I went on this tour with my adult daughter and two friends (all from USA). There were five other people on the tour (3 from Australia, 2 from UK) that we did not know but ended up being friends with. We could not have had a better experience! The hotels were absolutely THE BEST…five stars without a doubt. The included breakfasts were totally incredible huge buffets of the most high quality, delicious food. In each city, our guide was there waiting and our private mini-bus was always there when needed. All guides – Andy in Beijing, Linda in Xi-an and John in Shanghai were wonderful. John, especially, went out of his way to show us how to use the subway – truly above and beyond as not strictly on this tour!
We travel a lot and by the end of the trip we added up how much it would have cost us to do this on our own (hotels, breakfasts, taxis to sites, entrance fees to sites, 1st class seats on bullet train, flight to Shanghai, not to mention private guides) and we came up with almost double the price!!! Plus a LOT more hassle.
Wendy at China Tours staff has been professional, efficient and helpful every step of the way. I recommend China Tours 100%!
My only piece of advice is – if you book this particular tour – add an extra day in Shanghai at the end of the tour. We really only had one full day there, which was packed with sites and tours, and we would have liked another day to explore on our own.
Overall a fantastic experience!