Costs for Individual Travel Hosted by CITS for your China Travel Tips. Predictably, a host of variables apply to the pricing of individual itineraries, making generalized costs difficult to gauge in advance. The following are major internal factors that will have a bearing on costs in China:

-Open cities have been aligned into a three-tiered pricing system, with the “Golden Cities” of Beijing, Shanghai, Xi’an, and Guilin falling into the most expensive category (usually at least 10% higher than the others).
-Three general types of per-diem packages (with per-person double-occupancy hotel rates) are being offered:
1. Full package: Deluxe (or first-class) hotel, all meals, fully escorted sightseeing with private vehicle and a guide/interpreter. Cost: ca.US$165-240 per day per person (or roughly double the-cost of group travel).

2. Half Package: Deluxe (or first-class) hotel, all meals, half-day escorted sightseeing. Cost: ca. $100-150 per day per person.
3. “Mini” Package: Deluxe (or first-class) hotel, breakfasts, transfers only. Cost: ca. $55-90 per day per person. In the mid-1980s, the mini-package program was available for such cities as Beijing. Shanghai, Guangzhou, Xi’an, Nanjing, Guilin, Tianjin, Hangzhou, and Kun-ming. Most hotels used in those cities now have local CITS staff on hand to provide domestic travel bookings, interpreters local sight-seeing, and other services, which can be arranged and paid for on the spot.

The following are other important variables to account for when costing out an individual journey in China:

-There may be some latitude in the selection of hotels, although the choice will usually be limited to those in the higher priced categories(i.e., deluxe or first-class). But even within these echelons, individual hotel rates can vary by 50% or more (for current hotel rates, see hotel listings within individual city sections of the Guidebook).

-Intercity air (or rail) fares must be added to the above prices (for ample domestic airfares, see below).

-The arrangements for travel to and from China are of course the responsibility of the traveler, for whom group-fare reductions would not apply.

-The number (and pairings) of persons traveling together on a given itinerary-be it 2 or 6 or 18-will also) affect price, to the extent that they can be booked in hotels on a double-occupancy basis and that fixed charges for cars with drivers, guides, etc., can be apportioned out among the participants.

-The time of year becomes a price factor, since travel in winter months (December through March) may be discounted and premium rates charged for certain locales at certain times (such as Guangzhou during the spring and autumn trade fairs).
Chinese opera

-Visa fees, airport taxis, and services not provided in the package will be billed extra.