Hello Maggie,

Nice to hear from you. We would like to thank you for making our China trip so VERY memorable and such a happy event which we will remember always.

Our guides in Beijing were Dobbin Dhu and Sonny who went out of their way to make sure everything ran smoothly and we believe that they were both exceptional guides. They suggested things that we could do in our free time, places to eat, markets to visit, general tourist places to visit which we were very happy to see on our own. Nothing was too much trouble for them including finding a hat I lost in Behai Park.

In Urumqi we has Sasha who collected us from the airport, took us to the hotel and then next morning to the flight to Kashgar. We saw Sasha again on our return to Urumqi. Sascha was an excellent guide who was very well informed about all the places we visited with her. She took us to Turpan and suggested places to eat which were excellent and something to do in the evening (local song & dance group). We were very grateful for the attention shown in everything especially putting us on the soft sleeper as I am sure we would have had a problem if we had tried to arrange this by ourselves.

In Kashgar we had Mohammed who spoke excellent English and was very informative about the customs of the local area. He took us to dinner at a local restaurant as we were unable to speak the language, which was not on the tour and greatly appreciated by us.

In Dunhuang we had Kevin who whilst he spoke English very well we found we had a little difficulty but not enough to be a problem with his speech. He was very helpful in advising us of the night market which we visited and found very enjoyable.

In Xian we had Julia and it would not be possible to have a better guide than Julia. We found Julia to be the best guide on the whole tour even though most of the others were excellent. Her knowledge of the history was excellent. We thoroughly appreciated all the information she gave us. The meals were excellent. The sightseeing was also excellent and we intend to return to Xian as we had such a wonderful time in your city. It was a pleasure to meet you, the person who arranged the tour for us.

In Chongqing we had a lovely young lady whose name I have forgotten but she took us to a lovely village in the city with old Chinese beds. It was wonderful. She paid for the locals to carry our luggage onto the ship. It would have been good to have more time in this city as it looked like a wonderful city to visit. The trip down the Yangtze was very memorable and relaxing even though the side trip to Fengdu was very poor. The guide had too many people and not enough knowledge. The other side trip to Shennong Stream was enjoyable. Three Gorges Dam site is a wonderful experience.

In Yichang we had a very good guide and I cannot remember his name. He took us to the Sturgeon fish breeding program which was very interesting. He also took us to the silk embroidery gallery which was excellent, the local 3 gorge history museum.

In Shanghai we were met by Naomi who took us to a local family which we found fascinating. The visit to the water village was one of the highlights of our Shanghai stay. Naomi also suggested a night cruise on the Hangpu River to view the city by night. It was an excellent suggestion. We really enjoyed our free time in Shanghai visiting markets and temples.

In Guilin we were met by Karen who was wonderful. The Li River cruise was very pretty and memorable. Karen suggested the local restaurants and local dishes to try while we were in Yangshou as well as sights to visit with our free time. We returned to Guilin and visited all the tourist areas on the itinerary. We had a little free time left so Karen asked what we wanted to do and we asked to be dropped off at the 2 Pagoda lake to take pictures. We were very happy with all arrangements made by Karen. She was very helpful.

In Hong Kong we were met by Richard who was excellent. We discussed a visit to Macau with Richard and so he arranged it for us. Our opinion of this trip is not good. It was overpriced compared to other people on the same tour the food was not of the standard we had enjoyed on our trip through China. The guide was excellent but the tour was of a very low standard. Richard was excellent on the tour arranged by you and he took us to the floating restaurant for lunch which was delightful. He also showed us how to use the Metro and bus & ferry systems so that we enjoyed our free days travelling by ourselves.

On the whole we found the standard of guiding to be excellent. Over all the guides went out of their way to make our visit enjoyable, memorable and on occasions they went above and beyond what could ever be expected.

The food we found to be wonderful and a great experience tasting local dishes. The quantity of food was always more than we could normally eat. The Peking duck would have to be the meal we would suggest not to miss. It is very hard to choose the best meal as they were all so wonderful.

In all cases the cars and drivers were excellent. The cars were kept exceptionally clean and the drivers were always pleasant and well dressed, always on time and ready to help.

We would like to thank you for all your attention to detail with regard to our holiday questions while we were planning this trip. We would also like to thank you for all your suggestions, help and guidance in making this our most memorable holiday and definitely a trip to recommend to our friends and a country we will definitely return to in the future. Everything worked so smoothly and we recommended Travel China Guide to people whilst we were travelling because you were so good and their planned trip was not of your standard.

I will send some photos in the next few days when we get them organised as we only arrived home 2 days ago.

Many many thanks for everything.

Peter & Caroline Watson
October 2007