Dear Vicky/Jessica-

So how was the tour? In a word, "fabulous!" This is probably the first trip we have taken where, at the end, we just were not ready to go home; we were tired and exhausted, but we could just have easily extended for another week or two in China. Everything to see was so interesting, the food was so delicious, and the guides were excellent.

During the entire trip, water was supplied by the guides everywhere we went; And we were never taken anywhere against our wishes. On the contrary, several times we asked the guides where we could purchase a certain item, and they always had a suggestion or two and gladly took us there. All of the arranged meals were quite good, and the food was plentiful, if we had to pick one meal to recommend (although it is difficult picking one out), it would be the dumpling dinner in Xi'an; The cars used were all very clean, and the drivers were all very good.

As for the guides, they were all quite good. They were all conscientious, pronounced English more than well enough for good communication, and were quite knowledgeable about the places being visited; In particular, however, we would like to compliment Hua in Beijing, Rainbow in Shanghai, Li in Suzhou, Susan in Xi'an, and Kathy in Guilin. Their extreme friendliness and exuberant personalities added greatly to our enjoyment. Also, they each went out of their way to find us excellent local restaurants for dinner (Li and Kathy actually took us there on their own free time and helped us order local specialties), rearranged the tour schedule so that we would arrive at very busy sites when there would be fewer tourists, and were exceptionally helpful in taking us to shops/factories where items we wished to purchase could be found with good selection and at good prices. Far and away, the best of the guides was Kathy in Guilin. In addition to the comments above regarding exceptional service, her charming personality was a shining example of the warmth and friendliness of many of the Chinese people we encountered in our journey. She was bubbly, funny and just fun to be with.

The parts of the tour that were most memorable, due in part to the arrangements, were the Great Wall (we selected the less-touristed site at Mutianyu, but our guide, Hua, arranged for us to arrive there around 3:30-4 p.m. so that we were able to experience the wall for almost two hours by ourselves-----there was literally no one else there at that time) and the Terracotta Warriors and Horses Museum (again, our guide, Susan, took us there later in the day when fewer tourists would be crowding the site). However, also most memorable were the beauty of the Three Gorges (our enjoyment was clearly enhanced by the choice of the East King as our Yangtze River cruise ship; the East King was clearly the best choice), the peacefulness of the cruise down the Li River, and the serenity of Suzhou and the Tongli Water Town.

As for a testimonial in your favor, we would say that your tour service is 5 star in every way: your pre-arranged tour packages cover the wealth and breadth of China (including all major sites of historical importance as well as a broad mix of both modern and ancient, and cosmopolitan and rural, China); your courteous, timely and speedy responsiveness to questions about the arrangements and willingness to tailor the tour packages to suit individual needs were truly outstanding; your arranged guides in each of the cities were truly outstanding in not only their knowledge of their cities and their command of the English language, but also their exuberance, desire to please their tourist clients, and charming personalities; your pre-arranged meals were, for the most part, plentiful and delicious; and your tour cost versus the package provided was clearly excellent value-for-money. In sum, a tour organizer that provided an exceptional experience from start to finish, and one that we would both highly recommend and readily use again should we ever return to China.

There is one additional thought that we would like to add to our testimonial: for anyone considering touring China, the absolute best way to go is by private organized tour. It may be a bit more expensive, but not prohibitively so, and the extra money is well worth it. The tour guide is totally dedicated to you and your needs. He/she has your full undivided attention, and you can even build a personal rapport with the guide that is just not possible in a group tour. Despite being an "organized tour," you can spend as much or as little time at each location as you wish, skip locations or shopping stops, or add-on other stops as desired. All of this is made possible by the smooth and seamless service provided by your tour organization. That excellent service begins with the arrangement process before commencing the trip, but really begins to show the moment your plane arrives in China: the excellent guides are there to meet your flight/train/boat at every stop; whisk you effortlessly to hotel, tour site, show or restaurant; check you in at every hotel; pick you up at check-out at every hotel; check you in at every airport/train station/port for your next journey; and otherwise be available to cater to just about every other need. Every arrangement has been fully taken care of so that you can devote your full attention to what you are seeing and experiencing. We cannot praise your service enough. It was fantastic and made our 25 days in China so, so memorable. We could never have seen and done so much without you and your wonderfully selected group of guides.
Thanks again for all of your help.

Regards,

Perry Samuels and Joel Schafer