China Tours was awesome from start to finish! They are very responsive, always answered my emails promptly and were very efficient! We were met just as promised in both cities. Stayed at the Novotel Peace in Beijing and the Grand Mercure Renmin Square in Xi’an, both hotels were in great locations, amazing breakfasts with western and eastern options.
Our host in Beijing, Shirley, was very informative, friendly and fun! She helped us with the language and we got to eat in a local restaurant that wasn’t touristy, she translated it all for us! What I also loved was that she would tell us about the sights we were seeing, then give us free time to walk around at our pace-just waited for us and we left when we were ready. We wanted to stop for a beer or something and no problem-they go at the pace you want! Much better than a group tour where you are stuck doing what the group wants! She also walked us into the train station in Beijing which is huge and SO crazy, we would have been lost! Took us right to where we would board the train which was a huge help!
Sally in Xi’an was also a great tour guide…so sweet and helpful! One thing I REALLY wanted to spend time seeing was the Terra Cotta Army and she never rushed us or made us feel like we had a schedule to keep to! She also helped with the language and found fun places for us to eat… I can’t stress enough how wonderful this company is…traveling to China can be challenging due to the language barrier, they make it easy, relaxing and a real joy! I would use them again most definitely!
Archives
8 day tour
amazing time. tour guides great. would definitely recommend. easy to work with company. did a great job of followup with my questions.
An amazing day at the wall
A day tour to tinamean square , forbidden city and the majestic wall was truly a wonderful experience . Kevin was an exceptional tour guide knowledgeable about sites as well as local history past and present. He was considerate to all 7 of us and showed us the best photo opportunities as well as acting as our photographer. He conducted the tour with charm, good humor and sprinkled us with some of his very own special Buddha wisdom . At the end he presented us with our names written in Chinese characters . I would rate this tour and particularly Kevin as one of the best run and managed in my many years of travel. Cost effective too. Thank you Kevin for a memorable trip. Anne and Dave Ireland
9 Days Beijing, Xi’an, and Shanghai Small Group No Shopping Stops Tour
Firstly, our trip was fantastic.
Our Review:
The lead-up for us going on holidays, when booking, was excellent.
Our guides were great; very knowledgeable, helpful, & patient, & went out of their way to provide extras, e.g. shows, lunches, dinners, pedicures, that weren’t on the tour itinerary. They also provided us with a good history lesson about China. Our drivers were also very good.
Beijing:
Our guide was Suzy & the places that we visited were brilliant:
• Tiananmen Square & through the Forbidden City.
• Temple of Heaven (added lunch).
• The sensational Mutianyu area of the Great Wall with chairlift, & toboggan (added lunch).
• The Confucius Temple & Imperial College museum were terrific.
• Wudaoying Hutong was great.
• The Summer Palace was massive & very impressive.
• Birds Nest & Water Cube (2008 Summer Olympics).
• Sanuanli market.
Our guide, Suzy, added great extras:
• Show, ‘Golden Mask Dynasty’, at Beijing OCT Theatre.
• The Circus World of Beijing ChaoYang Theatre for the Acrobatic show.
• Shopping centre.
The bullet train from Beijing to Xi’an was great.
Xi’an:
Our guide was Sally & the places that we visited were great:
• The Terracotta Warriors & Horses are something to see.
• The Xi’an City Wall is in fantastic condition.
• We went to the Muslim Street:
o Great Mosque;
o Bazaar.
• Bell Tower & Drum Tower Square (added lunch).
• Shaanxi History Museum.
• Big Wild Goose Pagoda.
• Small Goose Pagoda.
Our guide, Sally, added great extras:
• Dumpling Dinner & Tang Dynasty Show.
• Reflexologist & a massage (followed by lunch).
The flight from Xi’an to Shanghai was excellent.
Shanghai:
Our guides were Hugo, & Jacky, & the places that we visited were terrific:
• The Bund.
• Shanghai History Museum.
• Yuyuan Gardens.
• Nanjing Road.
• Shanghai Bazaar.
• French Concession.
• Xin Tian Di (New Spot).
• Drove to Suzhou:
o Master of the Nets garden.
• Tong Li water town (Shanghai Venice):
o Walked around the canals.
Review of Andy, our private tour guide of a 3 day August trip in Beijing. The tour was arranged by China Tours.
We have just completed an exciting 2 week adventure in China which started in Beijing and ended in Shanghai. Our very first guide was Andy. He did the Beijing portion of our adventure. He was foremost a consummate professional and really set the tone for our trip. He was friendly, respectful, punctual and very knowledgeable about everything in Beijing, Chinese culture, history and philosophy, etc.He paid attention to all details and went out of his way to make sure we were getting the most of our trip. For example, our daughter who is an engineer wanted to see the CCTV Headquarters building,aka, Pair of Pants. He made sure we did. Our children needed Chinese cell phone chips. He made a phone call and next day we had them. My wife is blind and he understood that she also needed to touch objects when possible to get the most of experience. Andy was patient and allowed time and went out of his way for that to happen. We even stopped at a local Chinese restaurant he recommended where we enjoyed a delicious lunch. We cannot not say enough about Andy.
We will always remember our first trip to China with great fondness thanks in large part to Andy. We wish him and his family happiness, prosperity and good fortune.
Incrdible 21 Day Private Tour of China
China Tours arranges a wonderful 21 day tour of China for our family, We visited Beijing, Datong, PingYao,Xi’an, Lhasa (Tibet), Chengdu and Shanghia with a 3 day Yantze River Cruise for a little relaxation. Ms. Martha was very helpful with arranging all of the details. Every accomodation (hotels and transportation) was excellent ready for us. We chose the 4-star option and can’t imagine needing a higher level of service.
Every guide (a different guide in each city) was friendly, knowledgable and always on time. We did not have to wait a single minute for a guide throughout the entire trip. The guides were also helpful in providing dining options and more importantly, assured that we seamlessly passed through security at train stations and airports.
The experiences (Great Wall, Hanging Temple, Terra Cotta Warriors, Yunggang Grotto to name a few) were everything we expected. Be ready for lots of walking !
We would certainly recommend China Tours to anyone.
Superb….
I am a travel agent and I booked my clients ( 2 families including 4 adults and 5 teenagers) for a customized 7-day private tour of Beijing, Xi’an and Shanghai. China Tours was wonderful to work with in the planning stages. When my clients returned, they had extremely glowing reports about their experience. The tour guides were wonderful, knowledgeable, helpful, and timely. I would recommend using China Tours for any tour in China from a small itinerary to a very extensive one.
OUTSTANDING
Just visiting (and climbing 5 Towers of) the Great Wall of China would’ve made this trip unbelievable but throw in Terracotta Warriors, Baby Pandas, Ancient Temples & The Bund & it was MAGNIFICENT!! My only gripe was that the food on the Cruise Boat was really quite poor. All the Guides were fantastic giving their own little pieces of knowledge across, Rosie in Chengdu was particularly good. So enthusiastic & lovely. The hotels were wonderful! Got upgraded twice to suites 🙂 I would highly recommend using this company as it’s got very VERY high standards.
BEST BEST BEST tour ever:Will tour with ChinaTours AGAIN next year!!!
10-days Beijing-Xi’an-Gulin-Shanghai: Every promise ChinaTours made they kept! They met me at airport at 1am with a smile and private comfortable car. They promised a tour group with no more than 12-people. Our tour group had a total of 7-people (perfect size) and the van was roomy, comfortable and climate controlled. The tour guide in Beijing was named King Kong and he was incredible. He was very knowledgable about “all things Beijing, Great Wall, Tiannamen Square, Forbidden City, Summer Palace, etc” he also suggested GREAT authentic Chinese lunch venues for the group.
The train from Beijing to Xi’an was a 4.5 hour smooth comfortable bullet train. Our next guide, Helen was right there (smile on her face) on schedule, waiting at the train station with a roomy, comfortable,climate controlled van (plenty of room for 7-people). The terracotta warriors were amazing and Helen knew how to get us in the “side door” rather than wait in a long line. She also recommended great lunch venues.
The flight from Xi’an to Guilin was perfect and the Longji terraced rice paddies were unbelievable. Finally, John (another gem) was our tour guide in Shanghai. He personally put me on the bullet train from Shanghai to Beijing.
I choose 4-star hotels and all hotels that China Tours used were “Accor” hotels (very comfortable, clean and perfectly located.
I will return to China in 2020 and plan to use ChinaTours again!!
Great experience!!!!
I had a wonderful time touring around the best known attractions in Beijing and Xi’an with China Tours. The company arranged great hotels, train tickets, and tickets to attractions to avoid delays waiting in lines. Guides are professional and always trying to make everything possible to pleased the tourists. This is my first time booking a tour, but I’m very pleased with their service. I would book other tours with them when back to China.