How to Book a Jadetour Trip: Six Steps from Enquiry to Departure

Most travellers assume the hard part of a China trip is choosing which sights to see. The part that actually goes wrong is sequencing: flights booked before checking hotel availability, full payment sent before confirming how many visa-free days you actually have, a promise to "definitely include Jiuzhaigou" made before anyone mentioned the eight-hour one-way drive.

This guide walks through the real 2026 process, from the first enquiry email to a driver holding a name board at arrivals: what happens at each step, how long it takes, which inventory must be locked early, and which mistakes are avoidable. Visa rules, payment limits and vehicle compliance requirements below were verified in October 2026; policies change, so re-check with China's National Immigration Administration and your payment provider before you travel.

1. Settle three variables before you ask for a quote

Get these right and the quality of the first proposal improves by a full grade.

• Dates: not "October", but "12 to 18 October, plus or minus one day". Once dates are fixed, peak-season hotel supplements, ticket booking windows and vehicle availability can actually be priced. China's National Day golden week (1 to 7 October), Spring Festival and the July-August summer peak are the three windows where both price and crowds spike.
• Party size and age mix: how many adults, how many children and their ages, whether anyone is over 65 or has limited mobility. This is not only about money. Seat count, room configuration, cable cars and shuttle buses inside scenic areas, and walking intensity all follow from it.

• Pace: two sights a day with an evening stroll is a completely different quote from one sight a day with an afternoon back at the hotel. Driving times between Chinese cities are routinely underestimated: Chongqing to Wulong is about 2.5 hours one way, Chengdu to Jiuzhaigou about 8 hours. Saying "we do not want more than three hours in the car on any day" honestly at the start saves a week of complaints later.

One variable people forget: luggage. A seven-seat MPV carrying six passengers cannot fit four 28-inch suitcases. That is physics, not an unhelpful driver. If you have a lot of luggage, the choice is between travelling one person fewer and adding a separate luggage van, and that choice has to be made before booking.

2. Step one: send a complete brief, first proposal usually within 48 hours

You can reach us through the website's tailor-made form, WeChat, email at service@jadetour.net, or by phone. All four work the same way. What matters is sending the full picture in one go: dates, party size, age mix, must-see and nice-to-have, hotel tier (comfort, superior, luxury), dietary restrictions, and a budget range.

A first proposal normally has four parts, and you can read it as a checklist:

• Route skeleton: city by city, day by day, with driving time and overnight location for each day. Driving time must be written down; it is the first reality check on whether an itinerary is physically possible.
• Cost sheet: itemised into transport, accommodation, tickets and other, each line carrying a product code and unit price. Itemisation matters because when you need to cut budget, you can see which line to cut instead of asking for a blanket discount.
• Exclusions: international flights, visa fees, personal spending, and secondary costs inside scenic areas such as cable cars and evening shows. Being clear about what is excluded matters more than listing what is included.
• Timeline: the date to confirm, the date the deposit is due, the date the balance is due. Peak-season inventory is exclusive; those dates are not decorative.

48 hours is the normal rhythm; during National Day and Spring Festival it can stretch to 72. If you are travelling within two weeks, say so in the enquiry and we will treat it as urgent, but we will also tell you honestly that late bookings leave limited room to optimise, especially for popular hotels and vehicle slots.

3. Step two: finalise, sign a written contract, pay the deposit

Two or three rounds of revision is normal. Once the itinerary is final, three actions follow, and the order matters.

Sign a written contract. China's Tourism Law requires a travel agency and traveller to conclude a written package tour contract setting out the itinerary, service standards, fees and payment method, and liability for breach. The contract is not paperwork: how changes are handled, how cancellations are refunded, and how force majeure is shared all live in those clauses. Read them before signing, and ask if anything is unclear.

Pay a deposit to lock inventory. Peak-season rooms, vehicle slots and real-name-booked tickets are first come, first served. A deposit of 20 to 30 percent of the total is common practice, with the exact figure set by your contract. One legal boundary is worth knowing: Article 586 of China's Civil Code caps a statutory deposit (dingjin) at 20 percent of the contract value, and any excess does not carry deposit effect. If someone demands a far higher "deposit", that money is legally closer to an advance payment, and the refund rules differ accordingly.

Verify who you are paying. The correct practice is payment to the agency's corporate account or a licensed payment channel, with the payee name matching the company on the contract. Any request to send money to a personal account, or to a "manager's private WeChat", should stop you long enough to verify. This rule holds in every market, not just China.

4. Step three: confirm visa or visa-free eligibility before buying flights

This is where real money gets lost: tickets bought and itinerary fixed, only to discover the permitted stay is too short, or the purpose of entry falls outside the visa-free scope.

As of October 2026, China's entry facilitation sits in four layers, with quite different conditions:

• Unilateral visa exemption: ordinary passport holders from roughly 50 countries may enter visa-free for tourism, family visits, business or transit for up to 30 days. Most of these policies run to 31 December 2026; Russia's runs to 31 December 2027. Always re-check the current list and expiry with the National Immigration Administration before departure.
• 240-hour (10-day) transit exemption: 57 countries, entry through any of 65 open ports across 24 provinces and regions, requiring a confirmed onward ticket to a third country or region and a stay within designated areas of no more than 10 days.
• 24-hour transit exemption: available at all open ports to nationals of all countries, for stays of no more than 24 hours without leaving the port's restricted area.
• Regional exemptions: for example, Hainan's 30-day visa-free entry for 61 countries.

Our boundary should be stated plainly: we do not process visas, and we do not guarantee visa outcomes. Visa issuance is an act of sovereignty; the decision rests with the embassy or consulate. What we can do is supply supporting documents such as itinerary, hotel confirmations and receiving-party details, and flag which documents are usually needed early. Anyone promising a guaranteed approval is not worth believing.

Two common misunderstandings are worth correcting: visa-free does not mean unconditional entry, as border officers still assess your purpose of travel, so carry your return ticket, hotel bookings and itinerary; and holders of travel documents, temporary or emergency documents are not covered by the unilateral visa exemption.

5. Step four: in the final two weeks, lock down arrival

The last fortnight is about subtraction. The list is short, but each line can stop you at the border.

• Passport validity: the widely applied standard is at least six months beyond your return date. If it is short, renew before discussing itineraries.
• Arrival card: some ports allow online advance completion; follow the notice at the port you arrive at. Paper cards on board still work, so carry a pen.
• Payment tools: install Alipay or WeChat Pay and link an international card before you fly, rather than queueing at an airport counter on arrival. Limits for linked foreign cards are USD 5,000 per transaction and USD 50,000 per year equivalent; transactions of CNY 200 or less carry no platform service fee, while amounts above that attract roughly a 3 percent cross-border service fee. A card that works at ATMs is still a sensible backup.
• Document copies: passport data page, visa page and insurance policy, one digital copy on your phone and one paper copy in a different bag.
• Insurance: arrange your own travel accident and medical cover. For high-altitude routes such as Jiuzhaigou or western Sichuan, confirm the policy covers high-altitude activity.

6. Step five: how and when to pay

Payment milestones usually look like this, with exact percentages set by your contract:

We accept Alipay and WeChat Pay by RMB QR code, PayPal in US dollars, and an online international card checkout. We do not add a card or online payment surcharge: the processing cost sits with us, so the quoted price is the price you pay. This is worth watching when comparing quotes, because a lower headline figure that gains three or four percent at checkout is not actually cheaper.

7. Step six: once you land, who runs the trip

From the moment you land, three threads take over: meeting you, running the days, and handling problems.

• Meeting you: the driver waits at the arrivals exit with a name board, and flight delays do not add charges. Send us your flight number, expected arrival time and mobile number with country code in advance.
• Running the days: before each day's departure, the driver or guide confirms the route and meeting time. If you want an extra hour somewhere or a different restaurant, raise it that morning; the earlier it is raised, the easier it is to arrange.
• Handling problems: your itinerary carries a 24-hour contact. Lost passport, illness, or a transport disruption should go to that number first rather than to improvised solutions. China's emergency numbers are 110 for police, 120 for ambulance, 119 for fire and 122 for traffic accidents.

On vehicles, one point deserves emphasis: legitimate tourist charters must come from an operator holding a tourism passenger transport licence, with a valid road transport certificate, carrier liability insurance, an installed satellite positioning device and a charter sign displayed in the vehicle, driven by a licensed professional driver. This is the "five do-not-charter" baseline in Chinese industry regulation. You can simply ask which company owns the vehicle and whether it carries a charter sign; a compliant operator will not dodge the question.

8. Eight questions to ask before you book

1. How many hours of driving are there each day, and where are the rest stops?
2. What are the exact hotel names, and can we state room type and floor preferences?
3. Does the quote include shuttle buses, cable cars and audio guides inside scenic areas?
4. Which tickets require real-name advance booking, and what happens if booking fails?
5. Are the driver and the guide the same person, and is the guide licensed?
6. With our luggage volume, how many seats do we need, and is a separate luggage van required?
7. What are the cancellation and date-change rules, and how much is refunded at each stage?
8. If it rains, a road closes or a site shuts temporarily, what is the alternative plan?

The answers to these eight questions usually tell you whether a proposal was genuinely built for you or adapted from a template.

9. Five common mistakes

• Booking flights first and thinking later. Flights are rigid, itineraries are flexible. Locking the rigid side first gives away all your negotiating room.
• Assuming visa-free means stay as long as you like. The 30 days count from the day after entry, not "one month", and overstaying carries penalties and affects future entry records.
• Packing the schedule because it feels better value. Chinese scenic areas are large; a top-tier site often means three to four hours of walking plus an hour of queueing. Three sites a day in practice means three car parks.
• Equating a low quote with a cheap trip. Read the line items. Among transport, accommodation and tickets, the usual soft spots are "same category hotel" and "gate ticket excluding the shuttle bus".
• Leaving everything until arrival. Peak-season rooms, museums with real-name booking and cross-province vehicle slots do not accept "we will sort it when we get there". Book a month ahead and the choices are yours; book three days ahead and the choices belong to whoever holds the inventory.

10. Get the sequence right and half the trip is already won

A smooth China trip rarely comes from booking the most expensive hotel. It comes from each decision being made at the right moment: dates fixed early, revisions made early, inventory locked early, documents prepared early. The rest you can leave to the road itself, the seven o'clock mist, the boat on the river, and a bowl of noodles taken off the stove.

If you already have rough dates and a party size, send them over; a first proposal usually lands within 48 hours. To see sample route skeletons, browse our travel guides, or tell our consultants the pace you want and we will shape it through a tailor-made itinerary.