What a Private China Tour Price Covers | East Marvel China Travel Guide

Many travelers ask the same question before they book: once I pay the tour price, what will I still pay for after I land in China?

East Marvel builds a private trip around your dates, your group, and the cities you want to keep. The quote covers the land services inside China that are written on your itinerary, from the airport pickup to the departure drop-off. A price on the website is a from-price for a sample route. It moves with the dates, the group size, and the hotel. The figure in your quote email is the price for your trip.

Local guides. An English-speaking guide on each sightseeing day. The guide meets you for that day's plan and brings you back to the hotel when the sightseeing ends. On arrival day, your itinerary names who meets you: your guide, with a name sign in the arrivals hall, or your driver.

Hotels, with breakfast. The nights on your itinerary, at a hotel named in the quote or one of the same grade. Two people share a room. A room to yourself is a single supplement, on its own line. Breakfast is each morning after a night on the plan. The day you are still on your international flight has no hotel breakfast.

Tickets. The main gate ticket for each sight named on your plan, such as the Forbidden City, the Great Wall, or the Terracotta Army. A separate hall inside a site is included only when that hall is named. The Bund is a public riverfront and has no gate ticket. A cable car, a show, or a boat is included only when that day's line says so.

Meals. Breakfast with each hotel night, plus the lunches and dinners named on your itinerary. Drinks are separate. If your trip includes a Yangtze cruise, the quote names the ship and the cabin, and the cruise fare includes meals on the ship.

Airport transfers. Pickup on arrival day, and a drop-off on departure day at the airport on your ticket, timed for your flight.

If a workshop or showroom is on your day, it is a stop on the tour. You do not have to buy anything.

A sample, not your price. For two adults sharing, the from-price published on the 8-day Beijing–Xi'an–Shanghai page is USD 1,726 per person. On that sample, day 1 is your own international flight, and the land services start with the airport pickup in Beijing. Once we set your dates, hotels, and route, the quote email replaces that figure.

What the price includes

These items are included when your itinerary names them.

Private car. An air-conditioned car and driver for the sightseeing and transfers printed on your itinerary.

Intercity travel. High-speed trains or domestic flights on the legs written on your itinerary, tax included. The usual seat is economy on a flight and second class on a high-speed train, unless the quote names another class. Tickets are issued in the passport name you give us.

What you pay yourself

International flights between your home country and China.

Visa fees. You arrange your own visa, or you enter under the visa-free or transit rule that applies to your passport. Confirm the current rule with the Chinese embassy or consulate for your country before you book flights. Your passport should be valid for at least six months after you leave China.

Travel insurance, bought at home, covering trip cancellation, interruption, emergency medical care, evacuation, and baggage.

Personal spending, including laundry, drinks, the minibar, a local phone plan, and souvenirs.

Anything marked Optional on your itinerary, paid on the spot if you choose it.

Airline excess-baggage fees, paid at the airport.

Tips. Tips are not on the invoice. Restaurants, hotels, and taxis in China do not expect one. A tip for your guide and your driver is voluntary. A common guideline is USD 5–10 per person per day for the guide and USD 3–5 per person per day for the driver, in cash (Chinese yuan), given to each of them on your last day together in that city.

How the price changes

A smaller group costs more per person. Two people have a car and a guide to themselves. Four people divide the same car and guide. The from-price is for adults sharing a room. Children are priced from the ages you send.

A hotel change, a different room, or a different neighborhood is a separate line under hotels.

In public holidays and peak season, domestic trains, flights, and hotels cost more, and the quote moves with them.

Adding a city, a cruise, or a set dinner raises the quote. Dropping a city, or eating on your own instead of a set lunch, lowers it. The private car and the guide stay on the sightseeing days unless you ask us to take them off.

Check these six lines on your quote before you pay

Nights. The number of nights matches the route, with breakfast after each night. A single room shows the single supplement on its own line.

Meals. Count the breakfasts, lunches, and dinners named in the email. Drinks are separate. If there is a Yangtze cruise, the email names the cabin and includes meals on the ship.

Transport. See which legs are by private car, high-speed train, or plane, and which seat class is booked. The name on each ticket matches the passport.

Airports. Arrival day names who meets you. Departure day is a drop-off at the airport on your ticket, timed for your flight.

Guide and car. The quote names a private car and an English-speaking guide for each sightseeing day.

Tickets. See which tickets are on the plan and which items are Optional.

Unless your quote email says otherwise, a 30% deposit confirms the booking and the remaining 70% is due 45 days before departure. A trip booked inside those 45 days is paid in full at confirmation. We accept bank wires, Visa, Mastercard, American Express, and PayPal. Your bank's foreign-transaction fee or wire charge is separate from the quote. Cancellation fees are in your quote email and in the Terms of Service & Cancellation Policy. If any line in the email is unclear, ask your advisor before you pay the deposit.