Testimonial

Dear Sunny,

Thanks for all you did to organise our wonderful holiday. It was lovely meeting you at the end … it rounded it off so well – and we felt good that you were interested in how we felt about everything.

I attach my account of our time with China Highlights. We have not yet processed our photos, but I’ll send them later.

Yours,

Jo Calder-Potts

Our Holiday in China. 1-12 February 2009.

6am First of February 2009 found us at Shenzhen airport, clutching folder, passports and bags, waiting for the desks to open. Shenzhen is the Chinese town at the border with Hong Kong, from where we had come by train. We were travelling as a group of 3, my husband Peter and I, and my son George who is 23, and is teaching English in a town near Shenzhen … it was his urging that prompted the trip to coincide with his school holidays during the Chinese Spring Festival.

We had booked an online holiday with China Highlights, and had run the course owing to the professional way they handled our enquiries and changes. After much mind-changing and tweaking (my nephew had warned against the cold in Beijing) we settled on a trip which would take us to Chengdu in Sichuan province, Lijiang in Yunan, and Guilin of scenic beauty, and back to Shenzhen. Nevertheless – this wasn’t sitting at my familiar pc at home – this was reality …. Would they come up with the goods? I had religiously printed out the itinerary and details supplied by Sunny, our agent at China Highlights.

The desk clerk looked at the folder, then took our passports and confirmed that we were on the Chengdu flight at 8am. We were through!  Shenzhen airport – and all the airports we saw in China – is new and clean and shiny, and very spacious. We were called on time, and after a comfortable flight with Air China we reached Chengdu.

Chengdu is an historic city in the Sichuan province in south west central China. We were going there because my son wished to go – Sichuan is famed for its spicy food and tea-houses – and because it is the home of the pandas.

Michelle our guide awaited us at the barrier waving a card with my name on it. She introduced herself and escorted us to the car where we met out driver. (At all stops we were given a seven seater vehicle to ourselves. Transport was always clean and comfortable. Drivers all had us feeling safe, and helped with our bags. We had the same car and driver for the duration in each town) We briefly discussed the itinerary – we had 4 places scheduled for that day, but the weather was a little dreary and we were tired, so we agreed to rest first, and defer one activity to the final day (we found that all our guides were very flexible within reason) and our scheduled lunch became a dinner (we had breakfast and lunch in the price on most days).

So after settling at our comfortable 3* hotel, we set off. That day we saw Dufu’s cottage, a museum, and Jinli Street. All placed us into traditional China – though I confess to have got very muddled by references to their different dynasties … I found a page in my phrase-book which dated the dynasties, and that helped. We saw statues and paintings and roofs with curly ends and animals on the ridges. We learned about the multiple structures of buildings, and were lucky to hear a Chinese orchestra. All places had New Year decorations in place. Jinli Street was great fun – market stalls selling all sorts of delicacies – we had a walking and snacking lunch – excellent, and cheap. We then rested up in a tea house – an expensive but memorable experience.

The next day Peter and I had a rest day while George went skiing. He had fun and so did we, wondering around central Chengdu at will. And enjoying Starbucks coffee!

The final day we went to see the Panda Breeding Station – a great experience, and a good healthy walk – the place is huge! With everything you ever need to know about pandas, including a museum and a movie. After lunch by our request we went to see a Brocade and embroidery museum/shop – we could have watched the man at the ancient loom all day. And the silks were fascinating. Then we went on to our final destination – a park beside the river, with a pagoda and statues, and many different types of bamboo.

That evening we said farewell to Michelle and our driver and flew to Lijiang in Yunan, southwest China, near the Tibetan border.

At Lijiang we were met by Louise who is a member of the local Naixi Minority (we learned much of the minorities during our time in China). She could not tell us enough about them! I am a little deaf and struggled to understand her, but my son is used to accents, and speaks rudimentary Chinese, and acted as interpreter. We were driven to Lijiang old town and to our comfortable and traditionally built hotel where we spent the next three nights. Old town is beautifully reconstructed – the oldest city in China to have survived the cultural revolution – but oh so full of tourists! And all the shops sell knickknacks for tourists – the few squares were a welcome relief from the press of bodies.

The next day was lovely - we visited a high meadow and saw the highest peak in China – Jade Mountain – and museums and monasteries. Lovely outdoor walks and splendid scenery, an ancient magnolia tree which was just coming into blossom – and a ride in a cable car!

The following day we walked through lovely riverside  parks in town, and were exposed to more minority culture at the Dumba Museum. Lunch was spoiled by loud Karioke music thumping out of the next restaurant. That afternoon we opted out of the city walk as there were too many people. I do not recommend beautiful Lijiang during Chinese spring festival.

We Left Lijiang and flew to Kunming where we were to catch a train. At Kunming we were met by Joe, who took us to a restaurant for lunch, and then a lovely walk round the fascinating back-streets and markets of Kunming. We were taken to the train station – very modern and more like an airport – and right to our compartment! Full marks to China Highlights for arranging all transfers.

The train journey was comfortable and fun – and there was enough of a moon to see by. We must have gone through mountains as we spent a lot of time in tunnels!

Our final destination was Guilin (with Jenny as guide) – a beautiful City with wide roads, parks and waterways, surrounded by and encircling the steep humpy mountains of the area. We had a night there, then a cruise down the Li river to Yangshuo for a night – where we did Kung fu, tai chi and went cycling! as well as walking round the lovely town and markets. We were driven back to Guilin for another 2 nights where we saw parks and lakes and Pagodas and did an extra tour – a night-time cruise round the lit city lakes – which was well worth the extra money. Guilin town certainly has done a lot to show itself off! There were even two different stages on the lake, performing Chinese Opera.

Son George flew back to Shenshen on the 10th to resume his teaching – the guide, Jenny, once more accommodated us and we went to the airport to see him off – we have no clue when we’ll see him again. Our scheduled tours were redistributed to accommodate this change.

Pete and I had a rest day at the end – Jenny arranged for us to keep our hotel room until 3pm on the last day, then took us to the Reed Flute Cave (fascinating, well lit cave but alas no more reed flutes on sale) visit a park and then we had a leisurely supper prior to catching the overnight train back to Shanzhen that evening. For the last time our China Highlights guides placed their charges onto a scheduled carrier. Jenny was our most mature and experienced guide and had empathy. Full marks to her, and to Mr Lucky our driver, for giving us a wonderful time in Guilin.

The whole trip went smoothly. Hotels were comfortable. Once we were in the rhythm we had few worries. We left all our bags and valuables in the car with peace of mind. At no time did we feel threatened or unsafe in China. A holiday to remember.

Oh – before we caught our train that last day we were taken to meet Sunny Xie (pronounced “sheer”) at the China Highlights Head Office in Guilin. What a charming lady! With really good English. She was interested in our comments, and we were each presented with a traditionally woven Bouquet Garni to remember our tour by. As if we could forget!

Hi Karen,

Thanks for organising such a wonderful trip for us. It is real hard for me to pick between the Li River tour and the Three Gorges for which one is the best. because they were both amazing and the boats were fantastic. We also saw the show on the water in YangSuo ... all were outstanding.

Meanwhile, please forgive me that I refuse to pick between Mark (GuiLin) and David (Chongqing) as both had their own style. We spent more time with Mark who was so careful. He fretted when I stayed in the boat on the Li River tour, wanting to make sure I missed nothing. I was have a wonderful time sitting the best seat in the boat (thanks to his getting us there early) and drinking local wine and tea. I felt like a princess. He ran between me and my husband to make sure we both got the information. David is very energetic and marched us through our short time in his town like an expert. I really felt I got to know the city a little -- he is very proud of his city and the accomplishements. Later I learned that the former mayor of Dalian was now in charge of the area. Both were excellent and flexible ... we are slow tour people and neither got frustrated wtih us. It was such fun.

The accommodations and meals were great. I loved the water view in Guilin (Guilin Osmanthus Hotel) -- we could watch the lights come on and sparkle on the water. People were still firing off rockets. This was memorable. The hotel is Yangsuo (Aiyuan Hotel) was very well placed for a half day walk-about. The nicest was the Howard Johnson in Chongqing, but we only slept there and didn't even have the wonderful breakfast. All the beds were too hard for my liking, but I have been in China long enough to know that is standard.

Finally, we will definitely recommend you, and I will contact you personally the next time I have a chance to travel. We had excellent guides, good transportation and drivers, clean and attractive hotels and a variety of dishes. It was nice to be met and not have to worry about getting around an airport to find our way to the city, to be taken to the front of the line at some attractions, and to be able to ask all the questions I wanted. I especially appreciated how you, Karen, were able to communicate the changes in airlines and cruise ship. Timely, professional and helpful. For your information, be sure you ask the guide about the local food. The pre-ordered food is what foreigners like, but you miss an experience if you don't try more. I loved the river snails ... and shared them with some other foreigners who were in the restaurant (sissys wouldn't even try). The beer fish (had it twice) was worth the little extra. Also, buy books from the locals at the front gates of the attractions. They are much cheaper and you are helping a family when you do.

Thanks again,
Karen

Dear Karen,

Thanks for organising our travel to Beijing and Xian. The Great Wall at Mutianyu is the most memorable part, and Jeff in Beijing was an absolute pleasure – very knowledgeable, spoke wonderful English and is very friendly and outgoing. Our driver was also a lovely man. We book our own hotel at Xian, however, Crowne Plaza in Beijing you referred was excellent.

With such a pleasant journey, I certainly would highly recommend your company.

Best Wishes,
Sharon

Nancy,

We just want to tell you how delighted we all were that we found you. Jonathan, the young and charming guide was both knowledgeable and extremely helpful and considerate. All through the 2 days he was with us, he never forgot that Audrey (Our Australian friend) and I needed help up steps etc--there he was with his hand held out.

It was so nice not to have to go with the flow of an organised tour, and greatly added to our enjoyment of Beijing, and all it`s incredible wonders. We would have no hesitation in commending your company.

Yours sincerely,
Barbara

Michael

We just returned from our China trip. Just a note to let you know how much we appreciated the outstanding service provided by your company. Our driver and guide were first class. Laura provided the best service we have ever received, she was knowledgeable, personable and very friendly. We did not have to worry about a thing from pick up to airport delivery. She stayed with us until we went through security at the airport.

The roses were very beautiful and a wonderful surprise for Valentine's Day. Please use our name as a reference anytime. You will hear from us again if we travel to china.

Gaby

Hi Micheal,

Sorry for not getting back to you quicker,,it's not because our trip wasn't wonderful! Joy was truly a 'joy' and we were so lucky to get her for our guide! Since it was Chinese New Year, I wondered about the quality of guide and driver we would get but I couldn't have been happier!

I know now that hiring a private guide and driver is the best way to travel. Joy was cheerful, very knowledgeable about the sites we visited and the city of Beijing in general, and very accomodating to our needs. She was flexible with our shopping and schedule wants. She suggested a western restaurant and then arranged for our driver Mr. Gao to take us there. Mr. Gao was wonderful as well. Since one of the worst things I find about living in China is the way drivers here drive, I was hoping that our driver wasn't too reckless. Mr. Gao was not at all. He did not speed, did use his signal and was a cautious driver. Both of them should get a raise!!!

We were blessed with mild winter weather and the afternoon at The Great Wall was spectacular with a bright sun. Forbidden City and Temple of Heaven were also crowded with people but Joy directed us wisely. She timed the meals to make the most of the day. Without hesitation I would book another tour with China Highlights. In fact, I am thinking about Xi'An next December..... I also appreciate all the emails back and forth with you Michael to answer ALL of my questions!

Thanks,
Madelaine

Dear Michael,

Lethel and I agree that the Li River and Yu Long River were the highlights. Our tour guide Tony was fine. Nice guy but sings too much, hahaha. He is very knowledgeable about sights to be, etc. Our Hotels were very nice, but perhaps just as nice rooms could be found in cheaper hotels. Your company has reasonable prices and professional staff. I will definitely recommend to the others.

Furthermore, I suggest more time in Guilin, less time in Yangshuo which caters to western tourists. More time interacting with locals and Chinese culture. Less time in pearl shops, caves, and dance shows. More time hiking and seeing natural beauty. Show historical sights, beautiful buildings, landforms and landmarks.

Thank you so much! Guilin and the mountains are very nice to see!


Yours,
Mike

Dear Sunny
 
We did have a wonderful and very memorable trip in China. Thank you so much for all the great organization you did with this trip. You were so helpful and always answered my questions as quickly as possible and with great details. We really appreciate it.
 
It's hard to point one only, but actually the most memorable one was one that was not planned for us with your company, but was suggested by our tour guide, Tao, in Hangzhou: a Chinese opera. Tao suggested it to us, and we bought 4 tickets and it was UNBELIVABLE! Much better than the acrobatic show we saw in Shanghai. We're very grateful for Tao for suggesting it to us.
 
Out of the four tour guide we had, the TWO most outstanding ones were Jenny (Guilin) and Pan (Shangahi). Both tried their best (in different ways) to do everything possible to make our trip the best it can be. They both went FAR BEYOND their duities as tour guides. Jenny worked so hard to help us in any way and did a superb job. I think she can easily take a leading higher job at your company. She has excellent qualities to succeed in a much higher position in your Chinahighlights.com Company.
 
Pan has an absolute wonderful personality and he also did his best and went FAR BEYOND the duties of a tour guide to make it the best trip ever. He was flexible, helped us in any way he could, had great manners, very respectful to us and a wonderful human being. My husband and I thought of Pan and jenny so highly.
 
Tao(Hangzhou) was an excellent tour guide. His strength was KNOWLEDGE. He provided lots og great information.
 
Shelly (Sozhou) was excellent too.
 
If I could grade again all 4 tour guide between 1 and 20, (and not 1 to 5 only, but 5 is still considered as EXCELLENT GRADING) these will be my grades:
 
Shelly: 5 (excellent)
Tao: 8 (above excellent)
Jenny: 20 (and deserve it! much above superior)
Pan: 20 (and deserve it! much above superior)
 
The hotels were great! Bravo in Guilin was wonderful! Lakeview hotel was in great location and had a superb boufett breakfast, but the room needs improvement. The room was just okay. Sozhou I forgot.... sorry... The BEST hotel was in Shanghai, the Bund hotel. The room was so elegant and the service in this hotel was superb. Breakfast was great too.
 
Hereunder are some of my opinions for the China tour.
 
1. All our tour guides chosen for us SUPERB LUNCHES/DINNERS. We loved the Chinese foods.
 
2. I suggest to you to include the opera show in Hangzhou as part of your tour planning. The acrobatics show was a disappointment a little. Only the ending was really exciting and the place was not as impressive and nice as I thought it will be. I versioned much better acrobatics show than what we actually saw. On the other hand, the Opera in hangzhou was amazing! I think this area needs improvement (if possible).
 
3. Great choices of hotels. You may want to look in person in the rooms of the hotels you choose before booking. I do understand that they are many factors in choosing hotels, mostly location is important. Although all of our hotels were 4 stars, they vary a lot in the service they provided, elegance of the room, the breakfast buffet...etc...
 
Between 1 to 5 ratings:
Bund hotel in Shanghai gets 20 points! Bravo gets 15.
 
4. The vehicle we had in Hangzhou was not nice, in my opinion. We had a wonderful vehicle (vans) in all other places. In three locations they were very comfortable with 4 large seats. In Hangzhou we had a large vehicle with narrow seats that should be given to a larger group (that pays less). It had like 12 seats in it. It was noisy and not comfortable, at least not to me. I thought that by us paying a much higher price for being a small group of 4, ALL 4 locations should have had conforatble newer vehicles. Hangzhou was not one of them. This area needs improvement.
 
A note above the drivers:
 
We had a SUPERB driver in Guilin. Outstanding!!! The best! Also in Shangahi the driver was good. The other two drivers were just okay.  Just a suggestion.... I think the drivers will get a much higher tip if they will say hello to the passengers when they see them coming to the car and also smile. But this is my personal opinion....
 
Thank you again for a superb trip. When we'll plan to go again to China, we'll definitely choose your company.
 
I hope you'll look carefully into my suggestions and act upon it. It will make your even company stronger and better by improving constantly, listening to your customers, as you so well do. Thank you.

Dear Sunny,

The highlights of the tour would be the night time illuminated Ice Festival. My guide was a very pleasant young man who was most solicitous & attentive but his English was not as good as I expected. The one & only hotel for my 2 day tour (Songhuajiang Gloria) was adequate but was old fashioned and left much to be desired. The breakfast room was badly located & the buffet itself was a free-for-all in a small area.

Your organisation was excellent. Everything worked like clockwork. Thank you for a very satisfactory tour.


Yours sincerely,
Francis

Hi Sunny:
Most all of the attractions were memorable in their own ways. The one I keep thinking about is the neighborhood we visited on the day I wasn’t scheduled for anything. This was in addition to my organized itinerary and was also the day we went to the tea plantation. We went outside of Guilin and visited a very old neighborhood which really made me think of what China was like one or more centuries ago. That day, I believe I was one of the very few, if any, foreigners there so it was like I went back in a time. Most everywhere else I sent there we some foreigners. I felt almost totally immersed in the “old China”. What was the name of that place? The stop for lunch at the outdoor restaurant outside of town that day was also memorable. Chasing down the chicken we ended up eating, etc stays in my mind for some reason. It made me think how the vast majority of Chinese probably really live. Foster can tell you more about it as well. My tour guide and driver were great. The driver (“Aye” is his name?) didn’t speak any English but he was a very capable driver and had a friendly personality. My tour guide was “Foster” and he was great. I liked him for several reasons. First of all was his capability, efficiency and knowledge. He is also very personable with a great sense of humor. I think we hit it off since we’re almost the same age and had both been officers in our respective military. We had something in common. He was also helpful and willing to teach me Chinese (Mandarin) words and phrases. I got excited enough that I now plan to take language course to learn Chinese. I was particularly impressed with Foster when he waited (a while) for me to get checked in at the airline counter when I was departing. He probably realized that if there was a major delay or problem, I would otherwise have difficulty in contacting him or someone for assistance. That really was a nice gesture and was very much appreciated. When I left, I felt I was leaving a friend. I would highly recommend your company. The fact that you’re frequently seeking feedback is a good sign you’re always trying to do even better. Thanks again to you, Foster and the staff for making this a memorable trip.
Randy