Dear Irene & Cynthia:

I apologize for being delayed in responding--we have been still traveling and had no access to e-mail.

We were both extremely pleased with our China tours and your organization. We would highly recommend Travel China Guide to our friends and acquaintances. Regarding the specific aspects, I offer the following comments:

The meals in both Beijing and Xian were excellent and the quality of the restaurants by far exceeded our expectations. In Beijing, our guide, Juliet, ordered the meals for us. (We never had a bad one or one we didn't like.) In Xian, our guide, Helen, gave us a book with pictures from which to choose.

If we had to choose one meal on each tour, it would be the Beijing Duck (in Beijing) and the Dumpling Dinner in Xian.

Both guides were extremely conscientious, very well prepared, highly knowledgeable in history and past/present culture, and personable. They were professional and very customer-service oriented. Juliet's English was impeccable (she had a great grasp of idiomatic English and seemed to have an in-depth knowledge of American culture). Helen's English was very good and had a lot of patience with us when we didn't understand what she was saying.

Both guides had not only an in-depth knowledge of the areas we saw but exhibited a passion for their subject. We never felt that we were getting a rote description from a guidebook. They breathed life into their descriptions and helped us see a living history. Very impressive!

Regarding transportation, both drivers were excellent, courteous and timely. They managed difficult traffic situations with aplomb and didn't frighten us too much (just joking--but China traffic can be scary). Both vehicles were clean and apparently well serviced. The only comment I can add is that we had a 4-door sedan in Beijing and a van in Xi'an. The van was much more difficult to get in and out of than the sedan.

In conclusion, our China trip was perfect and your organization helped make it so. Your timeliness with making the arrangements, the hotels you chose, the guides and drivers you assigned us all added up to creating a wonderful, warm and happy memory of our time in China. THANK YOU!

Best wishes for a happy and successful 2007!

Jackie Pearce

  Dear Vicky,

Thanks for writing back. We are pleased to give the comments on our recent China trip to you.

Meals:

The meals were all excellent.

We had hotpot in Datong and in Guilin. We had never had hotpot before; but we really enjoyed it. It was fun!

It is hard to choose which is our favorite. The duck was thrilling. The dumpling banquet was really great.

Guides:

All guides were knowledgeable and spoke good English.

Cars:

Cars and drivers were all good.

Hotels:

Hotels were all good to excellent.

Overall:

Lilly in Kunming, Jack in Lijiang, and David in Guilin / Yangshuo / Longsheng were outstanding! They were all just perfect. Overall, we hugely enjoyed our tour and will recommend you to friends. Our China tour with you was memorable and terrific. We will be back to Travel China Guide in the future.

William E. Baker