China 8 day tour

Planet

Making a difference to planet and people underpins our itineraries and travel philosophy, across destinations. China is a particularly good example of this. As a hot spot for travellers who are keen to immerse in local culture in a meaningful and informed way, we have gone above and beyond to ensure that we maximise the positive impact of international travel in the locations that we offer.

One of our central USPs is that we work with locally owned, boutique style special stays as opposed to international chain hotels. This works twofold, by providing the traveller with a once in a lifetime experience full of authentic, local flair and also supporting the local community through investment in locally owned ventures and the employment of local staff. Many of these hotels and independent guesthouses also have policies to reduce their environmental impact. They also offer unique architecture, authenticity and hospitality, for instance our hotels in Guilin, traditional lodge stay in Tongli and Datong, the latter of which has a history that goes back over 2000 years.

Carbon reduction policies extend beyond accommodation. As part of your tour package, you will also enjoy a range of excursions and activities that have been checked and vetted by our team. These involve a range of human powered transport, for example, the sleeper train journey between Beijing and Xi'an is a more carbon-efficient means of transport as opposed to flying. In conjunction to this we encourage our customers to make use of the impeccable public transport available throughout Chinese cities. During this itinerary customers will be exploring Beijing, Xi'an and Shanghai. Both Beijing and Shanghai have very good metro systems that are relatively easy to use and great for getting around the cities to the various points of interest. In Xi'an we recommend heading off on foot to explore the alleyways and markets of the Muslim quarter and when visiting the city walls it is recommended to hire bicycles to get around. This also forms part of a newer commitment to slowing the pace of travel where possible, and in so doing, naturally meeting more local people, and creating the conditions for international connections. All our trips can be made vegan and or vegetarian friendly on request.

As a business, we are keen to practice what we preach.. As a UK team, we recycle 80% of our waste in a closed- loop system, work in a b-corp office space, and are working towards b-corp status ourselves. We also partner with Earthly, a company that chooses nature based solutions to invest in the future of the natural world. This aims to protect, better manage and restore ecosystems while addressing global challenges. All of Earthly’s projects remove carbon, restore biodiversity and improve livelihoods. A £5 donation is added to each parties itinerary as standard. Our local partners in China are fabulous, and share our values with regards to sustainable tourism.

We are a proudly nature positive tour operator. This is realised through our itineraries in multiple ways.

Even before take off, we offer tools to our customers to encourage sustainability, carbon reduction and caring for the environment both at home and away. These include 'zero waste while travelling: our top tips', as well as our 'make it meaningful policy' that promotes animal welfare (underpinned by our relationship Animondial, an animal welfare group), 0 waste (exemplified in our almost entirely paper free office), and a slower pace of travel.

Before departing on this trip we send our customers an informative document called 'be a responsible traveller'. It gives our customers information advising them how to use as little water and energy as possible whilst travelling.

We’re serious about this animal welfare stuff and want to do everything we can to improve the welfare of animals in tourism. We’ve therefore teamed up with animal welfare experts, Animondial. Their vision is to minimise tourism’s impact on animals, natural environments and the people that depend upon them. They’ve helped us to improve the welfare standards of our trips even further and create long-term plans to support animals in tourism. Best of all though, we’ve worked together to create an [](http://animondial.com/animal-welfare-starter-kit)Animal welfare in tourism starter kit for small businesses, to help other travel companies improve their animal welfare standards too.

As a team, we believe that protecting the environment goes hand in hand with building stronger communities, which is why we have both lead and joined in with beach cleaning initiatives with surfers against sewage, and local community gardening initiatives.

People

Our trips aim to put positively impacting local communities at front and centre of our itineraries, as local interactions are what make our trips so fantastic.

We work with small, boutique style special stays full of authentic flare work twofold by offering you a unique experience and also supporting local business ventures and local employment, thus supporting the local economy. For instance we work with local guides who’s in-country knowledge is unparalleled. With your expert local guide in Beijing you will get to visit the most important highlights and, if you ask, they will show you the best local markets to shop and restaurants to eat in, just like a local. During your trip, there is a wealth of local shops, cafe’s, bars and restaurants to visit and enjoy, for instance Chinese food and local restaurants across regions like Peking duck in Beijing and spicy Sichuan hot pot in Chengdu and beyond food to buying souvenirs from local crafts people.. This helps bolster the local economy further.

One of the key aspects of our itineraries is that we work with local partners who are based in country in order to provide the most authentic insight into everyday life in the destination, and divert from the usual tourist trail (which is important when considering the mitigation of environmental degradation in tourist hotspots) but also supports the country's economy even before our customer has touched down as the local partner helps to develop their itinerary. We work with exceptional local partners with similar values of sustainability to ourselves.

We maximise local economic opportunities further by using only locally owned excursion companies where you will meet and learn from expert local guides throughout the trip on excursions, for instance when exploring the sprawling metropolises of Beijing and Shanghai.