Jun 8, 2007

Sorry for the delay in my response. I wanted to go through my log of the China trip to better answer your questions.

My sister and I thought that we received excellent value for our money. The hotels were better than we expected, as was the general quality of the food. The meals were very good. We had one complaint. The meals were big, almost feasts, at both lunch and dinner several of the days. The meals were too close together, sometimes one ending at 2 PM and the dinner starting before 6PM. We would not at all have minded having a bowl of noodles for lunch when we had one of the terrific meals for dinner that had to start early because of the evening's entertainment. Also, perhaps because the quality of the meals was so high, we were not impressed with the two meals you specifically advertised, the dumpling dinner and the duck dinner.

One meal we particularly enjoyed was the lunch in Tibet where we ate in a garden. Rena had the curried chicken and I had the Yak steak. The ambience and the food were delightful.

One other issue: We would have liked the guides to join us for the meals if they chose to do so.

All of the guides spoke good English and were enthusiastic about their work and their city (country).

We would certainly recommend Travel China Guide to anyone who asked.

Please feel free to contact me if you have additional questions or would like to use any of my comments.

Regards,

Phyllis Farber
jpfarb@optonline.net

Jun 6, 2007

We love the Chinese kitchen and thought the food was great every where. The restaurants chosen were excellent. Even the food on the Li River cruise in Guilin we thought was not bad.

All excellent drivers who kept their car nice clean and fresh. Very friendly and polite. All guides were nice, knowledgeable, courteous with good English. Tzesan if I spell it correct in Tibet, Carol in Xian and Joe in Shanghai were excellent. Nancy in Chongqing was very helpful with assisting my wife buying some clothes as our luggage was left behind in Lhasa. We got the luggage back 5 days later in Shanghai.

I would publish that we had a wonderful trip through China & Tibet. Well organized and panned with excellent guides tours. Great food, great sightseeing, wonderful people.

I might call on you as I like to visit Shanghai with the Expo in 2010 with my 2 Grandsons (then14 and 9 years old). Keep me posted if there are special events or trips for the Expo in 2010. I am thinking of about 5 days in Shanghai, then Chendu (Panda) perhaps 3 full days, Xian also 3 full days and Beijing for the Great Wall etc. also 3 perhaps 4 days. With or without Hong Kong I am not sure yet.

It was nice meeting you Cecily. Thanks for everything and our regards also to William.

Jun 1, 2007

Judy and Brenda,

I have copied this email to my fellow travelers in case they would like to add their own comments as well. It was nice meeting you, Judy, in Xian. It's always nice to put a face to a name. Thank you for such a great trip!

All of the meals were EXCELLENT! We felt "VIP" at every restaurant and enjoyed both trying new things and enjoying the perfection of familiar dishes. I would have to say the dumpling banquet, just because it was a unique experience. I thought it was so great that they accommodated my father in law's special diet needs. It was a nice touch to an already amazing night. It is very hard to choose one meal.

All of our guides were very attentive and accommodating to our requests. Each one seemed to embrace their city with pride and we thoroughly enjoyed every one. We hope to keep in touch with all of them. Everyone knew their cities very well and had a wonderful sense of pride. I can't believe how they remember all of those dates!! Everyone was so wonderful. Marcus has a great sense of humor and a lot of patience with us "Crazy Americans". Rebecca was very fast paced and a great ball of energy (Very much like Shanghai!). Jamie was adorable. I loved her sense of humor. Carol was so much fun! She taught us some very useful Chinese. And last but not least, Julie was so great! Her great attitude was so refreshing. She talked to us like she was talking to her best friends. The cars were always clean and comfortable. The drivers were great!

I can't say enough great things about Travel China Guide and the great people they employ. Our China trip would not have been the success it was without them. The knowledge and kindness of the guides are something that will stay with us for a long time. We recommend Travel China Guide to anyone and everyone who would like to see China. Thank you so much!!

Mandi Swedlow