To my utter amazement, China Spree has today replaced its former China specials with an entirely new list of spectacular fall/winter bargains (such as $888 for a week in Beijing, including airfare), all of which are wide open for booking for the coming fall/winter months (they used to be shown as largely sold-out). If you haven't yet chosen a fall/winter vacation, you might very well rush to that website (chinaspree.com), clicking first on China tours, then on Specials, then on Dates and Pricing, and you'll be equally astonished at what you find.
You'll also want to focus on the fact that $888 is less than the normal cost of airfare to China alone. Yet for that easily-managed sum, you receive round-trip airfare between the U.S. (San Francisco, Los Angeles and Houston) and Beijing, round-trip airport-to-hotel transfers, six nights of accommodation at the modern Traders Hotel Shangri-La, full buffet breakfast every morning, three full-day escorted sightseeing tours (including one to the Great Wall), with lunch also included on each of those three days, and several other features. Departures from New York are only $100 more, and the price is just slightly higher from Chicago, Miami, and St. Louis.
Airi-and-land packages to Beijing and Shanghai, or to Beijing, Xian and Shanghai, are equally astonishing in price in this new iteration of China Spree's fall and winter product. It's obvious that travel to China may have slowed in recent weeks, explaining the opening-up of all fall and winter dates for these unprecedented bargains, or else that China Spree is simply making a rather incredible "splash" for public relations purposes. (How can they make a profit at $888, including round-trip airfare?) The price I've cited is available November, December, January and February, and the rate goes only slightly higher in October, March and early April.
And by the way, all prices include fuel surcharge, taxes and fees (but not the cost of a China visa). To book, go either to www.chinaspree.com (and click "China Tours") or phone (toll free) 1-866-652-5656.