2012 Customer Reviews
- Clients: Mr. Daniel Pierce & Mr. Andrew Balk
- Country: United States
- Email:
Hi,
Our guide in Guilin, Frank, was great. It was nice to be met at the airport and transported to the hotel. Frank’s attitude was very helpful and his English was good. Frank volunteered information and answered our questions. He was also very knowledgeable.
Frank was very helpful the last night when our flight was canceled. Between him and your office you managed to get us on a flight which was important to us, even though we got to Shanghai rather late. We didn’t have much interaction with the driver. He did a fine job of getting us where we needed to go and showed up where Frank told him to meet us.
One meal was arranged for us the last day of our stay in Guilin. It was a western meal at the Left Bank restaurant. The meal was sort of mediocre. It probably would have been better for us to eat a Chinese lunch with our guide. The service and environment of the restaurant were fine.
Guilin Bravo: Fine hotel. Western breakfast could have been better. For example, the orange juice was watery and the pancakes were watery. However, the eggs and bacon were good. Very pretty next to the lake.
Renaissance Shanghai Yu Garden: Breakfast was good. Great location.
The main thing I appreciate about TCG is ease of making these arrangements. Abbey and Carol always responded to our pretrip questions or concerns promptly and efficiently. This trip was added on to a physics conference a colleague and I attended in Shanghai and all went smoothly.
Daniel Pierce
- Clients: Mr. Terence McKay (a group of 14 members)
- Country: United States
- Email:
Hi Abbey,
All of the meals were very good, I don't think we can single out one as exceptionally better than the rest. The lunch in the home in Xian was very well appreciated by all the guests, it was a treat, very different, the food was very good, and the atmosphere was great, that was fun. The lunch the day before, the Cantonese restaurant was also enjoyed by everyone, this is the closest to what we see in North America for Chinese food, very good! The lunch on the cruise, as you warned everyone, was not the best, it was OK, everyone did as you said, had a big breakfast, so in our group very little lunch was eaten on the cruise. The lunch on the last day, I cannot remember the name of the restaurant, the Western style lunch, was also very good, that was enjoyed by everyone again.
Both guides were good, language was excellent, knowledge of the area was good, our second guide did not share as much information as the first, about the local area, etc. Our first guide in Xian offered a lot more information and answered questions. Also our second guide should learn a little more about what might be offensive to some people, he did not badly offend any of our people, but some of his jokes used some language that some people would not like.
Because no evening dinners were planned in the itinerary, I think it would have been nice if the guide offered some suggestions near the hotel for dinners, I am sure if we asked they would have helped but we ended up having dinners at the hotels and it would have been nice to see more outside the hotels.
Both drivers were excellent, friendly, knowledgeable about the area, and both busses were clean and comfortable.
Excellent hotels, no problem, clean, comfortable, good service.
The only small problem we had was the transportation issue to visit the farmhouse, we understood we would have the choice of riding bicycles or taking golf carts, and we understand that the rules have changed. It was a bit confusing, I think the new rules mean that the golf carts cannot go there anymore, but we never did understand why the bicycle option also was gone, then we walked a few hundred meters to get on the bus instead, this little walk was not needed, some of our group was a little older, and did not need that extra walk.
Overall, everything was excellent, we were all happy with the service again this time, the sights were all well chosen, and well shown by the guides. The transportation was excellent; we will be looking to arrange more trips with TCG in the future!
Terry McKay
- Clients: Ms. Dianne Man, Ms. Shirleen Man, Ms. Yvonne Fokming, Ms. Queenie Toy, Mr. Winkin Leong & Ms. Denise Leong
- Country: South Africa
- Email:
Hello,
We were impressed with all the restaurants which you had chosen for us. They were obviously chosen carefully because each one was very nicely decorated, clean and neat. The service was also good. The food was good and we were pleased with the generous allowance per person that you had allocated as we could choose the dishes that we wanted to eat and still come out within budget. Our guides helped us choose dishes which reflected the local cuisine of each city except for one meal in Beijing that had a set menu which we also enjoyed. The one restaurant that we would remember most was the one in Beijing where we had lunch on our first day. We sat outside in an enclosed garden area because there was a wedding inside but we really enjoyed the outside setting. We also had Peking duck there.
We had chosen female guides and we were happy with all of them. They were patient and helpful with airport transfers, check-ins at hotels and airports, etc. We arrived very late in Xian after our flight was delayed in Beijing for several hours, and our guide was waiting there patiently for us and checked us into the hotel. Our guides were knowledgeable, had good English language skills and were always cheerful and patient, as I mentioned above.
Even the guides that we met briefly in Chongqing (to take us to the boat) and in Yichang (to meet us after the boat) were very helpful and gave us details of each city in the bus. We certainly learned a lot about both cities.
Our guides in Beijing and Xian were particularly good with additional information and answering questions, as they had to cover the historical sites. Their knowledge of the history of the country was excellent and they could answer most if not all of our questions. Our guide in Shanghai was competent, but I think she could have provided us with more information about what to do on our free day. In the bus she chatted with the driver rather than with us, and responded to our specific questions rather than talked about the areas we were driving through. We would particularly like to commend our guides in Beijing and Xian for their excellent knowledge and competence. They are obviously experienced guides and could anticipate our needs and questions.
The vehicles were clean. Some were newer than others. The drivers were pleasant and certainly knew how to drive in the heavy and sometimes chaotic traffic.
We liked all our hotels. They were as we would expect 5-star hotels to be. They were centrally situated and we could walk around in the evenings. The breakfasts were very good and served both English and Chinese cuisine.
We were particularly pleased with the service from Linda on the Sunday when the boat could not sail to Yichang because of a land slide and we had to be taken to Yichang by bus. We were concerned that we would not be picked up in Yichang at the right place. We phoned the office and Linda responded with phone calls and SMS, and so did the guide in Yichang. We were very impressed with your service on that day.
Thank you for this photograph. It brings back happy memories. We were very pleased with the excellent service we received from your company with the reservations and throughout our trip.
Darryl
- Clients: Ms. Michelle Thorpe, Mr. Richard Thorpe, Mr. Robert Matthiesen & Ms. Ella Matthiesen
- Country: United States
Hi,
We had a great experience on our journey to Beijing thanks to TCG. Everything went exactly as described. The meals were extremely good starting with an amazing breakfast. More choices for breakfast than we could possibly try. The lunches were all very good and very tasty. Our guide, Doreena was very helpful in making suggestions on what to have. Everything she suggested was fantastic. The restaurants were all very nice inside and the service was excellent. We had a crunchy beef dish that was amazing, but everything we had was very good.
Our guide was Doreena and she was simply outstanding. She made our trip so enjoyable starting with greeting us upon our arrival. We were concerned because our plane arrived late and it was 2:00 am local Beijing time. But there she was waiting for us along with the driver. On the way back to the airport we had to modify our travel plans which required us to leave the hotel at 4:00 am. Again she was right on time with the driver waiting. Each day that we were on a tour it was the same. She told us a time and she and the driver were right there. Everything worked just like clockwork.
Doreena was an excellent guide. Her English was very good and she knew everything about the places we visited. She even knew where to stand to get the best pictures. Better yet, she would offer to take pictures of all of us and again because she knew right where to stand they all turned out fantastic. But most importantly, was her excellent descriptions of all the sites we visited. Another thing we liked about Doreena was that she was so helpful outside her duties as our guide. One evening we had scheduled a dinner and had no idea of how to get there. Doreena called the restaurant for us, confirmed our reservation and wrote down instructions to a taxi driver on how to get us to the restaurant. She also gave us her cell number in case we ran into problems getting back to our hotel. In fact she made it quite clear to call her anytime we needed her help while we were there. Knowing we could reach someone if we had problems really made our stay much more comfortable.
Our journey also included a driver and van. The driver was great. He knew his way around the city and was always there waiting for us after we were done with an event. The van was kept in very good condition and was extremely clean. Any trash that was left behind such as empty water bottles were gone when we returned.
We stayed at the Crowne Plaza Hotel. As I mentioned previously, the breakfast that was included each morning was simply amazing. Anything you could possibly think of was provided. There was even someone to cook you an omelet with your choice of ingredients if you so desired. The staffs at the hotel were very helpful. About the only thing that we found not up to four star standards were the rooms. They were on the well used side of things. Also, even tough it was in the winter, the rooms were very hot and you couldn't adjust the temperature.
All in all, our trip exceeded our expectations. TCG not only delivered on its promises, but did so with style. The tours and food made our visit to Beijing a truly memorable experience.
Sincerely,
Rick & Michelle Thorpe
- Clients: Ms. Ingrid Paesch & Mr. Lucas Ng
- Country: Netherland
Dear Ms Kelly Wang/ Sophie Yang,
"Ni hao" from Aruba. First of all, thank you so very much for making our vacation a most memorable one.
Thank you for your prompt email responses from our first contact to our final communication, patience, advice and for assisting us to build the best itinerary possible. It was a very tight schedule, but worth it. The step by step itinerary was our second guide, it really helped us. In one word the tour was perfectly organized and everything went as planned. Wonderful! No complaints at all!
Meals:
The food was good, but not really our priority. A la carte gives you choices but still it remain difficult. Looking at the pictures doesn't tell you much about the taste. So the guides always had to help us. Everybody is different when it comes to eating so I guess a la carte is still the best option. The restaurants all looked very fancy and the services were good.
Definitely I would like to recommend the special roasted Peking Duck, more because of the way you have to prepare it and the way (wrap) you have to eat it. They give a little show to it which makes it much more special. The taste was very good!
Guides:
Because of the different cities we went, we had 6 guides during the whole visit and all were very polite and friendly. All guides were always punctual to pick us up at the hotels. They are all well-educated and very attentive. English was not a problem. Sometimes it felt like we knew each other for a long time. Knowledge of history of the visited sites was more than expected. English was more than sufficient to understand each other well. Nonetheless guides should always improve on their knowledge and language. We have nothing to complain about the guides, but praise for their services. We are very satisfied with their services and efforts to please us. Our special compliments for Linda in Beijing and Monica in Guilin. They are so special to us.
Drivers & Cars:
Drivers are not the least, they are very important concerning our safety in the difficult traffic. They have to drive safely and responsibly at all time in a very busy traffic. That's not so easy. But all drivers did a job well done. All cars were in good condition and very clean at all time. Water bottles were always available to us. It feels so good to be safe and sound back home.
Hotels:
The hotels were well chosen as 4 stars hotels and locations were good. The service in all hotels was excellent and the rooms were all clean. All breakfast were excellent.
Thank you so much for organizing such a wonderful trip for us. Happy clients is the essence of the tour and TravelChinaGuide made us happy. We truly enjoyed your services and will recommend this to our friends and perhaps we will return to your country in the near future.
Sincerely yours,
Ingrid Paesch
- Clients: Ms. Lala Jansuy & Mr. Paul Jansuy
- Country: United States
Dear Emily,
I am writing this China tour company review to let you know that we had a great time in Beijing (Dec. 11-15, 2012). We are so happy to have chosen Travel China Guide. The staff, Emily was so helpful & answered all our questions with regards our trip. We also commend the Guide, LINDA for a job well done, & the driver, WANG for making our trip a memorable one & treating us so well.!!. More power to you guys!
With regards the food, we would recommend ALL but I think the best was the smoked duck we ate on the last lunch. Sorry but I don't remember the name of the restaurant.
Once again, thank you for all your help & for making our vacation to Beijing a memorable one!!
More power to you & the company!!
Lala & Paul Jansuy
- Clients: Mr. Anthony Shorter & Ms. Eleanor Espinas-Shorter
- Country: Australia
- Email:
Hi Kelly and Sophie,
Just a few words from my wife and I to tell you we were very happy with the service your tour provided.
1. Our guide, Brian was great. His English was excellent and he had a comprehensive knowledge of the places he took us to. He also had a great sense of humor and he was very easy to get along with. I would give him triple A rating if there was such a thing as he made our tour of the Forbidden City memorable after seeing it through his eyes. When he took us to the Great Wall he chose an easier part of the wall to explore as I am suffering from emphysema and couldn't handle too steep a climb.
Some of the listed attractions we decided to forgo as we were in the last week of a two month round the world trip and, as I am 70 and my wife is 60 ,we were reaching the point of exhaustion and opted for an early night on a couple of occasions.
2. The car provided was almost brand new, very comfortable and Mr. Wong our driver was very affable, helpful with a great sense of humor.
3. The hotel (Crowne Plaza) was excellent. Although we arrived early in the morning from Finland Brian talked the girl on the front desk into giving us an early check in, which was greatly appreciated as we were dead on our feet. The room was large with a view of the street and the breakfast was also very good. Probably the best hotel we stayed in on our trip through 10 countries on 4 continents.
4. We appreciated your advisory emails too and would recommend your service as, even though the temperature was around zero degrees, every thing was well organized and went exceedingly smoothly. This was a great relief for us in contrast to some of the bad experiences we had in the 6 weeks prior to our arrival in Beijing from North Africa and Europe.
Anyway I hope this answers your questions and please pass on kind regards to Brian.
Yours Sincerely,
Anthony Shorter and Eleanor Espinas-Shorter
- Clients: Ms. Aladrian Rene Hillmon (a group of 6 members)
- Country: United States
- Email:
Hello,
I highly recommend this company. I, like many others, was a bit concerned about setting up a tour out of the country, especially when you have to pay upfront. After reading the posts from other travelers, I felt more comfortable about sending the money over before we left on our vacation. TravelChinaGuide not only met our expectations, but the exceeded them as well. I believe there were a total of 65 different conversations during the months prior to the trip. Both abbey and carol were always quick to respond back to any questions or concerns we had.
We were picked up from the airport on time with a clear sign with my name. The van was always in an easy place to find and walk to when leaving the airport. When we had one of our group members miss his flight, we were able to contact the tour company to have him picked up and brought to where we were having lunch the day that he arrived. Each member of the staff from the travel consultants, drivers, guides, hotel employees, restaurant employees were phenomenal! The vans were clean, the hotels were beautiful, and food was great! The Peking duck! It was my first time trying the duck. I can say I am a huge fan!
The trip took us to see everything we wanted to see and then some. Most nights after we were dropped off, we were so tired all we could do was shower and go to bed. The days are packed with things to do, but not so packed that you don't remember what you did. I definitely enjoyed all of my time in china thanks to you.
All of the meals were great. They offered variety of choices and an abundance of food. I never once left wanting more or feeling disappointed. I was very impressed by each restaurant that we went to. The atmosphere was comfortable and welcoming. I enjoyed that art placed throughout each venue. The Peking duck was phenomenal! It was perfectly cooked and very tasty. But the last meal we had in Beijing was excellent. They just kept bring food! It was wonderful and very flavorful.
I thought both guides were very good. Lisa was very sweet. She was full of energy and very helpful in negotiating transactions. I enjoyed how much she truly cared about the history and explaining certain aspects of the ancestry. I also liked the fact that we were allowed to roam freely in the museums to look at things in our own time and space. John was excellent! We were able to spend more time with him, so we were able to get to know him. Our group got in early so we had a free day to ourselves; john showed us how to get to and from the Beijing zoo. We went to the zoo and had a great time and we didn't get lost once! He was always there to guide us and made me feel very comfortable and free move about the areas on the tour. I also liked that John stayed with us when we got into Beijing and helped us get settled in the area. He helped us order our lunch and stayed with us while we ate to answer any questions or address any concerns we may had (which we didn't). They were both happy to play photographer for our group. John got an awesome picture of me jumping outside of one of the sights! I loved it!
Our driver Mr. Jho was very nice. Always welcoming, helpful, and friendly. The van was very clean. But did smell of smoke.
The hotels were very nice. I was very impressed with the selection of the hotels. The Crowne Plaza Beijing was very nice (as expected). The rooms in both shanghai and Beijing were nice and clean. I would leave and come back each day to a fresh and cleaned room. The service was very good at the crowne plaza. They were nice in both the check in and check out process. The service at the longmen d hotel in Qingdao was different. They were very nice, but they don't speak English very well, if at all. This made it a little difficult to communicate certain things to one another, such as finding a place to eat outside of the restaurant. And trying to order food in the hotel restaurant. It was a task ordering dinner on the first night. We were sitting next to a very nice group of people that were visiting from New York City. We ended up talking and having a very good time.
I would not hesitate to use this company again when I have another trip to china, or any other country they provide service to. They treated us so well, they will have 6 returning customers when every our travel plans bring us back there. We have and will continue to spread the word!
Aladrian
- Clients: Mr. Christopher Howcroft & Ms. Jean Howcroft
- Country: UK
- Email:
Dear Sophie and Kelly,
Thanks for your prompt response to my comments on your questionnaire. We are impressed by the efficiency of your company and the speed at which you respond to emails.
I just wanted to say how much we enjoyed our trip to Shanghai as the culmination of our Far East trip. We managed the rest of the trip to Hong Kong, Borneo, Singapore and Malacca ourselves. This was a lengthy operation of researching and finding the best flights and hotels, transfers and places to visit. Discovering your company was such a bonus as all the hard work was done for us. Even down to the help of a letter of recommendation for our application for the Chinese visas. This was very welcome and very efficiently carried out.
The brief time we had in Shanghai was used to full effect with your 3 day tour and hotel package. The Renaissance hotel was perfect and location adjoining the Yuyuan gardens made visiting so much simpler. Our guide Lisa could not have been better or more professional and we would like to extend our thanks to her for making our trip so fascinating. We were enchanted by Shanghai and our first port of call at the museum in particular. This was a revelation in Chinese culture and creativity and extremely impressive. We are still talking about it weeks later.
The rest of the day's trip was a good mix of the ancient splendor of the Yuyuan gardens to the river boat cruise and Art Street and The Bund. The private mini bus called up at a moment's notice added to the ease of traveling around the city. Our visit culminated with a trip on the super fast Maglev train back to the airport for our flight home. 7 minutes was all it took from Shanghai central and we wished we could have done it again. It was over all too quickly. A brilliant experience of how future train travel should be in such a large city and a fitting way to end our all too short trip.
Many thanks to everyone who contributed to making this such a special highlight of our trip to the Orient. We hope to return in the future and spend more time discovering the beauty of China.
Chris and Jean Howcroft
- Clients: Ms. Berandine Geldenhuys (a group of 9 members)
- Country: South Africa
- Email:
Dear Abbey/Carol
You, together with Wendy, were exceptional to work with on this trip. It was pure joy to be able to communicate with you at all times of day and night and get a quick response.
Bottle of Great Wall Wine when visiting the Great Wall very nice gesture and added a nice touch to the day. Midday boatride on the Huangpu river most enjoyable and a nice way to see the architecture of this beautiful city, Shanghai. I would recommend to always include this on the city tour. Zhouzhuang Water village –loved this excursion and village not as busy as we expected. Zhangjiajie is an amazing place and we are so grateful we were able to see the wonderful nature. Our absolute highlight was the day at Tianmen Mountain + the Glass Skywalk + the truly wonderful show (The Fox Fairy Show). It was a bonus to see the newly born babies in Chengdu.
Please treat the comments I make in the following as positive criticisms. My main concern is the quality of the guides provided. Sara in Beijing was good and considerate of our needs. David in Xian was an excellent guide - am so grateful we had him - he ensured that we made the most of our limited time in Xian. He was by far the best guide we had on the trip - it would have been wonderful if all guides could have been as professional, well-organized, knowledgeable and fluent in English. I did stress the importance of guide a few times in our correspondence and the fact that we had some really bad guides is disappointing. Leedan in Hangzhou was very young and seemed totally inexperienced. Lily, Zhangjiajie guide was a very young girl with little knowledge and knows little English. I had a really hard time to communicate with her. Jiuzhaigou guide was a terribble guide, such a disappointment.
We also concern the large increase in visitor numbers to sensitive areas like the parks and Lijiang. The Lijiang town has lost its appeal for us. It seems a lot of the other visitors we have spoken to are also disappointed and people feel confused - how is it possible that such a charming old world place could be invaded by thousands of tourists mostly interested in eating? Where before the various canals had crystal clear mountain water running through the town, it is now all dirty and horrible. The infrastructure of the town simply cannot cope with the numbers of people eating and moving around - gone are all the ladies and girls dressed in traditional clothes, the yaks, ponies and farmers on the main square, the sound of running water in the canals. The main impression one now gets is of thousands of people pushing through the narrow streets, very noisy, eating and drinking everywhere and at all times, loud modern music filling the streets at all times(also during the day) and by 17h00 when everybody gets back from the excursions it becomes a nightmare to move around. So really terribly sad.
An easy solution to address at least the noise pollution would be for the guide and groups to use earphones and a small mouth piece for the guide to talk to pax instead of the megaphones being used at the moment.
Last but not least - we were all incredibly impressed by the progress that has been happening in China. The beauty of Shanghai was an absolute surprise and highlight for us.
The government is certainly investing a lot of money in infrastructure - all the beautiful new roads, bridges, airports and cities being cleaned up and modernized.
I do hope they also succeed in finding a way to protect the amazing natural beauty and history for generations to come.
Thank you for the last minute rearranging of the trip to Zhangjiajie instead of Lhasa - it was a very good alternative. I do appreciate all the time and effort you have put into arranging this trip as well as your commitment to professionalism.
Many thanks once more.
Best regards
Benny Geldenhuys.
