Six steps, no surprises
What happens between sending an enquiry and your guide holding a sign at Pudong arrivals.
- 01
You tell us the shape of the trip
Dates, who is travelling, what you want to see or buy, how you like to travel. A two-minute form or a phone call is enough. We reply within one business day, usually with a couple of questions.
- 02
We send an itemised quote
In AUD, with each hotel, guide day, car, train and ticket on its own line, plus a short list of what is not included. Quotes are valid for 14 days. We will suggest changes if we think something will not work, for example a day that is too long for young children.
- 03
You confirm with a 30% deposit
By card or bank transfer. You get a tax invoice from Mandarin Route Pty Ltd and a booking confirmation listing everything. We ask for passport copies and your travel insurance policy name at this point.
- 04
We book everything in China
Hotels, high-speed trains, timed museum entries and the Forbidden City are booked under your passports by our Shanghai team. We send a final itinerary with the guide's name, the hotel addresses in Chinese for taxi drivers, and a group chat with your guide and our office.
- 05
Balance 30 days before you fly
Along with a pre-departure note: what to download, how to set up Alipay before you land, what to pack for the Great Wall, what the weather is doing.
- 06
Your guide meets you at arrivals
With a sign and a car. The first hour is admin: SIM, Alipay, hotel check-in. Then the trip starts. Our Melbourne office is reachable during Australian hours and the Shanghai team during Chinese hours, so someone is always awake.
Changes, cancellations and problems on the ground
Changing dates or details
Free where our suppliers allow it, which is most of the time more than 30 days out. Hotels and trains inside that window may carry a change fee, which we pass on at cost and tell you before we rebook.
Cancelling
More than 45 days before a tour: full refund less any non-refundable supplier costs, which we flag before committing them. Between 15 and 45 days: 50%. Under 15 days: no refund, which is why we require travel insurance. Day guide bookings are free to cancel up to 7 days before.
If we have to cancel
If we cannot run a trip, for example because a guide is unavailable and we cannot replace them, you get a full refund of everything paid to us. If a supplier fails in China, our Shanghai team fixes it on the spot: a replacement car, another hotel of the same grade, a different guide, at our cost.
Something goes wrong mid-trip
Message the group chat or call us. The Shanghai team is on it during Chinese hours and the Melbourne office during Australian hours. For anything we cannot fix on the day, we document it and settle it with you after the trip.
Your rights
You are dealing with an Australian company. The consumer guarantees under the Australian Consumer Law apply to our services and nothing in our terms limits them.
Tell us your dates and who is travelling
We reply within one business day with an itemised quote in Australian dollars, listing exactly what is included and what is not.