05-08 Kim K. from USA

Tourist nationality: USA

Tour itinerary: 14-day Shanghai/ Suzhou/ Xian/ Jiayuguan/ Dunhuang/ Lanzhou/ Chengdu/ Hong Kong tour

Tour Reviews:

Hi Vivien,

We had a fabulous time! Our highlight, of course, was meeting you who made it all possible. Thanks for taking care of our luggage. We had a similar problem in Jiahuang, but Merry, or May, our guide arranged transport for our big suitcases. She also ha a colleague get them to the train for us and they both helped us getting them on the train which required going down 2 flights of stairs and up 2 others. Normally, we pride ourselves on bringing only what we can handle, but all the shopping in China loaded us up rather quickly. 

All of our guides were wonderful! They could not have been more helpful or more informative. Our restaurants were great as were our hotels with the exception of the one in Jiahuang-4stars?? That said, we understand it was the best the city had to offer and seeing the fort and wall was certainly worth it! One of my favorite stories is getting a call from you as we were driving along the Gobi desert! I guess China doesn't have any "dead zones" for cell service as we do here.

I wish we had done 2 things differently-our fault, not yours. I wish we had spent another night in Dunhuang. That hotel was fabulous and the city looked like a lot of fun. 

The luckiest thing was the Olympic torch came to HK Fri. morning! We were kind of "prisoners" in our hotel as the crowds were huge!. However, if I'm ever going to be a prisoner, I can't think of a better place than the Peninsula-considered for decades to be the best hotel in the world!

The torch relay began just across the street. We got to view it from the 2nd floor restaurant drinking coffee from a silver pot-definitely the most comfortable and best viewing and picture taking location in the world!! And, here it was the first time the torch was on Chinese soil!! How amazing is that?

Oh, then there's the TV interview in Dunhuang...We got up that morning, didn't bother to shower or apply make up as we were going camel riding and sand surfing. So, rode the camels, surfed down with surgical masks on our faces, get to the bottom and the local TV station-reporter and cameraman have asked our guide if they could interview me. Looking my finest???, why not? So I believe I was on TV Sat night in Dunhuang!! Here's how it went-Q-How do you like Dunhuang? A-I like it very much! Q-Will you come back again? A-Well it's a very long way to come. Q-Do you know the torch is coming here? A-Yes. Q-Do you have any ideas what we should do special when the torch come? A-I don't know, parade, party, it's up to the city. Q-Do you think it should come to Dunhuang? A- Why not? It's China! Wish I could find a copy of my lovely interview-don't think I've ever looked worse, but it makes a great story.

I hope all is well with you! Thank you for the thousandth time for planning such a great vacation for us. Please feel free to use us as a reference anytime! I will forward some pictures when I get organized. This could take some time.

We think of you fondly,

Kim