A reputable China tour operator & China travel agency from 1987
Tourist nationality: South Africa
Tour itinerary: Beijing-Xian-Guilin-Yangtze River- Shanghai
Tour Reviews:
Dear Eric,
During our stay in Beijing, we saw the Forbidden City with its myriad of buildings; Tiananmen Square, The Temple of Heaven and the Summer Palace were also spectacular. When we arrived at the Temple of heaven, it was the morning, so we witnessed all the retired and middle aged citizens playing games and exercising in the surrounding grounds of the temple.
Bruce & Jean
Our second full day, started with the 50km drive to the Great Wall. It was so humid and so crowded, when we got there, but it was still a great experience to be able to walk on this amazing structure. We both never in our wildest dreams ever imagined that we would find ourselves here. We were then taken to a Cloisinne factory, where the famous Chinese pottery is manufactured. The afternoon saw us taken to see the birds’ nest stadium and water cube arena of the Beijing 2008 Olympics and the Hutong Market. At the Hutong Market, we found ourselves taking a rickshaw ride around the area, which was nice. Generally the Hutong market is really pretty and lots of foreigners visit the area. Our day ended with our attendance at the famous Peking Opera, which was a great experience.
On our final day in Beijing, we had a free day, where we could do what we liked. We decided to go to the Beijing Zoo to see the Giant Pandas. We enjoyed this greatly and even went on a boat ride through the Zoo surrounds. Our second stop on our free day was the Silk Market. The Silk Market was quite an experience in that the sellers just do not leave you alone, no matter what you say. Bargaining is expected here, so we got some good deals.
On the evening of the 8th August, we left on the overnight train to Xian (China’s old capital city). We had to share a cabin, as all cabins accommodate 4 people. It was a nice experience overall. We arrived the next morning and we met with Chris our second guide. She took us to our hotel, and then proceeded to show us around the old city. Xian is much less populated, but still rather crowded. Our first day saw us visiting the Wild Goose Pagoda and the Historical museum of the area, both very interesting. Our second day we visited the long–awaited Terra Cotta Army. This, like the Great Wall, was one of those “wildest dreams” experiences. The army is housed in three separate buildings. While we were there, we saw people working and restoring recently uncovered artifacts, which was interesting to observe. The day ended with a visit to the best preserved example of an ancient city defense system, the Xian city wall, and the Shuyuanmen cultural street. We were able to walk on top and along the wall, and we could see the difference between the new city outside the wall, and the old part of the city situated within the wall. The cultural street was very similar to the Silk Market. In the evening we attended the dumpling banquet and show, where the chefs cook dumplings with various fillings. The show was spectacular with traditional dancing and music routines and stunning costumes.
The next day, August 11th, saw us flying to Guilin, which we enjoyed the most out of the entire trip, not just for the beauty of the area, but also the vibe that the city has, and the great people that we met. The name “Guilin” means “forest of sweet Osmanthus” due to the large number of Osmanthus trees in the city. Our tour guide’s name was Julie, whom we became good friends with in a short space of time, so we were sad to say goodbye to her when we left.
We first visited the Reed flute cave. It was so beautiful. They had set up coloured lights throughout the cave, and this made the overall effect spectacular. We then proceeded to the pearl museum/factory shop, where we were shown how pearls are extracted from the oyster, and of course Jeanne had to buy some black pearls at the factory shop.
In the afternoon, we were taken to the Tea institute, where we got to wear traditional Chinese headgear and see for ourselves how the tea leaves are processed and also take part in a traditional Chinese tea ceremony. In the evening we took a boat ride through Guilin’s lakes and rivers and were treated with lights on the river banks ands various shows as we floated by.
Our second full day in Guilin saw us take a full day boat trip down the Li River, to fully experience the natural beauty of the area. It is the kind of landscape that you see in Chinese paintings, so the scenery was spectacular. The boat trip ended in a quaint town called Yangshou. If we ever lived in China, then Guilin would be the place. It really was the highlight of our tour.
From Guilin, we flew to Chongginn, which was to be the city that we departed for the Yangste River Cruise. We spent about 4 hours in the city, being shown around by Peter, our guide for the area. We were taken to see the old part of town, with its traditional old buildings, which sadly was due to be torn down shortly in the name of progress, and Eling Park, which has pretty streams and flowers, generally a peaceful place to walk.
At about 4pm, we were taken to the cruise ship to get settled in. We were told that sailing time was 10pm, so we had time to kill. We spent this time relaxing in the cabin and walking around and exploring the ship. The ship itself was quite nice; it had a pool, gym, cigar bar, dining room, ballroom etc. All cabins were equipped with en suite bathroom, flat screen TV and private balcony. We departed promptly at 10 pm and Jeanne and I sat on our private balcony watching the lovely lights of the City of Chongching. We sat watching the goings on for about 2 hours. It is amazing how much work still occurs all along the river bank at that time of night. The next morning, we were at the Fengdu Ghost City. It was an interesting place to visit, but one where we are happy not to visit again. Back on board ship, we were given refreshment towels and tea as we boarded. We soon set sail again.
Our cruise lasted a total of 3 days, and during those three days we experienced beautiful scenery, from the three gorges that we passed through. The experience of sailing through the 5 ship lock system was an interesting experience, one that takes about 4 hours to get through. On our final day of the cruise, we had an excursion to the dam itself, and got to see the enormous structure in the daytime. Wow, it really is something to see.
We were in Shanghai for two and a half days, and in that time visited the Jade buddah temple and Yuyuan Gardens, the Bund and Nanjing Road. It was all very pretty and seeing the amazing Shanghai skyline was really special. On the evening of our final night in China, we went to a Chinese acrobat show; we were treated to motorbike cage riding, plate balancing and amazing feats of human flexibility for about 90 minutes.
Overall, our tour was excellent; the guides were pleasant, very knowledgeable and professional. It was great to have your own private guide, going at your own pace and ready to answer all questions and queries at the drop of a hat. The timing for most of the excursions was excellent, except we felt that we could have stayed a little longer on the Great Wall, as there is so much to see. A nice touch was being able to meet our tour organizer who took time out of his day to meet us at the hotel. Hotel accommodations were great too. We would not hesitate to recommend this tour company to all we meet.
