Feb 12,2009

Dear Tina and Maggie,

Thank you Travel China Guide for making our tour of China so memorable.

Firstly on our arrival in Beijing we met a fellow traveller at the airport and the full group the following morning.

The international flavour of our group made the holiday so much better than all being from one country. There was always so much to share, not only our China experiences but our own backgrounds.

The greeting from Guide Rose in Beijing was excellent and from dawn to almost dusk we were seeing new sights and new experiences, mind you with a lengthy walking schedule.

From first stepping into Tananmen Square, walking on the Great Wall, seeing the Terracotta Army, Guilin's amazing mountains, the Yangtze cruise and culminating in Shanghai, the sights and sounds of China were all around us.

The tour itinerary was excellent except that the one night in Yichang could well have been better spent on a further night on the cruise or an extra day in Shanghai. We were scheduled to go to Lhasa but because of difficulties we went to Guilin and Yangshuo instead. This was a particular scenic highlight and in hindsight a worthy alternative.

Hotels were excellent everywhere and the meals provided were of an excellent standard. With hotel breakfast followed by two Chinese meals a day one could hardly be hungry. The Chinese food was varied and we were treated to some quite excellent dishes eg Chrysanthemum fish, and something akin to Potato toffee apples. The group of 16, split variously into 2 tables of 8 and mealtime conversations were one of the tour highlights, coming as we did from 7 different countries and 4 continents but with English as a common language.

The sumptuous banquet which we should have had in Xian was however lost due to a failure of Chinese Eastern Airways. Having been booked in by the tour guide everything should have been perfect, however the airline sought to bump us off the flight and rebook us for the following morning. The ludicrously named 'Beijing 100% perfect hotel' overnight hotel was not all it claimed to be but all's well that ends well and we were welcomed in Xi'an by TCG staff and recompensed for our loss of the nights accommodation and meal. None of our tour was lost and guide Echo in Xi'an made up for the difficulties which were soon forgotten.

After Guilin, twelve of our group departed for Shanghai while the remaining four of us set off on the Yangtze cruise. Other TCG groups were on the same cruise.

Tour guides were excellent, they were very knowledgeable, and able to impart their local knowledge. Echo, in Xi'an and Rebecca in Guilin deserve particular praise. Not only did they tell us about the sites we visited but also something about the life, culture and even the language of China. They certainly kept us going and accommodated some flexibility.

To begin with, the tipping arrangement was of some concern, Yuan or $ how to split it, Daily or for each location but we became used to it after a while.

The coaches and cars provided were excellent and the bus drivers particularly helpful.

Thank you for the organisation the tour, we are glad that we chose your company.

Yours sincerely

Peter and Margaret Bryan
England