Testimonial

Hi Candy,

So we decided that we would explore Northern China the week before Chinese New Year, reasons for this.....well crowds for one. Surely things would be much quieter during this week and that means for me......more relaxing. Living in the craziness of Shanghai this is an important criteria when choosing a destination. So it was decided we will spend 4 days in Beijing and then take a chance and try the overnight train from BJ to Harbin for the Ice Festival.
 
So arriving in BJ we were met by Stephanie who was to be our guide for 1 of the 4 days we were in BJ. She was very knowledgeable about BJ and gave us lots of interesting information on the ride from the airport to our hotel......we had a snowboard on our laps as we had a little too much luggage hehe. We arrived at the hotel and it looked pretty good, low-rise but with a nice reception and friendly staff. We were on a winner :) We checked in and said goodbye to Stephanie, we would be seeing her the next day for the one tour we were taking with here. We wandered outside and thought we would get acquainted with the area around our hotel, we were next to Tiananmen Square which was fantastic. We strolled though the parks and ended up at the entry to Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City, it was amazing to see. After all these years seeing it on TV and hearing about this place here we were standing out the front gates. Even though we have been living in China it was still a great feeling to be standing near such a famous set of buildings. From here we went onto the main shopping street, had a look around and then got a cab to Sandliton Bar Street for some drinks.
 
An early start the following day as we were picked up at 8am by Stephanie and our driver, today was a busy day. Temple of Heaven in the morning and The Great Wall in the afternoon. My initial impression was we would be in and out of the Temple quickly, my experience of temples in other countries is that they are small and a little boring. Man, was I wrong. The Temple of Heaven was ENORMOUS and amazingly beautiful....we spent all morning there, wandering around, listening to the history from Stephanie who was great. We took literally hundreds of photos and made our way outside the temple and played with some of the locals with their bats and balls and played their kicking game with the feather things (not sure what they are called). Fair to say we were very tired after this, we had not even left for the Great Wall and we were already needing a sleep! We had an hour long car drive to the restaurant for lunch and after going to the wrong restaurant we wandered around the corner and found 'The orchard' funnily enough in a fruit orchard which is where we would be eating. The restaurant was spectacular, a buffet lunch was offered and the food was amazing. Full cooked salmon, amazing desserts, salads, western and Chinese foods as far as the eye could see. We had only an hour so we ate as much as we could as fast as we could before our big trek over the Great Wall. From here we had about 45 minutes to the wall, it was a nice drive, little traffic and seemed to go quite fast. Living in Shanghai it was nice to see mountains again. We finally arrived and I must say we were very excited, the Great Wall......Yayyyyyy!!! We took the cable car to the top and were left there by Stephanie who waited for us in the car, we chose to take the more challenging route and reflecting back maybe the wrong one. It was STEEP, some parts were almost vertical but the views were unbelievable. The best part is there were virtually no other people on the wall, we had this amazing structure and the miles of mountains around us all to ourselves. After walking for a few hours our legs told us it was time to head back and relax on the drive home.
 
Day 3 is a relaxing day.....yesterday was very tiring and I have the feeling this holiday wont be relaxing as there is so much to see and do in such a short time. We were up early again, onto the subway and zooming off into the Olympic Green area. Seeing this on TV made us want to see it in person. It was fun to see the size of the buildings and see them up close. From there we got a Taxi to other parts of BJ to do some shopping and have lunch etc. Finally we headed for the CBD to see the CCTV building which is an amazing piece of architecture. Hot Pot for dinner and into bed!
 
Our last Day in BJ and it was off to the Forbidden City. We did not use Stephanie for this tour, we used to self guide headsets which can be hired at the Forbidden City, in actual fact they are great little devices that give background on the entire Forbidden City. They use GPS technology and depending where you go they will talk about that part of the Palace. The Forbidden City is huge, apparently 9,999 rooms.....obviously I did not try and count them but by the end of the walk I was very sore and tired. There were a lot of people here, lots of school groups which added to the excitement. I preferred the Temple of Heaven but again it was a fantastic experience walking though the various areas and seeing how the people lived back when it was occupied. We jumped in a motorized Rickshaw and went back to our hotel via the Hutongs which was actually cheaper than a taxi....Bonus!!

Now it was time to relax before we were to be picked up by Stephanie and taken to the BJ Train Station for the next part of the adventure. We waiting in the station for 2 hours, we chatted to a Chinese girl who was heading to see her boyfriend for Chinese New Year. We almost missed our boarding time until she mentioned we better go haha. So on we went, carriage 3 was ours in the soft sleeper section, I personally had never been on a sleeping train hence why we decided to take this up to Harbin. We found our room , which we were sharing with another young couple.....we dropped our things and headed to the restaurant carriage for some food and to get some space.....the rooms are tiny!! We settled into our bunks and listened to music until we turned the lights off at about midnight. Sleeping was actually quite nice on the train, the rocking movement made it easy to sleep and it was very quiet. Before we knew it a yelling voice indicated we had arrived in Harbin, a quick check of the watch and it was 7am with snow on the tracks. Its going to be Cold!!!
 
Off the train we found a taxi and made our way to the hotel which was right in the middle of the city on the river. Perfect position to explore the city....initial impressions were that it was not like other Chinese cities, the Russian influence gave it a much different feel. Taking of feeling, we could not feel anything because of the cold, we had to buy more clothes, boots, more gloves, more hats haha.

Our time in Harbin was much more relaxed, we had 3 days here. The highlight was the Snow and Ice Festival, it is hard to imagine people can create these things with snow and ice.........the only problem with the Snow and Ice Festival is it is away from town and there are very few taxis there. We found it best to pay a taxi to wait for you or to go with  bus group, that way you save yourself the pain of trying to get home, ordinarily not a major problem but in the -20 degree cold it can be a challenge (not that we had to). Harbin at this time of year is a winter wonderland, there is a lot to do over the course of 3-4 days although I think this was long enough for us.......we left before we were bored. We ate Russian food for the entire time, it was delicious, cheap and something new for us.
 
The final part of our Harbin trip was to head to Yabuli for 2 nights, the drive was 3.5 hours due to the icy roads, this was made bearable by the nice car our driver had. Once we arrived at Yabuli it was pitch black, we arrived at our hotel........not sure it was a hotel, more like a hostel that University students were running and living in as they were working on the mountain over the holidays. It was a challenging part of the trip as very little English was spoken, there were no lights in the area and no one knew where to buy lift tickets for the mountain. Fiona who organized the Yabuli part of the trip came up in the morning and took us to get lift tickets, the problem was the lifts were not working because of the wind. Great I thought.....all this  way and we cant even Ski. We eventually went up and down the beginners run which was boring after a few runs and waiting for the main lift to open. By midday we had decided we will head back to Harbin for the night rather than stay another night in Yabuli, just before we left we managed to get one run on the main mountain which was a consolation for the long drive. It was actually quite nice to get back to Harbin, that night and spend one more night enjoying the city.
 
The next day we headed home to Shanghai, overall a fantastic trip, both BJ and Harbin are must visit cities. 
 
Steve

Dear Michael,

I just wanted to thank you again for your excellent service. My entire trip that you helped me plan was wonderful.

Both local guides (Chongqing and Yichang) and drivers were very friendly, knowledgeable, and professional. All of the staff on the cruise ship were also very friendly and professional. This was a great trip, and I felt very confident knowing that all of my arrangements were taken care of, thanks to your continuous professional and friendly communication with me prior to and during the trip. Thank you! I would highly recommend you and your company to anyone who is looking to travel in China. Thanks again!

Best regards,

Holli

Dear Eva,

It took some time to reply on your request because our stay in Shanghai took longer than anticipated and we thus up till now we had no time to evaluate our trip.

First of all let me tell you that it was a real pleasure to meet you in Guilin. It was so nice to meet the person we had only been in contact with through mails.
The evaluation:
 
Overall we rate our trip as fantastic. Your itinery was excellent and we enjoyed every moment. It is very hard to select only one most memorable attraction but we think that the rice-paddies were probably the winners. However the Jangtze cruise was a very good runner up.
 
We were very satisfied about your guides. The absolute topper was Ann in Guilin, who is
the best guide we have ever had on our travel and not only this trip. This lady is a natural who has only the interest of her tourists at heart and realy goes the extra mile. Top !
We would definitely recommend your company to other people, so again overall we were very happy with your services and we will travel with you again in  the future.

Kind regards
Family Steffen

Dear Candy,

Hope you are doing well. Here is my feedback,

the most memorable attraction you visited---The Li River Cruise, for sure.  Also really enjoyed the country side tour. I will never forget it.

most outstanding tour guide and why---Claire.  She was outstanding! She exceeded all my expectations for my tour guide. She is very intelligent and has outstanding knowledge of the area.
 Plus, she adds a very personal touch that made the trip AWESOME. We actually became good friends. I give her all the credit in the world!

the hotel and the meal you enjoyed most---The hotel and meals were great. I espcially enjoyed the meals at McFound. Candy showed me great personal attention. I was fortunate enough to have a nice dinner with Her. I really like the personal touch! Claire and I also had meal there before I left for the airport. It was really good too. Excellent food. (Fried dumplings were awesome and the spicy food was really great! )

I have recommended China Highlights to my some of my friends and colleagues. Some are already talking about making the trip to Guilin.

I really enjoyed my time in China. I hope to return very soon! I would defintely suggest the Li River Cruise its very nice.
I would like to spend extra time in Yangsho area when I return.

Best regards,

John

Hi Candy 

it has been over two and a half months since we returned home from China. Dave received your email regarding our perspectives on our time there and asked me to look after it. However, I was not well and spent some time in hospital and so this has been delayed. Now I am doing super well again. As well, my computer's hard drive broke and had to be sent away to be repaired and so I am just beginning to catch up on all the lost time and relationships, especially those of our time in China.

Candy, I cannot begin to tell you how very much we ALL enjoyed our time in your country. Only the weather could have been better - actually, we should have taken warmer clothes!!! The tour guides were fantastic - we loved them; the only negative was having to say goodbye to them at the end of our time in their city and area.The scenery was fabulous - so different from ours here in Canada. The culture was fascinating - we wished we could have stayed in each place longer to have seen and learned more, to have gotten to know people around us and talked with them, to be able to remember every detail. Our least favorite place was Shanghai - that was because the areas we saw there were very much like here. These are the 'overall thoughts' you asked for and would be true of the experiences of each of us. As I often hear Barbie say and we all agree - 'it was the trip of a lifetime'.

We have many wonderful friends here in Edmonton from China and, a week after we returned, we invited many of them into our home. We had 78 or 80 of them here (I lost count of 'bodies' and ended up counting the shoes at our front door!). Dave showed them about an hour and a half of pictures we had taken and they were excited and so pleased with what we had seen and done, asked many questions, and commented that they had or had not 'been there' or 'done that', Often we heard 'Now we would like to see/do that when we go back to China for a visit'. There were many comments from them that, from their perspective, we had experienced the best tour possible, that they couldn't think of any way we could have done better, unless we were to stay longer so that we could have seen other parts of China as well (especially the areas where they had lived!). We have bought digital picture frames since coming back to Canada. Ours is in our kitchen where we seem to spend a lot of our time; it is wonderful to see our pictures of China over and over, to reminisce and enjoy each scene, to be reminded of all the wonderful things we did, saw and experienced.

Now, to try to answer your actual questions. I will try to answer for each and all of us, drawing my answers from what I have heard them tell others. In a sense, it is like asking someone who loves all ice creams flavors to pick their favorite!

-Most memorable attraction visited: Probably for each of us, different things and places were 'best' but there were some places and things that we all considered wonderful. For Stirling, the mountains and Guilin river trip , the Great Wall, dancers in Lijiang, . For me, Lijiang was the best, because I found the culture there the most fascinating and different from ours. I loved the sights, the sounds, the cultures - in other words, every minute of each day was a constant thrill. For us all, the market that Janice took us to was a highlight, the little national restaurant where we had lunch (we were really cold and the hostess helped us warm up by placing a pan of charcoal by our feet under the table; it was great). For Barb and Dave, the highlight was the balloon ride - and, when Lori, Stirling and I saw the pictures they took, we agreed it was indeed one of the top attractions (weather was perfect for them also). For Genevieve, I think it was the stone forest and Jungjijia – the cloud and mist hanging over and around the mountains thrilled her artistic soul and, though all of us took some amazing pictures, hers were especially good.

Most outstanding tour guide-as in all relationships, different ones of us connnected most closely with different tour guides. They were all very knowledgeable, interesting, and protective, They couldn't have done better in caring for our needs and wishes. The longer the time we spent with each one, the more we loved and appreciated them as we grew to know them better – not only as great tour guides but also very special and wonderful individuals who became our friends. Each one left me with a piece of their heart and it was very difficult for me personally to leave each one of them. We have invited all of them to come to visit us here so that we can show them a bit of our country. Stirling and I have often had people from other countries live with us and we would love to have any and all of our guides do the same! We even got to know some of our drivers quite well and enjoyed them also.

Hotels – they were fabulous. It is difficult to pick a ‘best’ hotel but I think that the one in Lijiung was a highlight – its style, design, and inner court yard seemed tous to be so authentically ‘Chinese’; the dancers in the evening were amazing; we felt like we were living in the middle of all that was so very interesting, wonderful, and different. I think the second choice would be the hotel you gave us in Shanghai – it was far beyond anything we could have imagined. It was fabulous and so special to have the extra ‘sitting room’ - the 6 of us spent a lot of our ‘down time’ there, relaxing, talking about our experiences, etc.

Meals – Candy, we were overwhelmed by the amazing food in all the restaurants. The breakfasts – WOW!! They were unbelievable – so much choice, so tasty, such variety, many things for everyone to enjoy. Stirling doesn’t like too much spice and Dave likes lots – they both were always happy with their breakfast. The guides did a superb job of ordering lunches for us – many wonderful authentic foods to taste, again such variety, and so delicious. We often asked our guides to eat with us but they felt they needed to eat with the driver so he wouldn’t be lonely! Even after they ordered and we received our food, they came back to check to see if all was ok and we were enjoying everything. They would tell us what we were eating and answer any questions we had about the food or the restaurant. We ate what for us was such amazing food; examples are yak, deep fried yak cheese, yak tea, dragon flies, rice in bamboo sticks, pigeon, frogs, and much more. We felt that you put together the perfect combination for meals. It was wonderful to have the breakfasts and most of the lunches; the times when we were on our own, the guides often gave us suggestions and sometimes helped us find a place. Yet there was also an excitement and sense of adventure to choosing our own evening restaurant. So, yes, the meals were perfect.

General suggestions – the only thing we could think about was an English language newspaper whenever it would be possible. We were pleased that there was at least one English language T. V. channel in all hotels, I think. There wasn’t anything we did that wasn’t great. We appreciated the limited shopping but enjoyed the few spots we did go to.

Stirling has already made a DVD that is ready for me to mail to you. He took more than 5 hours of camcorder pictures. We only need your address – I think I have it on the itinerary but please let me know for sure where is the best place to send this. Would you also like some digital pictures? Any time we can be of help in any way, please ask and we will be glad to help. We have all the email addresses of the tour guides except Jenny and Leo. Would you please ask them if it is ok to give their email addresses to us? We would like to send them a copy of the pictures we took when we were with them. It would be great to be able to remain in contact with all of them but they have many people pass through their tours and I know they cannot keep in touch with everyone. But I would at least like to email and thank them for all they did to make our time in China so memorable.

 Candy, we want to extend the same invitation to you that we gave to all our tour guides --- anytime you would like to visit Canada, we would be highly honored to have you come as our guest and show you a bit of our part of the world. Thanks again for all you did to make our trip so fantastic. Who knows – maybe sometime we will come back or you will come here! Sorry this is so long – hope you can understand my ramblings.

 Your friends, Dave, Barb, Genevieve, Lori, Stirling and Ruthie

Jean,

We had a wonderful trip thanks to you and the guides in China.  I can't think of a single issue that we had with respect to the travel arrangements; it was a smooth as silk!  See my comments below.

 Each of the 6 of us would have a different answer to the question of 'What was the most memorable attraction you visited', especially since 3 of us had seen many of the sights before.  Everyone liked Art 789 and the hutongs in Beijing, Wuzhen, Feilaifung in Hangzhou.  The kids liked the Great Wall & Cloisonne factory & Oriental Pearl Tower in Shanghai & Mawangdui in Changsha.  The most controversial was Zhangjiajie, which my husband and kids didn't appreciate very much, but my parents and I did.  My mother liked Prince Gong's palace, but we all would have skipped it.

Lily in Changsha & Zhangjiajie was the most outstanding tour guide because she displayed a lot of heart and caring, especially with my elderly parents.  Her knowledge & English were very strong.  Rainy & Tony were also very good.

Regarding hotels and meals, I think the breakfasts did not have enough Western food for my husband or kids, though my parents and I enjoyed them.  Changsha had the best breakfasts.  For the lunches, 2 out of 3 were excellent.  Hangzhou, Shanghai, Beijing hotel locations were very good.  Only Hangzhou Lakeview Hotel was not great - rooms were very small, cot was uncomfortable. Fu 1008 in Shanghai was best meal we had in China.

Dear Sunny,

Just wanted to let you know we had a wonderful trip and we are now back home in California. The train tour was amazing and all the guides were very nice. We were delighted with each tour and the ease of traveling through China.The trip as a whole was 100% satisfaction. Thank you again for helping to make our dream of visiting China come true!

Our tour was incredible and I would travel with China Highlights again and again.

 The most memorable attraction would have to be the Great Wall. It was so amazing to visit it and actually have time to walk around. Our guide gave us 2 hours of free time which was really great. We had a few other people in our group, but everyone was very nice and we enjoyed meeting people from all over the world.

Hi Jean,

During our trip, the Terracotta Warriors in Xian was the most memorable attraction.

Laura, followed closely by Cristina were the most outstanding tour guide we had in China. They were both enthusiastic, friendly, helpful and very informative. And the driver, Michael, in Beijing was always cheerful and friendly.

The hotels were definitely up to standard. Our favorite was the Sunworld Hotel in Beijing. All of the meals at all of the Restaurants were lovely but I would have to say we enjoyed the Restaurant at the Great Wall the most.

What was particularly pleasing for us was the friendliness of the people. We were welcomed everywhere we went. In Beijing, we had dinner at a restaurant opposite the hotel. The young staff there treated us like movie stars. Having our own guide and driver was wonderful. We were taken to each attraction and given a thorough explanation as well as being given ample time to ourselves to explore. The whole trip was a good mix of time with the guide and free time of our own. And as I said previously, the food in China is delicious.We loved visiting China and hope we can visit again soon.

Thankyou,

Allan & Carmel

Dear Virginia:

Overall my family and I enjoyed the trip to China very much.

The visits to Great Wall, The Forbidden City and Tian'anmen Square are very memorable. We also loved the visits to Bird Nest and Water Cube and Beijing Zoo.  The visits to Lama Temple, Summer Palace & The Garden of Virtue and Harmony were not bad. Hutong Tours in a Rickshaw and paper cut is also Okay.

We enjoyed the Kungfu show very much even though the demonstration of the Kungfu was so limited.  As for the Acrobatic Show, it is good show but the team from China performed at the casino at Mississippi, USA is better.  I guess maybe that was an Early Show of the day.

Your tour guide - Laura is an excellent, professional tour guide.  Her service is very remarkable and unforgettable.  Without Laura, my memory for this trip to China might be very different. The driver is very good and helpful.

The restaurants from your package were very good, especially the one closed by The Forbidden City and Quanjude (Chinese Roast Duck).

I would recommend your company to my friends or colleagues.

Again, my family and I thank you very much for all of your assistance in planning our trip to China.  Please give our regards to Laura and the driver.

I will keep you and your company on my list whenever I will travel to China.

Thank you very much again.  Best Wishes to you.

Tien

Dear Grace,

We returned safely to Hong Kong last night after a very successful trip through China. We know that there is a lot still to be seen and, who knows, maybe we will be back soon. If this is the case, we will definitely contact you and China Highlights.

The trip was well organized and we had no letdowns. The transportation was perfect and the young guides pleasant and knowledgeable. We enjoyed talking to them and finding out about the people life in general and their own lives and aspirations in particular, as well as the history of China and important events that shaped the wonderful country we found.

One suggestion I would like to make, if possible. We were surprised that the guides and the drivers did not sit down with us when we had lunch. It would be pleasant to know them better and lunch is an excellent opportunity to do so. I asked and was told that they are not allowed to sit with the guests.While I can see that some guests might not want to sit together with the guide and driver, we would have and even offered to pay for their lunch.I would like to suggest that this choice is left with the guests and the guide and driver.

Thank you for helping us having a wonderful time in China. We will definitely advertise your company and its good services to all our friends and acquaintances.

Best regards.

Irene, Serge and Andrew