Client's information:

  Hello Tina and Maggie,

It was nice to meet you, Tina - even though very briefly - at the dumpling banquet in Xian. Thank you for making all the arrangements for our trip so professionally. Everything went very smoothly, even after the earthquake, which must have complicated things for you.

We enjoyed our visit to your country very much, although we were very disappointed with the weather. We knew the atmosphere in the big cities like Beijing would be a bit polluted, but we had expected other parts of our tour to be clearer. As it happened, everywhere we went was cloudy and grey so we really weren't able to see a lot of the sights like the great wall, the three gorges or even the mountains around the Li river. I'm sure most of it was poor weather rather than pollution but it was
such a pity as it would all have looked very spectacular if the air had been clearer. Our photographs all look very dull! However, as I've said, we enjoyed the experience very much and met lots of lovely people.

We all liked the food very much, but with one or two exceptions. The food on the Li river boat was not at all nice (as you had warned us in the itinerary!) Not only that, but it was served rudely and at a most inappropriate time, when we were passing through some of the most beautiful parts of the river. In fact, the whole experience was poor as all the boats seemed to regard the cruise as a race and something to be got through as fast as possible, with no thought for the experience of the passengers. It just wasn't up to the standards of the rest of the trip. The only other meal that was disappointing was the dinner at a hotel in Guilin on 27 May, which was very plain and bland. However, I think that was our fault as we gave the guide the impression that we didn't like spicy food when what we meant to say was that one of our party didn't like chillies!

All the guides were friendly and helpful, with good knowledge of their area. Their english ranged from adequate to excellent. They all made a big contribution to the success of our holiday but we got on particularly well with two of the guides and would like to highlight them and commend them to you. They were Gloria in Beijing and Amy in Guilin who were both really special. Also, when we were on our way to Xian airport, I remembered that I had left my valuables in the room safe in the Grand New World Hotel. I was very glad to have Rita as our guide who arranged with no fuss at all for them to be delivered to the airport - fortunately that flight had been delayed, which gave more time for them to catch up with me.

The cars were fine and the drivers always helpful and courteous. We were glad that we didn't have to drive ourselves in the city traffic!

The hotels were good, although like many hotels in the world, the rooms tended not to live up to the grandeur of their foyers. Also, many of them were rather mean with the complimentary drinks in the rooms, offering only 2 green tea bags. Why no black tea or coffee? Having said that, we really enjoyed the cruise and met some lovely people, both fellow passengers and crew members. All the serving staff on the boat were really friendly and helpful but again, two really stood out for us. Their English names were Cherry and Jenny and they were quite delightful.

We would be happy for you to publish any of our comments on your website but we would prefer that you do not include our email address. Overall, we were very impressed with your organisation that gave us a memorable holiday. Our only real disappointment was the poor weather but we can hardly blame TravelChinaGuide for that! Thank you for all your work on our behalf.

Best wishes,

Roger & Jan and John & Val