Champion Holidays - Discover China and Beyond

General Information

Appliances
Hotels in China and Japan provide hair dryers and are wired for use of V110. Voltage is V220 in mainland China and Hong Kong, V100 in Japan. Small adapters for international travel can be purchased at appliance or hardware stores in the US.

Baggage
For international flights, you may bring two checked bags per person for free of charge. Maximum weight per each bag should not exceed 50 lbs and the total dimension (length, width and height) of the two bags should not exceed 107 inches. One carry-on bag of total dimension not exceeding 45 inches is allowed. For domestic flights in China, you may bring one checked bag per person for free of charge. Maximum weight per each bag should not exceed 44 lbs and the total dimension (length, width and height) of the bag should not exceed 62 inches. In Japan, one baggage per person is free of charge from Kansai Airport to a hotel in Kyoto. An additional charge of 1,000 yen (currently) per baggage is required for any additional baggage. Your baggage will be transferred by a truck from hotel to hotel when you travel by bullet train. (One piece per person, currently about 2,200 yen for an additional piece) You will not have an access to your suitcase until arrive at a hotel. You can not bring your suitcase into bullet train.

Clothing
Pack lightly and bring casual clothes. Attire for dinner is also casual, but shorts or sandals are not considered appropriate.

Cruises
Cruises along the Yangtze River are provided by five-star China Regal Cruises or other similar luxury cruise lines on the Yangtze River. Accommodations include deluxe double staterooms with outside windows and complete bathroom with shower. “Pea-boats” and other small craft used for stream drifting are chartered from the local land operators by China Regal Cruises or other luxury cruise lines. Boats for cruising on the lake, river or canal in the other cities are chartered by Champion Holidays land operator in China.

Currency
The US dollar can be exchanged for Chinese or Japanese currency at airports or hotels (Currently about 7.5 Chinese yuan or 110 Japanese yen against 1 US dollar) ATM machines are available in China and Japan and major credit cards are accepted at many stores. You need Chinese or Japanese currency for taxies, tips, shopping at street vendors, and smaller shops.

Expert Tour Guides
Our Champion Holidays tour guides are required to meet very strict professional requirements including English language proficiency, knowledge of the history and culture in China and Japan, and congeniality toward our tour participants.

Flights
We customarily use Air China for our international flights. We may also use Japan Airlines or other airlines for certain tours. Meals are provided on board, and movies are also available. Add-on airfare from other cities to the gateway cities may be arranged at a nominal additional cost. Direct international flights from the west coast of the US to China take about twelve hours, while Air China’s non-stop direct flight service from New York to Beijing takes about thirteen hours and a half.

Health
The local handling travel agency requires exclusion in China & Japan of any person rendered unsuitable for long trips by health conditions such as mental illness, serious, chronic ailments, contagious disease, advanced pregnancy, senility or infirmity. Vaccinations are not required. Please check with your travel agent or Public Health Service for current required or recommended inoculations.

Hotels
We offer the comfort of five-star or the best available hotel accommodations with full American breakfast in each city. For our China price buster tours, superior first class hotels may be used in certain cities. Deluxe or superior first class hotels may be used during the stay in Japan. For the hotels in Hong Kong and Japan, hotel surcharge may apply during the conventions or special events.

Itineraries
All Champion Holidays programs have been created by China and Asia tour experts with many years of experience - not only designing the tours to these destinations - but also living and working in that part of the world.

Japan & Hong Kong Special Administration Region
Visas are required for non-US citizens and must be obtained directly by the passenger or the travel agent.

Local Contacts
We have set up an office in Beijing in order to better coordinate our tours and render immediate assistance - if needed - to our clients during their stay in China. We also provide names and telephone numbers of contacts in each city, along with a complete itinerary including hotel addresses and telephone numbers, to our passengers for every tour.

Meals
In addition to the breakfast buffet served at the hotel, most tours include lunch and dinner at select, on-site locations. Farewell dinner parties are arranged near the end of each tour, and most itineraries include special dinners, such as the Peking duck dinner in Beijing, the dumpling dinner banquet in Xian and etc. Passengers enjoy fine dining on China Regal Cruises. (See individual tour descriptions for meals included.)

Passport
All passengers must have a passport which is valid for six months from the tour return date to the US, and the passport must have at least two blank pages for a visa.

Relaxed Pace
We have gone to great lengths to make each tour a vacation that is relaxed in pace. For instance, for our Prime Tours in Beijing, we book four nights instead of the usual three, as there is so much to see and do in this ancient/modern capital city.

Shopping
Time for shopping will be arranged during your tour at various sites for your convenience. Champion Holidays does not take any responsibility for any damages, payments, shipping or other problems of your purchases. It is each passenger’s responsibility to contact stores directly.

Tour Size
The average tour group for our prime tours is 15 to 25 people. The group size of China price buster tours may or may not exceed the average group size of the prime tours. Customized and private tours can also be arranged.

Visa
Visa is required to travel to China. You may apply for a visa in person at Chinese Consulate. Applying a single entry visa through Champion Holidays requires a non-refundable fee of $160 per person. You need to send us your passport along with your final payment 45 days before departure. The normal processing time is two weeks including the delivery time. For express processing within one week, an additional charge of $30 per person will apply. When the visa is done, the passport will be mailed back to you along with the other travel documents 2 weeks before departure. If you require your passport sooner, an additional charge of $30 per person for extra processing and separate mailing will apply. Visa is not required for US citizen to travel to Hong Kong and Japan.

Value Pricing
Because of our extensive contacts in China and our special arrangements with hotels, land operators, and airlines, we are able to arrange top-notch service for our customers at very competitive prices. Departure dates, tour prices per person based on double occupancy, and cost of single supplements appear with each program in this brochure.

Terms & Conditions

Reservation
Please submit us a completed reservation form online. You may also submit your completed written reservation form by fax or mail. Reservation by phone is not accepted.

Deposit
Upon confirmation of your tour, a deposit of $250 per person is required within seven business days.

Final Payment
Final Payment is due 45 days before departure. Failure to comply with these deposit and final payment requirements will result in automatic cancellation of the reservation and penalty charges will apply.

Late Reservation
A full payment is due immediately upon your tour confirmation if the reservation is made 45 days or less before departure.

Cancellation
When a reservation is cancelled, a written cancellation request must be submitted and the following cancellation charges will apply:


Up to 90 days before departure	No Cancellation Charge
89 days to 61 days before departure	$100 per person
60 days to 45 days before departure	$200 per person
44 days to 30 days before departure	30% of the listed tour fare
29 days to 15 days before departure	50% of the listed tour fare
14 days to 8 days before departure	70% of the listed tour fare
7 days or less before departure	100% of the listed tour fare

(Including no-shows or cancellation after the departure date)

For those who will fly with a different airline other than Air China, additional cancellation penalty may apply. If the airline tickets have already been issued, additional cancellation penalty by airline will apply no matter when the cancellation request is submitted.

Changing Reservation
One time change of reservation is allowed without penalty providing the request for a change of reservation is submitted 61 days or more prior to departure and the airline tickets are not issued yet. All other changes will be considered as cancellation. Cancellation penalty will apply accordingly based on the above cancellation penalty policy.

Tour Prices
The tour fares include: Roundtrip international airfare; arrival and departure transfers in each city in China and all locally hosted tours with admissions in each city in China and Japan; hotel accommodations in each city in China and Japan; the luxury Yangtze River cruises with shore excursions; all ground transportation and domestic airfare within China; cultural performances and entertainment as specified in the tour descriptions; all meals as specified in tour descriptions (AB: American Breakfast - L: Lunch - D: Dinner - SD: Specialty Dinner). *Please refer to the Tour Features section of your tour description for complete details.

Additional Cost
The tour fares do not include: Cost of passports and visas, international airport departure taxes and China airport departure taxes (click here for current airport taxes). This fee must be paid along with the final balance of the tour fare, airline fuel surcharge if any, transportation of heavy baggage in excess of applicable allowance, tips to local guides and drivers, tips to restaurant staff, hotel and cruise waiters, chambermaids and porters. Airport taxes are subject to change without porior notice.

Single Supplement
Our tour prices are per person, based on double occupancy. If one passenger occupies one room alone, a single supplement is also required. There is no discount for triple occupancy.

Child Tour Fare
20% discount off the adult tour fare is applicable to children of 11 years of age or under (before the last day of the participated tour itinerary) who share a room with two adults without an extra bed.

Land Only Prices
We are pleased to offer land packages for those who would like to purchase the international air tickets by themselves. Please also make sure that the arrival dates in China match those of the brochure itineraries.

Land only prices do not include a flight to Beijing, arrival airport transfer in Beijing on Day 2, departure airport transfer in Shanghai or Hong Kong on last day, a flight from Shanghai or Hong Kong. For China and Japan Highlights, a flight from Shanghai to Kansai is not included.

Airport Transfers
Airport arrival or departure transfer is not included for those who arrive earlier or stay behind, or make their own international flight arrangement.

Responsibility
Champion Holidays acts as tour operator and agent. The suppliers providing transportation, conveyance or accommodations are independent contractors and are not agents or employees of Champion Holidays. All tickets, coupons and receipts issued by Champion Holidays and all arrangements for transport or conveyance or for hotel accommodations are made by Champion Holidays as agent of the suppliers. By utilizing the services of suppliers, you agree that neither Champion Holidays nor any subsidiary or affiliate of Champion Holidays shall be liable for any injury, damage, loss, accident or delay incurred upon you or those traveling with you in connection with any accommodations, transportation or other services resulting directly or indirectly from any acts or default of the suppliers or from any occurrence or condition beyond the control of Champion Holidays, including defects in vehicles or breakdown in equipment. Nor shall Champion Holidays be liable for any injury, damage, loss, accident or delay resulting directly or indirectly from delays, cancellations or changes in flights, itineraries, schedules, steamers or other services, strikes, theft, sickness, weather, quarantine or other causes. All tour itineraries and fares may be affected by alterations or delays in air or surface transportation services. Champion Holidays reserves the right to withdraw any tour in this program and to make such alterations in the itineraries as may be found desirable for the convenience of the parties or the proper operation of the tour. Champion Holidays reserves the right to decline to accept or to retain any person as a member of the tour party at any time. Due to the change of air fare, hotel rates, cruise fare and the foreign exchange rate, Champion Holidays reserves the right to change the tour fare at its discretion without prior notice.

The local handling travel agency in China and Japan has sole and exclusive control over the operation of all tours. The local handling travel agency in China and Japan reserves the right to make alterations or adjustments in the itinerary as to destinations, transportation, accommodations and all other services. Neither Champion Holidays nor any subsidiary or affiliate of Champion Holidays shall be responsible for any such alterations made by the local handling travel agency in China and Japan.

Payment of a deposit represents acceptance by the tour member of the Terms & Conditions listed herein. By utilizing the services of Champion Holidays, you agree that the exclusive venue for all claims, actions or proceedings against Champion Holidays of whatsoever nature arising out of this contract shall be the State of New York and such claim, actions or proceedings shall be determined according to the laws within the jurisdiction of the State of New York.

Average Temperatures

		JAN	FEB	MAR	APR	MAY	JUN	JUL	AUG	SEP	OCT	NOV	DEC
BEIJING	HIGH	36	42	54	70	82	89	90	88	81	69	52	40
	LOW	13	18	29	43	54	63	69	67	56	43	29	18

SHANGHAI	HIGH	48	50	58	68	78	84	92	92	84	76	65	54
	LOW	34	36	43	52	62	70	78	78	70	60	49	39

XIAN	HIGH	42	48	60	72	81	91	93	90	79	69	59	45
	LOW	22	27	36	46	55	64	70	68	58	47	35	24

GUILIN	HIGH	55	56	64	74	83	89	93	93	89	80	70	60
	LOW	39	42	49	58	66	72	75	74	70	61	52	43

NANJING	HIGH	46	49	58	70	80	86	92	92	84	74	63	51
	LOW	28	30	38	49	59	67	74	74	65	53	42	31

HONG KONG	HIGH	68	68	72	79	84	88	90	90	89	85	78	72
	LOW	56	57	61	67	74	78	79	79	77	73	65	58

TOKYO	HIGH	46	48	53	66	73	80	87	89	82	71	60	51
	LOW	30	32	33	44	51	60	69	71	64	51	41	32

KYOTO	HIGH	48	49	54	64	72	76	82	86	79	69	61	53
	LOW	35	36	41	50	58	66	71	75	69	58	49	40