Pricing and what is included: how the all-inclusive price is built

Inside the per-person figure on every quote:

• Accommodation: every night, in the room category we have agreed
• All ground transport: airport transfers, intercity transport, daily vehicle with driver
• All guiding: bilingual guide (English & Chinese) for every full touring day
• All entrance fees: every museum, monument, and reserved-entry site on the itinerary
• All meals at restaurants where we have arranged the booking
• Bottled water in vehicles
• All taxes and service charges that apply at point of sale
• Our service fee for designing and managing the trip
• A 24/7 emergency contact for the duration of the trip

The list does not hide the important parts. If something on the itinerary later becomes unavailable, we explain the options clearly and confirm any change with you before it is made.

To keep the all-in figure honest, four categories sit outside it:

• International flights. International air sits outside our service. The prices fluctuate too sharply for a fixed quote to be useful, and a separate booking gives you full control over routing, dates and frequent-flyer accrual. We are happy to suggest options or refer you to an airfare agent.
• Visas. As of June 2026, ordinary Australian, British and New Zealand passport holders may enter Mainland China visa-free for stays up to 30 days for tourism, business, family visits or transit, under a policy extended by China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs through 31 December 2026. United States and Canadian passports need a tourist visa under current rules; we manage the application end-to-end as part of the booking. Eligibility and entry are decided at the border. Verify your situation before booking flights with the relevant Chinese Embassy and your country's foreign-affairs advisory page. Where a visa is required, the application fee sits with the traveller.
• Personal spending. Discretionary souvenirs, drinks outside meals, room service, spa treatments, optional add-on experiences not on the agreed itinerary.
• Travel insurance. We do not bundle it. We require proof of cover before departure and recommend specific providers.

The cashflow we use on every trip:

1. After the second design conversation, we send a written confirmation with the full per-person figure in the contracting currency.
2. A 20% deposit confirms the booking. We hold all reservations against this.
3. The balance is due 8 weeks before departure. Earlier is fine; later is not.
4. Once paid in full, no further charges apply for the agreed inclusions unless you ask us to add something to the trip or a supplier change is confirmed with you in writing.

The refund policy is tiered by days-to-departure. The headline shape is: a 100% refund minus a small administration fee for cancellations more than 90 days out; partial refunds at 60, 30, and 14 days; no refund inside 14 days. Supplier non-refundable charges (specific hotel nights, internal flights, permits) are passed through at cost where they apply. The full tiered table is in the booking confirmation, worked through with you before you sign.

We do not invent change fees. If a third-party supplier penalises a change (an airline, a permit, a specific hotel night), we pass through the documented penalty. We do not add our own fee to that supplier charge.

The all-inclusive price is locked once you accept the written quote and pay the deposit. From that point, we absorb supplier-side currency movement between confirmation and departure on our side. You pay the confirmed figure.

How the displayed price works: the price you see on the site is shown in the currency you select, converted from a contracting currency at the live rate at the moment of display. The written confirmation states one contracting currency and one locked figure, so there is no ambiguity at balance.

Mechanically: we run operating accounts in our contracting currency and in Chinese yuan in parallel, and hedge the larger trips at confirmation. Smaller trips are absorbed against the float. Either way, the figure on your written confirmation is the figure we work from at balance.

This matters because Chinese inbound suppliers (hotels, vehicles, guides) typically quote in yuan and adjust with the market. We price the confirmed trip so supplier-side currency movement is handled on our side, not as a surprise surcharge after you commit. The site's display-currency converter does not change the contracting figure on your confirmation; it only changes how the indicative number is presented while you browse.