China Tours Reviews

Our China tour started at the end of December. We began our trip in Beijing, which was a bracing -12C when we arrived. We were met at the airport and would add that all pick-ups were on time each morning for tours, and at all stations or airports as well. Our first day was free in Beijing, so we explored, following the tip to visit the National Museum which has amazing stuff on display (as did the Xi'an Shaanxi museum and Shanghai museum later in the trip). We found a great Peking Duck restaurant which was a short walk from the hotel. The queuing system was a case of organised chaos in such a small space, but the meal was well worth waiting for. Best duck ever!

William was our guide in Beijing, and our tour comprised 5 people including us. All the guides were very good, but William takes the star prize. He was interesting and informative, but also a laugh. The usual sights in Beijing were awesome and splendid, but the highlight was the Great Wall, as we expected. When we saw the Temple of Heaven, there is an area where people – or their mothers – have their CVs to find a marriage partner. One of the mothers took a shine to one of our party on behalf of her daughter, and when she discovered he was a lawyer, became very interested. The rest of us found this more amusing than he did!

The bullet train was a nice relaxing journey to Xi'an. Our party of 5 split on the second day as we went to different locations next, but we all saw the Terracotta Army, which is another “must see”. The wall at Xi'an is big enough and was getting decorated for the coming spring festival (year of the Rat), but after the Great Wall, was less impressive. We all enjoyed the market and had a lunch in the Muslim area which was great fun, followed by a ridiculously cheap group hotpot that evening involving much use of online translation on our phones!

The next day, Sally took over from Helen, and despite spending only part of a day with her, she was great. Having only two of us going around the Shaanxi museum, she was able to help us with anything we found interesting, going at our pace. We left on another bullet train to Chengdu.

The journey was shorter than before, and we met David, our guide. The next day was an early start to go to the Panda Base. What an amazing day! It was fabulous feeding pandas by hand and cleaning out their enclosures. The park has been designed brilliantly, so we also wandered to see other pandas (including cute red pandas). We were struck how lovely it was to be in a less built up space after our largely city based tours before. David had been to the Panda Base before, so knew what to do, and was a fantastic guide there.

Beijing had had clear blue skies and not at all polluted, contrary to what we had expected, but Xi'an and Chengdu were more polluted. This was the trade off going in winter, although this also meant that the tourist attractions were far less busy.

The next morning in Chengdu David took us to the Pavilion Park, where we sat drinking tea (green obviously) and learning Mahjong. We also managed to have our ears massaged and shoes cleaned, although the locals were most interested in our newly taught Mahjong prowess. It was a lovely way to while away a couple of hours and contributed to our stay in Chengdu being fondly very remembered. We went to the airport to fly to Shanghai.

Shanghai was about as different as anything could be to Xi'an, and even much of Beijing. It is as blingy and modern as Xi'an reflects the ancient part of the country. Our guide Hugo showed us parts of the different concessions in the city as well as the museum, but the Yuyuan Garden was lovely. Later we met up with two of our original tour group for cocktails at the rooftop bar of the Hyatt on the Bund, seeing the spectacular lights. We managed a return trip on the Maglev train which was a marvellous way to bring our China tour to an end.

In summary, the organisation was fantastic. Everything went as planned, and the guides were all very helpful and easy to talk to. The hotels were fine throughout, although in our case, we found the Chengdu hotel – which was the swankiest we stayed in – was less well placed to explore too much for places to eat, particularly as we arrived later in the day and had a long day at the Panda Base. Transportation was fine throughout, too. Bus, car, train and plane were all good.

We originally considered a private tour but went for a small group one at a lower price. This is well worth it in winter, as the group is unlikely to be even close to the 12 maximum. The mix of locations and sights was perfect for us. Prices of meals were similar or lower than we expected, so we spent less than we took with us.

There were so many highlights, so it is difficult to choose which pictures to show, but the attached is a very small sample from what was a truly wonderful holiday.

Mark I

We are an Australian family who took the private tour from 24 December 2019 to 3 January 2020. China tours Co. had organized a meticulous tour for our family. Apart from the Shanghai stage, other stops were historic and memorable. The key attraction for China is her rich history. It would be very important that the tour guides must learn and comprehend Chinese History, not only PLA, Communist Revolution, or China Modernisation, Silk Road - One Belt - One Road, guests would be much more interested in her ancient history. Just imagine that when Qin Shi Huang connected the Great Wall to protect his newly formed dynasty - Qin, Jesus Christ was not even conceived yet, let alone the development and establishment of many great dynasties before his. Tour guides should treat this issue very carefully because of many tour guests who have studied Chinese History as their majors in High School and in University. They travel with two purposes, to see and to verify the historical records.
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To avoid the misunderstanding, that could be interpreted as a deception, in the itinerary of the tour, the program details must be utterly succinct and concise, i.e. Day 1: Receive the tour guests from Airport and deliver guests to the prebooked hotel. Tour guide will briefly explain the tour to the guests. This is the first day of arrival, the tour manager would like to leave the guest a resting time for recovering after a long flight. While Beijing and Xi'an stops were very well organized and rich history, the Gullin - Yangshuo and Shanghai stops were shallow. In Gullin - Yangshuo stop, if the tour guide were not as good and friendly, this stage would be very boring. We were very lucky to have Sue as a tour guide, she was so excellent in her English and her deep knowledge of China that shined the tour stop in a very different direction.

In Shanghai stop, I would expect the tour guide would lead us to the Shanghai historical museum where we would learn the bitter lessons of the 1930 - 1945 chaotic period in Chinese history, we were taking to the Parks which we could find them ourselves. Shanghai has so many historical monuments to attract international traveling guests, not the riverside where it showed the newly built highrise skyscrapers, we have seen them enough in New York, Singapore, or even in KL. We would like to know the history of Shanghai club, the details of the day when the Japanese planes dropped bombs over the city's residential areas, etc.

It would be very useful to prepare a china-tour booklet in advance, such that the details of the 2020 tours include detailed programs of the year i.e. how many stops of the tour, cities, historical locations, etc.

rogergreen113

Dear Martha our trip in Myanmar is finished and Isa and me are fully satisfied. We have seen a lot of places, monuments and peoples. As usual we give you a little feedback of our trip. Organization Very good: intensive (4 internal flights) but in this way we save a lot of time and we saw a lot of things. Accomodation Good and coherent with our request. Only one remark regarding the Hotel in Bagan where the Hotel was good but with a poor bathroom (not coherent with the standard of the trip). Viceversa the Hotel on the Inle Lake was spectacular. Guides All the guides were very kind, helpful and prepared. Particularly the guides in Bagan and in Mandalay spoke an excellent English and were very cultured in order to give us a complete overview of the local culture. Conclusions As usual Isa and me were fully satisfied

marioY1797DZ

Fantastic trip organized by China Tours! All the guides were wonderful and accommodated my needs. Perfect English, highly informed and kind. One of the best trips of a lifetime! China Tours made the whole experience effortless despite the obvious barrier with language. If you are going to China, no doubt this tour is for you.

bacibesobeijo

This 35 day private tour through China was set up by Martha Fu and her team. The trip was more than unbelievably fantastic and if I could rate it a 10 I would! I had some very specific places I wanted to see that were the typical tourist attractions, but several that I read about that were off the tourist radar and amazing to go to. Martha spent about a year with me to customize every detail of this trip, which I kept adding and deleting. Originally it was set for 58 days so I ended up having to split it in two trips. In fact, I have already setup Part 2 for 2020 to finish what I have started.

Martha was incredible! I have traveled the world and this trip was tops!!! Martha and I discussed the best time to go and obviously avoiding the 70th Anniversary of the Republic of China Holiday week was a great idea due to the crowds, but yet, coming in at the end of this holiday, I was still able to see lots of celebratory flower displays everywhere, which was amazing. Martha helped me with everything so that this trip was smooth and memorable. She responded to my emails within 24 hours and if she was not available Lori or another teammate stepped in to answer all of my questions. This company is unbelievable!

Travelling solo was a concern, but not with this tour company. I felt very safe at all times. Every city I went to - from arriving by train or plane, I was met with an English speaking tour guide and a driver. All my guides (10 in total) spoke English well and were very attentive to my needs.

To give you an idea of the complexity of this tour, which included trains and flights, I thought I would list some of my trip highlights:
* Beijing (Tiananmen Square, Forbidden City, Summer Place, Mutianyu Great Wall, Hutong Tour, Temple of Heaven)
* Datong (Yungang Grottoes, Shanhua Monastery)
* Pingyao (Hanging Temple of Mount Hengshan, Wooden Pagoda in Ying County, Pingyao Ancient City Wall, Rishengchang Draft Bank, Qiao Family Compound, Shuanglin Monastery)
* Xi'an (Terra-Cotta Warriors, Museum, Small Wild Goose Pagoda, City Wall, Great Mosque)
* Dunhuang (Echoing-Sand Dunes, Crescent Lake, Magao Grottoes)
* Jiayuguan (City Gate, Overhanging Great Wall, Museum (Beginning of the Silk Road))
* Zhangye (Giant Buddha Temple, Danxia Landform (Rainbow Mountains))
* Wuwei (Leitai Tomb of Han Dynasty)
* Lanzhou (Binglingsi Grottoes)
* Chengdu (Wenshu Monastery, Giant Pandas, Wangjang Pavillion Park, Jinli Street)
* Leshan (Giant Buddha)
* Emei Mountain (Wannian Monastery, Baoguo Temple)
* Dazu (Rock Carvings)
* Yangtze River Cruise (Shibaozhai, Qutang Gorge, Wu Gorge, Shennong Stream, Three Gorges Dam)
* Zhangjiajie (Tianmen Mountain, Grand Canyon, Glass Bridge, Hallelujah Mountains (Avatar), Tianzi Mountain, Ten-mile Natural Gallery, Golden Whip Stream)
* Fenghuang (Stilt Houses on Tuojiang River)
* Hangzhou (Feilai Park, West Lake, Tea Plantation)
* Wuzhen Water Town
* Shanghai (Tongli Water Town, Master of the Nests Garden)

I highly recommend China Tours. I'm now very excited to go back to China and finish the rest of my planned trip in 2020! Thanks again for an outstanding tour!

Loretta M

We were so pleased that we chose China Tours after reading reviews from Tripadvisor to customise our itinerary. Lora was so responsive and we felt at ease planning it with her. Tour was according to itinerary and there were no hiccups. Guides, Linda at Xi'an and Mt Hua and Sherry at Chongqing were knowledgeable, professional and saw to our every need. Drivers were courteous both on and off the roads and on time. We will not hesitate to recommend China Tours to our friends. In fact, we are currently planning with Lora on our next trip to the Silk Route. Mrs Koh

Kskoh55

Excellent experience. Tour guides were all knowledgeable about history of cities visited. Drivers were safe and reliable. Trip of a lifetime

DianeSalemNH

I had a wonderful time in HK and Beijing with my two great guides, Ricky Lam in HK, and lovely Nancy in Beijing. HK is stunning, especially its iconic harbor at night. A trip on the Star Ferry was a bucket list wish for me. I had only peripheral contact with the protests on my last day there on my own, but they did not hamper my time there in any way -- HK is HUGE! The view from the Peak was fantastic. And a special shout-out to the HK Museum of History, which is the best museum I've ever been to -- and I'm a museum person head-to-tail. High point in Beijing was the Great Wall (bucket list) and the beautiful Summer Palace. Nancy was lovely and accommodating. I could not have asked for two better guides. Only low point (and not the fault of anyone but my genetic makeup): The turbojet ferry from HK to Macau. Augh -- should be called the vomit comet!

klsfhloeujg

Our first experience with China Tours for the above itinerary was excellent Everything went smoothly and the arrangements were seamless Our travel consultant Lora is professional helpful and quick to respond The guides and drivers at each destination were knowledgeable and considerate We will definitely use China Tour again for our next trip in China Mrs Liao/Koh Pooh Lii

plkpl

Everything was super well organized and very user friendly. Hotels were good and the tour guides really knew their subjects. I was with a small group - only 3 of us, great company!

Mary S

This first tour of China and with China Tours exceeded our expectations. The ongoing support and attention while planning the tour was extremely helpful and reassuring. All details promised were delivered. We were delighted with the full attention of our tour guides and the depth of information shared about each site and cultural background - past and present. Our guides were very knowledgeable and enjoyed responding to questions and engaging in discussion. They also helped us arrange for additional activities- for example, a “tea ceremony”. Andy & Nancy Oak Park, IL

Andy T

My wife and I and two of our two friends, Bill & Diane traveled to China recently through one of your scheduled packages, "15 days China Highlights with Yangtze River and Pandas" starting on October 24, 2019. In summary, I would like to say that ChinaTours exceeded our expectations!

From the start to the end of the tour, ChinaTours fulfilled their obligations. The tours guides were always waiting for us at the airport or hotel, and were very verse in their knowledge of the local community that we were visiting. Their english was more than sufficient, they were friendly, courteous and provided suggestions for lunch and dinner. We always felt comfortable around them. They made our transitions from one city to the next flawless.

I have no doubt that utilizing ChinaTours to visit China saved us not only money but many hours of frustration of getting around. So thank you for a job well done and I would most definitely recommend your Company to our friends or to anyone contemplating a visit to China.

William D

I dont normally leave reviews and i am only doing this due to the uncertainty i had when booking , i found it hard to find any reviews and was uncertain paying a large amount of money up front we had a 15 day private tour Beijing , Xi'an , Chengdu , Guilin , Yangshuo all hotels guides trains flights cars arranged by Martha it was excellent she coped with delayed flights weather change of airport no one could have done better i have no hesitation in reccomending them

hillington53

We just returned from a wonderful 2 week trip to China with China Tours. My husband and I usually travel on our own but decided we didn’t want to do this in China. When I went to the China Tours website and saw we could travel with a private guide and driver we thought this was a perfect solution. We’re very glad we used this option-traveling in China and dealing with the crowds of people could we overwhelming.

China Tours made planning our trip very easy. They responded to all emails promptly. We picked one of their tours and made a few changes-adding a day in Beijing and Shanghai and requesting some specific sites.

The guides-Margery, Zoe, Angela, and Karl-were wonderful. Their English was excellent, they were very helpful, they were knowledgeable and interesting to talk to, and fun to be with. All added to our enjoyment of the trip and will be remembered fondly. They were sweet about bringing us snacks and always had water bottles in the car for us. Drivers did a great job in tough driving conditions.

When we got off the plane after a very long flight to Beijing we were very happy to find Margery waiting for us. We were also grateful for her help navigating the chaotic train station when we left. Our guide was waiting at each new location and helped us with connecting flights. We enjoyed all of the restaurants they took us to for lunch-many local places we would not have found on our own. The itinerary was excellent. We felt we had enough time at the sites we visited and were never rushed. We had time to wander on our own when we were done for the day, in the evening, and our last day in Shanghai. The hotels were very comfortable.

I highly recommend China Tours and hope to return and use them again some day

rataBoston

We contacted China Tours for a private group 10 day non-shopping tour. They suggested the cities and attractions to visit and it was perfect. The tour guides were very knowledgeable and always on time. and they took a great care of all of us. We definitely recommend China Tours.

Cecilia G

Beijing is a nice city with a lot of history, and Sara, our guide is very friendly and very knowledgeable about the sites and very well organized so that we’re able to avoid long waiting queues, and have more time enjoying the magnificent views. Will book again to explore other cities in China

Hylsg

We went on an eight day small group tour saw Beigin, Xi.an and Shangiah Great and knowlledgeable. Stayed in excellent hotels, Train ride was so fun. Would go with China Tours again.

hale1789

We have just returned from a 10 Day Tour of China which included all the major histororical attractions as well as a trip along the Yangtse River. The trip was excellent in terms of the quality of the attractions, the standard of accommodation and the organisation of China Tours and it's Guides. Visiting Beijing, the Great Wall, the Terracotta Soldiers and a range of Temples and Mosques was a memorable experience.

Mark J

Our small group (10 persons) tour of China was actually the expanded 15- day tour from Beijing to Shanghai. It was everything that China Tours had presented it to be in their marketing literature; and for that they get 5 Stars! Our guides in each city were completely fluent in English; nothing was ever "lost in translation." All of my communications with our tour coordinator (Martha) were answered promptly and thoroughly. Our group participants were always with us, especially at airports, rail stations and bus transfer points. This was really important for me since none of us spoke Chinese. Moreover, China Tours is able to customize your group tour to add or subtract cities and attractions. For example, three of us wanted to see the Giant Panda Bears in Chengdu, while others wanted to proceed to the Yangtze River Cruise. China Tours took care of this for us; no problems. I cannot recommend this tour company highly enough. And it was a great value in terms of cost per person!

Gary C

We had an incredible time with China Tours. The guides were incredibly helpful and spoke great English, they also helped out in places where English was well spoken, which was a huge help! Couldn’t have picked a better company to help us travel around China safely and see all the essential sites.

KirstenAmelia

We enjoyed every part of this tour. Excellent hotels and a fantastic & friendly guide, Jing, in Beijing. The office staff were quick to respond to queries both before & during our tour. We were able to individualise the tour slightly to suit our needs and the fast response to our problem caused by the BA pilots’ was very stress relieving! We had wanted to see these sights in China for a long time so thank you ChinaTours!

Kirmizisarap

China Tours organised a 10 day private tour for two to Beijing, Xi'an and Shanghai with most major attractions covered in that time. The organisation was flawless, our guides (George, Linda and Warren) knowledgeable and informative and our drivers amazing in the traffic. Thank you too to Lora who put the package together for us. Highly recommended.

Douglet

Everything has been perfect as planned. Very well organized and joyful. It’s worth every dollar has been paid. We really enjoyed this tour by all means. 5 out of 5

423anwark

China Tours has organised an exciting school China tour. Started with volunteering in Panda base in Chengdu, Sichuan, we covered all the famous attractions in Xi'an, Beijing and Shanghai before the Chinese National holiday. The local tour guides were knowledgeable about their home cities and guided us to try the most authentic local food. We worked out the possible itinerary before departure from Aussie land, Chinatours' guides were proactive in adjusting the itinerary so we could achieve the best experience in each place. Since it is a school language/education tour, they have also helped us arrange a local primary school visit and a field visit to a world-class IT company, which were the highlight of our trip. One of our students has Celiac disease, Chinatours' guides planned our meals with attention to every detail to communicate with local restaurants to keep the student safe for the whole journey. The tour guides in Chengdu, Xi'an and Shanghai had been exemplary. Whatever issue comes up, Chinatours guide and its office will work with us to provide a solution quickly and the tour then runs smoothly. China Tours' professional travel service has made our school's China trip yet another success. I will definitely recommend China Tours to other schools.

Faye_Sunshine

We did a 10 day tour in Beijing, X'ian and Chengdu which was organized by China Tours. We opted for a small group tour and was pleasantly surprised when we were told there were only 4 of us for this tour! The tour itself was extremely well organized - enough time to see what we planned to see and were not rushed at all. Local guides and the drivers chosen at all three locations were just fantastic - very good local knowledge, helpful and courteous. Despite the fact that English was widely spoken we never felt that we were alone or lost thanks to the efforts of the guides. Many thanks to Smile, Linda and David - you guys rock. The sites we visited were fantastic - although we did not think the Great Wall was such a big deal, when we got there we realized why it was so great! One just has to be there to feel the significance. X'ian is a must for anyone who is planning to go to China. And of course, the Panda research station experience (being a panda keeper for half a day) is a unique experience. I hope China Tours will stick to their current format of small tours with great guides - we had a great 10 tour with them.

gdesilva

This was a truly wonderful tour with China Tours - excellent guides - lots to see, very well organised and great value - highly recommended.

souper12

Had a fabulous time travelling to 4 cities in China for 11 days. China Tours took care of everything and tour went without a hitch and more than exceeded our expectation even before we started the tour, the company were very responsive to our wishes and prompt in their reply and recommendation. A couple of days before we left for the tour, the guides even introduced themselves. Our first stop was Beijing. We were met by Nancy, So friendly and knowlegeable. She was a delight and took care of everything for us and were very accomodating to our request. From wanting a recommendation for a restaurant to live performances. My wife left her sunglasses near a township close to the great wall, a day before we were to depart for Xi'an. Nancy went out of her way to retrieve it for her and forwarded to our next destination after Xi'an. What better service could you ask for. She even accompanied us to the bullet train carriage and ensured we were alright!! Thankyou Nancy. Our next stop was Xi'an.We were met by Gao. She was a fountain of historical knowledge. She explains it so well, my wife and I came away with wanting to know more of Chinese history as she brings history to life. She even threw in something special for us when we found ourselves having some free time before departing Xi'an for our next destination of Chengdu. Thankyou Gao. In Chengdu, we were met by our good friend so was not organised by China Tours. Our next destination was Shanghai In Shanghai, we were met by Warren, Friendly and experienced. He showed us the many wonderful sights of Shanghai and its history and even organised an evening river cruise for us. That was a memorable cruise because of the city skyline and the dazzling light shows on the buildings, Thanks Warren. All in all, a great time was had by my family and I. Thanks China Tours for a great introduction to China. No doubt my family and I would be returning to China as there are still so many more places to visit and without hesitation would engage China Tours again.

Oznut1

Pre-booked flights, but decided after reading many reviews I may need assistance in visiting China. Needing to customise, I originally contacted a Well known UK company, but the last straw was on preferring an alternative hotel I was being asked to pay for their original choice as well even though not booked !!! Asked for a breakdown, and told “wu don’t give breakdowns” !!! Chinatours.com seemed to be well reviewed. How glad I was from the start I was given friendly advice, and costs. Almost immediate answers and responses to changes in itinerary. Arrived in China, and Jennifer in Beijing negotiating with soldiers at Tiananmen Square to let us in, she advised and then showed us how to use China’s ridiculously cheap underground. Cherry in Chongqing assisting us with our Air China lost baggage issue, and rescheduling a shopping tour so my wife could buy clothes for our Yangtze Cruise, and even helping with boarding problems on the ship.....best guide award 2019 for me. Victor in Yichang laid back yet circumventing the crowds at the Three Gorges Dam, he was definitely in the zone, and even argued his way past security at the railway station to make sure we knew what to do when boarding the train. All the drivers were fine, and the other guides spoke good English and punctual. Dora was the one who organised our tour, we had phone numbers for everyone, advice on using Wechat, and the efforts to make our holiday a success continued right through. We saved a substantial amount of money from our expected original tour providers, mind you that would not have been hard, and I would have no hesitation in recommending China Tours to anyone. Efficient, friendly, accommodating, value for money, and professional.

kmck01

Never written a review before but thought China Tours deserve it. We had a 25 day trip around China. It was absolutely brilliantly managed by John and his team. Quick responds to emails, helpful advise and hints, friendly and patient. From getting the visa to the farewell at Shanghai it was conducted with efficiency punctuality and pride. It’s been a real fine holiday to a fascinating country. Highly recommend China Tours and China as a destination Taz and Dhaj

Tazdhaj

China Tours organised a fantastic 3 week tour for me and my partner. We were very clear about what we wanted to see and visit and even suggested certain hotels ourselves. But the organisation was both efficient and flexible, incorporating all our ideas. We had nine different guides and drivers to cover all our different destinations, and all were good and refreshingly open. There was just a hiccup at the outset - we were taken to the wrong hotel in Beijing! But China Tours responded straight away to the problem and made it right.

52Rose