Customer Reviews

Destination Travel Guide: China

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

We originally bought this for Homeschooling to go along with a unit study on China. We loved it. The guides take you through the culture as they show you how to travel on your own. Such as buying train tickets, how to upgrade your ticket to a sleeper car (and what they looked like), asking for directions, showing what type of rooms to stay in, and the typical foods they eat, including dog and snakes. They ride the trains (playing typical card games with the locals), riding bikes (to see sites), tips as they take taxis or to bargain in the markets. We would recommend this anyone getting ready to travel to China

Continuing in the backpacker tradition, the GT team walks along the beaten and some not so well beaten paths. The trip into the village where women wear horns is fascinating. The team manages to go to many out of the way places in the Southwest and Central which is the primary focus of the DVD.

Covering China in a travel video is certainly not easy, but this DVD does a decent job of getting you interested to learn more. The walk through a train they ride in is fun. Practice your karaoke! I knocked the video down 1 star because I don't feel the team conveyed enough of how annoying or difficult traveling around China can be. A few examples might be the huge crowds and automobiles experienced in many places which might just be simply overwhelming (I speak Chinese too) or the heavy pollution (From coal plants and rapid increase in auto usage) which can making breathing difficult / aggravate your sinuses (Beijing). One of my gripes with the way information is conveyed on some GT videos is the sense that going from one place to another is so easy and effortless - it isn't. I speak from experience after having traveled to many places.

On a personal note - 2 years ago I visited one of the places shown in the video - Huangshan (Yellow Mountains). I can attest to personally how difficult it is to get a good photo of the grandeur. Apparently the video team had a hard time too as they state. Somes places you just have to visit yourself. I also stayed at a hotel (Great view) right across from the hostel the GT team stayed at in Shanghai. I walked inside and it is definitely as portrayed on the video. Lots of history.

Though I too am fluent in Mandarin Chinese this video was a delight and brought back many interested yet exciting experiences while traveling in and around China. The team did a great job in getting as much information in as possible for the time allowed this video and it is quite enough information that can be applied for a first time traveler to China. China is not an easy place to get around, nor the language easy to master, but there is no need to be scared off, the Chinese are as eager to get to know you as you are them! Enjoy China!!!

Since we have a daughter who was born in China I thought this would be an excellent dvd to show her birth country. Like the other reviewers I liked most of the dvd, but I couldn't get past the 2 annoying hosts. Both really should not have done this video, to me in my eyes they where your typical tourist making fun of food that is normal food for people in China and is different to those of us who don't live in China as well as other little annoying things. I just couldn't get past the hosts... maybe you can.

This dvd features Southwest part of China including provinces of Yunnan, Sichuan & Guizhou and Guangxi and then the central part of China - Shanghai, Yangzi River, Xi'an and the Yellow Mountains. It also includes a Long Horn Miao Ceremony, Huangguoshu Waterfall, Giant Panda, a silk factory and the terracotta warriors.

Good program and a great view of REAL CHINA. Little biased but good work. Three stars for the effort. Those guys doing GLOBE TREKKER should start to be less BIASED about places and people. Give the impression they are better and superior...

i love it, it goes in depth to find out the truth about everything