As a Half the Sky medical sponsor for over 6 years, Imperial Tours has had the amazing opportunity to provide life-changing treatment and nurturing care for China’s most vulnerable children. We would like to share with you the inspirational stories of four adorable orphaned children in Half the Sky’s China Care Home Spring 2014 Newsletter. After undergoing critical medical treatment and months of post-operative recovery and care, XingSai and HaiXia have been given a clean bill of health and now have a better chance of finding permanent and loving homes. Meanwhile, XiaoLan and JiaYan await further surgeries. We truly hope their treatment and recovery goes smoothly, and that very soon they too will be able to return to their institutions happy and healthy.
To learn more about the incredible work of Half the Sky, please visit www.halfthesky.org.
Nadia Lim originally joined Imperial Tours in 2004 as our “China Host to the stars” but left in 2007 to complete her graduate degree at NYU and raise a family. She is Thai Swiss Chinese and speaks Thai, English, Chinese and Romansch. Imperial was thrilled when she rejoined the company in 2011 as an Itinerary Designer in our Beijing office. Nadia spearheads our social corporate responsibility program.
On October 9, 2000, five explorers set out in the middle of the world’s fifth-largest desert, the Taklimakan, as a team to walk the entire length of the Ming dynasty Great Wall of China. After a few weeks, winter set in and the terrain was covered in snow. By March the following year as winter lifted, only one remained – Argentinean explorer and photographer Diego Azubel, who continued to trek alone for another nine months arriving at the East China sea at the end of the following year. This was Diego’s first trek in China. (His second took him across the Tibetan Himalayan mountains and through the Nepalese civil war… don’t ask)
Now married with a trilingual daughter, I asked Diego what it takes to walk the entire length of the Great Wall of China?
Good shoes, and a lot of time!
But as with anything else, you need to be sure that you want to do it. You need commitment. Because these walks, more often than not, take much longer than expected, and test you in ways you probably never experienced before. Also, as opposed to climbing up a mountain where there is only one way up and usually small windows of opportunity when the weather allows you to do the climb, in a long horizontal walk it is very easy to ‘take a detour’ or a break. And when you do, it is harder to come back.
Why did you want to walk the Great Wall of China?
I first came to China in 1997 and left with the intention of coming back. While I was in London editing a story on slavery in Mauritania, an opportunity to walk the Great Wall of China arose, and I felt I had to take it. I had always been the type to take on new adventures, and walking the entire length of the Great Wall of China sounded very attractive.
How does the Great Wall inspire you?
I love going back to The Great Wall. Whenever I go back I get a feeling of joy when I see it from a distance. It brings back memories. Very nice memories.
During my journey I developed a relationship with ‘her.’ I guess after 15 months of spending every day by The Wall, it would have probably been stranger if I didn’t develop some kind of relationship than if I did. And because I humanized her, talked to her, and sometimes I even thought I heard her talk back, I kind of felt less alone despite being alone. And when I felt tired, both physically and mentally, I felt I wasn’t allowed to complain. Somehow it always reminded me of what it took to build the Wall. Very often I came across graves on the side of the wall, and although these are much newer than the wall they did remind me of the many men and women that died building it. I felt I would be disrespectful to do anything but finish what I had started.
What did you learn from walking the Great Wall?
Many things. The first one that kept popping into my head during the walk was that if I didn’t get up every morning and move my own feet, I was never going to reach the end. If I didn’t move my feet no one was going to move them for me. It is an obvious thought knowing that no one will do it for us if we don’t do it ourselves, but being there and knowing that if I didn’t get up every morning and literally put one foot in front of the other to walk I would probably still be there… it doesn’t get any clearer than that.
What is it about the Great Wall that has captured the attention of the world?
Number one would probably be the old myth that it can be seen from space. But also the fact that there is so much history behind it as well as so many stories, some of which are still being argued as to whether they are true or not. And of course, it is a symbol of China, one that China itself markets very well. So if one comes to China, one will probably schedule a trip to the wall. And like Mao said: he who has not climbed the Great Wall, is not a true man.
You took photos and videos of the Great Wall? Where and how can people see these photos and video?
The photos can be seen on www.thegreatwalk.com and the video was shown on the National Geographic channel a few years ago. It will be available for viewing on thegreatwalk site very soon.
Have you spoken to many groups about this experience? What kind of groups and what has their response been?
I have given talks to various groups of people ranging from explorers festivals to schools to corporate events. So far the response has been very positive, and it is also great for me because I get different questions every time. I can see that people are interested in different things.
My favorite was getting a bunch of questions from a 7 year old boy while I was giving my second talk a couple of months after finishing the walk. It was at an outdoors festival in Birmingham. I could see people looking at me with smiles on their faces but not asking any questions. Then this boy started. Where did you sleep? How many kilometers did you walk? How long did it take you? What did you eat? And after every answer he would go “Wow…’ After a few questions from him, the audience loosened up and began asking him to ask me their questions.
Over the past five years, Imperial Tours has been an avid supporter of Half the Sky, contributing to the nurturing care and education of 10 orphaned babies and children. Many of these children have since been placed in loving homes. Most recently we also became a “Half the Sky Medical Care Sponsor” which helps provide lifesaving medical treatment for orphaned infants and toddlers at the China Care Home in Beijing.
We’d like to share with you the inspiring stories of Yu Xia, Man Ni, and Ai Qing in Half the Sky’s “Spring 2013” progress report. The photos of these smiling babies speak for themselves and serve as a clear and valuable testament of the wonderful work this organization is involved in. If you’d like to join us in supporting Half the Sky, please visit www.halfthesky.org for more information.
Mr. Ma came to our office to teach us the traditional craft of Chinese egg carving. This involved the laborious process of drawing, in pencil, the character “fu” (“prosperity) on a hallowed egg, then using a blade to slowly chisel away the peel of the egg. While at first frustrating, each of us eventually became so involved in our eggs that it was almost meditative.
While carving our eggs, we started chatting with Meixin, one of the founders of Gift of Hope. She was asked the question, what is your skill? Her response was, “My skill is talking, translating and contradicting doctors”. It was the latter statement that most intrigued us and we asked her what she meant. She said that when she was a baby, she suffered a severe fever and her parents were told that she would not live more than a few months. When she did live, her parents were told that she would never speak or walk. Today, Meixin’s English is better than most Chinese people I’ve met and she walks with a severe limp, but walks.
She then went on to speak about why she co-founded Gift of Hope. She said that that about 5% of Beijing’s population is handicapped, but one doesn’t see them. She said that Chinese are Buddhist and in Buddhism, if you are born with a disability, it is because you have done something wrong in a past life. Therefore, parents are often ashamed of their disabled children and they are kept inside, away from disapproving eyes.
Meixin and her fellow co-founders of Gift of Hope are on a mission to dispel this myth. They bring together people with various disabilities and teach them traditional crafts such as egg carving, silk knot-tying, lantern making, calligraphy, paper cutting, etc. They are given a sense of self, a sense of community and are made to feel valued by being able to then give back to the community by teaching children, foreigners, anyone interested, their crafts.
It is people like Meixin who we like to introduce to people visiting China. She has a presence, a sense of confidence and vitality that few people possess and it is a China story that we want to share with people. Not only is she helping people but she is reviving the traditional crafts which are quickly disappearing.
In the face of modernization, China is struggling to preserve its cultural heritage, and nowhere is this more visible than in the ancient hutongs of Beijing.
I have never been an admirer of the hutongs from an architectural or historical point of view, it was more about the buzz I felt as I meandered down these narrow alleys, seeing them bursting with activity. Sadly, the city’s rapid growth will no longer allow these vibrant communities to remain in these areas. The government’s continued efforts to modernize the city are incompatible with these dilapidated neighbourhoods but there is also a longing for change coming from within.
The word "Hutong" in Chinese means narrow street or alley. It refers to neighbourhoods within the old city walls which have existed since the 13th century. Typically these hutongs consist of rows of “Siheyuans”. These are rectangular single storey structures built in a square formation, which leave an open courtyard in the centre. In Imperial times these courtyard homes would have had a single owner, and different levels of decoration on their front door would indicate their economic and social status.
In modern china these courtyards are shared by many families, with one kitchen to be shared amongst them and the only toilet is the public one out in the street. What was once the home of a high-ranking official, is now home to four families who have lived together, generation after generation. There has always been a sense of kinship between these families and in the age of the single-child policy even more so; children see their neighbours’ children as siblings.
The hutong alleys are too narrow to be burdened by passing traffic and these neighbourhoods have become a labyrinth for pedestrians. I suggest one should only enter either accompanied by a local or riding a bicycle, as it makes finding your way out a lot quicker. Hutong residents have succumbed to the appeal of this open, traffic-less space on their door step and rather than spending their free time locked in their small confined dwellings, they choose to take whatever they are doing outside. When you wander through the hutongs, it is common to see kids playing badminton either side of an imaginary net, chess players bent over a board propped up on two bricks or someone squatting by a water basin doing their laundry. If you visit in the evening and start hearing 80’s dance music, you have more than likely walked into an open space where 80 pensioners are all dancing in synch to the music. A must see if you are visiting Beijing.
Unfortunately these areas in Beijing are slowly disappearing, making way for high rises, or they are rebuilt to be used commercially for tourists. Some more fortunate areas are restoring the courtyards to their former glory but their new wealthy landlords are less likely to take to the streets. Chess is played inside sitting on leather armchairs and all laundry is strictly washed behind closed doors. These sought after properties can be incredibly beautiful and valuable beyond the reach of most but their streets have lost all their communal charm and are now lifeless.
When the city decides to raze areas of hutongs, residents are given apartments in the city´s suburbs in exchange. Older residents prefer their humble homes to these distant, spacious modern apartments for fear that their lifestyles will be turned upside down. Younger generations are more aware of the comforts these newer homes offer and feel their allure. Beijing winter’s can be harsh and an indoor toilet and central heating alone will convince many. It is only a matter of time before broadband internet, a washing machine, air conditioning and a parking spot will get everybody else on board. Fortunately for me, this will not happen overnight and my Sunday afternoon walks to the hutong’s fruit and vegetable markets won’t come to an end any time soon.
My good friend Ling, a successful Chinese-American business woman, recently spent a whole night on the internet during her travels organizing her onward air tickets. She wanted to get from Beijing to Lombok in Indonesia to join us for a vacation, and then fly on to Vienna. I asked her the obvious question, “Have you thought of asking a travel agent to do that for you?”
She hadn’t and many of her generation think similarly, yet there are professionals out there whose job it is to take the sting out of such arrangements. What is shocking is that good travel agents will usually do this for a minimal fee, which together with their commission adds a small overall cost to you, the client, and yet saves untold hassle and time. And there’s the answer to the first part of my title above – that’s how good travel agents conceal and indeed undermine their incredible value.
Members of the public infer from their low cost that travel agents can’t add much value. And yet how differently would we feel if they charged a lot more, like other professionals such as accountants or lawyers? At that point, we’d expect them to work for their higher fee. We’d insist on their getting us the best value for money. We’d require their matching us with the exact right suppliers for what we wanted anywhere in the world, whether it be hiking in Patagonia, test-driving a Porsche on the autobahn or fly-fishing in western Mongolia. We’d want them to manage our travel expenditure so much more effectively with far better results than we could ever hope to attain. And do you know what? That’s exactly what good travel agents do for a living. And not only that.
The really good travel agents commit their business and a large bulk of their personal time to you. It’s partly for money, and it’s partly because they are wired that way. Please do not take advantage of them now that I am letting you into this secret, but these are people who stay up in the middle of the night because they are so concerned you are having a terrific time on safari in East Africa. They will be writing notes to the Directors of Sales at every lodge to ensure you are being looked after. So the travel agent’s commission not only gets you the best travel advice money can buy, it not only manages your travel expenditure better than you could yourself, but with really great travel agents, it buys you someone who is passionate about your travels being successful. Given that we all work so hard in our lives – shouldn’t our quality of life be assured by maximizing our leisure time? Introducing the value of a good travel agent….
Now let’s look at this from the other end of the telescope. Let’s pit a savvy internet user, Jo Shmo, against the good travel agent: let me see now, Jo goes to Tripadvisor to look up a good hotel in Lyon, France for an upcoming trip. He cross-references pricing on hotel web-sites with the hotel’s location on Google Maps to make sure he is getting the best possible deal. And did you notice that? He focused on the room’s price (rather than its value to him) right away. And why? Because that’s all Jo knows about since he’s never been to Lyon – it’s about all he can control, given the haze of data overload he’s dealing with. Does he have the faintest idea where the area of town that interests him is? No. Has he included taxes and the service charge in his comparisons? Probably not. Does he know which room he is getting? Is there a pastry shop nearby for his breakfast, and if not how much is the hotel breakfast? The internet does not easily reveal this information. And anyway, does he know what’s he’s going to be doing once he gets there? Not really. On the one hand, there’s too much information. On the other, none of it seems relevant to his particular situation, because for many people travel, particularly leisure travel, is NOT a commodity. Our travel aspirations are as unique as we are. So, what does Jo do in the end? He picks one hotel thinking, “there are all these positives, how bad can it be?” And in so doing he commits his funds and his travel companions to a potentially awful decision. Was that rational? Was it a good deal? Oh, please! What are we organizing here, a train wreck or a vacation? That is no way to spend your hard-earned cash – it’s penny rich, pound poor.
By contrast, the good travel agent – often someone who has spent a decade or so of his life developing a network of reliable contacts from his inspiring mentor to a range of suppliers across the globe – will meet with you to find out what makes you and your nearest-and-dearest tick. Are you the kind that is into museums or self-indulgence? Do you love fancy-shmancy or are you into clubbing and the real deal? After assessing what makes you you, he will go to his network and choose from a continuum of suppliers covering your desired destination one who matches your needs the best, and it will be they who recommend you a hotel in Lyon, based on their experience of what will work for you. So now you’re not choosing the hotel based on suppositions gleaned from unknown amateurs on TripAdvisor, but instead you’re benefiting from the advice of a network of travel professionals who make their daily crust by making people like you as delighted as possible for the price. Given those two scenarios, which do you think is more likely to deliver on your travel aspirations?
So, whilst a good travel agent’s method of remuneration might conceal some of his cost, it would be a mistake to overlook his value. And then it would be monumentally misinformed to ignore the sheer care the good travel agent provides. A good travel agent is a no-brainer. If you haven’t yet found one, then wait for my next post setting out what to look for and going into more detail on why working through a travel agent makes more sense that working directly with an inbound tour operator, such as ourselves. In my view, this represents the core value of the leisure travel agent, which I touch on above. In the meantime, to start your search for a good travel agent check out our “Find a Travel Agent” web page, continue by checking out the travel agency consortiums, Virtuoso and Signature, and also try asking your friends for a recommendation.
In an era of DIY vacations, travelers have more tools—online travel agencies, review sites, booking apps—at their fingertips than ever before. But when it comes to expert advice about a destination and customization, you can’t beat a good agent.
“Today’s agents provide insider access, learn and understand your desires and personality, and are there for you 24/7, before, during, and after your trip,” says Kimberly Wilson Wetty, co-president and co-owner of Valerie Wilson Travel.
To stay competitive in the age of TripAdvisor, agents like Wetty are trying to appeal to a younger, more tech-savvy clientele by offering what no online service can replicate: personalization. Your agent can offer options (coveted dinner reservations; last-minute romantic surprises) and handle potential mishaps (a missed flight; a dank hotel room; a hurricane; a medical emergency)—services that are well worth the planning fees, which generally range from $75 to $500, and are sometimes already built into the trip cost.
And the advocacy on your behalf doesn’t stop there: the best agents know their beats. Whether it’s South America or culinary travel, they’re already out there, scouting that emerging destination, testing the beds in a new hotel, or vetting a local outfitter.
“More small agencies are homing in on a niche,” says Brian Tan, founder and CEO of Zicasso, a service that connects people with travel advisers.
An agent’s knowledge of a destination translates into quality control and insider experiences you couldn’t arrange on your own. Chicago resident Lindsay Everest was glad she handed over the planning reins to Jet Set World Travel’s Julia P. Douglas for her honeymoon in the Maldives. “Knowing that my husband loves food and wine, Julia arranged for a private, nine-course dinner in an underground wine cellar at Soneva Gili,” says Everest, who is working with Douglas again on an upcoming trip to Bermuda.
This kind of access to special perks—ranging from deeply discounted airline seats to room upgrades—is the result of longstanding industry relationships and memberships in invitation-only travel-agent consortia and cooperatives such as Virtuoso and Signature Travel Network, which are affiliated with hundreds of hotels, airlines, and other hospitality groups.
While the benefits of getting professional advice for your trip are clear, wading through hundreds of specialists and companies can be daunting. To help you find the travel adviser who is right for you, we’ve broken out our list by areas of expertise and outlined a few key questions to ask before you book your next trip.
Joan Jonat, a China travel specialist at Protravel International based in Harrison, N.Y., loves working with clients who already know the country and are ready to visit areas they haven't seen previously.
If they are experienced, she said, there is more flexibility, and "we will do some tourist sites and we will include something that is just fun."
"Just fun" for one family this June will be participation in the annual Shangri-La Horse Racing Festival in Yunnan province near the Tibetan border. The fest attracts people of many ethnic backgrounds who come to town for three days of singing and dancing in traditional costume.
Jonat has arranged for her clients to ride to the festival on horseback. In addition, as part of her service, she provided them with short biographies of their guides.
Planning that kind of trip is beneficial in a couple of ways: It generates referrals (99% of Jonat's China business is referred), and it reignites Jonat's interest in China.
She said she also is getting requests from her more adventurous clientele to visit Outer Mongolia on China's northern border and the Dunhuang Caves in the Gobi Desert of northwestern China. Nearly 500 caves outside the oasis town of Dunhuang harbor thousands of wall paintings and painted sculptures, created over a thousand-year period from the fourth to 14th centuries.
These requests are not typical. Jonat said most clients are interested in seeing the country's highlights first — "the iconic sites, the Great Wall, the terra cotta soldiers in Xian, things that represent China."
However, even with first-timers, she is seeing more opportunities to be creative.
For one thing, Jonat sees a trend toward longer trips. For example, more cruisers are staying longer to allow for a focused ground itinerary before or after the shipboard experience, she said.
When consulting about such trips, Jonat continued, it is important to evaluate the whole experience. For clients who book a cruise to gain downtime in the itinerary, she said there are other ways to relax, such as cooking classes or other special interests.
Jonat has sold China for 30 years but became a specialist only three years ago in a program run by Beijing-based Imperial Tours. She said she decided to emphasize the destination because "people are fascinated by it," and interest has increased "tremendously." Clients have been especially interested in the last eight years or so, she said.
Another Imperial Tours specialist, Tiffany Bowne, president of Lounge Couture in Los Angeles, said she became a specialist because "I felt it important to be able to sell it correctly."
She, like Jonat, finds that most clients want to begin by seeing the best known of China's sites. However, she said, they "are surprised how much there is to see and do when I start exploring options with them."
