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The torch’s route will pass through the San Li Dian District, east of downtown, through downtown, along Bin Jiang Road, near the Li River, and down Li Jiang Road, east of downtown.
The Olympic Torch Relay will pass a number of Guilin’s hotels including: the Guilin Plaza Hotel, the Guilin Golden Dragon Hotel, the Hotel Universal Guilin, the Guilin Park Hotel, The Sheraton Guilin Hotel, the Guilin Lijiang Waterfall Hotel, the Golden Elephant Hotel, and the Guilin Aviation Hotel. Visitors staying at these hotels who have tour schedules for May 6th will need to leave their hotels before 7:30am.
From 7:30am to 1:00pm roads used by the torch relay will be closed, and all vehicles are forbidden to enter the city proper, except for local busses and vehicles involved in the torch relay.
- A strong earthquake measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale has rocked Wenchuan in Sichuan province, some 92km northwest of Chengdu on May 12th. The earthquake took place at 14:48 Beijing Time and sent thousands of people rushing out of buildings and into the streets hundreds of miles away in Beijing and Shanghai. The temblor was felt as far away as Vietnam and Thailand.
- About 1,200 pandas -- 80 percent of the surviving wild population in China -- live in several mountainous areas of Sichuan. The earthquake hit one of the last homes of the giant panda at the Wolong Nature Reserve and panda breeding center, in Wenchuan county, which remained out of contact till the morning of May 13th.
- Although it was difficult to telephone Chengdu, the citizens in Chengdu still can send messages through MSN saying there were power and water outages there.
- The earthquake also rattled buildings in Beijing, some 930 miles to the north, less than three months before the Chinese capital was expected to be full of hundreds of thousands of foreign visitors for the Summer Olympics. Li Jiulin, a top engineer on the 91,000--seat National Stadium -- known as the Bird's Nest and the jewel of the Olympics -- was conducting an inspection at the venue when the quake occurred. He told reporters the building was designed to withstand a 8.0 quake. "The Olympic venues were not affected by the earthquake," said Sun Weide, a spokesman for the Beijing organizing committee.
- The Tourism Administration of China made the announcement that all travel services must stop organizing any tour groups to visit Sichuan province for safety’s sake, while those travelers who are in Sichuan areas should be helped to leave as early as possible. The information we have received says that the conditions in Sichuan, especially in the areas around Chengdu, Wolong and Jiuzhaigou are not good for traveling. Chongqing however has had no problem, so Yangtze River Cruises are still available.
We have a number of tour groups visiting the area affected by the giant earthquake that hit China. The moment we found out where the earthquake was based, we immediatly called all of their tour guides to make sure that everyone was safe. We have been in touch with every person in these groups and are pleased to announce that all of them are safe, and quite happy. In fact one group laughingly told us that it was quite the adventure. All of the groups traveling with us are our top priority. We are doing everything we can to ensure that their visit to China is uninterrupted by the earthquake.
Important Notice: A strong earthquake measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale has rocked Wenchuan in Sichuan province. But the large earthquake that hit China Monday hit in a fairly lightly populated area. Other cities in China are relatively untouched. So it is still safe to visit those cities in China.
For anyone wanting more information, China Odyssey Tours has a 24 hour customer service line and we would be happy to answer all of your calls.
Please feel free to call us at: 1-800-773-0862
With China Odyssey Tours, You Are Not Alone In China
We here at China Odyssey Tours would like to thank you for your emails and phone calls of concern due to the large earthquake that hit China. We are fortunately located in the South of China, and although we did feel the tremor, it was barely noticeable. We thank you for your support in this time of crisis, and our hearts go out to those in Sichuan Province during this, their hour of need.
On Monday May 12, 2008 at 2:28 p.m. local time, China had its worst natural disaster since an earthquake rocked in the country in 1976. Western China had a massive earthquake which was estimated to have had a magnitude of 7.9 on the Richter Scale, and lasted for 3 minutes. According to the official Xinhua News Agency, 10,000 people have been killed, and untold numbers have been trapped in piles of concrete and steel. The quake,s epicenter was located just outside Chengdu City in Sichuan Province. Over 80% of structures near the epicenter were destroyed according to Chinese officials. The quakes tremors could be felt as far away as Vietnam, and another smaller quake was set off in Tongzhou district, on the outskirts of Beijing over 900 miles away, although no damage was reported. Much of the affected area has been cut off from the outside world making accurate figures difficult. The earthquake had disrupted air traffic control in western China, but flight services were restored by Monday evening.
China’s Tourism Administration announced that all travel services must stop organizing any tours to Sichuan Province for safety,s sake, while those visitors already in Sichuan Province should be helped out of the area as early as possible.
Premiere Wen Jiabao flew to the region to offer support. He visited one of the local hospitals where patients were trapped inside the building and was seen shouting encouragement to them. American President George Bush said in a statement “I am particularly saddened by the number of students and children affected by this tragedy” and International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge sent his condolences to Chinese President Hu Jintao saying, “The Olympic movement is at your side, especially during these difficult moments.”
On March 23rd I left Guilin City for my inspection tour of China Regal Cruises' Yangtze River Cruise. No one on
board knew I worked for China Odyssey Tours so that I could get a real feeling for what our client's experience. I landed in Chongqing where I would spend the day before being taken to my boat. My ship was the Princess Sheena and I was quite impressed with the overall appearance of the ship. It has a very sleek design. It is not big or blocky, as most cruise ships in China are. This is due to the fact that it was built in Germany and is the only cruise line on the Yangtze that has foreign built ships.I had a single room. The room was small, comfortable, and very well designed. Everything was placed very well. My room had all of the amenities that could be found in a 5 star hotel. I had my own air conditioner, refrigerator, television, telephone, bathroom with shower and western style toilet, and plenty of storage space. 
One of the first things I noticed about the ship was the friendliness of the staff, and their excellent use of English. There was no communication problems whatsoever during my trip. The crew members I dealt with all remembered my name and went out of their way to say hi to me and to make sure that my every need was looked after. They did not know that I work for China Odyssey Tours, so I did not get special treatment. This is how they treat all their guests.
The ship itself was extremely comfortable. I could barely feel we were moving. Motion sickness will not be a problem for anyone riding on this ship. The interior of the ship is very easy to navigate and well laid out. The ship features a bar, observation lounge/library, ballroom, sundeck, two dining rooms, a gift shop, photo center, business center, medical clinic, sauna, massage parlor, and hair dresser. Each facility is well designed, and very
comfortable. The bar and observation room/library was located in the bow of the ship and had windows on three sides which gave excellent views of the Three Gorges scenery, while sitting in comfort out of the weather. The bar features a large selection of western alcohol and wine, as well as China's famous Maotai Alcohol. The bartenders do not skimp on the alcohol either. The dining rooms feature very comfortable chairs and have large windows running down each side. The meals were buffet style and offered both Western and Chinese cuisine. Soft drinks, tea, coffee, and juice were complimentary. The food was very good. The ballroom was where all of the performances and parties were held. It features a state of the art sound and lighting system. I have to mention the performances. They were excellent. They featured the crew of the ship, and they were extremely talented. The costumes were very beautiful as well. It is definitely something that should not be missed. I got to know some of the crew members, and was surprised to see several of them performing. Even the girl who cleaned my cabin sang a song beautifully. At the beginning of my cruise, the ship's doctor gave a seminar on traditional Chinese medicine. I made an appointment with him, so he could look at my tendonitis and he performed acupuncture on me which really helped a lot with the pain I have been having. The sundeck located on the top deck of the ship was the perfect place to watch our ship go through the Three Gorges Dam's 5-stage ship locks. Each deck has its own exterior walkway that encircles the ship, so that visitors wanting a little exercise can walk around the ship. Most ships cruising on the Yangtze to not have this, and visitors are only able to walk back and forth on each deck.The excursions that we took were very well set up and run. We visited the Shennong Stream and had to switch to a smaller ship, and eventually to small wooden boats. Our guide was waiting for us, and took us through all parts of the excursion. The Three Gorges Dam was also very well done. Our guide was waiting for us as we disembarked, and personally took us to our bus and gave us a tour of the whole site. There English and knowledge of each site was exceptional. They were able to answer any and all questions we had.
One of the nicest parts of the cruise other than the ship, excursions, and crew, was my fellow passengers.
Everyone on board soon got to know each other, and we really had fun sharing this experience with each other. It made my cruise on China Regal Tours' cruise down the Yangtze River much more enjoyable.Before my inspection tour of the Yangtze River, I did no research. I wanted the experience to be as real as possible. I found the ship and her crew to be extremely professional. It was a wonderful experience that I will never forget, and I will keep in touch with the new friends I made onboard for years to come. It was a truly unforgettable experience.
