What a trip to China costs

The question reaches us every week, almost always in the same form: “how much is a trip to China going to cost us, exactly?” And the honest answer begins by saying what the number does not include — because that is where the difference hides between a budget that holds and a surprise on the credit card statement.

Let us do the maths for the most common case: a couple, ten days, the three classic cities.

The bill for ten days, two people

Take our Essential China, the itinerary we sell most often and the basis for almost every variation on it.

The land arrangements. A guide in your own language, a private car with a driver, nine nights in four-star hotels, high-speed trains from Beijing to Xi’an in first class, the Xi’an to Shanghai flight, entrances and bookings. It comes to between US$ 2,900 and US$ 3,800 per person in a double room. For two people, between 5,800 and 7,600 dollars.

The international flights. From Portugal, between 700 and 1,300 euros per person in shoulder season. Add roughly 2,000 euros for the two of you, knowing that in August and at Christmas this figure climbs to a little over 3,000.

The unavoidable extras. The visa, where it applies; travel insurance (40 to 120 euros per person); meals not included, drinks and souvenirs: around 250 yuan per person per day, which comes to about 500 yuan a day for the couple, meaning 350 to 400 euros over the ten days. Tips for the guide and driver: we suggest US$ 10 to US$ 14 per person per day between the two of them, which lands somewhere between 200 and 280 dollars.

The final total, two people, ten days: somewhere between 8,000 and 11,000 euros, all in, depending on season, hotel category and how ambitious you get with the shopping.

What moves the price — and where saving is not worth it

There are three variables that shift this number more than all the others put together.

The season. October and the weeks around Lunar New Year push hotel rates up by 20 to 40%. April and November give you the same country, the same light and fewer people, for considerably less money. For anyone with flexibility, this is the easiest saving on the list.

The number of people. On a private tour, the car, the guide and the driver cost the same for two people as for six. The effect is easy to grasp: a group of eight friends travelling on their own pays substantially less per head than a couple. It is the one tier where we recommend, without reservation, adding more people.

Where the hotels are. This is where trips get lost. A room an hour on the metro from everything looks like a saving of 40 euros a night and costs two hours a day in travel — sixteen hours over eight days, more than the price difference of any upgrade. We always choose hotels by the map, not by the photograph of the room.

Three profiles, three numbers

The independent solo traveller. Hostels, second-class trains, metro, street food: 350 to 600 yuan per day, plus flights. Ten days, everything counted, comes in under 2,000 euros in total. It works perfectly well in the two largest cities; in rural regions you lose a day per transfer.

The couple who organises everything themselves. Four-star hotels, first-class trains, meals in mid-range restaurants, entrances: between 1,600 and 2,000 euros per person without flights. This is the profile that most often asks us for a quote after trying it alone, invariably because of the named bookings and the queues.

The private tour. That is the figure above. The difference pays for a car at the door, a guide in your own language, bookings handled and timings thought through: entering the Forbidden City at 8:30am instead of 10:30am, and being at Mutianyu before the coaches arrive.

The cost that never appears on the sheet

There is one price nobody writes down and that you always pay: time. A typical day of sightseeing using public transport costs between sixty and ninety minutes more than the same day with a private vehicle. Over ten days that is twelve to fifteen hours — two full visits.

There is also the cost of the bookings you cannot get: named tickets for the Forbidden City sold out for your date, first class on the train gone, an hour and a half wait at the Peking duck restaurant. All of it solvable — by us, if you hire us; by you, with persistence and luck.

And there is the cost of the shop stops: a great deal of group tourism to China sells cheap prices because it makes the money back on stops at tea, jade and silk outlets. We do not do this and never have: not one of our itineraries includes a single unsolicited commercial stop.

Comparison: the same ten days in three seasons

It is worth seeing what the season does to an identical itinerary, because it is the variable that moves the final bill most without changing anything about the trip.

In November, Essential China for two people comes in near the bottom of the range: hotels off peak, international flights in the order of 750 to 950 euros per person, and monuments that are easy to book.

In October, the same tour rises 20 to 30% on hotels, flights go up 300 to 500 euros per head, and there are visits — the Forbidden City, the Terracotta Army — that you only get by booking the minute tickets are released. You pay more and you see less, because there are crowds inside the monuments.

In April, you almost always get the best compromise: mid-range prices, long days, trees in blossom, and only the 1 May holiday to avoid in the first days of the month. It is our recommendation for anyone who can choose.

How you pay, and in what currency

The land arrangements are quoted in US dollars, the reference currency for inbound tourism in China, and paid in euros by bank transfer at the exchange rate on the invoice date. We always fix the amount in dollars and convert only on the date of payment: quoting a figure converted two months in advance is a classic source of surprises.

Payment is made in two instalments — a deposit to confirm the itinerary and the balance up to thirty days before arrival, by which point the hotels and train tickets have already been bought. Cancellations more than thirty days out recover everything except suppliers’ non-refundable fees; inside that window the terms of each property apply, and we give you those in writing before asking for any payment at all.

How to get the right number

You do not need a finished plan to get a quote. Tell us how many people you are, when you want to travel and three things you would like to see. We come back with an itinerary, the price per person and — with the same clarity — the list of what is not included.

That list is what separates a price from a surprise.

Two numbers worth asking for always, whoever you ask: the single-room supplement, which on a ten-day trip can add more than a thousand dollars for someone travelling alone, and the number of people in the group, which is the variable that moves the per-head price most on a private tour.