Bitcoin Forum

Any Bitcoin tourists out there?

After recently acting as tour guides for family members before our wedding, my wife and I have decided to offer via this forum the opportunity for anyone interested in visiting Beijing to be able to pay for their entire trip (apart from air tickets) in Bitcoin (RMB conversion rates to be taken from btcchina).

We are not going to organise trips for large groups (maximum of six people) so we can provide flexible arrangements and avoid the need for hiring large buses.

We are not affiliated with any tourism company and will take people only to places that they are interested to visit (itinerary suggestions will be provided upon request). In particular you will not be taken to any shops unless you have asked to go there (this can be a big problem with budget tours in China).

The initial Bitcoin payment won't be necessary until arrival (we will meet you at the airport) and payment for each tour day can be made at the end of the day. We will provide receipts for all transportation, accommodation, tickets and meals and will charge a modest fee (around 5 BTC per day) for our services.

We have not yet set up a web site for this endeavor as we are just putting this out to test the water and to offer people another way to actually spend their Bitcoins. :)

For further information either reply here or PM me.


Cheers,

Ian.

有Bitcoin旅行家希望到北京来玩的么？

婚前我为家人当了一段时间的北京导游，所以我们夫妻决定为本论坛的朋友们提供如下服务：您可以用比特币支付游玩北京的所有费用。（按照btcchina.com的汇率换算为人民币）

人数不要太多（6人以上的团队免谈），不然就没有办法灵活地安排行程，而且可能还要租大巴。

我们是独立的服务提供商，没有和任何旅行社合伙。我们只带您到你感兴趣的地方（当然我们可以给您一些建议）。不带您去任何商店，除非你主动要求（这是在中国旅行的大问题）

在抵达北京之前，你不需要支付比特币给我们，我们会去机场接您。每天的费用在当天结束以后支付。我们会安排所有的交通、住宿、门票和用餐等事宜，我们的服务收费是5BTC/天。

我们还没有来得及建立一个专门的网站来提供这项服务，现在论坛上试一下水，为朋友们提供花费比特币的更多选择。

北京现在天气寒冷，4月份才会暖和起来（其实北京最好的旅游季节应该是9月份）

如果希望得到更多信息，站内我。

Cheers,

Ian.

Thank you very much for the translation.

:)

I've visited Beijing in March. It was cold, but not too bad. Great city, plenty of stuff to see.

What OP says is true, the guides will all try to bring you to shops that push crap on you. Going with a guide who won't do that is a major plus!

Yes - I just had the Tuk Tuk experience in Bangkok again recently (last time I did this was around 20 years ago and it hasn't changed). Got taken to at least four different shops with the last one being a travel agency (so no products to look at just a desk to be sat at with a high pressure salesman on the other side).

Mind you there are some bargains to be had in Beijing (although the Silk Market is not really a good place to look for them) and also we can arrange purchases via Taobao (the Chinese equivalent of eBay) provided the goods can be delivered whilst you are over here (generally deliveries are 2-3 days). I very much doubt any other tour will offer people this service.

Also for people on a budget we are very familiar with using the subway (best value in the world at 2 RMB to go anywhere on it 1 way), buses (often less than 0.5 RMB by using an IC card which we will provide you with upon arrival) and even know of the best value hostels (as we have some friends that regularly stay at them).


Cheers,

Ian.

Spring has sprung in Beijing - a great time to visit Xiang Shan (http://www.kinabaloo.com/xiangshan_park_beijing.html) or do some Great Wall exploring.

As an incentive to be the very first BTC tourist in China - enjoy a Beijing Roast Duck meal on us at Quan Ju De (http://www.beijingattractions.org/Beijing-Famous-Restaurants/Quan-Ju-De.html)!

:)

I would jump at this offer if I wasnt in contract. If your still offering this when im out of my agreement il be there. Planning to do asia with the bitcoin I have saved while working so seems like an excellent opportunity   of where to start.

Even if you're not our first BTC tourist we'll extend the offer to you (whenever you arrive) just for being the first to post a reply. :)

We are also willing to take people to Shanghai, Xian or Hangzhou (and other cities are possible by arrangement).

We would be willing to take you to Chang Chun (the capital city of the Ji Lin province that borders North Korea) where we could try and work out how to get a visa for you (we haven't done this before so will require some research if you are really keen on this).

It looks like you guys have a great service set up. If I were planning on being in Beijing soon I'd definitely take you up on this offer.

Hi OP, this idea has been in my mind for sometime: peer to peer tourism and exchange service for Bitcoiners. Just like you, I have experience acting as tour guide for my family members and I also like to visit other parts of this wonderful world(I am from Hong Kong). It will be great value/service if our Bitcoiners around the world can help each other.

Sounds like we have Hong Kong covered now as well (perhaps we can finish our side in Shenzhen and let you take over from there).

Would be great if "Plato" could make his next Bitcoin trip a "round the world" one. :)

We took a group of German travellers to Mutianyu yesterday and scored a perfect blue sky day (temperature was around 25 C with a slight breeze).

http://www.ciyam.com/mutianyu.jpg

I spent quite a bit of time explaining about Bitcoin to the them and have generated some interest in using it for travel (bring on the German backpackers :)).

Today my legs are rather sore from the climb - will need to get a bit fitter if am going make this trip a regular event. :-[

I will be going to Bejing soon, over summer.

Is it possible to do an in-person exchange? Bitcoins for RMB?

This wouldn't be a problem for me if the merchants accepted Bitcoin! I'd be all over that shit haggling prices in Bitcoin for their nicknacks.

Sent a PM.

Plenty of cafes and bars with free wifi in Beijing so having a get together with laptops in tow is easily worked out. :)

I'm working/studying in Beijing atm, and have met Ian couple of times : to talk about bitcoin, to discover real chinese food (delicious traditionnal hotpot) and hype expat lair : he's the guy! With him and his Chinese wife, you won't feel like a tourist, especially when Chineses will try to scam you ;)

Life is pretty cheap in Beijing, compared to good old west Europe: subway trip is about 0.2€, complete decent meal for 4-5€, acommodation varies due to chinese standards (hard bed, small bathroom, not uber-clean rooms). If you're ok with fake stuff (clothes, sunglasses, bags), you can cut nice deals. My chinese is too poor to negociate anything serious tho (electronics, GPU, etc.).

I highly recommend OP to every bitcoin lover planning to fly to Beijing!

Very nice, I'd like to do some exploration on my own, but I'm not discarding your help! Once in Beijing I'll try to reach you.



I'm not a meat eater anymore, but I think I'll have to open an exception while in China!


Am I going to find trouble with this food restriction issue?

It can be a little tricky to avoid meat here, however, we do know of a few quality vegetarian restaurants that are around the Lama Temple area.

:)

I wouldn't mind travelling to Asia, my biggest problem is my food allergies/picky-ness..
I am allergic to ALL types of nuts, and all sea-food.. and I refuse to eat pork and beef haha....

this seems like a pretty interesting idea tho!

Well if you can handle lamb a very popular snack/meal here is called "yang rou chaunr" (羊肉串 http://www.echinacities.com/expat-corner/guide-to-street-food.html) - it's BBQ lamb on sticks (can buy in the streets and in restaurants and usually only 2 RMB per stick).

As it is warming right up now (around 30 C during the day) it's perfect to mix some BBQ with cucumbers, cherry tomatoes and beer!

:)

This is to EVERYONE who is thinking about visiting Beijing!

CIYAM helped us out in Beijing!  They are a super team, and very VERY RELIABLE!

I hope that people will have a chance to meet/contact you while in Beijing because I cannot think of a better BITCOIN-FRIENDLY BASE for people to start their exploration of Beijing! 

Specifically, with a little bitcoin "deposit" CIYAM helped us go through the gruelling/feared Tourist Visa Extension ordeal with the Public Security Bureau (PSB).  Actually, having our hands held, and also having a cool 21,000 RMB cash ($3000 USD) from CIYAM to deposit/secure/lock into a bank account it actually became a smooth, and dare I say, 'okay', experience, where in the end we had two tourist visa extension applications on the way in only  days of fussing with the beaurocracy  :)

THANK YOU SO MUCH!   :D

Oh, and great thanks goes to the Bitcoin technology, which also made securing our deal really easy! 

On a side note, if you are too lazy to research what CIYAM is upto... in a few words, I can say that they are definitely upto A LOT OF GOOD, and hopefully, the genious behind CIYAM will shine some very bright and energizing light onto the Bitcoin community.   (oh, I am not going into any details as it is TOO TECHNICAL, but sure sounds good!)

I can hardly wait to see how all your efforts pan out!  GOOD LUCK!

Cheers everybody :)

One of the cool things I'm finding about Bitcoin is how it breaks down nationalism. I want to trade Bitcoin with EVERYONE!