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.
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.
12days 11 nights in Beijing Xian Shanghai
This 2 stars not for our tour guide at Beijing & Xian. 2 stars given to our trip advisor - Liberman.
5 stars rate given to our Beijing tour guide name Ethan & Xian tour guide name Jerry.
5 star rate
Beijing Tour (Ethan)
He is our tour guide and also our professional photographer. Ethan provide excellent hospitality for my family (2 adults & 2 children). He explained very well on all the historical story in Beijing (Forbidden city, Great Wall, Bell tower and etc) and he is very helpful by helping me to get medicine when I'm not feeling well. Highly recommended Ethan if you are in Beijing.
Xi'an Tour (Jerry)
The children like Jerry very much and make them felt interested in historical of Xi'an. We have excellent day at terracotta city and ancient wall. We have an unforgettable moment with the children when at ancient wall by cycling 14km at ancient wall. Highly recommended Jerry if you travel with children. He took excellent photo on our photo as well. Jerry never rush us but keep reminding us to take our time to enjoy every moment with the family. During Shanghai tour, Jerry helped us by getting our new tour guide contact due to 2 days no reply from our trip advisor - Liberman
2 star rate - Trip Advisor Liberman
Came to our surprise our Shanghai Tour guide got changed to other person but without any update from him. Texted him 2 days about this problem but no reply from him. Another disappointment was he arranged an attraction which is closed on our 1st day in shanghai and this was not informed in advanced. we didn't received any applogies but rudely replied us on our query. It felt insecure when we at foreign country when your trip agent is not replying and update you on any changes.
China Highlights 回复2024-11-18
Dear HSY,
Thank you for taking the time to share your positive experiences with our guides, Ethan and Jerry, in Beijing and Xi'an. We are delighted to hear that they contributed positively to your stay.
We are truly sorry to learn about your experience with our travel advisor, feeling abandoned, and the unfortunate closure of an attraction on the day you planned to visit. This was an oversight for which we should have exercised greater care.
Upon learning of the issues you raised, we promptly addressed your concerns and implemented a solution.
We deeply apologize for the distress and dissatisfaction caused by the interaction with our travel advisor.
Customer Care Team
Flexible, customised Itinerary With Authentic Experience to Appreciate Local Culture
I had a fuss-free and smooth experience planning our China travel itinerary with Roger. He is flexible and could accommodate our requests including train tickets and hotel bookings at alternative choices we had (we could book separately by ourselves on preferred choices). This was what we were looking for when we were planning i.e. customised itinerary with flexibility to our preferred choices in hotels, transport and food. As we have a 6 year old boy, we requested Roger to suggest some activities that would be fun for him. And indeed, we and our son enjoyed the fish lantern-making, rice cake making and umbrella painting very much. They were good bonding sessions and interesting experiences which let us experience local culture more.
Alvin was our local guide in Huangshan and Wuyuan. He was always on time with the driver and shared his own local experiences growing and living in the region. At our request he took us to a tea seller which we bought some good tea we were quite happy with. He was not pushy and provided his services dutifully.
We had a relaxing unhurried trip and I hope to be back to climb Huangshan in the future again.
China Highlights 回复2024-11-19
Hi Elaine
Thanks for your feedback on how you found our services, and that your visit with us was fuss-free and the plans went well. We're also glad that your time with Alvin went well and hope that we can see you again in this part of the world.
Customer-care Team
A Disappointing Experience in Chongqing
Our recent three-day trip to Chongqing, arranged by China Highlights, was unfortunately marred by an unexpected situation involving our guide.
Our guide without explicitly stating the policy, requested to join us for lunch. As we were unaware of the specific guidelines, we agreed. However after the lunch, we were surprised to be asked to pay a bill including her meal which exceeded the lunch allowance provided by China Highlights. It became evident later for us that our allowance did not cover guides's meal. Basically, she should have her lunch separated from us.
We believe it is crucial for China Highlights to ensure consistent and transparent communication with both customers and their guides about lunch allowance policy. And ask all guides to follow.
Updated: 11/13/24 After a series of communications, I am highly impressed by China Highlights' investigation. As such, I have revised my rating from 2 to 4 star. I am still expected to book my next trip with China Highlights.
China Highlights 回复2024-11-07
Dear Chao Chu
Thank you for your feedback on your tour. We were very disappointed with what happened concerning the lunch arrangements with the guide.
Our policy is that guides are not permitted to lunch with the clients unless an invitation has been extended. All our guides are aware of this and we were very surprised that this had occurred with you.
We apologise for what you experienced and we will contact you directly to reimburse the difference.
We appreciate that this has been made aware to us. Therefore, in the future, we will ensure that our guides fully understand our policies and provide more training and awareness to avoid this happening again.
Customer-care Team
Good experience with China highlights private tour
Kimi was very responsive and flexible to meet our needs for 11 days Xian-Juizhaigou-Chengdu trip in October 2024. Most of the guides especially Susan in Xian and Mary in JZG were very outstanding, being flexible in changes we want to make to our private tour and is proactive in making our trip comfortable. Helen for 1 day in Chengdu is also good but not Daisy at end of our Chengdu trip. We went on Leshan and Dufu cottage which was crowded but with no hearing aid to hear her commentary of the place (which Susan has), it was impossible to understand the attractions. She brought us to local supermarket for special bamboo green tea out of convenience when she knows our request is for premium grade tea. Overall very disappointing guide in this trip, lucky the rest of guides were good. Other feedback is for JZG, we were not told by CH that we could pay for private bus rather than jostle with local tourist on the public bus to travel from one spot to another. Would still recommend CH to my friends and for my next China trip.
China Highlights 回复2024-11-04
Hi Yen Yen Tan
Thank you for your valuable feedback on the tour. We were very sorry to learn that Daisy's expectations as a guide did not match the others and that you were not told that you could pay for a private bus to travel from one spot to another, which left you with a disappointing experience.
Despite these, thank you for your recommendation and that you still have faith in us to help you with your next China trip. We will do our utmost to ensure that your next travel experience will be more satisfying.
Customer-care Team
We (me and my wife) took a Beijing tour recently customized for 2 with China Highlights. We planned the initial itinerary with Chandler (travel advisor) and it was confirmed prior to the travel dates. The guide assigned to us, Ms Barbara Wang was very conversant in English and all explanations were quite clear. She was attentive and helpful during our tour. Package include transfer to and fro from the Airport to our Hotel. The tour was to places of interest only. There were some slight hiccups in the ticket bookings to Summer Palace and Tiananmen Square, but they were sorted out quickly by Barbara. Overall, we are quite happy with the tour organized by China Highlights and would consider using them again in the near future.
China Highlights 回复2024-11-02
Hi Philip
Thank you for your feedback on our services and the tour in Beijing. We're pleased that you were quite happy with the overall arrangements, despite a slight hiccup in the ticket bookings, but glad it was quickly resolved. We hope that we can assist you again in the future.
Customer-care Team
Overall, our trip was excellent. We are happy with all of the tour guides Kenny, Brenda, Anna, Lily. They’re professional, knowledgeable, and caring. The only hiccup is with Mark, tour guide in Beijing, due to his poor personal hygiene and unenthusiasm. The car used for our tour in Beijing is smelly with cigarette smoke. I hope the company should improve it for Beijing tour. The car condition in Shanghai, Suzhou, Zhangjiajie, Xi’an are great and clean or more than what we expected.
Hotels - Artyzen and Xi’an Eastern house are exceptional.
Sunrise on the Bund - delicious breakfast and cleanliness
Pullman hotel and Novotel - mediocre and cigarette smell in the non smoking rooms.
Roger is an excellent, attentive and patient trip advisor.
Will definitely recommend it to our friends and family!
China Highlights 回复2024-10-30
Hi Hang,
Thank you for your feedback regarding our services. We sincerely regret the experience you had in Beijing. We have addressed your concerns, and necessary improvements will be implemented.
We are pleased to hear that the rest of your stay with us was enjoyable and that you had a wonderful time. Thank you for your recommendation.
Customer-care Team
We are a group of 8 seniors from high school. We are very grateful to Ann Huang , the travel advisor who had been working and planning the trip for us since last April. It was a great pleasure working with Ann. Her dedication and effort had helped the group getting a very valuable and good quality products in accommodation, transportation and meals for the entire journey. We want to give Ann a big applause for her flexibility, availability and responsibility to her hard work in helping us to navigate all questions /problems regarding our memorable trip: 12 days Silk Road and 4 days Chungjing with Yangtze River cruise. Thank you Ann for the wonderful adventure, and looking forward for more to come in the near future 👍🙏
China Highlights 回复2024-09-30
Hi Mey
Thanks for sharing how you have found the services of Ann. We're encouraged to know that all the planning and coordination went well ensuring you a memorable trip. Look forward to helping you with more adventures in Asia.
Customer-care Team
We are in the midst of arranging a tour of Shanghai; Suzhou and Hangzhou and have placed our deposit for our China visit. The good service provided by Roger Li should be recognised and we look forward to an enjoyable time with the relevant staff of the company and the hotels that they have selected for us.
China Highlights 回复2024-09-24
Hi Robert
Thanks for your feedback in recognising Roger's work in putting together your trip. We look forward to seeing you in China.
Customer-care Team
I've already written a review and my account got flagged for suspension, so that's already annoying. Here's the shorter version:
The best thing that I like about the Highlights group is that their planning is top notch. If I wanted something removed, added, changed, and synchronized with my pre-planned flights, their advisors and associates, as well as the tour guides are all amazing.
My main problem and why I can't give this a five star trip is because it could've went badly. My advisor, Chandler Wang, gave me a direct contact through whatsapp but when I had questions and concerns, he never responded. Everything went smoothly with the exception that one of the tour guide was around 5-7 minutes late.
So why the low rating if everything went well?
This is because if I did run into a problem, I don't have anyone I can contact to help me. Even though nothing went wrong (luckily), if something did happen such as the guide didn't show - I wouldn't know what to do or where to seek help/advice. My previous advisor, Albee Ning, was able to stay in touch with me with roughly a 20 minute response time which I found extremely helpful.
I enjoy using this company for all of my past and future trips, but it is important to stick with the customers all the way through since we're traveling to another country that we could easily get lost in.
As for why my previous review got flagged and suspended is suspicious as is, but I'm not going to dwell on it.
I hope the next trip will boost my reviews to a solid 5/5 stars. All of my tour guides were all wonderful and deserves recognition (10/5 stars):
Catherine for Beijing
Daidai for Zhangjiajie
David for Chengdu
China Highlights 回复2024-09-24
Hi Khiem Tran
We're very sorry to hear that your review was flagged. It may be the length of the review or how it was written that it may not have been in their guidelines.
Anyway, we appreciate your honest feedback and are very pleased to know that your trip went well. We do apologize that our guide was late in picking you up and that you had no response from the travel advisor via WhatsApp. We understand the concerns you may have had, should you encounter problems and be unable to reach our colleagues.
We usually recommend that when traveling to download VPN for access to WhatsApp or use WeChat which is commonly used in China.
However, we appreciate your response and will work to endeavor that we are always available during any tours taken with us.
Thank you again for your feedback and hope that when you return you will not face this issue again.
Customer-care Team
Our 3.-day trip to Xi’an was great thanks to China Highlights and in particular the local guide Susan who is very knowledgeable on historic events, backgrounds of places visited, and very patient. We enjoyed visiting Terracotta Army despite masses of people and even more so the more quiet but very interesting Hanyangling mausoleum. The wider historic perspective was inhaled in the Shaanxi History museum, whereas local flavors were digested in the muslim quarter. The visit to a local family and dumpling making was also much appreciated. There was some confusion on what was/was not included in our tour as things were not clearly specified (lunch, entry,..) but that is a detail that did not disturb our overall appreciation of the tour. We recommend China Highlights !
China Highlights 回复2024-09-08
Hi there
Thank you for your feedback on how your time went with us. We're glad that you had a good time visiting the sites, and the visit to a family to make dumplings. We're sorry about some confusion regarding lunch and entry fees. Usually, these are indicated in the itinerary of what is included and not. We appreciate that you highlighted this, and will ensure that these details will be checked to avoid issues in the future.
Customer-care Team
we asked China Highlights to organize a trip for disable people. It was a little bit difficult at begining to understand constraints of disable people but China Highlights learnt fast to react and add new skills to their competencies. The trip was very appreciated to all participants and remain a great experiences. Thank you to China Highlights for supporting and adapting to consumer needs.
China Highlights 回复2024-09-04
Hi Serge
It was our pleasure to have assisted your group to visit China. We're glad that we were able to help you overcome constraints and that you all had a grat experience.
Customer-care Team
Travelling with China Highlights make us feel confident that we will not have issues while dealing with hotels, entrances to different sites. Everything is planned ahead so no issues will appear. We have had a great visit to Inner Mongolia but it was a bit different from a transportation stand point, long distances and not a very comfortable car as in prior opportunities. Anyway this was just a detail that has not impacted our trust on these people when travelling to China.
China Highlights 回复2024-08-03
Hi Sandra
Thanks for sharing how you found your visit with us to Inner Mongolia. We're pleased that despite the transportation and long distances, this did not impact your trust with us and you had a great time. We will look into the transportation point that you have raised, to ensure that vehicles are of comfort, especially for long journeys.
Take care
Customer-care Team
Roger is most responsive and fast on the heel with any queries we had. We are glad that we were able to communicate via WhatsApp. We could not however travel with China Highlights for our coming private trip as your competitors are more flexible with the arrangements. For private tours, which the clients normally pay a premium, a very flexible approach and offers are essential for a successful deal.
China Highlights 回复2024-07-21
Hi there
Thank you for your feedback on Roger. We're sad that you are not traveling with us, and that you found another competitor to be more flexible. Usually, we arrange to work with clients and offer flexibility to them according to their interests. We wish you all the best for your new arrangements and are sorry we could not meet your needs.
Customer-care Team
Ann Wang is very accommodating in planning our vacation to discover Kunming, Dali, Lijiang, Shangri la.
She’s friendly and patient to suggest itinerary which promises to make our holiday in China a memorable and enjoyable one.
China Highlights 回复2024-05-28
Hi Mardiana
We appreciate your feedback on Ann, and are glad that she gave you a memorable and enjoyable time.
Customer-care Team
We booked our trip through the web. The booking was smooth and the agent Ellen was accommodating and flexible. Our tour guide in Beijing, Jack, was professional and knowledgeable. We are looking forward to working with China highlight again.
China Highlights 回复2024-05-15
Hi Yan
Thanks for letting us know that you found our booking process to be smooth and your time went well. Look forward to assisting you again.
Customer-care Team
I'm giving 4 star rating for the following reason. Hotel accommodation in Dali was less desired, although you offered better room after we addressed our concern, hotel is indeed in prime location- old town, but it was too busy, too crowed, first room we stayed in was lack of maintenance, surrounding area of shower door was filled with black mold, and the shower door could not be closed completed. We were told by the staff that breakfast will be ready at 6:30 am, but when we went in, we were shoved away, and being told that come back in 20 minutes. Hotel accommodation at Lijiang was excellent. Hotel accommodation at Xishuangbana, again located in busy area, loud, a very tourist area, and the common area was filled with cigarette smell. we also had to change room due to overwhelming cigarette smell in the first room. All the tour guides and the drivers was friendly and courteous. It will make perfect trip if the hotel accommodations was located in less busy area, with less shops, and the less crowd.
China Highlights 回复2024-04-30
Hi there Eileen
We appreciate you addressing the concerns of the hotels and have followed up on the issues you have raised. We do recognize that hotels with close proximity to sites and amenities is important for clients, however we will re-evalulate the use of these assigned hotels. It is important for us that our clients have comfortable, clean and well maintained hotels for their stay with customer-centered services.
We do apologize for the inconvenience caused to you during your stay.
Customer-care Team
This is the review for the Zhangjiajie tour. While the itinerary was packed with interesting activities, our experience with the tour guide left some to be desired. The guide attended to our needs for the majority of the activities, but it seems that our tour guide's English proficiency is not as desired. We could manage to communicate, but only more or less to clarify the logistics. Sometimes we had to repeat ourselves several times before the tour guide got us, and vice versa. During long car trips the tour guide mainly talked to the driver and didn't really take the opportunity to fill us in the history and stories of the area. Because of the communication gap, it felt a bit awkward at times.The food at the restaurants recommended were too oily. I understand that this might not the case everywhere but would appreciate that the guide asked our dietary preferences ahead of time.
Overall we appreciated our tour guide and got a chance to see the beautiful scenery but hopefully the feedback can make the experience even better!
China Highlights 回复2024-04-04
Hi there
Thank you for your feedback. We're very sorry to hear you were not satisfied with the service of our guide and the ability to communicate effectively with you.
We have followed up with the concerns you have mentioned and we will work on improving our services and training for our guides.
Please accept our apology for the way your tour was conducted and hope that this will not deter you from using our services again.
Regards
Customer-care Team
We customized a daytrip to Hangzhou (from Shanghai). We had a guide and a driver for the day. Communication worked flawlessly, both in contact with ChinaHighlights prior booking as well as e.g. two days prior we received the WeChat contact from our guide. Time management could have been a little better, we never regained time lost from a morning traffic jam in Hangzhou. And overall, comparing to other prices in China, what we spent for the trip was on the high side.
China Highlights 回复2024-04-04
Hi Peter
Thank you for your feedback on your tour with us to Hangzhou, and that you found the communication to be flawless. We're sorry that due to morning traffic, you had lost time for part of the tour. For customized private tours, the prices are slightly higher due to the vehicle costs, and having a private driver and guide.
Customer-care Team
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