Mr. Russell Bunio's China Tour Review
Dear Ivy，
We think the guide service you provided was good. Both tour guides spoke clearly and politely, and on the few occasions that we needed clarrification, they were very good at clarrifying. Both guides were polite, considerate, and organized in their planning and judgement. They both enhanced our trip and contributed to our enjoyment of seeing the sites.
It was especially nice to see Sandra, welcoming us back to Beijing, after our side trip to Xian. She is an exceptionally conscientious and nice person.
We made one or two factory/shopping stops with each guide......... these stops were sometimes associated with lunch.....and all stops were very educational. We enjoyed learning about some of the crafts and products of China.
It was a nice short break from site-seeing and since the weather was extremely warm, it gave us a break from the heat.
We felt no pressure to buy anything. Both guides were very considerate.
Both drivers were good drivers. We felt comfortable with both. Both vehicles were clean and equipped with AC.
Beijing traffic is so difficult, so we give our Beijing driver exceptionally high marks for driving us very smoothly and safely from place to place. He obviously knows the city very well. He always had the comfortable car already cooled off when we got in from walking with our guide. That was a very nice thing on hot days. He also was very helpful with the doors and luggage. Sandra was also helpful opening and closing car doors.
Generally, the all the food was delicious. We enjoyed it. The Peking Duck and dinner in Beijing was wonderful. We enjoyed trying all the different dumplings at the dumpling dinner in Xian as well.
Both guides were very considerate about us eating privately without them.
On at least one occasion, we asked Sandra to order for us. She did an excellent job of ordering food and making good choices for us, since we really did not know what to order. Her choices in restaurants both for lunch and dinner were very good.
Both hotels were fine. The prime Hotel was our favorite. Good that it was our favorite since we spent so many nights there. It was very comfortable, big room, nicely appointed, good service, and friendly staff. We enjoyed the buffet breakfast there.......and ate lunch there on one of our free days........and we ate one dinner there as well.
The king bed was very comfortable. We would stay at the Prime Hotel again and will recommend it to others.
There was always water available in the vehicles at both locations. Thank goodness! We drank a lot of it....and feel that it was important to have it available because the weather was so hot and dry. It was good that we could always depend on water being in the car.
Best Wishes,
Russell
Customer's information:
Name: Mr. Russell Bunio
Nationality: United States
Itinerary: 4 Days Beijing Organized Group Tour
Updated: Tuesday,Jun 08,2010
Kate's China Tour Review
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Dear Cindy and Sophia:
Thank you for making my experience in China so memorable!! I especially felt Juliette and Jasmine were so wonderful! They were gracious, attentive, knowledgeable, and really took the time to make certain everyone was well informed and comfortable. I couldn’t have asked for 2 better guides!
The vans were adequate and met all basic needs for space and cleanliness. The drivers were all very professional, pleasant and made me feel safe while they drive. I felt all the guides spoke excellent English and there was always water available to anyone at anytime.
If you ask me which is the best restaurant in China, this will be a sort of difficult question as restaurants in the US are very service oriented while in china, they are not. that was a little hard for me to get used to however, it was consistent within each restaurant so I could not have expected more. Also, I loved the Szechwan style food in shanghai, the dumpling dinner and hot pot lunch in Xian. It would have been nice to also try dim sum. The restaurants that I thought could have been better were the lunch in Xian near the terracotta warriors and our last dinner in shanghai before the Acrobatic show. Otherwise, all else was great.
All of the hotels were great and were above my expectations. The best bar far was the hotel in shanghai!
I loved going to the stores/factories and each guide took us to 2-3 which was perfect.
As I mentioned, I loved Juliette and Jasmine...they really made me feel special (especially since I was traveling solo while the other 4 attendees were couples). But more so, they made me fall in love with Beijing and Xian and I would love to return to each of the cities. Jack was fine, but I felt his style was a little hands off and unfocused. His stories would ramble and he would somehow weave each story back to his personal life. He wasn’t bad but I just happened to be really pleased with Juliette and Jasmine.
Thank you again !
Kate
Customer's information:
Name: Kate
Nationality: United States
Itinerary: Beijing-Xian-Shanghai
Updated: Wednesday,Apr 28,2010
Ms. Catherine Day & Mr. Jesse Day 's China Tour Review
Dear Lydia & Fay
Yes, the vehicles were clean and all had working seat belts! Everything went smoothly -- no problems.
No problems -- the drivers seemed expert and professional.
Their level of English was very good. I can’t think of any problems.
The hotel in Xian was beautiful and very comfortable and clean.
I appreciated that the company allowed the guide to have lunch with me, when I was alone in Xian. It was a nice chance to have some interesting discussions with my guide, Jasmine. Also, she was able to explain what I was eating! I enjoyed the hotpot lunch.
The restaurants all seemed very clean. I wasn’t worried about eating there -- and I did not get sick from anything I ate!
The restaurant in Yichang called Nobel’s Kitchen was excellent!
The hotel in Xian was beautiful. That was the only hotel that you booked for me. The cruise ship was excellent, too.
I went to the factory where they make the warriors in Xian, to a Jade shop at the City Wall in Xian, and to a tea ceremony in Xian. I requested the tea ceremony. I enjoyed all the visits. I was offered to stop at an embroidery factory in Yichang, but it was Womens’ day and the factory was closed.
Yes, but that may take a little while for me to get organized!
I was very impressed by the level of service -- everything went smoothly. The guides were very pleasant, and knowledgeable, and they all had very good English skills. Also, they were diligent in making sure I got to flights on time and making sure there were no problems checking in. There was some flexibility in the schedule to allow me to linger, or shop, or walk more, or walk less if I chose. I was able to have several choices about what to see after the schedule was finished.
It would have been extremely difficult to try to manage on my own in China -- I’m sure the stress of that would have ruined the whole trip for me.
No complaints! I spent a lot of time with Jasmine in Xian -- I enjoyed her company. The other guides, I was with only briefly, but they seemed fine and were all interesting. The drivers were all helpful with the luggage and managed to avoid accidents!!
Thank you for the beautiful scarf -- I will think of my trip every time I wear it. I really appreciate all of your work in arranging such a wonderful and memorable trip.
Sincerely,
Catherine Day
Customer's information:
Name: Ms. Catherine Day & Mr. Jesse Day
Nationality: United States
Itinerary: 9 Days Tour of Beijing - Yichang- Yangtze River Cruise - Chongqing
Updated: Sunday,Apr 04,2010
Mr. Mubasher Ahmad and Mrs. Nusrat Jehan Ahmad's China Tour Review
Dear Fay & Lydia:
We would like to thank you once again for arranging for us a wonderful tour of three great cities of China. We are very satisfied and happy for having received by very-well trained tour guides. All of them -- Ms. Juliet, Miss Jolin and Miss Judy performed their job most professionally. They were punctual, courteous, helpful, loving and well-informed. Their command of English language was very good, and we did not have any problem communicating with them or through them with others. The transportation was good; drivers were safe and dependable. All the three hotels -- Prime Hotel in Beijing, Empark Grand Hotel in Xian, and Lexington Plaza in Shanghai were top of the line, and our stay was extremely comfortable. The restaurants and the food were good, with the exception of only one place where service was as good as others, and we had informed the manager through Miss Judy that we were not very happy.
Despite the cold weather, we learnt a lot about the rich Chinese history, its culture, people, and the fabulous performing arts. We are surely going to recommend ChinaTourOnline to all our friends who might be thinking to visit China. We have four grown up children and ten grandchildren, and we are already encouraging them to tour the great country of China through your help.
We will like to offer a special appreciation for the gift of silk scarf’s to us by Fay in Xian. It was good to meet with her in person.
Customer's information:
Name: Mr. Mubasher Ahmad and Mrs. Nusrat Jehan Ahmad
Nationality: United States
Itinerary: 8 Days Splendid China Tour
Updated: Tuesday,Feb 09,2010
Mrs. Joan Hard and Ms. Kathleen Dickson's China Tour Review
Dear Ivy and Tracy,
We had no idea of what to expect, but we are so very happy with the outcome. Thank you so much for making our trip a wonderful, rewarding, and memorable experience, and thank you for the photo.
The vehicles were especially clean and nice in Beijing. In Xian, not as nice - but we did fine. We did have a major traffic delay in Xian but fared out well and found the traffic conditions very interesting. The drivers were all just great - polite, helpful and thoughtful..
We did find it difficult to understand the guides at times. However, they were determined and sincere in their endeavor to relate the history of China facts to us. Every day we received mineral water from you, thank you for the thoughtful service.
We enjoyed all the restaurants very much. The restaurants all appeared clean and tidy - and the waiters/waitresses were very attentive. However, there were times when we would liked to have had a fork instead of chop sticks. The food was hot and very good. We were also glad to have such wonderful breakfast buffets - so that we could have some American food.
I was pleasantly amazed at how clean and tidy all the hotels were. The linens especially were immaculate. The only discomfort we had was the ability to turn down the room thermostat. Every hotel we stayed in was too warm for us, and there seemed to be no way to cool them down after asking for room service.
There were several stores/factories that seemed to be arranged by the guides we were sometimes encouraged to stay there and shop. We thought that this was a procedure that the guides were required to do.
We are very happy with our experience of traveling with private guides provided by CTO. Everyone, especially the guides and drivers, were courteous, kind, and patience throughout the trip. If there was a problem, CTO made sure that our needs were met, or that we were reimbursed for any inconvenience. For instance when our plane was delayed, an extra meal was provided for us. In fact, the Victoria Queen of the Yangtze river cruise waited for our arrival before they left port.
We did feel rushed a few times trying to meet the schedule and timelines every day. I also felt that some of the temple visits could be eliminated or shortened. Each city had their share of Temples that got to be repetitious. They required a lot of walking that didn’t seem necessary.
We had David as our guide in Beijing - probably with us the longest of all
the quides. He was very kind, patient, friendly, knowledgeable and took his job very seriously as did all of the guides.
Sincerely, Joan Hard
Customer's information:
Name: Mrs. Joan Hard and Ms. Kathleen Dickson
Nationality: United States
Itinerary: 13 Days Majestic China Tour with Yangtze Cruise
Updated: Friday,Nov 27,2009
