The first comment I would like to make is regarding the misnomer that our travel party was a group of “customers” or were treated as “customers.” Our group consisted of an Aussie, a Kiwi-born Aussie, two generations of family from the Chinese enclave on Mauritius, an Indian Ocean island off the coast of Africa, a Hong Kong Mom, three young adult ABCs (American-Born Chinese) and a Sicilian-Cuban American Dad. From the moment we set foot on Chinese soil, we were greeted warmly by China Tours and were treated to kind hospitality by all. Our Guide in Beijing, Michael, has a knack and a talent for bringing “strangers” together and weaving them into a tapestry and creating the fabric of a strong family group. He accomplishes this through our communal meals and through our shared experiences together. We were then whisked off by bullet train to Xi’an, where we warmly greeted at Xi-an Station by Helen. In the days to follow, her knowledge of Chinese history and culture mesmerized us all. We were so impressed by her brilliance, her intelligence, and her grace and charm. We then proceeded on to the natural beauty of Zhangjiajie National Park, where “Super” Sarah guided us for the next two days. She hikes like the best, a truly seasoned veteran. Yet, she delicately held on to each one of us as we braved Heaven’s Gate and Tianjin Mountain in the fog and during a brief rain storm. Our trip was capped off by a whirlwind tour of Shanghai with Karl the “Chinese Swede” as the leader of our pack. What a journey these ten days were. Thank you, China Tours for the memories, for the professionalism, and for the love and care shown to all of us.
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Eight day Golden Ring of China tour
China tours was a great tour group to visit China with. Our tour guides were very friendly and knowledgable. I enjoyed visiting the Great Wall, Terracotta warriors and Forbidden city. Peking Duck was a food highlight. I would highly recommend this tour group
Beijing/Xi’an Tour
We had two amazing tour guides. First Nancy showed us around Beijing which was amazing. Then Ms Gao showed us around Xi’an. They made the trip.
In Beijing Nancy was able to show us everything we wanted to see and more. She made sure we were able to get into the right places and stand in the spots to take great photos. Our time was free in the evening so she would research great places to eat. We were able to have some great local food.
In Xi’an Ms Gao was also amazing. She took us to see everything in Xi’an. So much history! She has so much passion for Chinese culture it made the three day tour amazing. She made sure we were able to really feel the history. My friends birthday was during our time there. She was able to have a cake delivered to the restaurant we were eating at. It meant a lot to us.
One last note. Martha at the office made sure everything was coordinated properly. We had no issues. It was a high culture low stress trip. The best kind.
Such amazing people. We will be back and definitely will book through China Tours!
Beijing Tour
We had the best tour guide and driver in Beijing. Nancy made sure we saw everything that we planned to see. She was extremely knowledgeable. Nancy made sure we were comfortable and gave us great recommendations for our dinners. If your able to request Nancy she did an amazing job showing us Beijing!
12 Day – Beijing, Xi’an, Hangzhou, and Shanghai – June 2019
I did a a lot of research into a tour company to prepare for a first trip to China with my brother and father. Eventually, I decided on China Tours, and I am very glad I did.
From the initial planning phase, the company was very responsive with emails and questions. Martha worked with my father to work out a trip during our time frame and to accommodate a side trip to Jinhua. Our guides were great (more on that below) and our accomodations were altogether terrific as well.
In an nutshell, our trip was amazing. While we signed up for a small group tour, it ended up just being the 3 of us on our trip so we thoroughly enjoyed our private tour. Since you spend so much time with them and almost become dependent on them, tours are largely made up by the tour guides, and I was so impressed by the ones we had during our stay. We were met promptly at every airport and train station by our guide who got us to our van and driver. The guides checked us in at every hotel, walked us as far as they could into every train station or airport, helped us find and order the local food at the best places to eat, and all around assisted us in every way they could to make our trip as easy and pleasant as possible. Each guide was so knowledgeable about the city we were in and made the history and culture of each locale come alive.
Thank you especially to Nancy in Beijing, Helen in Xi’an, and Rainbow in Hangzhou. Nancy was just what we needed upon arriving – kind, poised, relaxed, and very knowledgeable. Every day, Nancy led us with grace and kindness and really made our stay in Beijing special. In Hangzhou, Rainbow was a dynamo. Her ever-present smile and bubbly personality made our stay in this beautiful city that much more enjoyable. We made such a connection with them that we told them we hoped to see them again down the road in the future, either in China or when they visit the U.S.! Thank you to all our guides, we will miss you, you were so great!
All in all, I would absolutely recommend China Tours to anyone looking to visit China. We were wowed by the grandeur, history, and immensity of this nation and are so grateful to China Tours in making our trip of a lifetime a reality.
26 Day Private Tour Beijing, Xi’an,Chengdu,Yangtze River Cruise, Shanghai, Guilin & Hong Hong.
We have just had an amazing & very positive experience with China Tours.It was a Trip of a Lifetime! From the initial contact nearly 2 years ago and throughout the planning process they were very helpful and quick to respond to my emails. I regularly changed or added visits etc and Martha our Representative was permanently helpful, informative and understanding during the process. The Tour itself involved several flights, bullet train journeys, a Cruise on the Yangtze and an overnight sleeper train. We met different guides at each destination so all the arrangements worked perfectly. We were accompanied to the hotel check in desks, and even on and off the boat for the river cruise (including porters organised by the guide) and to the security gates at the airports/train stations. All the guides spoke very clearly and had a comprehensive knowledge of the English language. Their knowledge & passion of the places we visited was exceptional. A great tour made all the better by the guides.I would thoroughly recommend China Tours for any trip but especially a bespoke trip of your own making with their help.
10 Private Tour Xi’an, Guilin, Yangshuo, Chunqing, 3 Gorges, Shanghai
We had a very positive experience with China Tours. From the initial contact and throughout the planning process they were very helpful and quick to respond to my emails even booking a restaurant for us in Shanghai.
The tour itself involved several flights and bullet train journeys and meeting different guides at each destination; all the arrangements worked perfectly. We were accompanied to the hotel check in desks and even on and off the boat for the river cruise (including porters organised by the guide) and to the security gates at the airports/train stations. All the guides spoke very clearly and had a comprehensive knowledge of the English language and of the places we visited.
A great tour made all the better by the guides.
14 Day ChinaTours.com Beijing, Xi’an, Guilin, Yangshuo, Chunking, 3 Gorges, Yichang, Shanghai
We were a group of three (71f, 75f and 73m) who took the small group tour with ChinaTours.com in May 2019. In short, the tour was well worth the price with one caveat. Here is what we liked:
1. COMMUNICATION – China tours communicated reasonably well through the pre-planning by email with very complete information and a good response to questions. During the trip there was a need to contact ChinaTours and the response was good.
2. SMALL GROUP – The group started out with 7 amiable members and half-way though reduced to 5 as two members went to other sites. We had a guide and driver at each city.
3. GUIDES – All guides were efficient, friendly and competent. English was understandable at all times. Three guides stood out: Shirley in Beijing was so kind and helpful even assisting getting a sim card for our cellphone In Guilin Tony went the extra mile to recover an item we left at the hotel. John in Beijing was extremely knowledgeable and helpful in getting travel arrangements.
4. SIGHTS – Two of us had been to China five times previously. One was a newbie. We all enjoyed seeing the main tourist sights and just as much enjoyed the high-speed train, van and air travel. We saw what many tourists do not see including a rural village, and the incredible madness of chinese construction projects. Some guides answered our political questions as well as normal tourist things.
5, FOOD AND ACCOMMODATIONS: The tour provided meals were all good in terms of quality and variety. The hotels were all high quality and clean. Location was good for all the hotels except in Shanghai where a taxi ride or metro was needed to get to the sights.
The one caveat is that the three of us are experienced travelers with one having visited 80 countries. Group tours require doing the group schedule and do not leave much time for creative exploring. We could not have seen everything we saw without the arrangements by ChinaTours, but a little more free time would have been nice.
All in all we would recommend this tour by ChinaTours.
11 Day Beijing, Xi’an, Guiling, Yangshuo, Shanghai Group Tour
Visited with my 35 year old daughter. Thought we were on a group tour but to our pleasant surprise we had exclusive use of guide and driver in each of the cities. China tours does not have a guide that travels with you throughout the trip. One guide driver team take you to the check-in desk (airports) or departure gate (high speed train) and the next is waiting for you at your destination. The system worked flawlessly with guide and driver always there to meet us at our destination. Signs in the airports, subway and railway stations are also in English and we had no problem navigating from check-in desk through security to the gate The guides were very helpful and really made each place come alive. The hotels they booked us in were new, or newly refurbished and of 4 Seasons quality with duvees, high tech bathrooms and a good selection for breakfast including western breakfast foods. My daughter has many food allergies and each of the guides explained this at length in the restaurants we visited.
Beijing
Had a wonderful 3 days of being shown the highlights of Beijing.
Nancy was excellent and got me to all the places i wanted to see.
Nancy also gave me some good advice on where to eat in the evenings
Thoroughly recommended China toursfor organising your visit to Beijing.
Really looking forward to my return to do more