Food: excellent.. could have used a bit more variety...

Itinerary: A bit long on pagodas.... and old guys palaces....Great Wall... WOW... a must see. Could have used another hour there in my opinion... The constant funneling toward shopping is overplayed. Its painfully obvious they want you to spend money... which is fine... but gives the trip too much of a commercial slant in my opinion. The "representative" house... as you pointed out... is simply a joke....anyone can see thru that.

Guides: English was adequate, overall well qualified....
Transportation: well done....

Hotels: Gloria Plaza in Beijing...excellent; Jinguo in Xian...smoke smell in rooms was bad.

Overall Agenda: Could have used a couple of 3 hr. downtime breaks every 3 days or so. Personal time for napping, reading, excercise etc.The trip could have used more cultural experience...rubbing shoulders with nationals. A little Tai Chi lesson.....and/or a little bike ride. These could have been fun.