Final Review of Hong Thai Travel [康泰旅行社] and their 8D Beijing/Chengde/Tianjin Highlight Tour (8天皇城北京/承德/天津精选游)

My visit to the capital of China was more than three months ago and this final review appeared to be way overdue. However, i have my reason for not posting it earlier. 

A reply was what i was waiting for. 

The completed tour survey form was sent to Hong Thai Travel via customercare@hongthai.com.sg on 01 October 2012 and included in the email were detailed feedback about the entire trip. 

I did receive a standard return email but we are all aware that it simply doesn't count as a legitimate reply.  

Before i begin with my rants, you may wish to check out my posts on an almost day-to-day review of the signed up 8D Beijing/Chengde/Tianjin Highlight Tour (8天皇城北京/承德/天津精选游). They will give you some hints on my thoughts about the trip.

Day One - Highlights: Quanjude Roast Duck, Tiananmen, Forbidden City, Wangfujing and Donghuamen Night Market.

Day Two - Highlights: Ming Tombs, Fruit-Picking and Great Wall of China. 

Day Three - Highlights: Temple of Heaven, Summer Palace, Beihai, Hutongs, Shichahai Kungfu Show and Nanluo Valley.

Day Four - Highlights: Bird's Nest and Linglong Tower.

Day Five - Highlights: 

Chengde Rehe Summer Palace and Mini Potala Palace.

Day Six - Highlights: Bullet Train to Tianjin, Tianjin Ancient Culture Street, Famous Porcelain House and another Kungfu show. 

Day Seven and Eight - Highlights: Qianmen, Capital Museum, Central TV Tower and Yashow Clothing Market.

^^^^^

As far as attractions are concerned, i am not complaining! Who could actually dislike the beauty of traditional Chinese architecture and the richness of history in China? 

Definitely not me! 

Maybe due to the location this time (hello, this is the capital of China for god's sake), food was incredibly satisfying and featured a great variety of Chinese cuisines when compared to my first two visits to China (Hunan and Yunnan). 

As with most tour packages, tour agent commissioned shopping trips are part of the deal and i am well aware of this fact. 

Nonetheless, this trip was extremely bothersome when the number of shopping tours kept increasing and the line between sightseeing/highlights and commissioned shopping was intentionally blurred to hoodwink the unwary ones. Please click here to read my frustration and the details.

Key benefits of joining a tour package (this is true for most tour packages) are that a lot of attractions can be covered and you don't have to worry about transportation and accommodation. 

The bad part is that you don't have control over time and it's often that you cannot afford the time to fully cover an attraction (for example, we covered at most 1/3 of the inner court at the Forbidden Palace). Any extra time is likely to be re-allocated to those shopping trips that can earn the agents extra pocket money. 

What particularly irked me was the most important person in any tour package; the local tour guide. 

Xiao Cheng was no doubt an experienced guide and had in his hand, a fantastic grasp of Beijing in aspects of history, current affairs, fengshui, religions and even politics. 

He was fine initially but towards the third or fourth day, he started to get a bit moody and this coincidentally happened after the group was not seen to be buying much from the ‘shopping’ trips. 

Although he continued to dispense information, he stopped short of telling us at times that we have to walk a long distance from the coach to the various places of attraction (he was more than aware that we have a few elderly mates who have difficulties in walking long distance) and ignored valid questions that were posed to him.  

For a particular trip to the spectacular Bird's Nest (official stadium for Olympic Games 2008), he brought us to the spectators’ seating and just sat for like twenty minutes. No information was given and we just stayed put in the area for the period when we could have bloody explored the rest of the stadium like the exhibition of the props used for the Olympic closing and opening ceremonies etc; areas I realized only upon leaving the stadium.

I would have loved to empathise for whatever personal matters he might have but I am a working adult myself and know for a fact that work is work and it is never fair to our customers to have personal affairs determining our professional working attitude. 

My family would usually sign up with Sino-America (SA) Tours Corporation to China and we decided to switch mainly due to a strong recommendation by a cousin who went with Hong Thai Travel to Guizhou. 

A well-learnt mistake we would not commit again. 

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The itinerary (two-page) for the participated 8D Beijing/Chengde/Tianjin Highlight Tour (8天皇城北京/承德/天津精选游) for your reference. Click the pictures to zoom in. 

Pricing for Optional Tours.

Day Five [including Putuozhongcheng (Mini Potala Palace)] @ Chengde (承德) - My 8D Beijing/Chengde/Tianjin Highlight Tour (8天皇城北京/承德/天津精选游)

All rise and shine for day five at Chengde; famed for being the temporary political seat in imperial China where the Qing emperors spent their summers away from Beijing. 

My overnight stay at said to be one of the top hotels in Chengde - Tian Bao Holiday Hotel (天宝假日酒店) was comfortable after we got over the shock of finding nails sticking out of the carpet edges; I counted at least four! 

Residents practising their cultural dance outside Chengde's summer palace. 

For my post on the summer palace (also known as imperial mountain resort), please click here. It does not cover all the attractions as i was there for only two pathetic hours! 

Another notable place of interest in Chengde is Sledgehammer Peak (磬锤峰). Honestly, it had the appearance of a gigantic dildo! If you look closely to the left, you can see a tortoise shaped rock. With these two rocky formations, i can work out a legend of a naughty tortoise.

Eight Outer Temples (外八庙) - drawn on unique temple architectural styles throughout China, the most famous has to be the Mini Potala Palace built only a century after the completion of the original version in Tibet!

And that's where we disembarked for a visit! Dad was really excited about it as it is his dream to visit the Potala Palace in Tibet; the spiritual seat for his Buddhism faith. 

Admission price for Putuozhongcheng [普陀宗乘之廟] - 80 RMB per person!

In addition to being the site for Buddhist festivals and ceremonies, the emperor would also hold audience with envoys of ethnic minorities in the compound. 

The Five Pagoda Gate [五塔门] - the colours of these small pagodas represent the five elements of the universe and five major sects of Tibetan Buddhism; fire, earth, water, wind and air and walking through the gate signifies the worshiping of Buddha (not exactly good news to the staunch non-Buddhists in the group).

Elephant statue guarding the gate; Chengde was invaded by the Japanese and was under its control from 1933 till 1945. The missing ears were said to be a result of the atrocities performed by the Japanese. 

Monumental Archway of Coloured Glaze [琉璃牌坊] - it was recorded that only the lamas, emperor and first class royal relatives were allowed to pass the archway. All others were forbidden to step further! 

Our journey continued nonetheless. 

Instead of going straight up, we were led sideways to another building. I was thinking that it might be another attraction even though after a while, all the white buildings painted with red windows looked almost the same! 

This was another example of "shopping" in disguise! You can read my ranting by clicking here. No photography was allowed or else i would have shown you the nine seated Buddha statues that were said to be laid with gold but the gold was scrapped away by the Japanese in the 1930s.

That would have made sense if i didn't see the statues; they were barely half my height and the gold was intact from the lotus base up! If i am the Japanese soldier, it would have made perfect sense for me to scrap the gold from the smoother surface of the statues' body.

It is ridiculous to involve religion in such a tasteless way! Despite their emotional blackmail to 'donate' more to secure the blessed beaded bracelet, i whipped out one RMB and slowly dropped it into the donation box to show my disgust! 

After we got out of the building, the guide brought us to the above parade square and announced that we could take some photographs before leaving. I was like "what the....". Again, the excuse given was that we have to be on our way back to Beijing. 

Photographic map of Mini Potala Palace; see that red circle? That's the highest point our group managed to reach; the same place where the nine desecrated statues stood. 

Stalls selling souvenirs; i have gone past the stage when buying such souvenirs were a must for any overseas trips. To be frank, how many of your friends actually display those souvenirs? 

While the rest of our tour mates were busy trying some gong tng like sweets in one of the stalls, my dad and i could not resist climbing up the stairs of this gate. 

We caught sight of the mini great wall of the summer palace that stretched for over 10 kilometers and noted that there was a street with more stalls outside the temple's compound. 

Sadly, i didn't have time to look through the wares and only managed to grab an ice cream! 

Saying goodbye to Chengde. Short trips like this always make me feel that i should take on a free and easy route in order to spend more time immersing myself in the rich culture of the place. 

A scenic journey back to Beijing. 

After dinner, we checked in to the luxurious five-star Chunhuiyuan Hot Spring Resort [春晖园温泉度假村]! I originally thought we would have to make our way to an open concept pool to enjoy the hot spring.

There was no need to do that; not when we can have the hot spring water gushing right into this tub in the comfort of our hotel room! My verdict on submerging myself in the hot spring water? 

The temperature was way too hot for me!

Rehe Chengde Mountain Resort [热河承德避暑山庄] - Summer Palace for the Qing Emperors @ Chengde, Beijing

避暑山庄, which literally means Avoid-The-Heat-Mountain Resort, is a vast area built specially by the emperors of the Qing Dynasty to spend the hot and humid summer away from Beijing. 

Compared to the intimidating walls at Forbidden City, the gates and walls at the mountain villa gave the impression that they could have belonged to the wealthier commoners!

What i am going to cover here is barely 10% of the summer palace, which totaled 5.6 square kilometers! To put it simply in squarish term, it would mean an incredible length and breadth of 2.37 kilometers each! 

Map of the resort; the main reason why i added Rehe to the subject was because that was the original name of Chengde and i happened to remember that because of a Chinese drama serial starring Li Baotian (李保田), my favourite actor from China! More on Jehol later. :)

Entrance tickets - the price for each person was 140 RMB! I am not sure why but the tour guide would always collect back the tickets to the attractions.

Pavilion near the entrance - like some of you, i thought the whole place had a dark gloomy atmosphere that just didn't make the cut for being a place to house the royal family! 

Even the main court [known as 澹泊敬诚殿] where the emperors handled important state affairs, was merely a one-level building with an unassuming black-lacquered throne.

Don't be fooled by the apparent simplicity! The timber that was heavily mobilised for the construction of this building was Nanmu [楠木]; a type of hardy wood that barely grows an inch in a century. It's now super rare to find a Nanmu tree with a trunk similar to those wooden pillars in the picture.

Behind those blue curtains were books that were supposedly favoured by Emperor Qianlong even though i have my reservations that they have remained there since his death 300 years ago. 

Despite the unexciting atmosphere, there were still little pockets of exquisiteness like the above.

I got bored after a while; the lack of visual appeal made it extremely difficult for me to concentrate on what the tour guide was explaining. To a certain extent, what she said was exactly what the emperors would do when they were back in Beijing. 

And i am not interested to listen to the same story twice. Having said that, there was some amusing information like the row of servant quarters directly north of the main court that served as a border to the residential division of the royal family.

Honestly, i could not wait to get out of this compound and explore the great outdoors of the massive indoors (go figure what i meant)! 

While the guide was giving a summary on the national humiliation of year 1860, i chanced upon this huge panel showing the direction to the residence of Empress Dowager Cixi. 

Now, i have always been very curious about this powerful woman and had read substantially on her life when i was in my teens. Some researchers said she was a powerful manipulator in politics while others argued that she was merely a pawn in the game. 

Her bedroom was so tiny! How could the bedrooms of the royal family be so small!?!? 

Boxes of Nanmu incense sticks for sale! Besides being hardy, the wood has an additional benefit of being a natural insect repellent! Something i really need for my ant-infested room.

You cannot find any wooden stairs to the second floor of this building! Access was via the stone sculpture that had steps carved into it. Innovative!

Going out of the compound now! Shards of broken glass on top of the low walls - they seemed like a modern installation as this 'exit' led to the scenic spots within the mountain resort.

Stone branding the mountain resort.

With eight beautifully landscaped lakes set in the highlands, it was a relaxing stroll for all of us! It helped that the place was not overcrowded with visitors and the air was so fresh and crisp!

I could so laze around in the pavilion overlooking the lake! 

The summer palace was a top filming spot for Chinese period dramas and we were lucky to see one production team in action! Wrapping up to be exact! 

Given the long walk, we all took the payable option to take the electric tram to ferry us around. I would be fine to walk on my own although the tour guide did add that it would be faster if we took the tram. 

Loyal fans of China's most popular drama serial, Princess Pearl (还珠格格), would remember seeing this before.

It was the original shooting location for the main abode of Princess Huanzhu; 漱芳斋!

The officially given name by the emperor is 烟雨楼 and it originated from the view of the above location in the picture. 

You have to stand at the bank right opposite though. It was said that after a heavy rain, the building would appear to be shrouded in mystical haze that made the place extremely alluring.

Mom asking to take a shot! 

At this time, our dear Chengde tour guide was recommending a pictorial book with a group photo we took earlier that could be bought with a nominal fee (I am getting numb). This kind of sales talk was more my dad's kind of thing.

Roof of a pavilion beside 烟雨楼. Oh, i forgot to mention that with the exception of the structure, please do not expect to find furniture or any decoration similar to what you see in the drama. 

Taking the electric tram once again to another pavilion. 

The stream we needed to cross, and there wasn't a damn bridge! 

Thank goodness for these nicely layered rocks that dammed up the stream. Climbing up was an option but most people just took the easiest way out; stepping on flat rocks jutting out from the barely ankle level water. 

Interestingly, the pavilion did not have flat surface flooring. Instead, it acted as a deviating route for the stream to pass by the 'dam'! According to the guide, this pavilion was often visited by the concubines. 

Notice the tip of the pavilion in both pictures? One was straight when you look at it straight while the other was skewed to the left when viewed from the sides. The guide made it sound so fascinating! Wasn't that a simple case of parallax error caused by the curved roof beam!? 

Drove past the Mongolian hut that were no longer made of cloth! So much for tradition and history! Nonetheless, i understand how high the maintenance can be if they are indeed made of cloth. 

Finally - Rehe [热河 aka Jehol] which means hot river. I was expecting to warm (or even scald) my hand in the water but it was not!!! It was explained that the shortest river in the world (wasn't this a pond?) has an average temperature of eight degrees celcius and doesn't freeze over even in winter! 

The name might have also come about due to the occasional hot steam emitting from the river in winter. 

Water symbolises wealth! In actual fact, mom was busy trying out some almond nuts in a nearby store and could not be bothered with the river!!! I told her to at least test out the temperature before leaving!

A seventy-meter tall pagoda built in 1751. Taken from afar as our time was needed for another place.

Where else but the jewellery and deer antlers shop! I have to admit, once again, that the crystal drum my mom bought was quite nice. 

Ending my short visit with a photograph of the mini great wall of Chengde summer palace. The wall stretched the entire perimeter; all 5.6 square kilometers of it!