2019 Customer Reviews

We loved our tour and your company is wonderful. After the tour, we realized how much we got for our money. Tour price was so reasonable and affordable. Not sure how you made much money off of us.
Your office staff, especially Wendy who helped us plan our trip from the beginning, were outstanding. Every email was answered quickly and thoroughly. The greatest asset of your tour company are the people and personal service. We just picked your tour from the Internet and could not have found a better tour company if we had investigated each one. How fortunate for us that we picked you.
The guides were so knowledgeable and well educated on everything in their country, cities and tour sights. I do not think there was one question that they could not answer. Their English was great and very easy to understand. They were so concerned that we were happy with everything. They helped us with many things such as getting cash and other personal concerns that were not really required of them. They each became good friends, especially Jason, J.J. and Lily. We got their email addresses and hope to keep in touch with them, although I am sure ever tour wants to email them. You could not hire any better guides.
Every restaurant was great and each better than the other. The lunch restaurant in Shanghai that we first went to did not look too good but fortunately they could not take us and we went to a great one.
We were a little disappointed in the river boat itself. I had taken a Yangtse River tour before with Victoria cruises and the boat was much nicer, more elegant and had balconies which I thoroughly enjoyed. However, I paid a lot more for that cruise. The people on the cruise were so nice and had such wonderful spa massage services, we had a great time. The tours from the boat were super.
The performances you scheduled were great and we had front seats at each one. I could not pick a favorite. Each was special in its own way.
The vans and drivers were also first class. Driving in China requires a great skill and these drivers were professional. The vans were so clean and spacious. We never had to wait for the driver nor walk anywhere to get to the van. I was impressed with the quality.
The only regret that we had on the tour was that we were not able to go to the panda house. However, you did your best to give us a superb experience.

We enjoyed all the meals we were served during the whole of our journey, and appreciated the rich variety offered. It is therefore difficult to select any single meal over any other. We will never forget the opportunity to try 'Hot Pot', nor the delicious Yak meat. The meals at Guilin were tasty, we enjoyed the Shanghai & Cantonese food, and the chance to try some of the spicy dishes. Overall it was the wide variety which we really appreciated as there were only a few dishes repeated during the whole of our journey.

All the guides were courteous and hardworking and were always available for our needs, including giving a contact number in case of emergency. The guides all had a good command of English but were also keen to improve their phraseology. Pronunciation allowed for normal conversation and was rarely a problem once one had tuned in to the accent with which they had learned English. We were always impressed with the extent of their knowledge about their local area, and the historical background. This was conveyed in an informative & manageable way for us hearing it for the first time, and information was repeated as appropriate during our visits to places & in response to our questions.

We were impressed with the driving abilities and safety shown by all the drivers, and their courtesy of opening doors and stowing our luggage. The cars were always clean both inside and out which made it pleasant for us. Even the new driver was seen to be quickly learning his duties.

This last December a friend and myself has the excellent opportunity to make a long journey through China and it was our good fortune to have found and employed this company to help us with our complicated schedule. I would like to speak about one employee that we had the really the good fortune to meet. His name is John and he works for Beijing branch. Of all the guides we encountered in our trip, John was the most excellent. His knowledge of Chinese history was of course the highest quality, but this I found to be true with all their employees. Therefore what made him stand out, and special as a guide (and much more than "a guide") is his human quality of genuinely caring for his charges, which is a very rare quality in any group of human beings these days. When you are with John you can feel his authentic concern for you. I am old enough and traveled enough to speak from experience. John is very educated in the English language, (which I know is not easy to learn since my own father was born and raised in China), and he continues to be curious about the language, which is also rare, because after a while most people come to kind of plateau and stop paying attention to the details. When people stop paying attention to the details in a conversation, then true communication breaks down, and with some to the guides we met on our trip this was the case. Also John understands the most rare quality of all in communication and this is the quality of space in relationship. He does not fill the empty space with idle chatter be it Chinese history or silly questions, rather he leaves the silence alone so that the guests may take in the sights of China with full attention and have the space to ask questions as they naturally arise with in the moment... He is a person of rare quality, and I feel will not only benefit foreign guests that come in contact with him, but will benefit Travel China Guide altogether and all the employees. We missed him so much.

It was an amazingly, well organized holiday that we enjoyed tremendously. We definitely were very happy with the arrangements made by travelchina and we greatly enjoyed our holiday. We opted for a private tour and this allowed us to tailor-make our trip. Because we did not have to rely on anybody else (like in a group tour) we had one of the most comfortable and enjoyable holidays we have had. We have seen some very memorable sites and met a lot of very nice people. We found most of the Chinese people we met very friendly even if we could not always communicate. The little children are adorable. The progress we have seen in this country is amazing and something to be proud of. We look forward to our next trip to this fascinating and exciting country next time.

Because we found you on the internet we were a little suspicious about the company - but when we got off the plane and Michael was right there holding a sign with our name on it we were thrilled. Michael was responsive to our needs and attentive - the only reason we give him a "good" rating rather than excellent is because Shanghai is the first city were visiting and we have nothing to compare to - he is Great! There was one place I wish we could have had more time at - the Shanghai Museum. We only had an hour and we could have easily spent 1.5-2 hours. We were grateful for all the help with getting on train and ordering in restaurants - we would have been anxious otherwise. Janet in Guilin was EXCELLENT! Her stories and historical explanations enlivened our visit the Elephant Trunk Hill and Li River. All drivers were GREAT! Not having to worry about directions or parking made our touring fast and efficient. The food was excellent - particularly lunch at a private room Acrobatic show was our kid's favorite thing. Hotels were "five stars" all the way. The breakfast buffet was superlative - the room was GREAT!

We took a 4 day private tour of Guilin, Longsheng and Li River Cruise with Frank. Frank was an exceptional guide whose knowledge, attentiveness, friendliness and enthusiasm made for an unforgettable experience. We couldn’t have had a better time. Frank was always checking with us to make sure we saw what we had hoped to see and were enjoying our time. Frank’s vast knowledge of the culture and history of the places we visited gave us an insight into Chinese life and Chinese people. We highly recommend Frank for all your tours. This was 5 star service from beginning to end.

We chose the 8 days Lhasa, Shigatse, Gyangtse, EBC tour. The tour was very informative and fun; challenging yet worth it. We learned a lot about the Tibetan culture. Kudos to Ms. Vera Yu, our travel consultant because she is very patient in answering our inquiries. Also, I would like to give credit to our tour guides Phur Tse and big Chodron, they are knowledgeable about the Tibetan culture and they took care of us during the whole duration of the tour.
I would recommend this to our friends.

This China tour was excellent and your organisation was flawless. The tour guides were excellent and very knowledgeable. The cars provided were very comfortable and drivers were very professional. Some improvements could be made with the restaurant choices in Beijing, but overall most of the meals provided were very good. The shows in each city we saw were also very good. The Beijing kung fu show was a lot more enjoyable than expected and the Tang Dynasty Show had very impressive staging and costumes. The best show was the Shanghai Acrobatic show - it was just excellent. Also, one suggestion would be to add on 1 more day for Shanghai. While Shanghai is just a big city and does not have the great history of Beijing and Xian there are still many things to see and do that would just be the perfect finish for the tour of China in the Past - Xian, Present – Beijing and Future - Shanghai. Thanks for your assistance in making it a very enjoyable trip.

Our magical experience to China:

Thank you to everyone who made our first journey to China so memorable.

A little apprehensive about a change from group to individual tour we arrived in Beijing to be met by Tina, our guide, who gave us such a warm welcome that our fears were allayed. It turned out to be the best decision, having our own guide and driver allowed more flexibility in the itinerary and we were able to talk about many differences in our cultures whilst travelling from site to site as well as being given knowledgeable tours of the various attractions we visited. Our guides in Xian, Susan and Shanghai, Carole, were equally as charming and courteous to our every need.

The sightseeing seemed relentless and the pace fast but there was so much to see and we were loathe to miss anything. Still it would have been nice to “potter” or to sit in the quiet solitude of the gardens of the Great Mosque, perhaps next time!

The Great Wall was Tim's outright winner he loved the immensity of the engineering feat although I doubt he would have liked to have built it. For me, I loved the parks and gardens where the Chinese congregate to exercise, play music, sing and play games. We were invited to have a go at a "bat and ball" exercise with a couple in the Temple of Heaven park. It looked so easy but it wasn't.

For pure spectacle the Terracotta Warriors were stunning and the work involved in the restoration awesome. We met the farmer who was one of the original people to find the first fragments of pottery. Is that not history in the making!

We watched the actors perform Chinese Kung Fu in Beijing, before sitting at very good seats in the theatre and sharing "birthday cake" with a couple from Sweden. In Xian we saw the Tang Dynasty Show and imagine our surprise at being taken to see the Shanghai Acrobatic Show which was not listed on our itinerary. Whilst this was a stunningly skillful performance which made you hold your breath my favourite was the Tang Dynasty Show, the colors, the dance, the music, the way the silk of the costumes moved like liquid, quite spectacular.

Tang Dynasty Show - what a cape!

Our hotels in Beijing and Xian were lovely with comfortable rooms, good service and excellent food. We felt the hotel in Shanghai let the tour down, it was being refurbished and whilst the room was comfortable the service and breakfast was disappointing and the view from the window, well there wasn't one. I would advise an upgrade to a better hotel if possible. However we made up for this disappointment by have the most amazing massage at the Hotels massage parlour. I went for the foot massage, much needed after all that walking.

Following the quality of service from you when make the booking we should have known that the Company's commitment to quality would continue throughout our journey in China. And so it did.

This was our first trip to China, and we would definitely recommend Travel China Guide to anyone planning to go to China. Our travel consultant, Kelly Wang, was extremely helpful in helping us plan our trip. She was able to answer all of our questions in a timely manner.

All the hotels were excellent and all provided bottled water. The breakfast buffets offered lots of choices (American and Chinese food). Tour buses were clean, had a/c, and were operated by good drivers. Tour guides had bottled water for us every day. Meals in the restaurants were very good. Lunch with a local family in Xi’an was the best!

One of the highlights of our trip was going up to the observation deck on the 118th floor in the Shanghai Tower. The elevator ride was only 55 seconds! The views at night were fantastic!

Our guides (Cool in Beijing, Celine in Xi’an and Chris in Shanghai) were very knowledgeable, friendly, and spoke English very well. We enjoyed all the places we visited and had a very memorable trip.