China Tour Reviews

Hello,

Sorry that it took some time for us to respond, we only returned back home a few days ago as we spend some time in Hong Kong after completing our vacation with you. The answers to your questions can be found below.

My husband and I both feel that there was adequate time spent at each attraction. The guides had great time management skills and always explained the history behind the location and allowed us personal time to take photographs and look around.

The meals were excellent! When booking, my husband and I were most nervous about the quality of the food. We have been a part of groups in the past where the tour company provided sub-par meals that were not worth the price paid. The meals provided during this tour exceeded our expectations. During each meal we were given a vast variety of items to choose from and people never walked away hungry. Although all the restaurant meals were delicious, by far, our best dinning experience was at the home visit in Xi'an. The host showed us how to make dumplings which was a fun experience and we got to taste food the way local Chinese people make it in their home.

Before leaving, we were warned that the dumpling dinner in Xi'an and the meal on the river cruise were not great; therefore, before going to these meals, my husband and I ate a snack. We really only needed the snack while on the boat as the dumpling diner was not bad at all. Others may feel differently, but in the email that you send out to travel goers before they leave for China, I would not indicate that "not much should be expected from the dumpling dinner". I do feel however that you should still warn people about the meal on the boat because if I would have not been told through email or the local guide about the eating a larger breakfast in the morning and bringing a snack, I would have been starving for a majority of the boat ride.

We have been on a number of trips and by far, Sara has been the best guide. She was knowledgeable about each place that we visited, and took the time to really get to know us. My husband and I arrived in Beijing one day early. When we arrived at the airport, our greeter gave us a letter from Sara outlining some of the tourist attractions that we may consider visiting because they were not included in the trip. Sara wrote the names of the attractions in both English and Chinese which came in very handy the next day while communicating with our taxi drivers. We had not asked Sara to do this but by providing this level of service, this is one of the main reasons we will recommend the company to friends and colleges.

As stated above, all guides were very knowledgeable about their home communities and country. They were able to answer all of our questions. There was nothing that disappointed us about the guides.

All drivers and their vehicles were kept clean. It was great that they provided us two bottles of water each day.

Although the hotel in Beijing (Holiday Inn) was beautiful, had a good breakfast and provided great service, it is a far distance from tourist attractions, shopping areas and the airport. It would have been nice to be closer to the city centre where there are markets in walking distance.

The hotel in Xi'an was a bit outdated but from the looks of other hotels around the city was a nice choice. The breakfast also provided a wide variety of items. My husband and I were not huge fans of having a separate bus take our luggage from the airport-hotel/hotel-airport. I feel there was enough room under the bus to have it with us. With this said, the bags may have had to travel separately to be loaded onto the plane on time. It was a nice feature to have the Bellhops at the hotel bring our bags upstairs when they arrived, however, when we went to the elevator to receive them they had way too many bags loaded onto the cart and appeared to be handling the bags in a rough manner.

The hotel in Gullin was by far the best! The beds were comfy, the sound proofing between walls was fantastic which gave my husband and I the best two nights sleep of the entire trip. It was in a great location by the lake and close to markets and local restaurants. We wish that we would have spent three nights in this hotel instead of staying in Yangshuo for a single night as we had to re-pack our bags for one night, load them onto the bus and check-out to go to a worse hotel.

Although Yangshuo is a must see and provided great photo opportunities, the hotel was horrible. The staff were friendly and helpful but the rooms were outdated and gross. It appears that there were other hotels in the area (and near the New Century Hotel) that were of higher quality and we would have gladly paid extra to stay at these hotels if going back to Guilin for the last night was not an option.

From the moment my husband and I first inquired about the trip to the day we departed China, we were provided with exceptional service from your staff. Responses to our emails were received within a couple of hours and questions were always answered thoroughly. All three of our local guides were knowledgeable, spoke both English and Chinese fluently and were very personable. We can still not get over the value we received for the nine day tour. The food was fantastic, the nightly shows captured the culture and heritage of the region and the smaller group size allowed us to cut down on costs but still experience the country with a great group of people from all over the world. The attractions visited were awe-inspiring and at each site we were given background information about the location and adequate time to look around on our own and take pictures. By having three local guides as compared to one guide for the entire trip, you learn a lot more about the region and daily life for its residence. We highly recommend participating in yours and plan to use your services again in the future.

Thank you once again for your time, we had a fantastic trip and cannot stop thinking/talking about it. We look forward to using your services in the future.

The Gustafson Family, Canada