20 China travel tips

Hitting the China travel trail doesn't have to be a struggle if you arm yourself with the right knowledge.

Shanghai taxi drivers don't like small bills, such as 1 yuan or 5 jiao notes. Conversely, in northern and western China, expect market vendors to reject coins outright.

You want rice? You gotta say it aloud. Rice is rarely served during a meal in Chinese restaurants, being seen as a cheap way to fill up at the end if needed.

More traditional Chinese scenes are hidden in alleyways. Those worn footpaths into lanes and hutongs are public spaces, which hold some of the most captivating views in China's big cities.

In order to get some local color, "take to the backstreets behind your hotel for an early breakfast of dumplings or noodles and watch the area wake up while you eat," suggests Australian business traveler Matthew Tobin.

Some boutique hotels provide interesting art experiences, like this wall comprising more than 6,000 drawers at Opposite House Hotel in the Sanlitun area of Beijing.

China grows some of the world's finest tea. If you can't make it to the source, Shanghai's Laoximen Tea Plaza houses a variety of specialty tea shops.

• China is an unquestionably fabulous tourist destination, but can rattle even veteran travelers


• The language barrier is a big problem unless you have a good language app


• China is a safe place but you should be aware of its notorious air pollution


• If you want to take great pictures in China, an excellent camera bag and polarizing filter are necessary

(CNN) -- Exploring China can rattle even veteran travelers.

And understandably so.

It's a huge country with enough languages and dialects to leave even many native Chinese flummoxed at the thought of communicating away from home.

But traveling away from the big cities isn't scary, and it's not unmanageable.

Traveling for the past few years from my home base in Shanghai, I've picked up a lot of tips -- both from my own experiences and from others -- that make life on the road in China a little bit easier and a lot more rewarding.

Here are 20 of them to get you started.

1. Score extra beds the easy way

Chinese hotels aren't too fussy when it comes to matching the number of beds to the number of people, particularly when the extra bodies are children.

For families, this can save a lot of cash. Rather than needing two rooms, a family of four can get cozy in a twin room, where both beds are the same size as a regular double bed.

When in north China, save the coins for the piggy bank.

2. Follow proper currency protocol

Don't insult a Shanghai taxi driver by burdening him with small bills, such as 1 yuan or 5 jiao notes. He likes the jingle of coins.

Conversely, in northern and western China, expect market vendors to reject coins outright.

They only like paper money no matter how small the denomination.

3. Use the best language app for travelers

Pleco is the best Chinese language app for travelers.

The basic dictionary app is free. It costs US$14.95 to buy the optical character recognition function (compatible with the iPhone 4 or 5 camera). Point the iPhone at a Chinese menu and get an instant translation.

4. Customize your gifts

Have fine items made by hand and to order -- a neon sign of your name, pair of riding boots, set of sheets, oak cabinet, silk quilt or cashmere coat.

China is the land of possibilities. If you can dream it, someone can make it.

The Shandong Juancheng Neon-Plasma Tech company make customized neon signs in one week and will ship anywhere.

http://ift.tt/1nlyLfH

5. Use the best guides to offbeat China

China Little T(r)ips is a series of guides for those who want to get off the well-worn tourist path in China, but don't have the inside knowledge or the language skills to do so.

These guides to Inner Mongolia, Gansu and soon Sichuan and Qinghai contain detailed itineraries, maps and language cards specific for each stage of the trip.

Inner Mongolia Guide RMB 78 (US$12.50), ebook RMB 45 (US$7), http://ift.tt/1oewvrj

MORE: 8 China travel tips from a professional fixer

You want rice? You gotta say it aloud.

6. Order rice the right way

Rice is rarely served during a meal in Chinese restaurants, being seen as a cheap way to fill up at the end if needed.

Anyone wanting rice with his or her meal should make it clear to the waiter by saying: mifan (rice) mashang (straight away).

7. Toilet paper reminder

Toilet tissue is rarely found in public restrooms in China. Carry your own supplies.

8. Sidestep difficult breakfasts

Outside of large cities and internationally branded hotels, Chinese hotel breakfasts cater exclusively to the local market.

This is no issue for anyone fond of congee and pickles, but can be an unimaginable hurdle for children or picky eaters. Bring a box of their favorite cereal and a few small cartons of milk and everyone starts the day happy.

Most hotels don't mind.

MORE: Hundreds of flights canceled at China airports, more to come

9. Don't worry -- it's safe

China is nowhere near as terrifying as many guidebooks would have you believe.

Yes, the traffic is chaotic and the air could be better -- much better -- but China is one of the safest countries in the world for female travelers, solo travelers and families.

10. Give -- and get -- instant gratification

Those traveling in rural China often wish to give a small gift to locals they meet, but are unsure of what might be considered appropriate.

A portrait delivered instantly on a Polaroid camera is a much-appreciated, on-the-spot gift.

Fujifilm Instax Mini 7 Polaroid camera retails for around RMB 400 (US$62) from large electronics retailers.

MORE: 9 China hotels with ridiculously good views

Most authentic Shanghainese life is hidden in alleyways.

11. Trespass with confidence

Accustomed to the idea of private property, international travelers are often reluctant to stray from worn footpaths into lanes and hutongs for fear of intruding.

But that's not how the Chinese see things.

All of these outdoor areas are public spaces, and lanes and alleys hold some of the most captivating scenes in China's big cities.

12. Don't be fooled by loud voices

Chinese people like to converse very loudly and passionately at times, and it can be easy to mistake this for an argument.

Listening in to a heated discussion in Shanghai between a taxi driver and a Chinese friend I thought they were about to come to blows.

"No," they told me. "We were just talking together about how devastating the Sichuan earthquake was."

13. Need help? Find a high school student

The array of Mandarin dialects and variations across China can make communication difficult even for native Mandarin speakers.

But help is always at hand: those under 25 years old are most likely to speak both standard Mandarin and English.

Students who have studied English in books for years, but have had little contact with native English speakers, may more readily understand written questions.

14. Make a hometown connection

Learn the name of your country's most famous landmark for beaming instant recognition from taxi drivers, waiters and the man on the street.

Tip: Eiffel Tower is "ai fei'er tie ta," Statue of Liberty is "zi you nu shen xiang" and Great Barrier Reef is "da bao jiao."

15. Get a backstreet breakfast

In order to get some local color on business trips that will otherwise be spent inside taxis and boardrooms, "take to the backstreets behind your hotel for an early breakfast of dumplings or noodles and watch the area wake up while you eat," suggests Australian business traveler Matthew Tobin.

MORE: 31 dishes: A guide to China's regional specialties

16. Enhance wellness

Want to unblock your qi? Hit up a Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) clinic. Illness isn't an essential requirement -- TCM doctors believe preventing disease is just as important as treating it.

"TCM is ingrained in Chinese culture," says Canadian Leslie Bottrell, who is trained in both Western and Traditional Chinese Medicine.

"It permeates everyday life and so empowers individuals to be responsible for their wellness by promoting disease prevention."

Consultations are available at Longhua Hospital in Shanghai, one of the country's top TCM Hospitals.

LongHua Hospital, affiliated with Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, 725 Wanping Nan Lu, Xuhui District, Shanghai; +86 21 6438 5700; open daily 8-11:30 a.m., 1-5 p.m.

Art exhibit in Opposite House: a wall comprising more than 6,000 drawers.

17. Find art in unusual places

Some boutique hotels provide interesting art experiences, like the Opposite House Hotel in the Sanlitun area of Beijing.

"Their permanent art collection is second to none," says Hong Kong-based art consultant Alison Pickett.

"And they have a fantastic rotating exhibition venue in the lobby which showcases really challenging and interesting installations, many of which you wouldn't get to see in any of the galleries."

The Red Gate Gallery in Beijing holds open studio exhibitions. Visitors can see how resident international artists work, live and create in Beijing.

The Opposite House, The Village Building 1, 11 Sanlitun Lu, near Dongzhimenwai Da Jie, Village 1; nightly rate from about RMB 2,500 (US$400); +86 10 6417 6688; http://ift.tt/1z5bNh9

Red Gate Gallery, 1/F and 4/F, Dongbianmen Watchtower, Dongcheng District, Beijing 4; +86 10 6525 1005; open daily 9 a.m.-5 p.m.

18. Take the kids along ... without regret

Taking small but manageable risks when traveling in China with children can reap big rewards.

Three Mountain (San Shan) Island northwest of Shanghai is an ideal spot to venture away from the big city for the weekend with the family.

"Our family took a weekend trip by train and boat to San Shan Dao, where we had an extraordinary China experience staying in small local guest houses and exploring the island," says Lynette MacDonald, editor in chief of Shanghai Family magazine and frequent traveler with children.

San Shan Dao, near Suzhou, Jiangsu Province

MORE: China with children: 8 family friendly activities

Learn everything about Chinese cha here.

19. Get a tea education

Shanghai's Laoximen Tea Plaza houses a variety of specialty tea shops.

"On the second floor, at Qing Quan Tea (shop 218), I can sit for hours testing white or red teas and listening to owner David Li talking about health benefits, differences in soil or climate conditions or quality differences," says China-based food writer and tea lover Anna-Lena Bjarneberg.

Laoximen Tea Plaza, 1121 Fuxing Dong Lu, Huangpu District, Shanghai;+86 21 5386 5555; open daily 9 a.m.-9 p.m.

MORE: Tea lover's guide to traveling in China

20. Take better pictures

The best gear investments to make before coming to China are an excellent camera bag and polarizing filter, according to professional photographer and frequent China traveler Roger D'Souza.

"China is very dusty and hard on photo gear, so a good bag that's well sealed but also accessible is essential."

The Australian photographer also suggests using a polarizing filter to cut through China's frequent smog. "If there is any blue in the sky this will make it appear more vibrant," he says.

MORE: 7 of China's coolest outdoor activities

Got your own China travel tips? Share them in the comments box below.

Originally published March 2013, updated July 2014.

Off-season travel bargains

Travelers will find deep discounts in Arizona in the summer. Just be 100% sure there's a pool on site. The Arizona Biltmore Hotel and Resort offers a deeply discounted summer golf pass to courses usually played by celebrities and heads of state.

Brazil's World Cup crowds have gone home, and the locals have yet to hit the beaches of Rio de Janeiro en masse. With temperatures in the 70s, Rio's beaches offer a refreshing change from some of the sweltering summer highs in North America.

At The Atlantis in the Bahamas, off-season rates are a fraction of peak season prices. Hurricane season is always a gamble, but sunshine and bargain-basement rates often pan out.

The Florida Keys are hopping during the winter, but hosts at local bed and breakfasts and inns always have more time to trade tips and stories when the crowds are thinner.

Montreal's arts community is thriving, and there's no need to rely on great weather if you're planning to focus on indoor museums and cultural events. So go ahead and plan a visit between September and April.

The summer festivities in Paris typically give way to gray days starting in November. But if you're in town for the nightlife, who cares about the daytime conditions? Visiting between November and March means lower airfares and hotel rates.

Yellowstone -- and most other national parks -- see their biggest visitor numbers in the summertime, but if you wait until winter, you get a different, more solitary view of the pristine landscape.

Summer is an expensive time to visit Walt Disney World. Target slower periods between January and mid-March or late August through November for a better shot at savings.

• Very hot destinations offer big savings when temperatures are high


• Prices drop in the Caribbean during hurricane season; odds are your side


• If you're museum-hopping, the weather isn't an issue


• Everything from airfares to hotel prices plummet during Europe's low season

(CNN) -- If you want to stretch your travel dollars, do not, under any circumstances, head to Disney World right now. It's the height of peak season and hotel and airline prices, which fluctuate like the Dow Jones, are about as high as they get.

Likewise, steer clear of Chicago, which is about to host 300,000 screaming Lollapalooza fans; Cape Cod; and any other northern U.S. beach town.

But just as every bull market has a bear, every tourist destination has a flip side, a season when prices go down and savvy, flexible travelers can score big savings. Especially those who are good at spotting silver linings.

No matter what your personality type, it's important to remember this bargain basement credo: It's always off-season somewhere.

50 states, 50 spots: Natural wonders

Great deals, if you can take the heat

Except for the Grand Canyon, Flagstaff and a few other high-elevation spots, Arizona in the summer is as deserted as the streets of Tombstone after the famous shoot-out.

Or it would be if it wasn't for a whole posse of savvy hotels and tourist attractions that drop their prices as fast as outlaws dropped their guns when Wyatt Earp and his brothers rode into town.

With average highs in the triple digits, Arizona's weather, its calling card in the winter, drives those with disposable income to more temperate climes. That leaves the state's fancy resorts, its abundance of golf courses and its ooh-la-la spas for the rest of us.

Savings: The Arizona Biltmore Hotel and Resort offers a $129 summer golf pass that allows the proletariat to play on five prestigious courses normally frequented by U.S. presidents, foreign heads of state and Hollywood celebrities.

The Phoenician, a ritzy resort that in high-season starts (and that's if you're lucky) at $255, is offering $149 rooms with a $100 resort credit and a fourth night for free. For $30 more, they'll throw in unlimited golf.

The silver lining: People pay big bucks for dry saunas like this.

Where the party's never really over

If you're a misfit, a rebel, a troublemaker or a round peg in a square hole, take a dip below the equator.

Steve Jobs, in his famous quote, probably wasn't referring to off-season adventurers. But travelers who notice the crowds (Munich during Oktoberfest, Indianapolis during the 500 or a Thai party beach on a full moon, to name a few) and go the other way not only find lowball prices, but reap rare experiences that those lemmings chugging $12 steins in Munich beer tents could never appreciate.

So sure, Rio de Janeiro is a kick during Carnival, but now that the World Cup is over and the Brazilians have turned their attention to such civilized affairs as work, its famed beaches are practically deserted (it's the winter there, after all) and prices are falling like ripe acai berries.

Savings: Any destination with the infrastructure to host roughly a fourth of its international tourists during the same week (Carnival when 2 million revelers per day fill the streets) is inevitably faced with fluctuating occupancy rates.

That means Rio's beach hotels are all but giving rooms away right now. Most Cariocas, as the locals call themselves, think a 75-degree day, the average winter temp, is unworthy of their skimpy bikinis, so that means North Americans looking for beach vacations can score big.

Airfare to Rio might be more than flying to say, Cape Cod or Santa Cruz, but once you get there, off-season deals, many at half what you'd pay during the hotter (and much more humid) summer can be found up and down Copacabana and Ipanema beaches.

The silver lining: It rarely rains this time of year and ocean waves are bigger and better for surfing

Adventures in storm chasing

During hurricane season (June 1 to November 30), resorts in the Caribbean, Mexico and the Bahamas slash their prices by 40% to 70%.

And get this: the average number of named hurricanes in the Northern Atlantic is a mere 10.1 per year with fewer than half of them becoming actual hurricanes. Of those, only 2.5 become Category 3 or greater. So out of 183 days of official hurricane season, your odds are pretty good.

On top of that, most of the islands in the Caribbean are relatively small. A hurricane making landfall is akin to finding the mini-bike key that floated out of your jean shorts when you swam into the ocean.

Savings: Discounts (in the hurricane zone) run across the board, so this is your chance to stay in a luxury hotel for the price of a Super 8.

The Bahamas Atlantis, for example, starts at $719 during peak season. Right now, during summer hurricane season, it's $179. The Ritz-Carlton Cancun, that, at peak, goes as high as $659, is booking rooms for $175.

The silver lining: Because of the influx of Europeans this time of year, the atmosphere is more continental and cosmopolitan. Lift your pinkies.

Morning coffee with your hosts

During peak season, innkeepers, B&B owners and other tourism hosts barely have time to sleep six hours, let alone share with guests their fascinating back stories, their favorite local restaurants and other important intel that make vacations worth writing postcards about.

During the off-season, those innkeepers who aren't recuperating on their own vacations have more head space and generosity and are more than willing to sit down with guests to answer that burning question: "How in the heck did you get so lucky to live and work in paradise?"

The Florida Keys, a necklace of coral islands stretching 127 miles from the tip of the Florida Peninsula, is filled with colorful characters.

Often pilgrims from other places, these potential new friends have managed to reinvent themselves with nothing but a dream and the cojones to pick up stakes and move south. During the summer low season, when southern Florida is hot as a pizza oven, they're more inclined to sit down and tell you about it.

Savings: Joe and Ronnie Harris, New Yorkers through and through, worked for NBC until Joe, on a diving trip to Key Largo, turned around and saw what he called the world's most beautiful sunset.

That was in 1991 and, before he was able to regain his senses, he was the proud owner of a small beach and the 11-room hotel that fronted it.

In the high season, between December 23 and April 30, a two bedroom suite at their Kona Kai Resort goes for between $699 and $1,078. The rest of the year, when the duo has time to share happy hour, Ronnie's own guacamole and Jamaican cherries grown on their two-acre grounds, those same suites go for $200 to $250 less.

The silver lining: Kona Kai Resort features nightly, knee-weakening sunsets four seasons out of the year.

In the summer, Joe and Ronnie watch them under the tropical fronds of their very own botanic garden, a nonprofit complete with an ethnobotanist, educational programs and tours of more than 250 species of plants.

Cool spots for the culture vulture

"How's the weather?" -- that classic go-to conversation starter -- is the arbiter when it comes to determining peak, shoulder and low season.

While that makes sense for campers, hikers, bikers and other outdoor enthusiasts, the weather does not deserve its starring role on vacations designed around theater, museums, art galleries and dance performances.

Last we checked, 100% of these indoor venues are air-conditioned and/or heated. In other words, exactly the same temperature whether it's the rainy season, freezing cold or simply lacking blue skies.

In Montreal, for example, there's a big chunk of year when prices drop precipitously. From September through April, when temperatures drop in Montreal, hotel rates follow suit. Yet, the city's famous joie de vivre is alive and kicking up a Cirque du Soleil aerial tango.

In the square kilometer known as the Quartier des Spectacles alone, there are more than 80 cultural venues, including the Place des Arts, home of the Montreal Symphony Orchestra; Les Grands Ballets Canadiens; and Opera de Montreal.

Savings: Rates at the Fairmont Queen Elizabeth, the hotel where John Lennon and Yoko Ono conducted their second Bed-In For Peace and wrote "Give Peace a Chance," start at $409 in the summer. In winter, rates begin at $219.

The silver lining: Because Montreal's Metro, the underground rail that doubles as an art museum (there are more than 100 works of public art), is linked to 10 major hotels, shopping malls and lots of fine dining, it's possible to visit in the dead of winter and pack nothing but shorts and T-shirts. But with the city's chic French style, we wouldn't recommend it.

Channeling your inner Paris Hilton

Gray skies and chilly temps deter travelers to London, Paris, Prague and other European cities between November and March. But if you're there for the nightclubs, who gives a bloody yo-ho-ho.

What card-carrying party animal is awake or alert enough to notice daytime skies anyway?

For those who do occasionally rise before twilight, lines for a hangover-nursing latte in the coffee shops around say, Venice's St. Marks Square, are infinitely shorter. And after a night of mumping, tutting and twerking on a crowded dance floor, February's average 40-degree temps for Paris (the city, not the heiress) are a welcome change.

But the pièce de résistance for nightlife aficionados is that there's considerably more night to enjoy. Because the sun sets by 5 p.m. or so, "night" technically starts four hours earlier than it does in June or July when all those pesky tourists are trying to elbow their way past the doorman.

Savings: Everything from airfares to hotel prices plummet during Europe's low season. A round trip flight between Dallas and London on British Airways, for example, runs nearly $2,000 in July compared with $1,172 in January.

Round trip between New York and Paris (on Air France) drops from around $1,700 in the summer to $1,122 in February. Doesn't take much of a mathematician to deduce, even with Grey Goose martinis ringing in at more than $10, that's a lot of extra drinks.

The silver lining: Hello? London Fashion Week (at least one of them) is February 14 through 18.

Winter wonders for the introvert

Yellowstone National Park gets fewer visitors any winter month than a single day in August.

So instead of the 3 million people who pile into the park each summer, winter guests get the rare chance to commune with elk, bison, bighorn sheep and the resident wolf packs.

"Winter presents a face like no other season," says Marysue Costello, director of West Yellowstone Chamber of Commerce. "The colder it gets, the more gorgeous it becomes."

Savings: Only two of Yellowstone's nine lodges are open in the winter, so prices, at least in the park, are not heavily discounted. At Mammoth Hotel, the $129 summer rate dips a measly $30. But outside the park, in West Yellowstone, for example, savings range from 30% to 50%.

Plus, skiing for $15? OK, so it's cross-country skiing, but with views like this, only a fool would choose to whiz by too quickly.

The silver lining: Monkey flowers that grow near thermal springs, leaping snowshoe hares, ghost trees, snow mirrors and geyser rain.

Monster savings for a mammoth family

Even if you don't have "19 Kids and Counting," Disney World, for a big family, almost requires a second mortgage, especially during the high season.

The trick, says Don Munsil, whose independent website, MouseSavers.com, lists codes and coupons for scoring little-known deals, is to either call your brood in sick from school (don't tell them we told you) between January and mid-March or between late August through November.

Whatever you do, avoid Christmas, the two weeks around Easter (it's spring break), the heart of midsummer and any holiday weekend.

Savings: When occupancy is lower, Disney throws down some bargains at their on-site resorts.

An outside garden view room at the Grand Floridian that can sleep up to five (maybe more if they're Tinkerbell size) goes for $856 during peak. Between January and early February (with the exception of the Martin Luther King holiday), it's $549.

The silver lining: Just try getting tickets for Hoop-Dee-Doo, the popular hootenanny and chicken feast, during peak season. Unless you were smart enough to call six months ahead, tickets to any one of the three seatings are probably not going to happen. During off-season, it's often possible to get tickets the same day.

Kasem's body whisked out of U.S.

Casey Kasem, who entertained radio listeners for almost four decades as the host of countdown shows such as "American Top 40" and "Casey's Top 40," died early Sunday, June 15, according to a Facebook post from his daughter Kerri Kasem.

Kasem, the legendary DJ, host and voice-over talent, was born in Detroit and got his start at Michigan radio stations. Here he is in the DJ booth at Detroit's WJBK in 1957.

Kasem moved to the West Coast in the early '60s. He hosted the KTLA music show "Shebang!" in Los Angeles in 1965.

Kasem was also an actor, though his films weren't necessarily Oscar material. In 1971, he starred in "The Incredible 2-Headed Transplant" with Berry Kroeger, left, and Bruce Dern.

He made occasional TV guest appearances as well. "The Mystery of the Hollywood Phantom," an episode of "The Hardy Boys Mysteries" in which Kasem affected a Columbo-like persona, also starred Pamela Sue Martin (as Nancy Drew) and Parker Stevenson (as Frank Hardy).

Kasem married Jean Thompson in 1980.

Casey and Jean Kasem attend the 21st Annual International Broadcasting Awards in Century City, California, in 1981.

Casey and Jean Kasem are shown with children Kerri Kasem, Michael Kasem and Julie Kasem at the Lebanon-Syrian American Society of Greater Los Angeles Man of the Year Awards in Beverly Hills, California, in 1985. The children are all from Casey Kasem's first marriage, to Linda Myers.

Casey and Jean Kasem were frequent participants in the Hollywood social circuit. Here, they attend the Stars 'N Hearts Benefit Fund-raiser for Animals in 1982.

Kasem was an in-demand voice-over artist. He's probably best known for supplying the voice of Shaggy in the "Scooby-Doo" cartoon series.

Kasem hosted a number of countdown shows, including "American Top 40," "Casey's Top 40" and "America's Top 10." He handed off "AT40" to Ryan Seacrest in 2004.

Casey and Jean Kasem ride in the 2007 Hollywood's Santa Parade in Hollywood, California, on November 25, 2007.

Even after leaving his long-running radio shows, Kasem stayed active. He attended Fred Segal's birthday charity event and auction at a private residence in Malibu, California, on August 29, 2009.

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• A Washington funeral director says he sent Kasem's remains to Canada last week


• Kasem's wife, Jean, requested the body be flown to Montreal, the funeral director says


• Kasem's daughter Kerri accuses her stepmother of abusing her elderly father


• Casey Kasem was 82 when he died in Washington state last month

Los Angeles (CNN) -- Casey Kasem's body was flown to Canada a month after he died, a funeral home director told CNN Tuesday.

Kasem's corpse was taken from a Washington state funeral home last week before the radio icon's daughter could enforce a court order against it being removed, according to the director of Tacoma's Gaffney Funeral Home.

A lawyer delivered the order a day after the body was sent out of the country, Corey Gaffney said.

"I disclosed to her attorney that the body was no longer in our care," Gaffney said.

Kasem's wife, Jean Kasem, said she has been "blackmailed" by her husband's children for 35 years.

"This is a shakedown and I will not negotiate with terrorists," she told CNN. "I will not give in to their blackmail and attacks."

Casey Kasem's son speaks out

Casey Kasem: A legendary voice in radio

Casey Kasem's body is missing, daughter says

Daughter Kerri Kasem accuses her stepmother of abusing her elderly father and contributing to his death by taking him from a Santa Monica, California, care facility in May and relocating him to Washington.

Santa Monica Police have "an open and ongoing investigation" into the elder abuse allegation, Sgt. Rudy Camarena said last week.

Kasem, who entertained radio listeners for almost four decades as the host of countdown shows such as "American Top 40" and "Casey's Top 40," died in a hospital in Gig Harbor, Washington, on June 15. He was 82.

Gaffney said Kasem was kept in his funeral home until he was instructed by Jean Kasem to send it to Montreal last week.

"I took Casey to the airport myself, oversaw every detail myself from the moment we brought him into care," Gaffney said. He tracked its arrival in Montreal, he said.

The death certificate listed Urgel Bourgie, a funeral and cemetery business in Montreal, as the planned destination, he said. CNN has not independently confirmed the details of the death certificate or the arrival of the remains at the Montreal funeral home.

Danny Deraney, a representative for Kerri Kasem, said Jean Kasem has the legal right to control her late husband's remains. "The bottom line is that they want to know where he'll be buried," Deraney said. "I think they have that right."

Kerri Kasem is pushing for a new law in California to give adult children visitation rights with their aging or incapacitated parents.

"There are so many people dealing with the same situation my family is dealing with, and we are receiving so many letters and e-mails," she said in a posting on her Facebook page Tuesday.

Casey Kasem tributes: 'Keep reaching for the stars'

Casey Kasem's global reach: long-distance dedications