Testimonial

Dear Michael,
Thought I would write and tell you how fabulous our trip to Beijing was. Firstly let me say that all dealings with China Highlights have been beyond reproach and in all ways exactly as represented and delivered. From first to last every aspect of our trip was wonderful and totally enjoyable. The transfer from the airport to the hotel and back again was without a hitch. Tracy our guide and Mr. Jong our driver were fantastic. Tracy is a knowledgeable guide with great English skills. Mr. Jong our driver knew Beijing like the “palm of his hand”. Our hotel, the Sunworld is a world class contempory property located in the heart of Beijing’s happening districts. The hotel personnel were kind and friendly as well as having enough English skills to make us comfortable. Our room was large by any standard and very comfortable. All of the venues we arranged to visit were as presented and beyond our expectations. Pat and I were so impressed with Beijing and the Chinese people. Lastly, although we cut our trip short by a day; in all; our itinerary was complete and we look forward to a future trip to China. Finally do not hesitate to refer Pat & me to any future clients.
With Much Appreciation Norman Kublin

Dear Eva,
There were so many memorable attractions but the most memorable for me, Deborah, was the city of Lhasa, Tibet. Lhasa was one of those places that clings to my memory as a authentic people in a very unique situation. The pictures of the people of Tibet and how they dress and the customs were exactly how they look and live daily 24/7 as we have seen throughout our studies of your country and it's people.All of the tour guides that you had lined up for us, with the exception of the guide that picked us up from the ship, Victoria, to take us to the train, were very good. That guide, that we never knew his name as we were with him for just a couple of hours at most, didn't speak hardly any English, but he did take us to a supermarket to buy snacks for the train which we greatly appreciated! Our guide in Lhasa, Tsewang, was a genuine, caring Tibetan who cared so much about our every need. Fred arrived sick in Tibet from dissentary and was in bed most of 2 days. Tsewang was very very concerned and kept checking on him and went out of his way to rework our schedual so Fred could see the most important places once he felt better. Tsewang, although, didn't understand, evidently, that we wanted desperately to purchase 4 soft sleepers on the train back to Beijing. We had requested from the beginning through Eva Wang that we wanted to have one entire compartment to ourselves as we have done in many other countries, knowing that we would have to pay an extra cost for 2 extra beds. Eva informed us that that would have to be taken care of by our guide once in Tibet since the train tickets could not be purchased until 2 days before departure. We expressed to Tsewang several times before the purchase and after the purchase of the tickets that we wanted 4 soft sleepers taking an entire compartment. Tsewang always reconfirmed - oh yes - these are tickets for 4. We had noticed many times during our stay in Lhasa that he periodically would not understand what we would ask or comment on, which was ok and, understandable. Getting on that train and NOT having a 4 bed compartment turned our train ride into a nightmare of having 2 men that would change from time to time as the train would stop and one would get off and another "roommate" would arrive. This was, in our minds, not acceptable and was a huge mistake. All that being said, our best tour guides were Romi, in Chongqing, City, in Xian and Allen, in Beijing. They all 3 knew English very very well. They all knew so much about their cities and sites and culture and they all went out of their way to help us in any way they could. Allen seemed to have an passion about his city and his country maybe a bit more but they were all outstanding. That goes for Tsewang also, except for the train mishap! We really enjoyed all the hotels. The Shangbala in Tibet had a few issues like the shower was barely a trikle, but the location more than made up for everything! Probably the Guangzhou in Beijing was the best overall: good location, a good breakfast buffet, and a great staff! The hotels had a very irritating protocal when checking out. They would send someone up to the room to check and count every little object in the room before the checking out would be completed. At the Shangbala Hotel they actually accused us of taking an ashtray and charged us for it! Although the charge was minimal it is a VERY irritating way to end the stay. Fred went to check out of the Guangzhou Hotel in Beijing to get off to our flight back to the US while I was up in the room showering and a non-English speaking guy knocked on the door and basically stood in the room while I finished getting dressed and packed! Once we were gone he evidently counted and checked EVERY little thing in the room so we could officially be checked out. My suggestion would be that if the hotels are getting ripped off that much they should raise their rates a few dollars and not embarrass their occupants and themselves by going through such a protocal. China is the only place in all of our travels that did such a thing. Everything we did was just amazing. We would suggest taking Cipro medication at the very onset of a stomach virus! Fred entered Tibet with a terrible stomach problem that was a result of our final meal in Xian and he missed the first couple of days in Tibet.
Ballard

Hi Sunny!
Sorry for the delay in replying - I hope you didn’t think we weren’t going to! Right at the very end of our trip I got sick, and spent a miserable week when we got back. All OK now, but we’ve been trying to catch up with work etc. and are desperately busy. I’ll try to answer your questions, but they are surprisingly difficult to give precise answers to. This is really because the whole trip was absolutely fantastic, and there were SO many wonderful things to see an do, SO many wonderful people we met (including all the guides), that it is very hard to say which was the best. I’d rather just comment generally. And Pam may have different opinions from mine, so I won’t send this on till she has had a chance to comment also. As a first general comment (which we have made to the many friends who have asked), we would say that “Everything worked as planned”. Every guide met us as promised. Every transport worked on time, as booked. Every hotel was very good or absolutely excellent. Every restaurant we were taken to was excellent. Every tourist attraction we visited was fascinating. Every guide was totally professional, and very well informed, very anxious to please us in every way, very friendly, very sensitive to our every need. I have vivid memories of the Great Wall and the Summer Palace particularly. But as soon as one says that, it seems to imply that the other attractions were somehow less memorable, less important. And that is not so. It is often the little things that impact on one’s emotions (and thus, memory), like funny encounters, unexpected kindness from a stranger etc. And there plenty of those! Of all the towns we visited, I think we liked Yangshuo most, with Guilin and Xi’an close second. I had the feeling that I would like to have a holiday just in and around Yangshuo Every guide was excellent, as I said. I got on especially well with Foster, and we parted with some regret. He now knows that if he ever comes to NZ, there is a warm welcome in our home for him and his wife. We would love to show them around. Foster grasped our interest in the “China behind the scenes”, and tried, in the little time available, to show us that. He was so cheerful and unfailingly courteous, funny and warm. ut then, Li in Xian was an amazing young lady. Her historical knowledge is encyclopaedic; her English is probably the best of any of our guides, AND SHE IS SELF-TAUGHT!! She works incredibly hard, and deserves to be very successful. Yoshi, in Beijing, was similar. His degree in English isn’t enough for him, so he’s now doing one in business. He converses with authority on a very wide variety of subjects, and his ambition will lead to success without any doubt. With all our guides, I felt embarrassed that we could not be more generous with tips; we overspent our budget by a long way (inexperienced travelers!), and had to miss out on many things we would like to have done. We do understand the policy of not allowing guides and drivers to share meals with us (our invitations were politely declined), but it would have been nice to have their company and conversation over a meal: we honestly enjoyed being with them. We did get Foster to join us for dinner in the evening once or twice, and he was such good fun. The matter of tipping is always rather awkward, and perhaps some further development of policy would be a good idea. I did see a piece in the China Daily about travel guides’ low salaries and the need for tips to make their existence possible, so it seems the matter is under discussion. Guides gave us conflicting information as to whether they receive any basic wages, or have to rely entirely on tips for their income. I believe they do a very professional job, require extensive learning and knowledge, work very inconvenient hours and their workload is extremely seasonal. In these circumstances, I believe a proper salary, without the need for tips, would be preferable. One could still give them a gift for truly exceptional service if one feels one should. The costs of a trip would not be much altered, and embarrassment would be saved on both sides. My own attitude is that guides are NOT servants: they are fellow professionals. We remarked often how excellent the hotels and their service were, well above our 3-star expectations. All staff were extremely helpful and polite. Everything worked, everything was clean and well prepared, the breakfasts were delicious and VERY generous. The lunches arranged by China Highlights were delicious and lavish, and the restaurants chosen were superb. With such marvelous breakfasts and lunches, we felt no need for more than a snack in the evenings. Snacks were easy to find in the streets and markets. We were a little bit careful in what we chose, however, which sometimes extended the search. China was so full of surprises. I didn’t expect such modernity, such sophistication. And yet, underneath the surface, China is still China: timeless, beautiful, unchanging. I still say what I said before I went there – that it would take 50 years to understand China; it is so vast, so complex. I wish I had that 50 years left! The traffic was a surprise: the drivers so courteous and caring despite the apparent chaos. But it isn’t chaos, it’s just a mixture of so many kinds (and speeds) of vehicles, and with patience and courtesy everyone gets where they want to go, eventually. Truly, I felt much safer riding a bike in Yangshuo than I do in Auckland. Foster couldn’t believe that, and did his best to put me off the ride, but I wouldn’t have missed it for anything: I wanted to ride all day! Really, from Yangshuo to Fuli was a very short distance, with no hills. Drivers took great care of us as if we were children (not like NZ!!), and I never felt in any danger. The cultural show in Guilin was truly excellent, and we learned something of the minority groups’ traditions. We were offered similar opportunities elsewhere too, but the costs were high and our budget was very stretched, so we sadly declined. We did feel the tickets were very expensive. Wine was a surprise in China. We love wine, and drink it often at home. I would say the wine industry in China is about level with how it was in NZ when we arrived here in 1967, except that the wines are unbelievably expensive! That is to say the wine is drinkable, but not of good quality. However the prices charged are equal to the most expensive fine wines in NZ!! We were absolutely amazed!! An example: Great Wall red wine was charged at 580 yuan on the boat (about NZ$150), whereas I can drink much better wine in NZ for $10-15, sometimes $8 on special. $50 is what you would pay for a really good wine in an expensive restaurant. Travel tip: LEARN to use ‘traditional’ toilets, and ALWAYS carry toilet paper! Accept other countries as they are; if you want everything exactly as you find it at home, WHY TRAVEL?? Another travel tip: It is courteous to try to speak to people in their own language; take the trouble to learn a few polite words in Mandarin, even if it’s only “shia-shia”. People appreciate it, and try even harder to please. I found that most Chinese people have a great sense of humour and fun, and like to practice their English; one can have so much fun communicating. Carry paper and pen: draw pictures when you get stuck. And again: Work out your budget for the trip, then double it! I honestly can’t say we enjoyed the train trip to Beijing. This was mainly because we had formed quite incorrect expectations, and were totally unprepared: I just didn’t ask the right questions! So our first shock was to find we were sharing a cabin with other people, and had no privacy at all. Then we found there was no food or water available; luckily we had some water and sweets we had bought in Yangshuo. The one toilet for about 40 people was horrible. (It didn’t help that it was raining hard in Xi’an, and we were wet and our bags were wet from dragging them through puddles 7 cm deep in the station forecourt. The design of the forecourt is very bad, and you can’t get the car nearer than about 50 metres from the door, and have to queue up in the rain.) Apart from the station forecourt, this is not a complaint. If we had known more detail, we would have prepared better and handled it very differently… or maybe flown! Poor Yoshi got told very quickly that the attractions in Beijing would have to wait till we had had a meal and a shower! He was very understanding and kind.
Cheers, Jim

Hello Sunny,
I hope you are well, too. We are doing fine; we loved our trip to China.We really liked most of the places we visited. Certainly the Wall is really impressive, and the Forbidden City. We also liked the Lama Temple, which we visited during our free time in Beijing. And of course the Warriors are stunning. Most outstanding tour guide? All were very good. Hotels and meals? All were fine. We liked the Day's Inn Forbidden City the best. New Henderson Hotel had poor service, not customer friendly, especially the food and beverage manager. Exceptionally good food! We felt a bit pressured, but only a bit, to see shows in which we had no interest, especially in Xian. Your company and all its representatives were very, very helpful and kind during Jan's illness and hospitalization. Thanks to all of you; you really made a huge difference.
Thank you very much for all your help, Sunny! Beverly Diane Kirk

Good morning Eva,
We returned to the cold UK on Sunday morning and we would like to thank you for organising our holiday so well. We have had a wonderful time, especially in Lijiang where the sights are amazing. We were really impressed with the people who transported us from the airports to the hotels. They were well informed and helpful and were so welcoming. Thank you once again for all your help.
Eunice & Brian Holmes

Dear Sunny,
We very much enjoyed the tour you put together for us. Sorry you weren't able to do the same for our friends from America. They tried to contact you t go ahead with the tour you arrange but the emails kept bouncing back. In any case they had major problems as a result of the hurricane which hit Houston. We did meet up for one day aided by your superb guide in Guilin.  Hard to say as we enjoyed everything but if pushed the river cruise from Guilin was probably the most memorable. Foster (Liu) in Guilin was the best because he was so happy and clearly loved his job. He was also very flexible and extremely helpful. That being said all your guides were very good in different ways. The hotel in Kunming was a bit substandard compared to the rest with a poor breakfast and rather dirty carpets in the dining room. The staff were lovely and the location was good so it was probably a trade-off between convenience and affordable quality. The meals, especially the lunches arranged by the guides were fabulous. We greatly enjoyed the variety of local dishes. I would be happy to recommend your company to friends and colleagues if they were traveling to China. We greatly enjoyed seeing the dancing shows in Yangshuo, Lijiang and Kunming.
David Sherlock

Dear Grace, We all had an absolutely wonderful time with Doris at Yellow Mountain.Please thank her again on our behalf.I will send to you a two pictures taken during our trip in another email. After our time with Doris we flew to Beijing and then joined another tour organised by an Australian company.This tour was also good although both Steve and I commented on how wonderful it was to experience a tour which was totally Chinese as we did with your company. Our Australian tour was with 4 Australian families and hence, much more western. Whilst our tour guide for this second trip was Chinese she did not know nearly as much about the Chinese culture, language and history as Doris did. Our two sons, Nicholas and Peter, along with myself, really enjoyed learning Mandarin from Doris - she taught us to count to 5 which was a considerabel achievement given we had no idea how to use our toungue to make the sounds. Finally - I am sorry we both were not fully well. I had collected an upset stomach the first night in Shanghai which Stephen then collected in Yellow Mountain. It was a one day effect but meant Steve was poorly for the second day in yellow Mountain. This made it difficult for Doris but she coped very well. You should realsie from our comments that we still enjoyed our visit with your company very, very much. I will answer the questions below now - but thank you again. I can assure you I have recommended China Highlights to a number of people now. 1. What was the most memorable attraction you visited? Yellow Mountain. May I also say - our 1 day in Shanghai proved a real highlights well. Peter and Stephen went up to the observation deck in the Shanghai Financial centre and loved the view. 2. Who was the most outstanding tour guide, and why? Doris was exceptional. She had a thorough, detailed knowledge of Chinese history and culture. She could explain architectural features and link them into the history. She could identify plants and imaginative features in the wilderness. She was kind to the children and related very well with the children. After we finished we continued to talk about Doris and wondered what she would have said when we visited places. She was aware of the group needs and led accordingly. We felt privileged to haver Doris as a guide. We loved the hotel in Tunxi. It was clean, beautiful and served wonderful food. I have mentioned to friends that maybe in a few years time they return to China with us in a tour organised with China Highlights. Would it be possible to stay the first night or two at a hotel which supplied western breakfasts. We found the Chinese food, especially breakfasts quite different and it took awhile for us to adjust. At the same time, having a complete Chinese experience especially with the food was a highlight so I make this comment with a littel reticence. Yellow Mountain plus the two villages we visited - Hongcun and Xidi - are absolutely not to be missed. We also really enjoyed the New Shanghai circus visited in Shanghai. Also - the lunch meal in Hongcun was superb. I am sorry we were not feeling well and could not enjoy fully but we still appreciated it immensely. Stephen & Philippa

Dear Mr FU Jean,
Thanks for your e-mail , the most memorable attraction we visited is the River -li Cruise,Our guide is very competent , he take us many interesting explanations. We go into only one hotel , one regret no buffet lunch every day .  we recommend your compagny to our friens or collegues . We live in China for two years, each region is different, not hesitate to go in shops or restaurants chinese to get the maximun from the culture of the people chinese.
Thanks Best Regards Mr FOCH Pascal

Dear Candy,
There were so many! from the historical point of view I would say the Great Wall, the Forbidden city and the Terracotta Warriors. From a technical point of view (I am an electrical engineer) the Three Gorges Hydroelectric complex. All the guides were professional and knowlegeable, but if we have to pin point one, that would be Nancy. I would say that we became friends in such a short period of time. All hotels were excellent and well located. The meals were also very good, except in the Holiday Inn hotel of Chongqing, on which I commented in my previous e-mail.Definitely. And even more we would like to return to China and specifically to Beijing. As I told you in my previous e-mail, you need to finetune the departure from Xian. It is too early you cannot have breakfast and we were arriving at the cruise ship very early. Leaving late from Xi'an, around 12noon would solve the 'problem'. The not to be missed attraction would be the 'Opera show' in Xi'an. Very good! Candy: I would like to end by saying that you have been a wonderful tour advisor. Everything came out without a glitch and the merit goes to you.
Thank you very much!!
Regards Jorge and Isabel Linares

Dear Karen,
We had a nice time in China, especially at Guilin and we are very glad that you were very professional. All program at Guilin was perfect. You can easy to add winery cellars. Vivian at Guilin is Very professional and pleasant.5 stars are much better than 4 stars. In Beijing and Shanghai the hotels were better than in Guilin, but the last one was also convenient, except meals.
Best Regards Vladimir