Testimonial

Hi Michael,

We think that the great wall section & the terracotta warriors in Xian are the most memorable attractions we visited. 
Our tour guide Ying Li at Xian was probably the easiest to interact with. Maybe the experience she has in this field is providing that advantage. All hotels / meals were fine. The only challenge was the limited breakfast (hot) menu at Hans Royal Palace in Beijing.

The shows in Beijing were good. The cycling we did on the city wall in Xian was most enjoyable

I highly recommend the two shows in Beijing(acrobatics & Kungfu) to people who will visit China. Also, the hutong in Beijing (close to our hotel) that has shops with curios & restaurants for its entire length is not to be missed. Similarly the Xintiandi area & another part in the French concession in Shanghai (missing the name now) which has several small pedestrian only lanes lined with boutiques, curio shops, art shops & restaurants is an area not to be missed. The dumpling specialty restaurants in Xian was also excellent – the food & service both.

Finally, thanks to Michael for helping to put up the itinerary & useful suggestions on places to see / things to do. His inputs were valuable & his responses always prompt.

Regards

Gurumurthy

Hi Grace,

We think sailing through the 3 gorges was the most memorable attraction.      

Fendu guide was the most outstanding tour guide. He can crack jokes to keep foreign guests interested. All meals aboard V. Katarina is good. Yichang meal also very good. I think for many foreign tourist, language us a major factor and guides who can 'connect' immediately is a big wow factor. I will surely recommend your company to our friends or colleagues

Kwan

Dear Grace,

Sorry to take so long to reply to this email. We have been extremely busy since getting back home.

We loved the Great Wall of China - which we had almost all to ourselves.  We climbed all the way to the highest point there. We all enjoyed Linda who was our tour guide for Beijing.  She was the most personable and had a big task trying to keep us all not just together, but all happy.

As to the hotels, for the most part, all were up to standard except Hangzhou which was had construction going on next door and it was a long walk to West Lake...we still didn't reach it yet. We liked the Bund because it was well appointed and the bathrooms and rooms were huge. It was also a short walk to the main shopping street - Nanjing Road. 

Just some notes. Try to avoid the summer when it's overwhelmingly hot and humid everywhere.  Don't miss the Li River Cruise and the dumpling dinner and Tang Show in Xian!!

Thank you! You all arranged a birthday cake for our brother. Overall, we had a great time.  We will absolutely recommend your company to our friends or colleagues.

 I will attach the pictures we took at your office in another email.  Thanks again for all your assistance.  We had a super great time with China Highlights.

Christine

Hi Rebecca,

We enjoyed meeting you in person during our tour. We also wanted to let you know that the final stops on the tour were as well done as the first part. We enjoyed our experiences in Shanghai and Nanjing. The guides were excellent. We will definitely recommend your company to others as well as using it ourselves for any future China trips.

Best Regards,
Jim & Lynda

Hi Karen,

we had a fantastic time! 

You know, the most highlights of our trip is Horse Riding Festival, I think it would have been better to spend 2 days in Lhasa to acclimate to the lack of oxygen, then have gone to the Naqu races. I wish we had arranged for 2 full days at the races. So much to see! We didn't have time to walk around with the people, and they were so beautiful and friendly. I will investigate and think out my next trip more thoroughly. Tibet should have been done first and for a longer stay, then mainland China. Our guide in Tibet,we called her Pon, was the most wonderful person I have ever met. She and our driver were fantastic!!!!! I would have them again any time. All the places we visited were breathtaking in beauty. Also, we did not climb up the mountain to see the Leshan Buddha, and when on the boat and saw where the people had to climb I was so glad we were on the boat instead. A wise choice by our guide. The food was very good in all the places we ate, and always much more then we could ever have eaten was offered. A fantastic vacation we will never forget. I thank all your guides and drivers. They were all truly wonderful. If you have any future clients who want an honest voice about your company, feel free to give my e-mail address to them. I would recommend your company highly. 

Thanks again!

Sincerely yours,

Jane

Dear Michael,

Thank you for your post.  I was very impressed with how much the Chinese culture values evaluations.  Honest and constructive evaluation is a good tool toward improvement.

Almost all of the guides had their strengths, however Lou Wan Ji (my best guess at spelling) in Xi'an was spectacular.  He carefully listened to us and helped us plan activities that matched our interests.  We really enjoyed the stop at the Huaqing Hot Springs for a mineral water foot soak and learning the stories of the private lives of the ancient emperors. Mr. Lou was a fantastic storyteller, with a really great sense of drama and timing.

The guide in Yichang was wonderful.  I don't remember her name, but she was extremely helpful and thoughtful.  We came in later than expected and only had time for one stop on the itinerary. The guide listened to what we were interested in and gave us some suggestions.  She really took care of us around dinner and listened to what we needed.  When we arrived at the cruise boat, she took care of everything perfectly.

Chun Jia in Beijing was very good.  We liked her a lot.  She and the driver (Mr. Jiang) ate lunch with us the first day and that was very nice, since we had a chance to talk more informally.  I'm wondering if perhaps it makes sense to ask clients if they'd prefer to eat alone or with the guides or some meals with and some not.  Chun Jia also provided quite a lot of very helpful information for our free days. 

After being with 7 different guides (including Lucy the first day), my impression is that almost all of the guides are friendly, speak English, and know history. The river guides on the Yangze cruise seemed more experienced and able to handle situations calmly and cheerfully.

All of the hotels were superb, far above our expectations. Thank you. The value was exceptional.  We particularly appreciated the central locations of the hotels in Shanghai, Xi'an, and Beijing in that we could walk around very interesting neighborhoods in the evenings.

One of the best things about China Highlights is the individualized tours, that clients are not with a big group forced to move along to set places at set times. That is why we chose China Highlights.  I'm wondering if it might make sense to individualize a little more - that is, to find out a little more about clients.  Some clients might enjoy more food oriented tours (with different kinds of meals), we like gardens, some people might like museums, some more active (like bicycling).

I think in 2009 China is much easier and comfortable to visit than its reputation from books and magazines.  The English signage is excellent, and the people are extremely friendly and helpful.  The museums are modern and many of them are more sophisticated in presentation than the best museums in Europe or the United States. 

Taxis are super cheap and with just a little advice from the guides or the hotel concierge, it's easy to go out in the evenings and have a good time.  The sights are extraordinary, some of them are truly world wonders.  Shanghai and Beijing are as modern as San Francisco or New York, and there is no lack of amenities.  The dollar is strong, and the value is impressive. Almost every stop on the itinerary was first rate.  I'm so glad we had a chance to visit Hangzhou, which we would not have visited without the eclipse.  I think that Lingyin Temple was one of the highlights of the trip.  I'm also a fan of green tea, so the visit to the tea plantation was a lot of fun.

I was very impressed with the beautiful gardens and temples throughout the trip: the White Emperor's garden, the Temple of Heaven, the Yu yuan gardens and the Forbidden City gardens were incredible, each one exceptional in its own way. 

For just plain fun, the bicycle ride on the Xi'an city walls was a highlight.

Best,
 
Jane Litman

Hi Michael,

We had a wonderful time. We were so impressed with the personal service and the ease of the trip. Our favorite tour guide was Jenny. She really gave her all and was fun to be with. Seven was training with her during our time in Guilin and he was also very nice.

One of my favorite tours was going up the Shennongxi Stream with the Boat Trackers. It was fun and the area was beautiful. We also liked being on the Presidential Cruise Line. The service was really good and the food was great! Going up the Li River was also incredible!

We have recommended your company to all our friends here in Shanghai and in the United States.

Thank you Michael for doing everything with excellence,

Lisa

Hi Sunny, 
I would like to tell you that we had a really good trip. We are impressed with the quality and service China Highlights provides. We would like to thank you for your help of booking our trip as well. No double I would very likely organize a bigger trip for my friends to visit China in near future. If you would not mind, I may contact you some time.

Thanks
Hong

Dear Carol Wang

We would like to thank you and your staff at China Highlights for coordinating a wonderful China vacation for us. Both my husband and I work long hours and did not have time to plan a trip to China for our family.   China Highlights made it easy. Carol recommended sights and attractions that both teenagers and adult would enjoy. Carol and her team were able to accommodate my daughter’s vegetarian diet.  The tour guides wrote her notes in Chinese so we could use it in restaurants to explain her dietary needs. When the airlines suddenly changed our flight days, we called Carol and she was able to adjust our tour schedule to fit our new visiting time. Carol was quick to respond to all of our other questions and concerns that we emailed her. The Hotels were very comfortable and in ideal locations. The tour guides (Jeff, Le, Tracy and Pan) and their drivers were very professional and had our interest in mind. We never wasted time waiting in line or looking for buses to all the sites that we visited. Our drivers and guides made it possible to visit more sites and spend more quality time in China. The guides were very knowledgeable and informative.  We have been telling all our relatives, friends and co-workers about the great job Carol Wang, her co-workers and China Highlights did to give our family a vacation of wonderful memories to last a life time.

Jim, Carol, Patrick and Alana Dunne    

Dear Candy,

This is a difficult question to answer that what is the most memorable attraction...we saw such a variety of wonderful, exciting, and beautiful things. The blend was good. The scenic beauty things suited us because of how we usually spend our holidays, but one couldn't go to China and not see places like the Pearl Tower in Shanghai, the Warriors in Xian, and Forbidden City/Temple of Heaven in Beijing. I can't think of 'the' thing that was best.

As for tour guide: Again, not an easy question. Each brought different strengths. Helena's English was best, Lucy's enthusiasm and vitality was great, Lilly was very knowledgeable...hard to choose one who was most outstanding. The ideal guide, from my perspective, speaks English well enough to be easily understood, is flexible, has good suggestions for things to do but doesn't push anything, is on-time, and is helpful in dealing with local customs, etc. Each guide met these qualifications...you obviously select them well.

The hotels were fine and the breakfasts good with good variety (except Yangshoo where it was more limited). The Bund had especially good breakfasts. The extra space in Xian was nice. It would have been good to have a queen or king bed in each place as requested...those weren't usually available. The beds were a bit hard for the taste of most Americans, but were satisfactory.

The lunches were excellent...really too much food. Choices excellent. We really liked eating with locals rather than in tourist restaurants. Lucy's suggestion to eat in the Korean barbeque restaurant in Beijing was a great and enjoyable change from the usual fare. Loved the variety of food...noodles, dumplings, etc.

There did have some things to make you WOW: In many ways the Great Wall was the biggest 'wow' but we also enjoyed the raft trip as well as the boat trip on the Li. The warriors were a definite wow. The Huashan Mountain in Xian was also great. The view from the Pearl Tower was pretty great as well. The beauty and expansiveness of the Forbidden City was pretty awesome as well.

Pat