Luxury all the way in China – but the Great Wall's a bit steep!

2:40pm Sunday 8th June 2008

Comments (0)   Have your say »

Whether or not you are planning to fly out to watch the Olympics, I can recommend China as a fascinating place to visit, writes Tony Flood.

I vowed to go there to walk along The Great Wall, one of the wonders of the world, before I died - and I almost did! Climbing it can be a gruelling experience as my wife Heather and I found while on an exciting tailor-made holiday with Kuoni.

Long haul tour specialists Kuoni let us choose our locations, flights and times during 15 eventful days in Beijing, Xi'an, Shanghai and Hong Kong.

It was luxury all the way as we stayed in four superb hotels - the Novotel in Beijing, the Grand Mecure in Xi'an, the Radisson New World in Shanghai and the Park Lane with a view of Causeway Bay in Hong Kong.

We also had a wonderful personal guide - the extremely helpful and knowledgeable Hao Wu - and chauffeur driven car laid on by Kuoni as we toured Beijing, visiting The Forbidden City, The Temple of Heaven, Tiananmen Square and The Great Wall - which winds up and down for more than 4,000 miles across mountains, grasslands and deserts.

Needless to say, I didn't manage much of the 4,000 miles - and the next day opted for a more relaxing rickshaw ride in the ancient town of Hutong, where Hao and I had lunch at a local resident's home (humble by western standards). Our stay in Beijing was made even more enjoyable by the kindness of our Chinese friend Christina Lee.

After flying on to Xi'an there was another Kuoni guide and car to take us to see the Terracotta Warriors. Three pits of clay warriors have been painstakingly restored, and the sight of rows and rows of different types of soldiers with horses and chariots is incredible.

The Terracotta Army was built to protect the tomb of Qin Shihuang, the first Emperor of all China - thousands of warriors were buried with the Emperor in the hope in the next life they would be his army.

Our next stop was Shanghai, the largest city in China. Here I took the Zhouzhuang Water Tour to see the 900-year-old village, where ancient waterside dwellings still house many residents and shopkeepers. It was also fascinating to watch a Chinese opera being staged there.

Having purchased some silk dressing gowns and ties at bargain prices, it was time to return to the Radisson hotel and treat Heather and myself to a massage!

Finally we flew to Hong Kong where we roughed it' by joining tour groups on a junk cruise of the harbour (during which all drinks were free), saw the symphony of lights from the many giant buildings and dined on the revolving 66 Restaurant's 62nd floor.

But our greatest eating experience was at the Park Lane's buffet café where there was an endless supply of everything, including lobsters and scallops. And after a ferry ride to Kowloon we found a tailor who made me three exclusive shirts of excellent quality and design in one day for just over £25 each. Heather chose a superb red three-quarter length jacket with black trim.

If you go, you can get the shirts from Express Custom Tailors and the coat from Misbah Fashions, both in Star House near the famous Star Ferry - but be prepared to bargain!

The complete Kuoni package for transport, tours, superior hotel rooms and breakfast cost more than £3,000 for my wife and I, including excellent flights with British Airways, Air China, China Eastern Airlines and Dragonair. But it would be much cheaper on a general tour basis.

• Details are available from Kuoni at 01306 747008 or go to kuoni.co.uk.