5 day visit to Xi'an and Beijing
We (my husband, 13 yr old daughter and 10 yr old son) recently returned from a 5 day tour of Xi'an and Beijing with China Culture Tour. I was referred to China Culture Tour by a friend who booked a tour with them the previous summer. Nora was very professional, patient and responsive with me as we exchanged multiple emails to finalize the itinerary and final quote. She was very accommodating and flexible with my modification requests. She also responded quickly via WeChat both before, during and after our trip. Our tour guide for Xi'an was Sarah and she was very friendly and knowledgeable about Xi'an's history and the terracotta warriors. She was very upbeat and energetic and we enjoyed our lively conversations about various aspects of life in China and how it's changed so much in the last 10 years. Our tour guide for Beijing was Shirley and she was also very good about explaining the significance of each of the places we visited throughout Chinese history. Also, given the very high temps and humidity during our visit, she was helpful in changing our schedule so that we could visit the Great Wall early in the morning when it was less hot and crowded. The kids especially loved the toboggan ride down from the wall at Mutianyu. We were disappointed to miss out on the Summer Palace boat ride due to thunderstorms but overall, we enjoyed our tour. Both Sarah and Shirley were helpful in recommending places to eat that could accommodate our children's preferences. Both hotels were very nice and centrally located. Nora was able to find a hotel in Xi'an that could accommodate all 4 of us in one room with two queen beds, which is hard to find in China as most only accommodate 2. One of our rooms in Beijing was upgraded at no charge due to the standard room selling out. Our drivers for both cities were very friendly and took good care of us. When my sister and parents wanted to book a last minute tour to Wuyishan from Xiamen, I didn't hesitate to contact Nora to help arrange a tour for them. She was able to accommodate their needs in customizing their itinerary on short notice. While you could save some money by booking everything yourself on your own, it was worth the extra cost to have the private tour take care of everything so we could just relax and enjoy our vacation stress free. Thank you to Nora and our wonderful guides for an enjoyable trip!