cheap flights cruises

G'day mate! you may want to subscribe to our RSS feed. Thanks for dropping by.

There has been a bit of press coverage recently about how visitor numbers are down for visits to Beijing. For the month of May visitor numbers to Beijing, China were down by 15 per cent. This was the first drop in three years.

The reason for the drop is said to be as a result of the fallout from the Tibet situation and also the earthquake in Sichuan in May. On top of that the new visa rules are said to be keeping people away.

I recently applied for visas for myself and my wife and daughter to travel to China in August and we had no problems. It took four business days to get the visas. We had to show our flight details. Accommodation details and provide a wedding certificate to show that we really are married. Nothing to difficult.

The reduction in visitors is also expected to flow over into the China Olympic period. This comes as bad news for hotel developers expecting an Olympic bonanza. The embarked on a huge building program to cash in on the Olympic rush and also the flow on tourists that visit in the out years.

Many hotels were hoping to charge up to 10 times their normal rates during the Olympic period. Due to the downturn these prices are less likely, at least for tourists who are yet to make bookings.

This might be bad news for the hotel owners however it is actually good news for the everyday tourist. Prices will be at more reasonable levels.

Earlier today I searched the HotelsCombined hotel booking website to see how room rates are looking for the China Olympics. Hotels Combined makes it easy to compare prices as they already have data from over 30 popular booking sites in their database.

Using the Hotels Combined site I compared the room rates for the 8th-16 July with 12-16 August. That is Tuesday to Friday nights at the Beijing hotels.

I found that for the July period there are rooms available from an unbelievably low USD9 a night staying at the 9 Dragons House. I have not seen that hotel in person so I cannot vouch for its quality.

One hotel that I have stayed at in the past is the Landmark Hotel Beijing. It is located in the Chaoyang District of Beijing. The recently refurbished Hard Rock Cafe is in the same building. The price for July is USD100 per night and the availability status is “instant confirmation”. In August the site says there are rooms for USD141 per night which considering this is the Olympic period, is quite reasonable. The availability is “on request (24 hours)”. This may mean you actually do not get a room.

As another comparison for a Beijing hotel that I am familiar with I looked at Swissotel Hotel Beijing. It is a nice hotel located on the second ring road. In the July period the room rate was USD124 per night. This compares with the August period where the price is showing as USD160 per night. Once again this is reasonable.

If you are thinking of going to Beijing for the Olympics it is still not too late to at least experience the Olympic buzz associated with staying in a city as it hosts the Olympics. I am not sure how you will go with getting tickets into the events but you will still be able to find reasonably priced accommodation.

If you are thinking about it take action now. There are 40 day to go at the time of this post.

Did you find this article useful? Use the bookmarking icons below to share.

read comments (1)

Now imagine you have just arrived at the Beijing airport. You have started to walk off the airplane, what can you expect?

You first need to collect your baggage and complete the immigration process. I remember the first time I did this it was quite intimidating. These guys were not the most friendly I have come across, they are however business like and process your entry into China quickly.

Once you have made it through the airport if you are not on a group tour you need to find a taxi to take you to your hotel. I remember the first time I had to do this. I had the hotel name written in Chinese on a piece of paper. I then walked out to the taxi queue and lined up.

Not knowing what to expect as my turn arrived I hopped in the car and showed the taxi driver my address. Off we went. I have to point out my chinese is limited to “thank you”, “hello” and “I don’t know what you are saying”. I am now working on this by learning from cd’s.

As we drove along the airport freeway towards the city I was thinking what have I got myself into. There were so many people just starting to appear on all the streets.

As we got closer to the Landmark Hotel I was staying at there were so many people. Having come from a relatively small town this was an amazing site for me. It was chaos.

I got to the hotel ok and paid the taxi driver. The fare was around 100 rmb. I then checked in. The room was comfortable but not that large. The hotel is on the third ring road and was around 25km from the airport.

The Hard Rock cafe is in the hotel so I did not have far to go for a western meal. Next door to the Landmark hotel is the Great Wall Sheraton hotel on one side and a large department store on the other.

The part of Beijing I was staying in is near one of the embassy districts. You will find the Australian Embassy, Canadian Embassy and German Embassy about 15 minutes walk away.

About the same distance is the San Li Tun bar district. This at the time was a good place to go and enjoy a drink or two. It is some time since I went there but I will check it out again in August 2008.

Looking back on this visit to Beijing I remember that seeing so many people was the most amazing thing. I did all the tourist things like going to the great wall, Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. I also enjoyed the shopping.

Can you see yourself visiting this exciting city of Beijing? China will of course play host to the Olympics in August 2008.

read comments (1)

According to the Australian Government Smart Traveller website as of 24 June 2008 you should not travel to the following countries:

• Afghanistan
• Burundi
• Central African Republic
• Chad
• Comoros
• Iraq
• Somalia
• Sudan

Smartraveller.com.au is a website made for Australian travellers by the Australian Government. The information is not strictly only for Australians. People from other countries can benefit from reading the information they will find at Smart Traveller.