Perfect China Tour
Everything ran like clockwork on our 30 day tour of China thanks to Lydia’s organisation and our wonderful tour guides and drivers. Even before we arrived we found Lydia to be thorough and flexible providing an inexhaustible stream of information and suggestions over the several months we were planning the trip. She also kept in contact all through our visit to make sure things were running smoothly. We started with a fabulous 6 days in Beijing. Our guide, Tom, provided fantastic service all through our stay up to and including settling us into our seats on the train to Xi’an. His knowledge of Beijing, Chinese history, culture and food was impressive as was his ability to answer all our many and varied questions. As well as efficiently shepherding us through our itinerary (including a hike on the Great Wall) he also took time and effort to organise extra activities for evening events and helped us plan our free days - making suggestions, providing background, and explaining transport options. It was an absolute pleasure to spend 6 days with Tom and he made our visit to Beijing a great success. Tom was followed by the wonderful Christina in Xi’an, Kevin in Chengdu, Brandon in Lijiang, Cory in Guilin/Yangshuo, Martina in Shanghai and David in Huangshan. All had first class English. Their knowledge of their cities and China was extensive and they could answer all the questions we threw at them no matter on what topic. They were always early and could cope with any unexpected turn of events as well as making great suggestions for our free time and making sure we could cope with public transport etc. Christina helped us squeeze in a visit to the tomb of Jingdi even though it wasn’t on our formal itinerary. We were very grateful not to have missed this wonderful site. Brandon, in Lijiang, coped seamlessly with the fact that 2 of our itinerary choices were unexpectedly closed. We were very disappointed that Tiger Leaping Gorge was closed but Brandon’s alternative itinerary was great and we enjoyed learning about Naxi culture from him and enjoyed his immense knowledge and sense of humour. We were met in Shanghai by the delightful Martina who as well as being a lovely guide was passionate about Shanghai. As well as guiding, she shepherded us in and out of Shanghai through 2 stations and the airport on several occasions as we went to Huangshan for 3 days and returned. David provided expert guidance at Huangshan allowing us to maximise our time on the mountain. When we were due to leave Shanghai our flight was cancelled due to a typhoon and we had to stay an extra day which entailed an extra night at our hotel and changed travel to the airport all of which happened over the National Day holiday. Martina and the car company handled all of this without any bother. We wholeheartedly recommend Lydia at China Culture Tours as an organiser and Tom, Christina, Kevin, Brandon, Cory, David & Martina for their willingness and ability to share their knowledge, enthusiasm, efficiency and friendliness. Our enjoyment and understanding of China would not have been the same without them.