Karen Wang - Our Professional Sales Director

Hi Karen,

We wanted to write to thank China Discovery, especially Catherine for our amazing family holiday.

Catherine managed to accommodate all our requests and ensure we had an itinerary that kept a 15 year and a 17 year (plus their parents), interested and having fun each day.

All our travel arrangements were perfectly arranged, the accommodation meeting all the descriptions, and the drivers and guides were all well organised and very friendly - we simply had an amazing time.

Catherine was very helpful, friendly and quick to respond to queries throughout the process and was also able to answer queries and give guidance on what we needed to consider. Her helpful manner, clear communications and prompt responses are a credit to China Discovery, and we will be recommending your organisation to any friends and colleagues who want to travel to China.

We had the pleasure of meeting Catherine for a cup of tea and a bite to eat when in Chengdu. We were so pleased to be able to thank her personally, and were delighted she was able to spend some time with us after Catherine had spent so much time and effort in delivering our perfect family holiday.

Catherine is a great ambassador for China Discovery.

Many thanks once again,

Our itinerary was to fly from Hong Kong to Chengdu where we would be met at the airport by our guide (Tom) and driver (Mr. Den). From there we were taken to our hotel. As soon as we got into our transport Tom presented my wife with a huge bouquet of flowers and basket of fruit which I thought was a lovely touch and completely unexpected.

The next morning we set off bright and early to begin time with the giant pandas....We had been told that it would be a "Once in a lifetime experience" and it certainly lived up to it's billing. Normally you would be straining to get a view of these wonderful animals but here we were within touching distance. The work itself was quite physical (lots of sweeping and cleaning is involved when mucking out pandas) The staff at the sanctuary don't speak much English but, Tom, who was excellent throughout, was always on hand to assist with translations. Our supervisors seemed impressed that we were both happy to get our hands dirty for the privilege of being so close to the animals. Our duties in the sanctuary included cleaning the pandas enclosures and sleeping accommodation and also helping to feed them. We were also advised that we might be asked to help with other tasks that might crop up during our time there...In our case I was asked to assist with some heavy lifting to assist in transporting one panda from Bifeng to another sanctuary.

At the Bifeng Sanctuary visitors can have photos taken with young pandas which costs £100. They can also interact (play) with young pandas which costs £200 for a few minutes....We were told that the reason why this is so expensive is because although they want the money (it all goes towards the costs of running the sanctuary)....They don't want to encourage too much interaction between humans and the young pandas which one day they might be able to release into the wild....I can understand this and we decided not pay the extra....We were more than delighted with the level of contact we had already experienced.

Our adventure lasted four days...Two days travelling to and from Hong Kong and two days at the sanctuary....We both rated it as a fantastic adventure with good food and accommodation. As regards the organisation...I can't really fault it....Everything was as described and the trip ran like clockwork....On the basis of this trip I would have no hesitation in recommending China Discovery Tours to anyone travelling in that area and if we ever return, I would certainly use them again.

Happy Journey in Beijing