Since 1998, China Highlights has been a trusted expert in crafting private, tailor-made journeys across China. We go beyond sightseeing — helping travelers connect more deeply with China's nature, culture, and people. Our belief, “Highlights happen when we get closer,” reflects our commitment to creating meaningful, authentic experiences. From Beijing's Great Wall to the rivers of Guilin and the heritage of Xi'an, our dedicated travel designers and local hosts ensure every trip is personalized, stress-free, and inspiring. China Highlights is part of Highlights Travel, offering private journeys across Asia, including Japan, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, and India. Here's to more moments that bring us closer.
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Is China Highlights legit?
China Highlights (chinahighlights.com) has a 4.7 out of 5 rating on OK.one, based on 273 user reviews collected here. It is listed under Vehicles & Transportation and its reputation is excellent. Praise is nearly unanimous, with 96% rating it 4 stars or higher; The business has replied to 100% of negative reviews; 193 of them were added in the last 12 months. Last updated 2026-10-24.
What reviewers say
AI generated
Reviewers overwhelmingly had a great experience with this company. Travelers frequently praise the dedicated team for creating highly personalized itineraries, noting that advisors remain exceptionally patient, responsive, and professional when organizing complex multi-city holidays. Consumers also deeply appreciate the seamless logistics, comfortable transport, and the outstanding assistance provided by knowledgeable local guides and drivers at every single destination.
Some reviewers were not happy with minor communication barriers regarding English proficiency, encountering an occasional distracted guide or receiving less detailed historical explanations during excursions. These specific issues with communication and guide engagement were occasionally noted by participants as areas requiring improvement.
Auto-generated from all reviews of this business. For reference only.
Took a free and easy trip with the family of more than 10 of us in Beijing during 2017, was very happy with the services of China Highlights and the tour guide William. Therefore we engaged China Highlights again this year (2019) traveled to ChongQing (free and easy tour again). The trip itself was okay, just some unfortunate force majeure situation happened caused to slight change of original programs.
However, the tour guide this round seems very unprofessional (or not well trained) which we truly unhappy with!!! Not to mention other tedious things he did not well perform, as a basic, he should at least know that tourists always want to take pictures around, but he never stopped walking for us to do so until he found us not following behind him.
Nonetheless, we are still happy with China Highlights, especially Cecilia who is the organizer of this trip. Albeit the numerous changes due to more than 10 of us, she gave full patience, did researches, and gave good advices to satisfy our preferences.
Reply from China Highlights2020-01-16
Hi Caren
Thank you for your honest feedback regarding your visit with us. We were disappointed to learn that there were some aspects of the trip that did not meet the expectation. We are indeed very sorry that our guide failed to deliver to you the service that should have been required. We will follow-up on this and will ensure that more oversight and training be provided to ensure that our performance standard continues to be maintained.
We were pleased however that you were happy with the arrangements made by Cecilia.
Customer-care Team
Booking:
The trip booking experience was exceptional. Coco Yang is the agent we worked with and she was very responsive. Since we wanted a two-day tour just for Hangzhou, she customized one for us. The process from proposal and quote to purchase was very smooth. Only hiccup we had was receiving our train tickets (G type from Shanghai to Hangzhou). They were sent under my travel companion's name which we did not expect and weren't aware of, since I was the only person communicating with ChinaHighlights. However, upon calling Coco (on a Saturday, by the way) she helped our receptionist find our delivery within the hour.
Trip:
Our travel guide was Gerry, who was also very responsive. We had quite a bit to do and see and he was excellent at giving us time to explore, ask questions, but still keep us on track. Day 2 was our favorite as we were able to visit a tea farmer, who is also a tea ceremony teacher. She was absolutely charming and delightful.
Again, there was only a minor issue that I think is more something to be aware of: on our first day we visited the team museum. We went to a tea ceremony there and afterwards were very pressured by the ladies working there to purchase Polyphenol supplements, even after declining multiple times. Obviously this is not under the control of China Highlights, but if you go to the tea museum, please be prepared for this. We didn't experience this at any other time during the trip.
Reply from China Highlights2020-01-16
Dear Amiee
Thanks for your honest feedback informing us of our service and how your visit went. We were disappointed to learn that while visiting the tea museum you felt pressured to purchase supplements there. We understand the frustration of being hassled, and we will keep this in mind to reassure customers that they do not have any obligations to buy.
We appreciate that you have chosen us again to help with your visit, and we hope that we can serve you again.
Customer-care Team
We booked a 16 day tour of China with China Highlights. Maggie J. did a great job of organizing our travels and making excellent recommendations. All of our guides were wonderful, Daniel in Shanghai, Jenny in Chengdu, Mark in Xi'an, Johanna in Pingyao and Smile in Beijing. They went out of their way to make sure the trip enjoyable and tailored to our interests. They also went our of their way to make sure we were successfully transferred from trains or airports to our hotels. My only compliant was that we were supposed to take the G3 train to Shanghai from Beijing and instead we were given tickets on another train that took an extra hour and 40 minutes. Since this was our first train experience at the beginning of the trip, it made me worry about the connections for the rest of the trip. I have still never received an explanation about why we were not on the train that we we had selected months before and paid for more than a month in advance. I wish I could have given this review a 4.9 since almost all of the trip was so excellent. But the only choice was 4 or 5.
Reply from China Highlights2019-11-29
Dear Roslyn
We appreciate you taking the time to write and share about your time in China. We always appreciate feedback and to know that the arrangements went well. We were however, sorry that you were not given an explanation of the changes that were made to your train journey from Beijing to Shanghai.
Though you had booked months in advance, train tickets are not released out for sale until between 20-30 days before the travel dates. Once we are aware of the ticket sales release date, we make the bookings. Unfortunately, we were unable to secure the business seats that you requested for the G3 train, and therefore made the change for the G137. We sincerely apologize that you were not notified and given the reasons for the change, and therefore causing unnecessary concern for you.
We do thank you for allowing us to help with your China trip and to know that Maggie did a great job with the arrangements, as well as our guides were always on hand to ensure that you had a memorable time.
Customer-care Team
First class service from planning till the end of our memorable trip. Thank you Ms. Alisa Liu for answering very promptly all my queries. Thank you Derrick for being a very jolly,informative, patient & caring tour guide. Thank you China Highlights!
Excellent professional booking experience with Maggi...adequate details, flexible to our needs, great patience with all our issues, timely communications before and during our 11 day trip, and great value:price packaging. 2 of our 3 guides were great. The 3rd was very knowledgeable, but not attuned to our expectations or wants. When we hit a challenge at the end of our trip, an off-duty China Highlights guide, Wang Rui, who happened to be near us, dropped everything to successfully meet our needs. As first time travelers to China, both of us definitely will recommend China Highlights to others.
A few notes about our trip:
-get a local SIM card; even the "best" VPN service is not reliable
-yes, cash is king. don't leave home without it.
-a "golden triangle" agenda is worthy of your time, but allow yourself unstructured days to explore other areas
-know that China is very modern and very focused on building tourism and glitz, often at the expense of historical communities
-while toilet facilities left something to be desired, the 4-berth sleeper trains offered a chance to meet others and save travel time
-the metro is your trusted friend for moving around without a guide
-we'd describe each of our hotels as clean and generally comfortable 3 star US-type properties in safe, but a bit off the beaten track. be prepared to walk to get the most out of each area.
Reply from China Highlights2019-11-12
Hi there
Thanks for sharing about your time with us, and we appreciate your recommendation. We're sorry that one of our guides was not attuned to your expections. We will provide our guide with more training and understanding of our client's expectations and interests. It's great that you are able to give a few tips for other travelers. Unfortunately any VPN services there will always be some disruption due to the 'firewall'. Traveling on the trains is always a great way to get to meet locals and learn about their life. Thanks again for allowing us to plan your trip, and hope we can be of service to you again.
Customer-care Team
It's my second experience with China highlights. And no doubt about their commitment what they promised they delivered. Special mention of our Jhangjiajie guide Carol she is amazing, very friendly nd helpful. And Xi'an guide Su very good guide.
One advice keep younger guides in your organisation.
Reply from China Highlights2019-11-01
Hi there
Thanks for your support by booking a second trip with us. We're encouraged by your feedback and to know that your time with us went well.
Customer-care Team
The program we did was very good and both guides were great, kind and caring. We particularly liked Ann, in Suzhou.
The travel agency team was very good. Vivi Chen was very good and made sure to help me and my family out all the time. We recommend.
Reply from China Highlights2019-10-14
Hi Graziella
Thanks for your post and kind recommendation. We are glad that your family had an enjoyable stay. Hope you can visit with us again.
Customer-care Team
We had a great time during our 9 days trip to Guangzhou, Panyu and Foshan.
We enjoyed the visits to most of the tourists locations. The highlight of our tour is the visit to the ancient town, Shawan in Panyu. This was where my grandfather was born. We specifically requested to visit the "HO" surname ancestral hall where we learnt so much about our ancestors which we treasured very much.
We met up with our relatives when we were in Foshan which is another highlight of our trip.
Our tour guide Beatrice Zheng did a good job
In relating her knowledge on the history and background of the places we visited. At the end of the trip Beatric was more like a good friend instead of just a tour guide.
Our driver also did a good job. He is always punctual and always drives safely.
Reply from China Highlights2019-10-14
Hi Siok Yan Ho
We appreciate you sharing about your special family visit to your grandfather's home town. What a special experience you all had, and to be able to meet with your relatives to learn more about your family background and heritage.
We hope that we can be of service to you again.
Customer-care Team
Travelled to Beijing in September; The Forbidden Tour & The Temple of Heaven was good, amazing scenaries with loads of history. The tour guide Jean was ok, his english was not that fluent but ok to understand. He would accommodate to your needs like stopping by so i can get coffee, skip the long queue eventhough we already got tickets and post tour guide me to the shops to get my essentials. However was disappointed that i didnt get a chance to buy any souvenirs at Forbidden City cause we ran out of time and that the guide said it was expensive, despite it was a private guided tour; it was ok didn't enjoy it much.
However for the Great Wall Tour, my friend and i enjoy it soo much better. We had a very fluent English guide name Michael. Very accommodating to our needs and very informative and knowledgable about the history of the Great Wall. We had lots of fun and laughter, very easy to communicate with when questions or issues arises. Highly recommend Michael for tour guide. Will book him again when i come back next year.
Reply from China Highlights2019-09-29
Dear Lynii-Viv
Thank you for sharing your experience. We're glad that you had an enjoyable time with Michael along the Great Wall, and appreciate the recommendation for him. We are very sorry that your time to the Forbidden City and Temple of Heaven did not match that of what you had on the Great Wall. We were pleased, however, that Jeans was accommodating to your needs.
Customer-care Team
China Highlights is a lot more expensive than other tour providers and didn't really deliver much more, in fact, probably less than other tours.
Reply from China Highlights2019-09-29
Dear Happy Customer
We were sorry to learn that we were unable to deliver to you the experience that should have been required. In order for us to follow-up on your review, please can you email us directly the concerns you have and how we had failed to deliver to you the experience that you expect. Look forward to hearing from you.
Customer-care Team
I have booked a 2 weeks trip private tour to China through China Highlights with Kimi Huang and everything was perfectly planned. It was extremely convenient to have every tour guide on time, waiting for me at any arrival point, helping with any issue and making the whole experience very enjoyable. I have to add that every tour guide at any city, was very experienced, pleasant, responsive and helpful. I loved Tian Tlan in Hangzhou, Derek in the Avatar mountains area, Lee in Shanghai who all of them - with their energy - made the whole experience magnificent
Reply from China Highlights2019-08-15
Hi Elena,
Thanks for your great review of your two week trip across China! We are glad to hear that your guides were all experienced and energetic! We require all of our guides to pass spoken English checks and have a minimum of five years' guiding experience so it's good to know from guests like you that they are maintaining high standards! If you ever want to come back to China again, we hope we can accompany you on your journey!
Thanks for choosing China Highlights,
CH Customer-Care Team
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