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China Tour Reviews

Dear Mmes. Eileen Wang and Vicky Dong:

I mentioned, in my many city guide/ driver evaluations, that I would write, and so I have. You may use this email, or excerpts, on your website, should you desire, and you are authorized to list my email address.

May I begin by stating that I recommend the services of ChinaTour360 without reservation. My husband and I had in September of 2004, booked a 10-day Yangtze River cruise tour with a famous River Cruise company based in California, US, only to be told in mid January of 2005 (when our anticipated tour commencement date was March 10, 2005) that our tour was cancelled. Since we had already pulled our visas, and since my husband desired to see China, we went online and found the ChinaTour360 site and asked for a quote on a personalized (two person) tour, which included not only the cruise portion (Shanghai, the cruise, Xian and Beijing) but also parts of the Silk Road. Within five days and copious demands for changes from me, Mmes. Eileen Wang and Vicky Dong had put together a comprehensive tour package at a cost which was a fraction of what we would have been charged by the famous California River Cruise company(ratably adjusted, of course, for the 13 additional days and the extensive additional travel costs), and comparable to the group tour (e.g. tours of a dozen or more) prices which we had been quoted by a local agency in Honolulu specializing in China travel, but at far better accommodations - we had asked for first class air transport whenever available on our route and for luxury class (e.g. five star) hotels, if available.

The integration between ChinaTour360 and the individual agencies in the various cities we visited was seamless, and all the guides were fluent in English, very knowledgeable and friendly. The vehicles provided were all clean, and the drivers friendly and polite to a fault.

Since this agency is capable of preparing itineraries for virtually individualized tours (the smallest group is two persons, as were we), I am offering the following suggestions to those of you who are prospective travelers.

For all: bring a phrase book and Chinese-English (or whatever else is applicable) with Chinese characters. The pronunciation of words is subject to regional variations, and one cannot assume that everyone in China will read the English pin-ying, nor understand one's pronunciation of words and phrases however careful one attempts to speak. If worse comes to worse, with the books, one can point, and receive responses by reciprocal pointing.

For women: due to the toilet situation (which are squatters outside of the major hotels, etc.), one may wish to consider wearing long skirts and knee highs rather than pants. Also, disposable gloves are handy as well as wet wipes (e.g. Contonelle) both of which can be tossed in the waste basket generally adjacent to the squatter.

Yangtze River Cruise: while there is some absolutely magnificent scenery, the trip takes four days (five going upriver) and the cabins are comparatively small so a suite would make traveling a lot more comfortable but would add to the trip cost sufficiently that the few hours of breathtaking scenery does not seem to be cost-justified. The closest analogy I can think of to this tour segment is the Via Rail journey from Toronto to Vancouver, or, from the cost-benefit standpoint, the Chao Praya River cruise from Ayuthaya to Bangkok.

General observations about time to spend in each locale: I suggest one consider spending at least two full days, not including days upon which travel is to occur, in each city or town which one proposes to visit. This will not only permit a more relaxed pace of travel, allowing one to enjoy the individual delights of each locale, but would permit laundry to be done, thus reducing clothes packing.

Advance preparation on the sights to be seen is fundamental, and I regret that we did not do this prior to our trip. In the planning stages, one can rework the sightseeing itinerary to cover those points of interest to which one is particularly drawn. Moreover, if, at any site, such as the Forbidden City, where there are other areas not included in the price of the standard entry ticket (such as the Hall of Jewels and the Hall of Clocks), I commend your attention to engaging to purchase these extra entry tickets: there are fewer people about. In the Hall of Clocks, demonstrations involving three pieces are conducted daily at 11:00 and 14:00 and we regret not having been in time to see these. This purchase of sight seeing off the beaten track is particularly recommended in the Mogao Caves in Dunhuang where the paintings in the rooms which you can pay additionally to view appear to be in a better state of preservation (possibly due to fewer tourists breathing?). One might think about going to a zoo and seeing the panda. In Chongqing, we were taken to the zoo and spent a delightful hour just watching the panda cavort.

I hope that the foregoing will prove of assistance in someone's trip planning, and may I close by saying that the journey was memorable and will provide many, many hours of future contemplative enjoyment.

Very truly yours,

Carol Hong
Honolulu, Hawaii
  • Name: Ms. Carol L. H. & Mr. Mr. William B. M.
  • From: Hawaii, USA
  • E-mail: hawaii.rr.com|carolhong
  • ltinerary: 23-Day Super Deluxe China Tour of Shanghai - Wuhan - Yangtze River Cruise - Chongqing - Xian - Jiayuguan - Dunhuang - Turpan - Urumqi - Kashgar - Urumqi - Beijing
  • Date: 6/14/2006
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