2012-08-15 Jennifer Frederick from USA

Tourist nationality: USA

Tour itinerary: Beijing – Xian – Guilin – Chongqing – Yangtze River Cruise – Yichang – Shanghai

Tour Reviews:

Hi, Cynthia,

Thanks for putting together a wonderful tour for us. My parents, husband and I had an amazing trip in China. We learned a lot and feel enriched by our experiences. We would gladly serve as a reference for other customers, and you can post comments on the website. 

I will be writing a review on tripadvisor soon. I will give China Connection a 4/5 (very good) and explain the many many good things we experienced, but just quickly mention that some of our guides were not as knowledgeable or understandable as we expected them to be. 

I wrote a much more detailed review of our trip for you here—thoughts we had about our guides, drivers, hotels, etc. I hope this helps you to make China Connection an even better service. And if anyone I know plans a trip to China, I will surely recommend they travel with you!

Beijing

Guide: Amanda

Amanda was very friendly toward us, answering lots of questions, recommending restaurants for our dinners, talking to us in the car about Beijing, China, or herself. She knew lots of facts about the places we visited. David and I were so happy to see her at 3am when we finally arrived in Beijing!

Let me stress that Amanda was a really nice guide. She was kind to us and watched out for us. She seemed to genuinely enjoy her work and was proud of the city. We liked her personally as well as professionally.

Driver: name unknown

I wish we knew the driver's name; he was great. His van was extremely clean and comfortable—the best van of all. He was very kind to us. He bought us peaches from a roadside farm stand—how nice! 

Sites

The Forbidden City, Summer Palace, and Great Wall were the best sites. The hutong was interesting, although we didn't actually see or do much there (we only saw one doorway and went into one private home). The Temple of Heaven felt unnecessary after the Forbidden City—we didn't learn much new there, and it was very hot. The Lama Temple was beautiful.

Hotel

Good rooms and breakfast. There was a lot of confusion about wireless internet. Some desk managers said we had to pay for access; other desk managers said there was free wifi in the lobby. 

Xian

Guide: Tina

Tina was an adequate guide. Her pronunciation was very good. She was willing to share personal details with us (birthday, family), which was interesting for us. She answered our questions about China and Xian when we asked, but she didn’t share as much information as Amanda had.

Driver: name unknown

Our driver was more reserved than our Beijing driver. His van was nice because it had two exits from the back.

Sites

The Terracotta Army was actually a little disappointing. I thought we would be closer to the army, or that we would see scientists working. 

The Big Wild Goose Pagoda was not impressive. We just walked around it.

The History Museum was wonderful, although extremely crowded. I enjoyed my time there.

The City Wall was too hot to enjoy. We just walked a bit in the sun. 

The Great Mosque and Moslem Street were okay, but I was interested in the history of Islam in China, which Tina didn't know much about.

The dumpling dinner and Tang dynasty show was certainly the highlight of Xian. The food was interesting and the show was fantastic.

Overall, I wish we had seen the terracotta army, history museum, and Tang dynasty show in 1 day and then flown to Guilin early the next morning. Guilin was much more interesting to me.

Hotel

The lobby was amazing, but the room looked a bit old. The breakfast was okay.

Guilin

Guide: Fung Yen Hua (Eva)

We loved Eva! She was our favorite guide! She was enthusiastic about her job and knew lots of interesting information. She was very personable—she knew all our names—the ONLY guide who took the time to remember our names! We felt very comfortable with her. She was good with the time, letting us stay at the places we liked for a long time (Reed Flute Cave, for example), and letting us hurry through the places we didn't like (West Street). She gave us a fascinating tour of the countryside in Yangshuo, which was the highlight of the whole China trip. She was fantastic!

Driver: Mr. Dong

Professional and courteous. 

Sites

We wished we had more time in the evening in Guilin, but we had spent most of the day in Xian—too bad! 

The Li River cruise was lovely, although the food was not so good. I ate some food that I had brought myself and went up on the top deck. I had the whole deck to myself—everyone else was eating lunch—and the scenery was great. I really recommend skipping lunch and enjoying the sites!

Yangshuo Town and West Street were not that interesting for us, because we don't really like shopping. I wish we could have gone biking in the countryside, but there was an afternoon rain storm that made it impossible. Oh, well.

The Impression of Sister Liu Sanji was a great show. However, we didn't understand the story until afterwards, when Eva explained it to us. I wish she had told us the story BEFORE we saw the light show, as it would have made much more sense!

Our tuk-tuk tour in the countryside, led by Eva, was the highlight of the trip. We really enjoyed the great natural beauty and the chance to watch farmers, speak to farmers, and work with farmers. Wow!

Eva took us to a tea farm, which was the best factory visit of the whole trip. We really enjoy drinking tea, so it was something we were quite interested in. And Eva was great about asking us if we wanted to go, unlike some of the other guides, who just took us to factories without knowing our interests.

Hotels

The hotel in Guilin was fine. The breakfast was not so good, but we could find something to eat.

Chongqing

Guide: Michael

Michael's pronunciation was excellent, and he was very knowledgeable about his city. 

I think China Connection should offer some indoor activities for this day, or, if possible, give guests a later arrival into Chongqing so that a transfer to the cruise is the only activity. I saw online that there is a museum about the Three Gorges Dam; I think we would have preferred to see that rather than the zoo, and of course we LOVED Guilin and would have gladly had extra time there. But I cannot blame our poor impression of Chongqing all on the heat.

Sites

The zoo animals were hot, too. Most of them stayed in their homes, so we could not see pandas. I think the zoo is not a good site to visit in the summer, unless there are children on the tour.

Yangtze River Cruise

We enjoyed the river cruise tremendously. The Victoria Jenna staff was fantastic, answering many questions and providing us with wonderful service. We loved this part of the trip. 

Yichang

Guide: Peter

Peter spoke English very well and was quite willing to tell us about Yichang and China. We liked him a lot, although we didn't stay with him very long. We had a little problem at the airport—only my husband and I had airline tickets to Shanghai, the airline had nothing for my parents—and Peter handled the situation well. We were grateful to him.

Shanghai

Guide: Andy

Andy spoke English very well. He was very kind to us. For example, he gave us his cell phone number in case we needed to contact him from our hotel or in case we got separated. As another example, he called me while I was at the airport, leaving Shanghai, because he wanted to apologize for forgetting to take my postcards and mail them for me. I had forgotten, too, so there was no need to apologize, but he found a way to get in touch with me and offer his apology. What a wonderful person! He was friendly and interesting to talk to. He clearly enjoyed showing us around his city. He was willing to talk about anything and had a natural way of interacting with us that made us quite comfortable. We really liked him.

Sites

We really loved the Shanghai Museum, Yuyuan Garden, and the Bund. Unfortunately, Andy didn't know us very well, so he pushed us quickly through those wonderful places and then we had several hours on Nanjing Road. Since we don't really enjoy shopping, we were a bit bored. Andy was really apologetic and said he wished he had allowed for more time at the museum.

Hotel

The hotel was lovely, with nice access to the mall for dinner and great breakfast food.

I hope this feedback is helpful to you. We are grateful for your work on our behalf, and wish China Connection more success in the future!

Sincerely,

Jenny Frederick