A reputable China tour operator & China travel agency from 1987
Tourist nationality: Australia
Tour itinerary: Guangzhou- Beijing- Xian- Zhangjiajie-Jiuzhaigou- Chengdu- Guilin
Tour Reviews:
Hello Sunny,
Thank you for your email and welcome home. We had a wonderful trip to China! All the arrangements worked very well with only a few minor delays due in part to conditions beyond our, or your, control.
1. The flight to Guangzhou was very good. Security was VERY slow and a bit disorganised. At the terminal we and the Redferns had some difficulty getting from the International terminal to the Domestic terminal for our flight to Beijing. We couldn't find any signs and the terminal employees we asked didn't explain clearly. We couldn't speak Chinese and they couldn't speak English. We got there in time with a bit of luck and a trolley car ride.
2. We met our Beijing guide easily. He was very good and we got on very well. He looked after us with some extra suggestions and we went to the Beijing Opera and a Kung Fu performance by the Shaolin Monks. They were excellent. We gave the guide the full tip suggested but he wanted us to separate it into the driver's tip and his. We did this in a bit of a rush at the station. By the way, he thought the itinerary for our whole trip was excellent and complimented the 'Chinese person' who organised it. Hotel quite good.
3. The train trip to Xi'an was also very good. Our twin berth sleeper was comfortable enough with a good vacuum-flush style private toilet.
4. Meeting our guide was a problem for about 25 minutes. There were thousands of people around and our mobiles didn't work in China. We forgot to check before we left Australia. I found him eventually and we went to our hotel straight away which was good. We had a shower and change of clothes. All other arrangements in Xi'an went very well. Hotel very good.
5. Our guide delivered us to the airport and he helped us check in. Our flight to Zhangjiajie was delayed one hour but we arrived safely.
6. At Zhangjiajie airport we arrived at the same time as Eric & Pauline Khu and their group so we we didn't have to go looking for anyone. We met our guide and set off for the hotel which was quite good. All planned activities went well and we loved the fantastic scenery.
You might have reports from other travellers in our group so I will only comment on a few more things:
7. Our guide in Jiuzhaigou was not as informative as the others but he was very polite and helpful. Maybe he thought we knew more than we did because we had some Mandarin speakers in the big group.
8. Our guide in Chengdu was full of interesting bits of information and stories. The giant pandas were very entertaining with one being especially active like a little boy playing in a park.
9. We had some older people in our big group and the walk from the boat pier to the Yangshuo hotel was too long and took over 30 minutes, not 15 minutes as we were told. We told the guide but she had been given the wrong information.
10. When we were leaving the hotel in Guilin we had a small difficulty explaining to our guide we wanted to check our luggage through to Sydney. At the airport the check in was extremely slow. We stood for 2 hours to check in our luggage!
However, we were able check it through to Sydney and it was there when we landed safe and happy with the whole experience.
11. Hotels were generally quite good and meals were better quality than we expected and certainly plentiful.
Thank you once again for your assistance in making our trip so enjoyable.
Best wishes,
John & Carolyn
