Superb visit very well organised
After much research we chose China Culture Tour for our two week multi-centre trip to China with private guides and drivers. Nora, our travel consultant planned the trip with superb efficiency and constantly excellent communication, meeting our needs and preferences with a varied and exciting programme. She also ensured that everything went well, and made some necessary adjustments while we were there. The hotels and restaurants were all very good, and all four of individual guides were delightful and intelligent young women who we enjoyed spending time with and who made our trip so very enjoyable. They were flexible, pro-active, knowledgeable and interesting. Olivia in Beijing set a very high standard indeed, giving us brilliant tours of the spectacular Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City, the Great Wall, Summer Palace, and local neighbourhoods which gave an insight into Chinese life. Sarah in Xian was energetic and lively, and our visit to the Terracotta Warriors was greatly enhanced by her knowledge and expertise. We visited a local family and made dumplings. Muslim street with its street food was also quite an experience! Linda, our guide in Guilin was exceptional, very caring, kind and interesting - the luxury boat trip to Yangshou on the River Li was stunning, and we also enjoyed visiting local villages, a tea plantation and research institute, the Daxu Ancient Town, the Longji terraced rice fields, and so much more. Fei in Shanghai was a delight and made several great suggestions to ensure that we experienced the best of the Bund, went up the tallest building, and saw the interesting Tongli Ancient Water Town. There were so many other highlights and we found that every single day was really interesting and enjoyable - not a single disappointment. On two occasions we took the suggestion of the guides and went to an evening show - both were superb. The guides really know their stuff and look after you well. It was brilliant to have private transport each day - the drivers never seemed more than a minute or two away. All the (potentially daunting) rail and internal air travel was made easy because the guides were always waiting to greet us as soon as we arrived anywhere, and took us to the furthest possible point when catching a train or plane. The strength of China Culture Tour lies in the very experienced and well organised planning, the attention to detail, the constant quality assurance throughout the trip - and above all the sheer excellence of the guides, their very high standards (and preparation), and their evident dedication and enthusiasm for their job. We felt that we were treated like VIPs - but by friends! We absolutely loved the whole experience and can recommend this company unreservedly.