Price is right for a trip to China

THE exchange rate of eight Chinese yuan to one U.S. dollar greatly undervalues the Chinese currency. But it’s a bonus for travelers because it has made China a bargain.

For nearly eight years, San Francisco tour operator China Focus, www.chinafocustravel.com, (800) 868-7244, has charged a winter rate of $999 for a 10-night, all-inclusive (rooms, all meals, transportation, escorted sightseeing) trip. The tour visits Beijing, Shanghai, Qufu, Suzhou, Tai’an and Jinan and includes round-trip air from San Francisco on Air China. It charges $1,299 for the same trip in the warm-weather months.

The $999 rate will be offered on a few departures in November and December and again in January and February, according to Hong Kong-born Eddy Lam, China Focus manager. Another low-cost packager is Champion Holidays, www.china-discovery.com, (800) 869-7658, headed by Steven Xu, a Chinese-born travel specialist. His tours go nonstop and round-trip to China from LAX or JFK airports, again on Air China.

The price for his least-expensive tour is $1,099 in winter, $1,399 most other months. The tour spends seven nights in Beijing, Shanghai, Suzhou and Wuxi, staying in first-class hotels. Like China Focus, it provides most meals but tops its rival with a farewell dinner party of Peking duck.

Both companies offer a dozen or so more elaborate itineraries that cost slightly more -- trips that include Xian and its 7,500 terra-cotta warriors, Chongqing and Guilin on the River Li, among others.

Both men said that the tours -- which include a Yangtze River cruise -- are popular and have not lost their appeal despite rising waters from the emerging Three Gorges Dam. In fact, passengers disembark at one point to see the dam, which is still under construction.

A third big player in tours to China is 35-year-old Pacific Delight Tours, www.pacificdelighttours.com, (800) 221-7179, headed by veteran Francis Luk.

Luk’s tours are generally longer but still inexpensive: 12 nights in six cities from $1,969, including round-trip air to China. Pacific Delight’s programs generally are more upscale, though still priced at surprisingly low levels for deluxe arrangements.

Among the other big, low-cost contenders to China are Ritz Tours, www.ritztours.com, (800) 900-2446, and China Silk Tours, www.chinasilktour.com, (800) 945-7960.

Incidentally, if you want to get out of the big cities of China and see rural life, look into the longer trips offered by the companies I’ve mentioned. But note that conditions (i.e. hotels, food, bathroom facilities) are not nearly as good as in the cities.

For travelers, China is an unforgettable experience, and it will never be less expensive than it is now, especially if the Chinese government is forced to revalue its currency. The pleasures and insights gained from such a trip are considerable.