Bad planning leads to bad experiences
First of all, if you do not want a standard trip in China, you are better off by planning the trip by yourself. (And if you want a standard trip, there are probably cheaper agencies available.) At the beginning everything looked fine. My travel agent Roger was a great help and changed the schedule according to my wishes. But after starting the trip I had to realize that about 50 % of the plan were wrong and had to be changed. Only four weeks before, I had received the confirmation and it was outdated back then already. China Highlights offered me hotels and activities that were closed years before. The offer and final confirmation contained flight numbers and departure times, that never existed. The communication during the trip was mostly via messaging service and only one or two days ahead. In the best case. Sometimes also an hour after I would have needed the info. (For example: I received the information about a guide that was supposed to pick me up, half an hour after I was at the station. Because I did not even know, that I would have a guide in this city, we missed each other.) To make it brief: Plan your trip by yourself. Maybe it needs more work in the first place, but you will exactly know what is going on during your trip. (I planned two weeks myself and China Highlights planned ten days. My plan did not need to be changed in. one day. The schedule of China Highlights contained of only two days, that went by like stated in the offer / confirmation.) The two stars rating is based on: + Good communication before the trip + Great guides - Offering of non existing activities - Bad planning and no details before the trip - Bad communication during the trip - Many changes during the trip - Missing information (e. g.: where and when to meet a guide) - Instransparent costs