A Tour to Forget: When Chaos Hits

We embarked on a 3-day Beijing tour, followed by 9 days in Hainan, and finishing with 2 days in Shanghai, from April 20th to May 4th. It was a disaster from the get-go. Let's start with the arrival in Beijing. We were greeted, thrown into a bus, and taken to our hotel, only to be told to leave our luggage at the reception and get back on the bus for the Beijing tour. The problem was that the group that arrived earlier on Chinese airlines wasn't going to wait for us, the ones who flew in on Aeroflot. So, we were basically forced to join the tour, exhausted, sweaty, and in a state of disarray. We weren't even allowed to check into our rooms, take a shower, or use the restroom. The tour description clearly stated that we would be checking into the hotel first and then starting the tour. But no, we were just pushed into the bus, and off we went. And to make matters worse, it started pouring in Beijing, and we didn't have umbrellas in our rooms. We got soaked, and some of the group members had to take antibiotics. I mean, who starts a tour without letting people check in first? It's just basic common sense. And don't even get me started on the lack of umbrellas. I mean, come on, it's China - it's supposed to rain, right? But seriously, it was a total mess. We were all just trying to survive the next few days, and we didn't even get to enjoy the trip. We were too busy dealing with the aftermath of that disastrous first day. The experience was frustrating, to say the least. And to top it all off, the tour guides were not very helpful. They just seemed to be going through the motions, like they were reading from a script or something. They didn't even seem to care that we were all miserable. It was like, 'Hey, you're here now, let's just get on with it.' No empathy, no understanding. Just a bunch of people trying to make a living off of tourists. And we were just the pawns in their game. I'm not going to sugarcoat it - the food, the accommodations, and the activities were all subpar. We didn't even get to see half of what we were supposed to see. And the few things we did see, we saw through a haze of exhaustion and frustration. It was just a total mess. I'd never recommend this tour to anyone. It was a complete waste of time and money. We were all just trying to get through the next few days, but it was a nightmare from start to finish. The whole experience was a huge disappointment. We were expecting a lot more, but what we got was chaos and frustration. It's a tour to forget, and I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy.