dollar is about 7.7 HK dollar. Please be noted the exchange rate fluctuates and information provided here is for your reference only.