The final itinerary consisted of nine actual days in Guizhou Province, with several extra days in Shanghai to celebrate our anniversary. And then, you always have to add the 2-3 days spent actually getting to China and at least two days returning home! The tour itself would focus on two areas: Southeast and West of Guiyang; visiting the various minority tribes and learning a little about their culture; using a local guide and driver; and staying at “best available” hotels.

Air? Flew United non-stop to Shanghai and then China Air to Guiyang the following day. Inside China, you can (or could) also fly via Chengdu, Beijing, Hong Kong or Bangkok.

Health? Just the usual precautions. No malaria pills, and all other innoculations are always kept up-to-date. I always check the Centers for Disease Control updates to see what they suggest.

Visa? You need a Chinese Visa which is easy to get at your local Chinese Embassy/Consulate. In Chicago, you can pay extra and arrange for one in the same day.

Western GuizhouTravel Insurance? As I’ve stated before, we always buy travel insurance that covers cancellation and medical emergencies. All it takes is one incident where you lose all money paid for the trip and you’ll be a convert. Your vacation a year to save for a second to ruin Purchase Travel insurance through Travel Guard Travel insurance starting at $30

Southeast Guizhou, China map
Our Tour? We planned around the Lusheng Festival. The main villages to visit were: Liuzhi “Soga Village,” Kaili, Leishan, Rong Jiang, A Wooden Village House with an overnight stay, drive back to Kaili and Guiyang with three extra days on our own in Shanghai. All hotels, meals, roundtrip domestic airfare from Shanghai to Guiyang, airport transfers, entrance and admission fees, local guide and driver were included.

Food? Since all our meals were included, this wouldn’t be an issue and I can survive on rice alone. But we always bring a small stash of goodies for long drives, granola bars and several packs of tuna for emergencies. There have been times that we’ve sat in airports overnight, etc., and it was good to have a little food handy in our backpacks.

Clothing? The climate was going to be mild. Just a matter of sneakers (running shoes), sandals, lightweight clothing (no shorts). Easy enough.
Planning over, we were ready to go….

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