An unforgettable family lifetime experience thanks to Loreto and our amazing guide in Zhangjiajie!
We are a family of four (mom, dad, and two daughters aged 10 and 13) who recently traveled to Chengdu, Zhangjiajie, Shanghai, and Beijing. We booked a full tour with CHINA HIGHLIGHTS, and Loreto was our travel coordinator. Traveling to China as a family without knowing the language is highly challenging. Initially, I looked into local tours on platforms like Viator or Airbnb—where I’ve had great experiences in Europe—but China is a whole different world. The language and cultural barriers are massive, requiring a specialized approach for a smooth experience. Fortunately, we found Loreto. Her Spanish is flawless, her communication is constant and concise, and her responses are immediate. While the service might seem pricey compared to tours in Europe or the Middle East, it is worth every single penny. Our goal was to maximize our time and avoid the stress of figuring out transport, lines, and entrances; the logistics were flawless and completely stress-free.China is incredibly advanced in technology, safety, and transportation. Outside the major metropolis areas, foreign tourists are not as common, and locals can be a bit reserved at first. However, as long as you respect their country and culture, you will find a deeply warm and fun community. Without guides, figuring this out would have been difficult and full of negative learning curves; with them, everything turned into positive, lifelong memories. The absolute highlights of our trip were Loreto’s coordination and our guide, Fu Chin (José), in Zhangjiajie. He perfectly understood that our main goal was family bonding. His Spanish proficiency and translation skills were the best we encountered on the entire trip. He was punctual, respectful, and always offered us different trail options, guiding us door-to-door with a great attitude. He also gave us the perfect amount of privacy to enjoy family time while staying close by just in case. We connected so well with him that by the third day, my daughters wanted him to be our guide for the rest of China. Our recommendations for future travelers:Chengdu and Zhangjiajie: Do not visit without a guide. These sites are massive, and exploring them on your own would take weeks. A guide helps you experience the absolute best highlights in a single day. Beijing and Shanghai: I highly recommend a guide for the first day to cover the most popular cultural sites. The following days are easy to explore on your own, allowing you to get lost and enjoy the city. The Great Wall: For this specific site, I only recommend booking transportation. Our guide for the Wall didn't add much value; she talked to the driver during the entire 1.5-hour ride, preventing us from resting, and only pointed out the restroom lines. She even gave us incorrect information, claiming there were no restrooms or places to buy water at the top (which is false, as there are both). It felt like she had never actually been up there. Lastly, our trip faced a major disruption due to Typhoon Dolphin, which hit Shanghai right during our visit. A flight and two trains that I had booked independently were canceled. Without Loreto and the China Highlights team, we would have never managed to fix our itinerary and would have missed Shanghai completely. Thanks to their immediate assistance and impeccable management through unpredictable weather, we visited both Shanghai and Beijing with zero issues. We would definitely book with CHINA HIGHLIGHTS again. Their service provided us with comfort, safety, and above all, absolute peace of mind. Highly recommended!