China Tour Company - Reviews & Feedbacks
Many of our satisfied customers have enjoyed the benefits of traveling as part of comprehensive and fully inclusive private tour and have continually returned with experiences that have far exceeded their expectations. We are delighted to have been able to take part in making our customer's dreams a reality and turning their journey into memories. Below are some feedbacks and reviews from our valued clients who traveled China with us. ChinaTourOnline.com has obtained the permission of the following guests to publish their comments and some clients' contact information. Please feel free to contact them with your questions or comments. Our customer team wishes you have a good time with our honest and personalized services.
Shannon & Patrick's China Tour Review
Hi Tracy,
Again, please accept our apologies for the delay. Attached is the evaluation for Juliet and Beijing. Answers to the overall survey questions are below.
Overall, we were highly pleased with our guides in the three cities. They made our experience in China very special. Juliet was really exceptional.As for the souvenir shops and factories, our guides did not add to that pressure--which was greatly appreciated. For future guests, we suggest that you tell the travelers that they will be approached for sales so that they know what to expect.
We felt comfortable with all three drivers. The traffic in Shanghai and Xi’an was a bit anxiety-producing at first since there is so much more volume and tight space for driving in those cities. But we are also used to big cities in the US and trusted that the drivers knew how to handle it. The cars were clean and the air conditioning worked fine.
Though some of the places were obviously meant for tourists, most of them were very good and exposed us to many types of Chinese cuisine. That is what we wanted as we feel food is a very important part of travel and experiencing another culture. The two restaurants in Shanghai were not good though. They seemed to be the most tourist-oriented and served food like the most bland Chinese restaurants in the US. But the food in Xi’an and Beijing was generally very good to us.
That would be great to serve our comments as a reference. When choosing a travel agency based in another country and especially with a language that one does not speak, it can be very difficult to discern whether to choose it since the reviews are often mostly in the other language. We had friends from China research CTO before making the decision. We would be happy to share our experience with others as it was a really great one and we will highly recommend CTO!
Best regards,
Shannon & Patrick
Customer's information:
Name: Shannon & Patrick
Nationality: United States
Itinerary: 10 Days tour of Shanghai-Xian-Beijing
Updated: Tuesday,Aug 24,2010
Lori and Charlton Riley's China Tour Review
Dear Tracy,
My apologies for the delay in replying to your email, but we have been out and about enjoying Shanghai.
We very much enjoyed meeting you in Xian and thank you for the photos of our brief time together.
We have replied with our comments to the headings listed in your email below and also attach the completed evaluation form for Guilin.
We found all guides in particular Lena and Freddie outstanding, knowledgeable and very polite. We did not feel pressed to do shopping and stops to factories and shopping areas were in keeping with the context of what we were visiting.
Drivers excellent and attentive with clean air-conditioned vehicles. In particular Mr. Wong in Xian was most polite.
All meals were adequate, however the lunch on the Li River boat cruise was not a good meal and in our opinion was below standard.
Guilin Bravo was our favourite and excellent.Prime in Beijing was well located and we enjoyed our stay there. Grand New World Xian was not the best location because of the heavy traffic in Xian it took too long to reach the central area. Something more central near the Bell Tower would have made for more pleasant walking and shopping in our free time.
Overall we found ChinaTourOnline.com and in particular all that you arranged for us first class. Your attention to detail, efficiency and accommodating our needs was always met with courtesy and promptness. We would certainly use your company again on any future visits to China and have no hesitation in recommending you to our friends.
With kind regards and best wishes
Lori and Charlton Riley
Customer's information:
Name: Lori and Charlton Riley
Nationality: Australia
Itinerary: 17 Days tour of Beijing/Xian/Guilin/Shanghai
Updated: Saturday,Aug 21,2010
Yuejin Sun 's China Tour Review
Dear Ms. Tracy:
First of all, Thank you for all your hard work for making our trip possible and enjoyable the most of our trip. I fully understand that your agency is trying the best to ensure customer having great time in China. Sometime the situation is out of your control when you have to hire local guide where is not your territory. I do appreciate all services each guide provided to us by tipping them 200 RMB a day to show our good faith for their services. In some areas, the guide need to show professionalism. We will value their services with our gratitude. I wish I tipped driver more than the guide in some cities.
Second, Please do not think I am just complaining. Like I said earlier, some situation is out of you control. We all learn from that to improve your service and make your company better by hiring good honest local guides.
Last, I am going to organize another group from my school to China next Summer. I will continue to work with your agency in next a few month. I will let you know our plan when time comes.
By the way, I left a small gift to Yang, Lina for you the day we left. I hope you got it. If not, I will bring two to you next time. Thank you for meeting us at Dumpling Dinner. The group really like the dumpling dinner and your gifts.
I would send you our albums when we collect all photo from everyone. I am in processed to make our trip DVD.
Sincerely,
Yuejin Sun
Customer's information:
Name: Yuejin Sun
Nationality: United States
Itinerary: 13 Days China Discovery Tour with Shanghai - Suzhou - Hangzhou
Updated: Thursday,Aug 05,2010
Mrs. Susan Hartley's China Tour Review
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Dear Tracy & Ivy
Please be happy, we had a great trip with Sandy and your company.
We are living in China for another 18months so I’m sure we will do more trips with yourselves.
We had a great time with Sandy, she was very helpful and knowledgeable. No pressure to go shopping, we actually ended up buying things but our choice.
Vehicle great, very clean and tidy. The driver was safe and air con worked.
Lunch ’hao chi’. Although we didn’t understand that it was only one glass of drink not the bottle. We bought extra, no problem but it seemed a waste that the residue of the original was left on the side. I only mentioned the drink as it seemed wasteful.
Pleanty of bottled water supplied, Sandy even sourced some ice to help keep it chilled.
Thanks again.
Your Sincerely,
Susan
Customer's information:
Name: Mrs. Susan Hartley
Nationality: United States
Itinerary: 1 Day Badaling Great Wall & Ming Tombs
Updated: Tuesday,Aug 03,2010
Mr. Michael 's China Tour Review
Dear Ivy and Tracy,
Thank you so much for organizing our wonderful trip to China. The guide service was excellent. Their English was outstanding – sometimes had to ask them to repeat what they said and then we told them how to say it properly. They all liked us to correct their speech and we all had a good laugh. We really loved Cindy in Beijing. She was just like our own daughters. She shared her life and family experiences with us which was really special for us. We were sad to say goodbye to her. All the guides were very knowledgeable not just about their own city but past and current China and neighbouring countries as well. Nick in Chongqing stands out in our mind too. He talked about his own son and his love of Australian animals and how he has started to teach his 5 year old son English. All the guides took us to the places we wanted to see even if they had to arrange their planned schedule eg. In Guilin, because of the heat we did not go on bicycle tour but went to Tea University instead. We loved this excursion and bought some good tea. We have been to many factories over the years in Asia so we have seen so many factories already. The guides never forced us to go any shops but they did suggest them to us.
All the drivers were very nice and helpful with our luggage and opening and closing doors. Their English was not very good but they conversed well with the guides so we did not have to speak with them very much anyhow. All the vehicles were comfortable and very clean and air con was always on for us when we returned to car. Water was available for us in the vehicles as well.
Everything was very well organized. Restaurants were good. Even though we love Chinese food and go to a Beijing restaurant in Brisbane, we are not used to so much Chinese food however. We might eat it once a week at home but certainly not twice a day. This is why we enjoyed going to the dumpling restaurant in Beijing because it was different food. Most of the dishes served to us were the same in each city. We would have enjoyed a hot pot meal if it had been offered to us. We understand that meals are difficult to order because of the language barrier, but would be nice to have experienced a greater variety. The meals were very large as well. We would not normally eat so much especially for lunch and we were embarrassed to leave so much on the table uneaten.
The hotels were good. Some were better than others. In Beijing the hotel was a good 3 star hotel with a view over the crossroads and cathedral and located very close to subway which was excellent. Free internet using the flat screen TV was a nice bonus. We used the subway every day. The overnight train to Xi’an was very clean and cabins were small but nice. We were happy that we purchased 4 tickets so that we did not have to share cabin. I think the cabins are too small to share! There is nowhere to store your luggage. In Xi’an the hotel was a little small, old and dark with no view but had a fantastic location and free internet. The Guilin hotel was very good and perhaps our favorite. The location was fantastic and our room was large with a fine view of the bridge, streets and rivers and free internet. Maybe we were just lucky to get that room. I would have said that it was more like a 4 star hotel. The President 4 cruise boat cabin was nice too. However, we were offered an upgrade for 800 yuan to a deluxe suite so we took that. This suite was bigger (separate sitting area) with a free bottle of wine, fruit basket everyday, large balcony and free water. The towels were changed twice a day was good too. They even straightened your bed for you at the end of the day! Your laundry was collected everyday to be washed and ironed for 160 yuan for the entire cruise. The hotel in Shanghai was also very nice in a good location at the beginning of The Bund. This hotel was 4 stars but we had to pay 50 yuan for internet every day but that was okay. This hotel also had the best TV stations for overseas visitors. (HBO). We used the swimming pool as well. This was the only hotel that had a pool but you must wear a swimming cap which is foreign to us! They also have a fantastic outdoor deck and restaurant on the 26th floor with great views of Shanghai especially at night. However, the walk to the subway was a little far. We used the subway everyday and just hailed a taxi or three wheel bike to transfer to and from the hotel. It was very hot to walk but in winter I think it would be okay.
We did appreciate the water given to us during the day. Sometimes the guides gave them to us separately and sometimes all at once. We loved the guides who purchased the water cold for us during the day as we needed it. In Australia we all drink our water icy cold!!
We would love to share some of our 696 photos with you. We have many beautiful photos of China and its special places.
You have our permission to use us as a reference for future clients. You may post any of our comments on the website as well. Please feel free to change our wording if that suits your purpose. Please give our email to potential clients as well if they would like to contact us personally. We have no hesitation in recommending your travel company to any potential future clients. I have already posted excellent comments and contact details for your company on Facebook in Australia. It is a shame that you do not have this website in China. It is an excellent no cost way of advertising! I am planning to email details about your company to the Travel Editor of our major weekend Brisbane newspaper this week as well. This newspaper has a lift-out section on travel and invites people to email their travel experiences both good and bad and is very popular reading for Queenslanders.
Thank you so much for organizing the return of my wallet left in the hotel room by mistake in Shanghai. Best wishes to the cleaning staff who found my wallet and handed it in to hotel staff for safe keeping. Thank you for your phone call to Australia to let me know that the wallet was found and to confirm my forwarding address.
My husband and myself are both in our mid 50’s and have travelled the world and Asia extensively. We are fairly adventurous and normally do not travel on a tour as such. We never go on bus tours. We always travel independently. However, on good advice from my Chinese school teacher friends, we were advised to not travel China without some sort of help. This is when I decided to surf the web and find a company that offered tours with minimal intervention. www.chinatouronline.com was the answer I was looking for. The balance of private tours (driver, guide, myself and husband) and our own independent travel was perfect. China is not an easy country to travel in without some help due to the language barrier and the sheer size and population of the country. While we made our way around independently on most days, it was very nice to be given train tickets in our hands, given a map with points of interest circled on the map and the nearest subway located by the guide, being told the day before what airline to catch (E ticketing) and basically being taken from A to B. We would recommend that future travellers (on limited time) to China who ‘like to do their own thing’ travel on a private guided tour as organized by chinatouronline.com.
Best Regards,
Michael
Customer's information:
Name: Mr. Michael
Nationality: Australia
Itinerary: 14 Days China Highlights Tour with Yangtze Cruise
Updated: Tuesday,Jul 27,2010
