The organisation and attention to detail by yourselves and all of our guides was absolutely fantastic. At no stage were we not met or picked up on time and the information that we were given was excellent.The standard of spoken English without exception was very good.
The hotels meals and shows were all terrific.
I would like to make special mention of two guides in particular who we believe were exceptional. Julia in Xian and June in Shanghai were really outstanding. The help that they provided us was at times more than one could reasonably expect. We cannot praise them sufficiently.
As positive suggestions when considering future tourists it would have been great to be shown some of the countryside outside of the cities. Also as westerners we find it embarrassing to be shown very interesting factories and then have a lot of pressure put on us to buy products from those premises.
Our overwhelming feeling regarding your company and your country is very positive .We wouldn't hesitate to recommend you to our friends.
Yours Sincerely
Craig Jewell
Name:Mr. Jonathan Craig Jewell & Ms. Peta Marie Jewell
From:Australian
E-mail:
ltinerary:13-Day Standard of Beijing - Xian - Chongqing - Yangtze River Cruise - Wuhan - Shanghai
Date:10/20/2008
The meals were all very nice and in every case, once we had informed the guide of our preferences they always saw to it that we did not get food that we did not want.
The guides were all very good and very helpful especially Elizabeth in Suzhou who took us to the Silk Factory where we purchase a silk duvet, duvet cover and pillow cases.
Both the drivers and the cars were completely to our satisfaction.
All the guides were extremely helpful and courteous and went out of their way to ensure that we enjoyed our tour. This was, in our opinion, one of the best holidays we had spent abroad and enjoyed every moment of it and will be referring our friends to you should they wish to tour China. The Sheraton in Suzhou was also an exceptional hotel.
We took over 900 photographs and will try to post some on your website.
Name:Mr. Robert Stanley Parker & Ms. Eleanor Mabel Parker
From:South Africa
E-mail:
ltinerary:9-Day Luxury of Shanghai - Suzhou - Zhouzhuang - Guilin
Date:10/13/2008
Dear Eileen and Flora,
Thank you so much for talking to the tour companies in Shanghai and SuZhou. The tours definitely got much better after your intervention. They became full days rather than half days, and the guides asked me how long I wanted to stay at each place, rather than telling me how long I could stay.
So since Zhouzhuang appeared to take only half a day, I asked to spend the morning at the new SuZhou museum designed by I M Pei (it's great!). And at the Shanghai museum, I stayed nearly 3 - 1/2 hours, rather than the 2 initially allotted. So I'm MUCH happier!
By the way, the hotels in both Shanghai and SuZhou are very good. And although the hotel in SuZhou is three stars, it is well above the City Hotel in quality. (In fact, it had the best coffee of any hotel I've stayed in during the past couple years!) The City Hotel was really fun for its hot pot, though.
Anyway, I'd like to thank you both for organising (and reorganising) the trip for me. And you should know (maybe you already do!) that comparatively, Phoebe is well above the quality of the other guides I had this trip, even though she is younger. She really knows her history and was happy to share it, and she was more flexible in helping me see what I wanted to see in the way I wanted to see it (which is the reason I booked a private trip rather than a group tour). So now that I've experienced the difference, could you please thank her (and the driver) again for me!
We had an unforgetable time in China. Your company is a very serious company and we got everything we were informed about and paid for. The guides were excellent and provided us lots of information about China. Whenever we go to China, we will use your company again.
In some places, the timing was perfect. We had enough time to enjoy the spots and there was no hurry, what is really important because some of the tourists are not so young. However, in Shanghai, for instance, the timing was not adequate. We had many things to see in just one day. I suggest the tour in this city should be divided in 2 days. It was the end of the trip and most of us were tired.
We were surprised with the huge amount of food that was offered to us. It was definettly also a gastronomic tour of China. After some days, however, some tourists got a little bit tired of Chinese food. I suggest that sometime during the trip, an international cuisine is offered. The best meal was in Shanghai, the last night.
All guides had a great attitude! The only thing I would suggest is that when the guides pick guests at the airport, they do not speak during the whole trip from the airport to the hotel. Sometimes we had to drive for over 1 hour to get to the hotel and the guide was speaking non-stop. After flights we also need some rest. All them provided good information about everything.
Drivers were very good and careful. Cars were very good and clean.
All in all, the trip was great. We learned a lot about Chinese people and traditions. We recommend your company for those who want to have a real picture of the country.
Best regards
Rodrigo
Name:Mr. Mr. Rodrigo de Almeida Barros & Mr. Roberto Euclydes de Almeida Barros & Ms. Gleusa Palazzo de Almeida Barros
From:Brazil
E-mail:
ltinerary:15-Day Small Group of Beijing - Xian - Guilin - Yangshuo - Guilin - Kunming - Lijiang - Shanghai
Date:9/29/2008
Dear Ms. Wang,
We are glad that you liked the calendar of our beautiful state of Arizona, USA. We are called "the Grand Canyon State" because of the famous Grand Canyon. If you look at the picture on the front of the calendar, that is a location very close to where we live, and often our sunsets look like that. Please come and visit us if you can.
When people ask us about our China trip we tell them how satisfied we were with every part of the tour you arranged for us. Every driver was professional, every tour guide was very nice and knowledgeable, and all the connections worked perfectly. All of our expectations were exceeded.
Thank you again for arranging such a nice China tour for us. Here are our comments about particular aspects of the tour.
Drivers and vehicles were very nice and clean. The water provided was more than enough, even on hot days. Drivers were polite and got us to our destinations safely, even in the worst traffic situations. I was very glad I was not driving or walking!
As to our specific guides: Michael in Yichang was flexible in scheduling and we appreciated being able to eat later and see a museum first. Joan in Chongqing was very good and was flexible also in taking us to the zoo. The panda bears were a real highlight of our visit. Linda in Xian was very enthusiastic and happy to be with us. We liked her very much. Holly in Guilin was our favorite, showing us anything we wished to see and spending considerable time with us. She was very knowledgeable of the area and seemed to enjoy being with us. We wished we had scheduled some tours through your company while in Beijing, since much of our time just slipped away. Our friends' relatives in Beijing took us to the temple of Heaven, the Forbidden City, the Hutongs, and the Great Wall (we hired a driver for the day). But we didn't have the excellent guide service and commentary we were accustomed to.
We are recommending you and your company to our friends who are contemplating China trips. We were very pleased by every aspect of the tours you arranged and will do this again as soon as we can.
Thank you again for everything.
Sincerely, your friends,
Don and Veralyn Adams
Name:Don and Veralyn Adams
From:Hong Kong SAR
ltinerary:15-Day Standard Tours of Beijing - Xian - Guilin - Yangshuo - Guilin - Chongqing - Yangtze River Cruise - Yichang - Shanghai
Date:9/22/2008
The meals were delicious but we all think it was too much quantity for four people. I would recommend for the future that you offer 4 types of dishes (vegetables, beef or pork, and chicken; if the client does not eat meat, offer fish) instead of 7, plus rice.
All the guides we had were very conscientious and hard working as well as knowledgable.
Anna Leng (Shanghai) was excellent, friendly, accommodating, pleasant, and very knowledgable. If she didn't know the answer to a particular question, she looked it up and let us know the next day. Also, she showed us to our seats on the bullet train and waited till it left the station before she left the platform, which made us feel very specially cared for. She was like a mother to us.
Rebecca (Guilin) was friendly, knowledgable, very helpful as well, and last but not least, Windy (Suzhou) was very pleasant and we enjoyed her company as well.
The drivers were all very helpful, friendly, solicitous of our needs, and always on time for pick-ups.
We enjoyed and appreciate your tour services very much. We will definitely recommend your tour group to any of our friends who are interested in visiting your wonderful country. Thank you for a very pleasant 14 day vacation!
Sincerely, Melinda F. Rosenthal
Name:Mr. Neil S. Rosenthal ; Melinda F. Rosenthal; Mr. Andrew Alan Krostich; Ms. Linda Joyce Krostich
