China Culture Tour is a locally based China travel specialist dedicated to creating private, tailor-made journeys for travelers who value comfort, flexibility, and authentic cultural experiences. Since 2009, we have helped visitors from the United States, Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom, and many other countries discover China through personalized itineraries designed around their interests, travel pace, and preferences.As a China tour company, our tours cover many of China's most iconic destinations, including Beijing, Xi'an, Guilin, Shanghai, Chengdu, Chongqing, Zhangjiajie, Tibet, Xinjiang Silk Road, the Yangtze River, and Yunnan. Every itinerary is customized and supported by experienced local guides, private transportation, carefully selected accommodations, and dedicated travel consultants who assist before and throughout each trip.We believe that meaningful travel comes from genuine local experiences. Whether exploring ancient landmarks, enjoying regional cuisine, meeting local communities, or discovering China's diverse landscapes, our goal is to provide seamless travel with personal service and attention to detail.We are committed to transparent communication, reliable service, and creating memorable travel experiences for every guest. Customer feedback is important to us, as it helps us continuously improve our services and deliver high-quality private tours across China.We look forward to welcoming more travelers and helping them experience the rich history, culture, and natural beauty of China with confidence and peace of mind.
Reviewers overwhelmingly had a great experience with this company. Customers frequently praise the professional tour guides for being exceptionally knowledgeable, friendly, and flexible with daily schedules and unexpected changes. Travelers note that the entire team goes above and beyond to ensure seamless planning, smooth airport transfers, and personalized itineraries tailored to individual preferences.
Some reviewers were happy with the wonderful local food recommendations and unique cultural activities arranged during their unforgettable trips. People consistently highlight the meticulous organization, expert communication, and attentive care provided throughout their extensive journeys across the country. Visitors appreciate the deep historical insights shared by guides who make every single stop feel welcoming, comfortable, and truly special.
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biljo65
Atlanta, Georgia
1
Pending review
Trip of a Lifetime
My husband and I had always wanted to go to China but I do not like group tours. I went online and researched several tour groups and I must say "We hit the jackpot!". I found Nora Zheng with China Culture Tour and she truly planned the trip of a lifetime for us. She was readily available before the trip to answer all of our questions and she demonstrated enormous flexibility in working out our itinerary. She kept in touch with us daily while we were in China (wechat) and had lunch and spent the afternoon with us while we were in Guilin. Even though she was on Holiday, she took the time to join us.
We began our journey in Beijing where we were met by our guide, Jin, a truly extraordinary young man! He is knowledgeable, articulate, kind and caring. We developed an instant love for him and the city of Beijing. Due to weather concerns he altered our itinerary to make sure we could safely experience the wonders of Beijing. Our safety and enjoyment were always paramount to him. After planned outings he took us on several local shopping excursions, one of which was the Silk Road Market and he stayed with us long after his time of departure for the day. He arranged for our cab trip back to our hotel. We shared stories about our families and our life experiences. Our visit to the Great Wall and The Forbidden City were all that we had hoped they would be and more. We took a rickshaw ride through a historic hutong which was an amazing ancient village right in the middle of modern fabulous architecture in downtown Beijing. Jin rode a bicycle right along the side of us. He took us to the train station where we boarded the Bullet train and he stayed with us until we were comfortably seated with our luggage safely secured. After a bittersweet good bye we were on our way to Xi'an. The Bullet train was awesome. It was spotlessly clean, extremely comfortable and an enjoyable ride. We could see the country side along the way. We actually found it more enjoyable and comfortable than flying. It was definitely an easier journey.
We were met in Xi'an by Summer, a beautiful, extremely knowledgeable and charming young woman. Again, instant love! Her knowledge about the terracotta warriors, one of the highlights of our trip, was exceptional. What an amazing site - made even more vivid by all of Summer's expertise. After completing our tour of the warriors, we went to a nearby teahouse for lunch. We were educated about "all things tea". Summer was a super barterer and made sure that we were never taken advantage of with our purchases. Another highlight of our trip was visiting Madam Hou's home where we learned how to make dumplings, after which we ate a delicious lunch prepared by Madam Hou. Even though we had no common language, we shared stories and photos of our families. There were five cell phones in the room, all actively taking photos and sharing pictures. What an incredible experience! Summer was so much fun to be with that we wanted to take her with us on the rest of our trip. Our sadness at leaving her was ameliorated in the person of our next guide, Ben.
Ben was our guide in Chengdu. He was a caring, charming and extremely knowledgeable young man. His love of the pandas was contagious. His knowledge of Chinese history was extensive and his enjoyment of sharing it with us was quite evident. We spent time in the People's Park where we saw groups of people practicing Tai Chi, others doing exercise routines and/or dancing lessons. One really interesting observation we made was parents of young single adults advertising the attributes of their unmarried children who were seeking matrimony. Very interesting! Our final event before leaving Chengdu was being educated on the joys and PAIN of a Hotpot meal. Emphasis on hot, but what fun. We ended up with a delightful lunch and the pleasure of Ben's company. We had become accustomed to being escorted to the airport, going through customs and security. Ben did not fail us in that regard.
Off we went to our next destination, Shanghai, a beautiful modern city with a population of a mere 32,000,000 people. The Yuan Gardens were spectacular. The Bund, with its collection of 1930s buildings was reminiscent of New York City.
Our next destination was Guilin, one of the most unexpected pleasures of our trip. Words can't describe our affection for our guide, Linda. She took us to unexpected and unplanned sites which made our visit there even more enjoyable. Our visit to the Reed Flute Cave was enjoyable. After visiting the cave we met Nora, our tour coordinator in person. She joined us for lunch and then we were off to visit an organic tea research center where we learned about tea growing. Another highlight of our trip, not in our original plan, was a visit to Asian Town, a centuries old fishing village with one main street lined with stalls selling food and goods to the locals. Linda introduced us to an aged fisherman who lived in a house his family had occupied for over 200 years. He gave us a tour of the house and as we were leaving he calligraphed a note to us wishing us a safe and happy trip. Our time spent with the old gentleman was very special.
The next morning we cruised the Li River, being exposed to some of the most breathtaking natural scenery we have ever seen, gorgeous mountain peaks. We reached our destination, Yang Shou, 3 hours later. We made our way to the Yang Shou Mountain Retreat situated on a mountain stream with mountains on the horizon. What a treat! Our final excursion in Yang Shou was a visit to a local market, not a grocery store, which was an amazing an educational experience. We went through the meat market, sometimes with eyes only partially opened. We, along with our cooking instructor and another couple made our purchases and proceeded to the cooking where we prepared and enjoyed a delicious lunch. Rest assured our family will be sampling some of our new recipes. We drove directly from Yang Shou to the airport. Sadly, we had to leave Linda behind. She promised to visit us if/when she visits her friend who lives in Tennessee.
Our flight to Hong Kong was uneventful - the BEST kind of flight. What an amazing city! The weather was rainy and it was quite foggy but that did not interfere with our enjoyment of the city and all of the temptations that a shopping trip entailed.
Though this review is long, it only touches on some of the exciting and extraordinary experiences we had. The hotels were beautiful. The food was delicious. The restaurants that Nora planned gave us an opportunity to sample the different cuisines of China. Nora and our guides made this a trip we will never forget. We were ready to adopt five new grandchildren, four of our guides and Nora! I can say without equivocation that this is the way to visit China, and Nora and her team are the crew to plan it.
We were a group of 10 friends who visited Beijing, Tianjin & Xi'an on Mar. 15-23, 2018. Being seniors, we were particular about our transport, tours, train scheds, hotel and other travel details. Nora, our China Culture Tour coordinator went through every single detail patiently and efficiently. We were met by Wendy, our guide, in Beijing airport on time and also in all train stations. Our fast train 1st class seats were comfortable (like business class airline seats!). Ride so smooth you hardly felt you were moving until you see the countryside whizzing by. However, we all wished that the coasters used for transportation were newer and better maintained. Unfortunately, being seniors, the bumpy rides were uncomfortable especially when we had to endure it for long periods. Our Xi'an guide Amy was great, giving us a lot of info on rich history and the various sights we passed. Xi'an was a pleasant surprise, it is a beautiful city. It has much more to offer aside from the unbelievable diggings of Terracotta soldiers. The important city sites are lighted up at night, making the city look like a fairyland! Definitely Xi'an deserves a longer more leisurely stay. Tianjin is also interesting since it has a European feel since it was divided into concessions by diff. countries that occupied it. However, we stayed only 1 day and didn't hear much info about it. We had been to Beijing before so we enjoyed it esp. its different excellent Roast Duck restaurants! Thank you Nora and China Culture Tours for another over-all great experience.
Our tour was last minute, due to travel arrangements. However, Grace made it happen when we contacted her on Friday and arrived on Monday. We were picked up by Linda at the airport on Monday and transferred to our hotel. The next two days we toured the highlights of Beijing. Linda (Ling-Ling) was very flexible in adjusting timing or the arrangement during the day. The van was very comfortable and the driver was very safe. During our tours, Linda was very knowledgeable, informative and pleasant. The planned lunches for our trip were outstanding.
We worked with Nora for several weeks getting our itinerary perfectly planned. We went to Beijing, Xi'an, Chengdu, Guilin, Yangshuo, and Shanghai. It was very easy to work with Nora and she customized everything we asked for. She was fast with her responses. In fact, when our flight TO China was canceled and rebooked to the next day, she was on WeChat with me immediately making arrangements and adjustments to our tour so we could still get the most from our trip.
Our guide in Beijing was Jimmy - he hit it off with our 10 year old son and the two of them had a great time. He patiently answered every question a 10 year old could think of! Our hotel was OK.
In Xi'an, our guide was Summer. We really enjoyed our time with her. She was funny, polite, and very knowledgeable. She guided us with bartering, and knew everything about the Terra Cotta Warriors. Our hotel was fantastic.
In Chengdu, we were with Donna. She was so patient while we took our time seeing the pandas. This was our son's favorite part of the trip. Our hotel was great.
In Guilin and Yangshuo, we worked with Linda. By this time in our tour, we were a bit more slow and our walking pace was not as quick. She didn't mind with it took us longer than expected to climb to the top of a mountain. The bike ride through the countryside was amazing and our hotel, the Yangshuo Mountain Retreat was our favorite of all of them. The hotel in Guilin was being remodeled, so it was just an "ok" experience.
In Shanghai, our guide was Jimmy. He seemed a bit less knowledgeable when compared to our other guides, but he was happy to share what he did know. The hotel was gorgeous.
In each location, our guides were waiting for us at the airport, train station, or hotel lobby before we got there. The food was fantastic and they each guided us to things we would like.
This was the trip of a lifetime for our family, and my recommendation of China Culture Tours couldn't be higher! Our experience was top notch. Thank you Nora, Jimmy, Summer, Donna, Linda and Chris!
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.
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