Nihao Judy,

Thanks for providing the opportunity to comment. It was nice to meet you in Xi'an, and to put a face to all the emails!

The only real problem we had with the trip was that we needed more time, but that was because we had organised to see as much as possible in the short time available to us. It would have been good to spend more time at a slower pace, perhaps to wander around local markets with a guide in tow, both to show us interesting sights, and to translate and advise on bargains (or not).

Due to a mixup with train numbers and a late train, we did have a small problem when we arrived in Luoyang and weren't met, fairly late at night. However, after a phone call, the local manager, Mr Cai Shufan personally collected us and delivered us to the hotel, resolving the problem to our satisfaction.

1) We liked all the meals served, but we felt that those outside of Beijing were more interesting - and even more different in style to Chinese meals we see in Australia. The Peking duck was a little disappointing - but more because we'd already eaten a huge lunch and couldn't cope with more food that day. we were too full to properly appreciate dinner that night. It may be better to schedule it for a day when lunch is not provided, or to provide a smaller lunch that day. I couldn't nominate one favourite meal, but I did like the dumpling banquet.

2.1) All the guides were great - friendly, flexible and helpful.

2.2) Sometimes accents briefly confused us for some words, but that happens when we meet people from other English speaking countries -Aussies don't speak English like the English do! We didn't have any real communication issues with our guides.

2.3) We were constantly impressed with the knowledge shown by our guides.

3) All the cars were kept clean, and the drivers were as friendly as they could be, given language limitations. The Xi'an driver (Mr Xu, I think) was especially service conscious, always leaping out to open doors and to ensure we didn't bang our heads getting out of the van. Seatbelts didn't always seem to be fitted (maybe they were, but they weren't always obvious) - I'd prefer to have seatbelts obviously available.

Linda helped us deal with a persistent Forbidden City hawker who wouldn't leave us alone, which was much appreciated. Linda and the other guides (Tracy, Jamie and Joe) were all knowlegeable, friendly and helpful, and would tell jokes - and even more importantly, laugh at our bad jokes!! All the guides took our photos in front of famous sites - we'll treasure those photos as great memories. Our guides helped create the wonderful time we had.

Joe and Linda both gave us their personal phone numbers, and Joe asked us to contact him if we had any troubles whatsoever during our free night, and even after the official part of the tour was over.

As Aussies, we found it strange that the guide and driver sat at different tables in the same restaurants for their meals, and we would have been delighted to have them at our tables, not only to help us know what we were eating and the correct way to eat it, but also so we could have got to know them better. We understand that some people/cultures wouldn't like this, so perhaps it could be offered as an option, if the guides were willing.

I think that I filled in one of the evaluations incorrectly, indicating that we were taken to stores we didn't want to visit - if I did, my apologies, we wanted to visit every store we went to, and enjoyed the experiences.

Even though it was very cold, travelling during Chinese New Year was special - the extra decorations and all the fireworks were fantastic. To top it off, for most our trip crowds were very small, which we really appreciated - standing on a cold, windy, almost empty Great Wall, we were could almost imagine what it would have been like as a soldier guarding the border. We were lucky enough to avoid the terrible snow storms that hit southern China, yet still got see snow in the cites and countryside - more snow than we'll ever see in Australia.

I'd prefer not to have my email address published, but am happy for my comments to appear on your site.

Thanks again for a wonderful trip. We'd love to come and spend more time in your country, and I'd be happy to travel again with Travel China Guide.

Xie xie

Tony and Jann Fathers