CHINA CULTURE TOUR IS TOP NOTCH! My husband and I travelled to China…
My husband and I travelled to China last October, from the 4th through to November 6th. We really didn’t want to do one of those large organized group tours where you’re stuck following the Tour’s itinerary. I had a pretty good idea of where we wanted to go and what we wanted to see so that style of travel just wasn’t going to cut it for us. However, seeing as it was our first trip to China and there would be the inevitable language barrier, I thought it would be wise to get some help with bookings and finding private guides. After contacting three such travel agencies based in China who say they specialize in private tours, I was most impressed with how flexible Grace from China Culture Tours was. She was able to help me create an itinerary that fit our needs. I’d already booked our plane tickets to arrive October 4 thinking the October 1 national holiday festivities would be all done by then. Little did I know they lasted 8 days! Grace assured me that it would all be fine, and it was. It wasn’t a crushing experience as many online would lead you to believe. Don’t get me wrong, there are huge crowds, but everything flowed extremely well and we never felt as though we were missing out on anything because of the crowd. Our guide in Beijing, Jin, was terrific. We had 7 days in Beijing, but could have used at least another 2 days. We loved Beijing. From there we took the train to Pingyao. I’d read much about it online and really wanted to go. I’m glad Grace convinced me that 2 days was plenty. And it was. It’s a lovely little town, but it’s now set up as a tourist attraction where most shops are selling souvenir type goods. ( I do regret not buying some of the malt rice vinegar that’s made there though. A must for dipping dumplings.) We stayed at the Jing’s Residence in the ancient town. The accommodations were lovely, the food was terrific and the staff were delightful. I am glad we saw it, but in hindsight we could have taken a pass on Pingyao. We then took the train to X’ian to see the jaw dropping Terracotta Warriors. We were warmly greeted at the train station by our terrific guide, Summer. Her English was impeccable and her knowledge of X’ian is amazing. She is a great ambassador for her city. I wished we’d had more time in X’ian. It’s well worth 4 days if you can swing it. From there we went to Luoyang where we were greeted by Lisa, another terrific guide. Her English as well was terrific. The walled part of the city is well worth exploring. But the pièce de résistance is the Longmen Grottos. A must see. We left Luoyang wishing we had more time. Always a good sign. Then off to Shanghai for 6 days. We probably could have done it in 3 days. From there to the surprisingly beautiful Qingdao. There’s more than just the beer factory/museum to enjoy there. We flew to Nanjing from Qingdao, then down to Guilin where we were greeted by our outstanding guide Linda. Guilin, Yangshuo and surrounding areas of minority villages and Rice Terrasses were the highlight of our time in China. I’d go back there in a heartbeat. Spectacular! And the food was great. Wishing we could bring Linda with us for the remainder of our trip we sadly had to say goodby to her and her fabulous part of the country, to fly to HongKong for a few days before heading home to Canada on Nov.6. The trip was all we expected and much, much more, thanks to Grace from China Culture Tours, and our amazing guides Summer(X’ian), Lisa(Luoyang) and Linda(Guilin-Yangshuo-Longsheng,etc,..) China is a very safe country. We never once felt unsafe. It’s also a spectacularly beautiful country. If you’re planning to visit China you can’t go wrong enlisting Grace from China Culture Tours’ help. Ask danielledupont52 about China Culture Tour