China: 6-Night Beijing Vacation from NYC $999

Quote from fyu : so what are you doing in China that requires the bureaucracy?

I guess you're not understanding what a police state means. And no, I'm a lot less interested now to travel to China ever than I was before I actually read more about it. I'm sure those two US tourists who were imprisoned for years in Iran shared your carefree mentality when they went hiking. Generally, I'm not into visiting countries where the rule of law is weak. As a foreigner, you have fewer rights when travelling abroad. It's always important to be mindful of that and mindful of whether a country will help you out if you do run into any kind of trouble.

Quote from ripcurl : Instead of traveling to China, do your country a favor and travel within the US, UK or wherever you are. God knows the US economy could use as much help as it needs. Go visit New England and relive AMERICAN history, 20% of national historical sites are in Rhode Island. Or travel to Colonial Williamsburg. People and small business are hurting here. You can spend a good quality week for about $1000 and it will be much more enriching than fumbling around trying to communicate with people who don't know wtf you are saying. Unless you're looking for a hottie... then I'd say visit Korea, but that's just me. Also, investing in a country that is primarily responsible for the deaths of remaining endangered species, and the endangerment of new species, a country that is notorious for its absence of animal and human rights, forces abortions, etc.... NO THANKS.

This. We're all from different places here in the US (except Native Americans), but the one thing in common is desire to make a land of economic opportunity and social freedom (unless you're a Tea Partier and want the US to be more like China). China is the US decades down the line if Republicans are given exclusive power here. There's other countries if you want to travel that are safer, have better rule of law, and where your tourism dollars can have a greater direct impact on improving the lives of the people there.