Testimonial

Hi Karen:

So sorry for the delay in getting back to you. There were so many things to do upon returning! We took 3400 pictures between the two of us and going through all of them along with other duties was quite a task. And, I had a medical emergency which isn’t quite fixed yet… (nothing to do with the trip)

We LOVED the trip. We talk about some aspect of it every day. I ordered a couple of books on China to read more and learn more. 

I have made a slide show and did a trial run of it, showing it to my mother in law, narrating it with the stories we experienced. It is now ready to show to more people (even though it is still about 400 pictures long! – Well, we WERE there for 18 days and saw a LOT of things!!!)

Anyway, here are some random thoughts…

We loved all the guides. We spent the most time with Lola, so we got to know her better than the others, and she was just wonderful.

Our favorite hotel was the one in Guilin (Osmanthus Hotel), mostly because of the beautiful river view from our window. But the city of Yangshuo was gorgeous and we would have liked to spend more time there (if only we didn’t have to go back to our responsibilities back home!)

Everything was great, there were no bad surprises. I think the pre-trip planning had something to do with this. We talked about a lot of things before we decided on what we did.

I think our favorite days were those we spent outside. Such as on the Li River cruise. What stunning scenery! And Lola kept pointing out things of interest (such as the mountain view that is depicted on the 20 Yuan bill) Of course we got our picture taken with that in the background! And also the bike ride was awesome. Lola took us on a different route and there were pretty much no other tourists. We were alone with the farmers, the animals and the scenery. The walk around the Longsheng Terraced Field was also wonderful. Such scenery, and such colorful people (the costumes and shops). Fuli village was also a treat, to be able to see a part of China where most tourists don’t go.

One other traveler commented on the hardness of the beds. Yes, we noticed that, too. But I found that the harder beds actually made my back feel better! 

The Terra Cotta warriors were something everybody should see. It was just amazing. And Ricky, our guide, who had majored in history in college, was just a wealth of knowledge and really made the tours so much more interesting with all the little facts he knew.

For the special offer:

Cooking Class: This was very fun. The walk through the local market was enlightening. We saw some foods that we are not familiar with and it was very interesting to learn about them. We picked out 3 dishes to cook. We noticed with this meal (and all other meals we had in China) that a LOT of food is put in front of people. We cooked 3 dishes when one would have fed us both. So there was some wasted food… We have made some of the recipes a few times since we got home (I have made dumplings several times, and we have experimented with different meat, vegetable, spice combinations cooked in our wok.) What fun.

Hot-air Balloon free flight ride: Awesome. Stunning scenery seen from above. Absolutely gorgeous.

Cormorant Fishing: This one turned out to be wonderful, but it didn’t start out that way. I think if I knew what to expect I would have felt different at the beginning. I didn’t realize the viewing would be at night (so I couldn’t get any pictures of the actual fishing), and if you were not on the right side of the boat (I was on the left side) you really couldn’t see what was going on anyway. Since I am all about taking pictures of my experiences, I was disappointed. But then we docked and got out and talked to the fisherman and got some photos on the shore and my attitude did a turn-around. Much better. I think if I had known what was going to happen (don’t freak out about not being able to get pictures during the boat ride because it will be dark and you won’t be able to…) I could have relaxed and looked forward to the “on shore” part of it. Perhaps the write-up on your website (which I can’t find now…) should say something to that effect. The “on shore” part of it was great. We got to ask the fisherman questions (like where do they get their birds—turns out the birds are raised in captivity just for the purpose of fishing—and how long do they live, how much fish can they catch, and we found that the ring around their necks only prevents them from swallowing the bigger fish, they can still swallow smaller fish, so they don’t starve :-) It was fascinating.

We also did 2 things not on the schedule – visited a tea farm (informative and fun-we were treated to a tea ceremony and bought some tea along with instructions on how to prepare it) and the Light show in Yangshuo (directed by one of the gentlemen who did the ceremonies at the Beijing Olympics---stunning.)

Thanks again!
Theressa

Dear Karen,

We have returned home and thank you for an exquisite holiday, backed by a sate of the art organization.
We have enjoyed all of the visiting, and impressed by all of the local guides. Specially Mr. He in Lijiang, he is great guy, non-intrusive, discreet, honest and vertical person, full of interesting (and sought for) cultural details.

We are ok for all of the meals.I would replace the spicy lunch in XiAn (a nearby village, actually) with one with traditional XiAn muslim food (mutton soup with shredded pancakes etc). It would make the experience more place-related, I guess. However, the spicy lunch was very tasty and we enjoyed a lot the restaurant’s genuine and merry atmosphere. 

Here i would like to share one information (probabaly it is useful for you)--The Foreign Books Book Store on JiuJiang Lu (?) Street. A street full of bookstores, a huge library and this so precious foreign language bookstore. I found here, at a very good price and in a conveniently small format, in English, the complete versions of Chinese classics I was looking for - Journey to the West, The Romance of the Three Kingdoms, The Dream of the Red Mansion.

For shopping, at Shanghai, i have bought complete set of bed sheets and some blouses in the factory, but i think they were overprice when i saw similar production at anther shop. We made this exception and we were sorry for the uncomfortable feelings we got.

Over all, it was nice trip, thanks!

Alina

Dear Jean,

The most memorable attraction we visited was the Great Wall Jinshaling to Simatai hike which was absolutely fabulous.  It was strenuous and tiring but well worth the time.

Both guides were very good and very well versed in the history of the country.  Jay was outstanding in our minds as she was very funny and didn’t take herself seriously.

For the hotels, we chose the them ourselves and they were all very good.  The food at the restaurants in Beijing was very good at all restaurants.  The Quanjude restaurant felt a bit rushed.  Our favorite was the meal in the man’s home in the hutong area.  The Xian restaurants food was fairly salty and while good in some cases , was not up to the same standards as what we had in Beijing.

For those who are going to China, please be aware of fake money (we ended up with some, not sure how)  and Jay was great in showing us how to tell the difference.  The acrobat show was awesome in Beijing and the biking on the wall in Xian is not to be missed.

Hi Virginia,
 
I just wanted to thank you so very much!!  We all had an absolutely wonderful time on the tour.  Jane was a joy, and her energy kept us all going, even when ours was down to the last.  Her knowledge about the area and all the sights we went to was phenomenal, and her sense of humor was fabulous.  In addition, we all felt as safe as babies with Mr. Hao behind the wheel of the tour bus.  We could not have asked for better escorts or a more entertaining and informative trip.  We will all remember this as one of the best vacations we have ever had, largely as a result of the efforts put forth by Jane, Mr. Hao, and yourself as well.  We sincerely appreciate everything you and your group did to make sure we had a great trip.  I wish you could have joined us - again, we had a terrific time!
 
Thank you again, and the next trip we take in China, rest assured that I will be sending you an email!  I will make sure to forward you some pictures as soon as I have them all organized - we sure did take a lot of them!
 
Thank you, thank you!!
 
Shannon

Dear Michael,

We were thought that the Great Wall of China was the most memorable attraction we have visited. Ielleen our tour guides in Beijing was very personable and Jing in Xi’an was very informative.  I really enjoyed Ielleen and my girlfriend really enjoyed Jing.  Both were great.

Both hotels were fantastic, Days Inn in Beijing was in a great location. However, be sure to recommend to your travelers not to visit China during National Day.  It was very busy.

Regards,

Yours Theo.

Dear Virginia,
 
We arrived home Tuesday morning very early with an extremely long flight behind us.  It is wonderful being back home but Edward and I are suffering from jet lag.  We are still on China time.  
 
Our trip was absolutely wonderful.  You made it even better.  We really appreciated the upgrades on our rooms, the little box of candy, the cake from the hotel and the roses at the hotel.  We are so extremely impressed with China Highlights, which is why we have traveled using you 3 times in the past.  You know that we wanted to bring our little neice this past time but it just didn't work out so I know we will eventually be coming back to China again.  You can bet that we will be using China Hightlights for our next trip as well.
 
This trip the most memorable attraction was the Panda Breeding Research Center, primarily because that is the first time we have been there.  Everything about China is so wonderful to us, that as you can tell, by us coming back so many times, we love it!!
 
We were very pleased with mostly all our tour guides.  Kevin was our guide in Shanghai, although we didn't really do any touring since we had already been there before and done our touring then.  But even as we came and went to the airport, he was good about pointing out the stadium or center you would be using for the Expo in 2010 and numerous other sights around Shanghai. 

Mark was our guide in Guillin/Yangshou.  This is the second time that he has been our guide.  I am sorry to say that I was not impressed with him and he still need improvements compared to the above ones.

Jane was our guide in Chengdu.  She was very kind, especially since Edward caught a flu bug, most likely from eating too spicy of food for the day.  He still went on the  tour of the Big Buddha as well as the breeding center but he wasn't really feeling so good.  She was understanding of him.  She also was very knowledgeable about the area and the many sights to see.  She stayed with us at the airport until we got on the plane since our plane was delayed a couple of hours.  We really appreciated that since we don't speak Chinese and she could guide us through the waiting process at the airport.
 
Ying was our guide in Xian.  She was very nice, spoke exceptional English and was very knowledgeable about the city.  We enjoyed her stories and had no problem understanding her at all.
 
Linda was our guide in Beijing.  We thoroughly enjoyed her.  She was extremely kind about giving us her phone number to call her anytime.  We only really needed her the one day for the Great Wall but since we have been to Beijing 3 times previously, we could manage pretty much on our own.  She still made it quite clear that she was available if we needed her.  She was a joy!
 
Breakfasts were fantastic.  I loved the fact that we could mix our western food and still eat Chinese food every morning.  My husband absolutely loved the noodles, dumplings, fried rice and more.  Lunches were a little spicy for me.  I was a little afraid of getting a flu bug so I tried to stay away from the real spicy food.  Our guides were wonderful about ordering us food that wasn't too spicy.
 
The hotels were absolutely wonderful.  We were upgraded a  couple of times and appreciate that very much.  Park Plaze is the hotel we stayed at in Beijing.  I would highly reccommend it to any of your clients.  They are top notch and the location is phenominal.  The staff there is extremely nice and friendly. This is the second time we have stayed there.  I would definintely recommend that to your clients to make their stay in China as wonderful as ours was.  The beds were a little hard for us in a couple of the places but the silk bedspreads or comforters were wonderful.  I think I am mad at myself for not purchasing one of those to bring home with me.  They were soft and felt very good next to our skin.
 
As for recommending China Highlights to our friends;  we have done that already.  All our our friends and coworkers have inquired about our vacation and we just can't say enough good stuff about China Highlights.  Your company is so accomodating to our schedules.  It is very nice to travel with you.
 
I have no problem with you using us as a reference.  Please feel free to send my email off to your potential clients.
 
Thank you, again, for all your hard work and for making our stay in China another wonderful vacation!!!
 
Sincerely,
 
Melanie 

Dear Sunny,

Many thanks for your outstanding job of customizing our tour!!!

We had so many memorable attractions that it's hard to just pick one, but I'd have to say the terraced fields (Guilin area - ethnic tribes, Longji Area) were outstanding.

Once again, our tour guides were excellent.  They all were very knowledgeable, very flexible, very much in good shape (fitness), as we hiked and biked, etc.  Vivian was our first China guide and set the standard!  We were blessed to have such good guides and so many wonderful places to visit.

Our accomodations on the Yantze Cruise were upgraded (to the $600) rooms - they were great!!  We had some problems with the Guilin Bravo, it was an ok hotel, but Charlotte and Fran first were put in a room (because they needed a twin room) that was not clean and asked to be moved.  I'd have to say it was an ok, but not great hotel.  The Yichang to Xian train was really dirty (the only train trip we had that was bad, all others were great), I'd have to say the Sunworld Hotel was the favorite.  All the meals were great, but in every case we had more food than we could eat.  I'd suggest having fewer foods, or the same variety but smaller amounts.

We loved our trip in China, and we loved the shopping :)  Of course, the Great Wall is a do not miss, as is the Longji Area, our group is very active and loved the hikes and biking (both in Xian and Yangshou), the Yantze Cruise I wouldn't have wanted to miss, and the warriors are a do not miss.  We thought these were all highlights when we arranged for the trip and in all cases were not disappointed.  The cycling in Yangshou was especially neat because we got to go through small villages and back roads/trails.  The Hutong was very neat too.  The evening shows on the cruise and in Xian and Beijing were wonderful.  We also went to the evening Acrobatic show in Beijing.  What a wonderful time.

Betty

Eva,
I just wanted to let you know that we couldn't be happier with our experience with China Highlights.  I also wanted you to know that I filled out your survey in Guilin and used the name "Ping" for our guide.  She introduced herself as Claire, but we asked about her Chinese name, then asked her permission to use it instead.  We did not want her to get into trouble for letting us call her Ping.  She was OUTSTANDING!

Thanks so much for your services.

Nancy

Dear Eva,
We enjoyed everything we saw.I particularly remember the Great Wall, the Terra Cotta warriors, the Three Gorges Dam, the Chongqing zoo, my bike ride in Yangshuo, the Maglev ride, and an optional activity we picked: the Huangpu River cruise in Shanghai.

All our guides were excellent. If I had to rate one above the others, I'd probably pick Tunker in Beijing, but I don't have a good reason.

All the hotels, were excellent. No one hotel or meal seemed clearly superior to the others.

Definitely will recommend our company to my friends or colleagues. Having said all that, I should also say we had a wonderful time and appreciated all the help you and China Highlights gave us in planning and organizing our trip.

Dear Carol,
This is just a short note to let you know that we are now back at our home. We visited China during April of 2009 and thoroughly injoyed our vacation. We would highly recommend China Highlights as an outstanding tour company.

In particular, we would recommend Carol Wang at the Guilin Office. Carol was able to answer all of our questions and prepare an itinerary based on our specific interests.

Our tour guides and drivers provided excellent and friendly service and were well informed about the attractions that we visited. We enjoyed our trip to China very much and would like to thank you for your hospitality during our visit with you at your office in Guilin. We would also like to thank you for your gifts.

There were many memorable attactions, but I think the most memorable part of our visit to China was the friendliness and courtesy of the Chinese people rather than a physical attraction.

Your tour guides, Cobing Chen, Lola wei Yan and Cherry and your drivers provided outstanding service during our trip.

I would highly recommend China Highlights to anyone considering a trip to China. Attached is the picture that we took at your office. It is a reduced size file using the JPEG format. Please let me know if you are not able to open it and I can change the format and size.

Peter & Jean