Hello Mr. Li,

Please see our responses below:

I apologize for the delay in my response - we just arrived back in the U.S. yesterday. Our entire family had a wonderful experience on your tour, and Julin was a delightful host and guide. We enjoyed the various sights and appreciated the comfortable transportation and delicious meals provided. We are hopeful we will have the opportunity to visit China again in the future.

Thank you very much!

Sherry

Hi Leo,

Sorry for just replied your email. We just reached home safely.

Thanks for reaching out. The China trip was great. I loved the hotels we stayed in, they were all really comfortable. Everything was well planned and the guide and driver even got out of the way to bring us around and night for dinner or other activities like onsen even though it was quite late.

I would also like to thank you for your prompt responses and ensuring that the trip itinerary is properly passed on to the guide.

One feedback I would like to give is probably the meal section of the itinerary. There was a slight misunderstanding as the guide thought that no lunches were provided, even though it was stated in the itinerary. However, it was cleared up after a quick phone call, which we were quite impressed by it.

Overall, it was a great and smooth experience and I would love to engage your team again.

Best regards,

Isabel

Hi Leo,

my feedback is as follows

1. We were very impressed and everything went very smoothly.

2. Definitely will recommend to our family & friends.

3. Very satisfied with China Discovery's service and the arrangement for the 5 days tour. Our tour guide, Evan and driver, Mr.Yang were very responsible, knowledgeable and friendly. We really enjoyed and had a wonderful trip.

4. All good. Actually all hotel accommodation were good and clean. But can be improved for more newest hotel selection.

Lai

Dear Leo,

We enjoyed our hHongzhou trip very much. Guides were professional and accommodation was good. Thanks for your help.

We are planning for another few days to China maybe from 11-13/2 departing Hong Kong. Just wondering if you have any suggestion where to visit during the Chinese new year to avoid the crowd and open?

Cheers

David

Hi Leo,

We were very satisfied with all your arrangements & your drivers & guides. You have shown that you are totally reliable & responsive to all our requests, & a real asset to your company !

We are tempted to explore further into China & we will definitely be using your services again in the future.

Catherine

Dear Leo,

Thank you for your postcard, elegant gifts (chopsticks) and setting up a hassle free travel for the group.

Attaching a couple of photos as promised from the previous email feedback request. Let me know if you need any specific pictures (there are too many to choose) :)

Everything was well arranged, orderly and relaxing. We specifically love the lunch at Wenshufang and Qiang village, relaxing hot spring at Le Meridien, the breathtaking scenery at Bipenggou, and the spectacular culture opera show!

The sky view from Hilton Canopy over Tianfu Square was also magnificent.

The website on China Discoveries is so informative together with Ellen's tips and suggestions, we can venture to some places outside of our itinerary during free time, covering some of the interesting uniqueness at the locality.

The driver, Da ge and Ellen our group only had praises. There were no negative comments from me and the group.

We hope to work with you on our next year end ski trip, to Zhangjiakou.

Meanwhile, we wish you and your family a HAppy Festive Holiday! Take Care! Thank YOU!

Edward

Thank you very much Mr Leo Li, we were pleasantly satisfied with the service provided by you.

Pablo was very empathetic and adjusted to our needs, particularly in the speed at which we could walk. His Spanish very good. The van and driver also ok.

The sites visited were wounderful and the time spent in them was well balance.

EVERYTHING OK, thank you and greetings from Mexico.

Jesús

Hi Leo,

The trip was absolutely fantastic, Lacey was an amazing guys. We really couldn’t have asked her to be any better. Really enjoyed the experience and would recommend it to our friends.

Debbie

Dear Leo Li,

Thanks for your excellent services.

We are very happy with your service.

The only downside was that when the day tour in Chongqing was cut down to a half day, the tour guide still sent us back to the cruise quite early at 4pm.

Whereas in Yichang, Nancy was excellent she adjusted her time to suit us and was very helpful all the way, we covered so much more with her. She was proactive to liaise with the cruise staff etc.

so much more with her. She was proactive to liaise with the cruise staff etc. The 3 tribes visit was one of the highlights of our trip.

Bests,

Nathan

Hi Leo,

Thank you again for helping us plan a wonderful and stress free vacation. I was grateful for how patient you are when answering our questions and especially when we try to make our payment through a local bank. On the tour itself, the hotel we stayed at in Xiamen was the Jingmin Hotel. It was a lovely hotel with courteous and efficient staff. Rooms are clean, breakfast is delicious with a lot of food options and different cuisines. We were glad we opted to try their dinner buffet. It was both delicious and value for money with abundant shrimps, oysters, scallops and crabs. We are particularly happy with our Xiamen tour guide Cathy who has been a fountain of information and pointed out interesting people, places and events. She also made sure my parents have priority queues (where possible) and provided alternative sites when the tour would take us to places my parents cannot walk/climb. Of course, she still leaves the final decision to us. We really appreciate how Cathy and our driver Mr. Wong assisted my aging parents and made the trip very comfortable for them. Mr. Wong even provided water for us, which is very thoughtful of him. Cathy's service is really above and beyond when she helped us book bullet train tickets (this was after their tour and not inclusive) which was way out of our league since we didn't speak nor write Mandarin. Next time we're going to China, I'm just going to book a tour all the way! The second part of the tour was in Wuyishan, where we stayed at Honglin Hotel. It was also a lovely hotel with courteous and efficient staff except they don't serve dinner and breakfast wasn't that nice. This is the main reason why we truly appreciated our guide Cherry. Upon learning that our hotel doesn't have a restaurant that serves dinner, Cherry immediately called a nearby local restaurant and managed to get them to serve us dinner. The food was delicious! Actually, all her recommendations for places to eat were heavenly. So much so that we didn't go for our free hotel breakfast on the 2nd day, and just asked Cherry to introduce us to a local breakfast joint. All in all, the entire experience was fun, educational, comfortable and worry-free. I'll definitely come to you and your company again when I come back to China.

Jamie

Hi Leo,

Yes. Jim is helpful and we did enjoy it well. Meals are good but too much for 2 pax. The provided driver is good. The vehicle is clean and we'll maintain it.

Emily

Hi Leo,

My Summary Comments:-

I must admit it is good fortune to be able to work with Leo to plan and arrange a short tour of preferred sights which I have not done before or to revisit from my previous visits around the Guilin area. Leo’s unfailing promptness to respond to my impromptu emailed enquiries and queries is commendable and helpful to effortlessly facilitate a fulfilling itinerary.

I have now completed a comfortable and absolutely satisfying three days trip with helpful and friendly guides and drivers and comfortable transport together with pleasant hotels accommodations.

Thank you Leo and also to your Chengdu Bamboo International Tours Co.Ltd.

Sum

Hi Leo,

Our travel consultant, Mr. Leo Li is much more than fast and patient enough to address our questions and needs. Sometimes we wonder whether Leo works 24 hrs a day or not!

It is a process. We planned this trip about a year ago. Originally was first May 2023 and we changed it to October 2023. There was quite a few changes and modification to the arrangements. The final plan took a long working process and it came out to what we wished!

Yes. We are more than willing to recommend your service to all our friends. As a matter of fact, a few close friends have already been asking for Leo’s contact information.

Very impressive. We can feel the professionalism and the energy to make the best travel arrangements for the clients and to make their dreams come true!

Nelson

Hi Leo,

Landed. Thank you so much! The trip was great. 婷 is a very good and professional tour guide. We were well taken care of by you both. Thanks again for making the last minute change of hotel possible.

Chai

Hi Leo,

Yes Overall we all had a lovely holiday. Hope to do some other parts of China some time soon.

Irene

Hi Leo,

Thanks for arranging a great trip. The places visited and time spent in each city was just right. The guides and drivers were excellent. The train arrangement was just as expected. We highly recommend this itinerary for anyone who is looking to experience Uighur food and culture.

Suat

Hi Leo,

Very good…we enjoy our moments at Wuzhen

Supicha

Hello Leo

I have just come back to Brisbane.

Thank you very much for organizing such an enjoyable trip for us. I have been to China many times, this is the best trip for me.

The hotels were very good (except for maybe 1). The food was excellent and the guides were very friendly, knowledgeable and patient with us.

The places the guides took us to were very interesting and beautiful...full of history.

I would like to say a special thank you to the guides who made our trip so enjoyable...

Joe - very knowledgeable, patient and looked after us very well.

Ben - helped us get porridge when a few of us were sick with food poisoning.

Frank - loved his humour and knowledge of Lanzhou. Also very helpful with helping us use the washing machine on the last day.

Sally - she is so helpful and made sure we were warm. Also very helpful in rearranging pour trains to Jiayuguan.

Aisha - very good knowledge about the places went and arranged good food for us.

Siddiq - very helpful, good sense of humor and we enjoyed his company very much.

Cathy is also very good and knowledgeable, very passionate about being a guide. She gave us good tips on how to go to the nearby market in Dunhuang and Turpan.

Once again, thank you very much Leo and thank you to China Discovery for such a memorable trip.

Adrian

Dear Leo,

Thank you so much for your response.

I have completed the review and attached some photos.

1. Is your travel consultant of our company fast enough to answer your E-mail and patient enough to answer your questions?

Our travel consultant was Leo and we found him absolutely amazing! He answered every email and question in very good time and he always reassured us with any worries we had.

2. How do you comment your tour arrangements?

Everything was very well arranged, we didn’t have to worry about anything as Leo had made sure we had all the information we needed as well as the contact details of all our guides. All of the tours went very well!

3. Are you willing to recommend our service to your people who also have an interest to visit China?

I would definitely recommend this service especially for someone who has never been to China before.

4. Your general opinion on us?

We had a great experience with China discovery, the tour guides were incredibly friendly and had a lot of knowledge. We went during golden week which was incredibly busy but the tour guides, especially Linda during our Beijing trip, went above and beyond and were excellent at making sure it didn’t affect our trip.

5. Do you have any suggestions on improving our services?

At times it may have been nice to have some free time in some of the attractions because it felt rushed but otherwise we really enjoyed ourselves.

6. Can we use your comments of our service, the photos or other images that you took on the tour for our websites, brochures, marketing and publicity? If yes, could you please send us some of your photos by E-mail?

Yes.

Claire

Hello,

Overall, my trip and travel to China from 9/1/23 - 9/17/23 was very nice and satisfying.

Thank you all for the travel arrangements, especially the Yangtse Cruise.

I am now already back in Los Angeles USA. Hopefully, I will be able to travel to China again next time.

Thank you so much.

Madiana L.

Hello Leo,

thank you for our excellent guide billy, he was really amazing and nice, and shares a lot of interesting knowledge about china and chinese culture. also his command of english is perfect. we would highly recommend him to anyone wanting to make a tour through sichuan! it was a beautiful tour

Jan

Hi Leo

still not adjusted but should be 90% in a few days, on the local guides no complaints, top three Jamie Wang Beijing total knowledge of Chinese history asked him tough questions he gave honest answers , number 2 Seven Shanghai again total knowledge , we became friends, number 3 Sarah Chengdu so young and enthusiastic cares 100% wish we could have spent more time with her. On hotels you made very good choices only one I would change was the Intercontinental Tibet which my wife wanted to stay in , problem far from center of town, we chose not to do some sites because we had seen before on previous trips, that’s what great about private tours we can change itinerary, Leo you provided great service thank you.

Gene

Hi Leo,

Overall our trip is very convenient, all the trip went smoothly, the guides are helpful. However if you need me to choose which city and guide services i prefer, i think like beijing the most and for the guide, Linda and the driver Li. They're super kind, me and my mom are more comfortable with them

For the cars , i think both are great. They are very spacious and super comfortable. Even our car in shanghai had a back massage and heated seat feature, very very convenient.

Overall my trip with your company's services are very satisfying

Helena

Hello Leo,

For the guides all were great. Knowledgeable and helpful. One snag was our flight from Urumuji guide misread the flight we were to be on . I told her the correct one but we were directed to an earlier one Ted 8.25 instead of 9.55. Small matter. We just had to check out very early . Most highly recommended. Drivers were fine, patient and know their routes.

Sights were interesting and well arranged. Lunch mist did they best to meet to our requests. Hotels all ok. Grand Mercure was the best.Kashgar’s if it was one of the best was very chaotic especially at breakfast time.

That’s all.

Regards,

Ms Ong

Leo,

we are finishing the tour! Please give more congratulations to Sandy he is an excellent tour guide one of the best I’ve had, Excellent English, extremely knowledgable everyone really happy.

Very happy - lots of great memories. I will contact you again for more tours in future when I have more money.

Tak

Hi Leo,

I'm so sorry it has taken me this long to be in touch.

I have been travelling around Asia and Europe since the middle of June and have finally returned to work in the UK.

First of all, I would like to thank you so very much. Your planning of my trip was absolutely impeccable. The hotels were absolutely fantastic, the locations were brilliant and the service in all hotels was also great. The only one which was a little out of the way was in Shanghai, although for me it was perfect.

The tour guides were brilliant in all 3 locations I visited and their knowledge was excellent. The drivers were always on time and did their utmost to make me feel comfortable and hydrated in the heat!! I do think next time i come to China i will come in the spring or autumn when it is a little cooler!!

I am going to leave a trip advisor review for you and your amazing tour company. I have already told my friends and family and my parents are now thinking of planning a trip!

Leo, thank you so much. I have travelled the world and I can categorically tell you China was my favourite country of them all and I will be back!!

My kindest regards and I will be in touch in the future for another trip.

Jack

Hi,

We had a great trip Leo. The arrangements were great from the moment we landed in Chongqing. Thanks so much for helping to accommodate our different requests.

Kent

Morning Leo,

My wonderful touring journey with my sister ended today.

We had a grand time and also tiring coz is summer too hot at time...40degree, besides co-insight with school holidays.

Any way, we are happy overall in this tour.

Sharine

Hi Leo,

It was incredible! Thanks for another amazing trip! I loved the driver I was so impressed with his skills and kindness. Driving on those mountain roads is not easy. Pur bu the guide was such a great guide. He was so knowledgeable, and I learned so much from him. His knowledge of Tibetan culture and history was amazing. I loved all the activities and things I got to see. Tibet is such a unique and incredible place I felt so lucky and blessed to be there and to have those two help me guide through it. I have no complaints and leave very happy and blessed to have had this experience. I still think about northern xinjiang and I have some friends who might come to China from America so I’ll keep in touch and let you know. I always try to share your contact with others too. You have been such a great help to me and thanks for everything.

Megan

Hi Leo,

Thank your for arranging.

Generally the trip is good. Minus the hot weather :)

The tour guide and driver gives good service.

Carmen

Hello Leo,

Everything was fine. My guide was good and helped me with a lot of topics. Lhasa is beatiful. The hotel was okay-ish. Next time I will stay somewhere else.

Petr

Hi Leo,

I am quite happy with the Luoyang trip. Guide & Driver are all friendly & enthusiastic. Joe is professional & helpful.

I will come back (maybe in autumn) for the Yungang Grottoes. Once I fix my schedule, will ask for your help.

Thanks & Best Regards,

Listyani

Hi Leo,

All in all I want to say that the trip was really nice and well organized.

Guides very professional, Lily as well as Cathy shared a lot of useful information for the various tourist spots.

The program was very tight and fully packed with beautiful spots, so it was a little stressful sometimes.

But actually we wanted it this way, so for us it was ok. During the long drives and train rides we usually slept and recovered.

So, depending of the purpose of the trip, which was to get to know as many places as possible, it was perfect.

Looking forward to the next trip organized with you!

Take Care

Bjoern

Hi Leo,

Apologies for the delay in providing feedback.

The trip overall was great. I have no complaints. I only wished I had stayed at least one or two more days in Zhangjiajie. Two days was not enough.

Both tour guides were wonderful, knowledgeable and friendly. Very happy with their service. I was also very happy with the company’s flexibility with altering the schedule late and allowing my friend to join me with ease.

The hotels were all good. The one in Yangshuo was fantastic. I do wish the hotel in Zhangjiajie had coffee, though. There was no coffee in the room and what was available at breakfast, well, that really wasn’t coffee. That said, I think in the future (and I have said this to another tour company I have worked with), I would gladly trade these hotels in for a lower cost, more basic hotel to save some money. We spend so little time in the hotel and there are tons of local breakfast options elsewhere, including coffee. All the hotels seemed expensive and I suspect were a large portion of the overall tour price. It would be nice to have some options when booking the tour, especially a private tour such as this one.

Thank you and I am already looking forward to the next time,

Chris

Dear Leo,

I am now back in Zhangjiajie to catch my flight to Shanghai. The guide Bree and tour were both great. I already completed the feedback form that the guide gave me on the last day.

Luca

Hi Leo,

The Guizhou trip was very nice! Guide and driver very helpful and skilled; The places we visited in general are very nice too!

As you had anticipated, Xijiang was pretty crowded during May Day holiday. We could not get near the village with the car, as all the Parking lots were full

So we had to park the car in Leishan and take a bus to get to the Parking lots …and from there to the village by another bus and shuttle, To take that final shuttle, it was really crowded But we managed and had a great time the next morning really early (6:30AM) to stroll through the empty village

There were a lot of people in all the places, but except Xijiang it was really at an acceptable level Actually Zhanli was pretty empty…

The least interesting visit was Qingyan Ancient Town. Actually most of the area is like a tourist area with the typical stores you see in all Ancient Towns; Yes, Qingyan was not so nice, actually the building mentioned in te program> Christian church, catholic church and house of number one scholar were all closed, So, not really much to see, besides a small exposition about Tang Dynasty

The Huangguoshu Waterfall area was very nice, not too many people there. Only the way to the path behind the Waterfall was pretty full, But acceptable…

So all-in-all a very nice experience.

Dear Leo,

Many thanks for the gifts, this is a really nice touch.

The trip with Kevin was great, je is a really nice guide, very helpful and he provided many information .

We enjoyed the tour very much. It was a great day.

Many thanks for your assistance

Mathilde

Hi Leo,

This is a very short customised arrangement during which the China border is not fully opened yet.

China Discovery charges a premium though, but it delivered without fail.

The VOA is very new to even the custom officers who were on duty when I cleared the immigration check at Shenzhen as well as the HK side. I must say that the agent did his professional service by always on the call to allow on-site changes of my arrival time because immigration clearance was so unpredictable. I can be assured that someone is just outside the arrival hall to pick me up and, I could tell the immigration officer that my local contact person is just waiting outside to pick me once I am cleared with this new procedure.

It is always safer to have a local contact to guide you and make arrangements for your local transfer when language ( Cantonese instead of Mandarin) is a problem in China .

Thx for the service . Thx to Matt too.

Rgds

Dear Leo,

thank you so much for asking.

I can only say that we had a fabulous time. The driver was the best driver we had in a long time and the guide was knowledgeable, helpful and always spot on.

In a difficult situation (the police found us interesting and inquired after our travel itinerary etc.) he handled it very well.

I will definitely recommend you and might ask you for information on another tour in Sichuan, soon.

Kind regards,

Silke

Hi Leo,

it was great! I really appreciated Lily's flexibility when I needed to rest a bit more one day and and she was amazing when she came to meet be the day I arrived even though the tour hadn't started because my hotel was blocked off for covid testing (close contact). I was tired and frustrated but she helped me navigate the situation and was very kind about it. I also really enjoyed the itinerary- I felt like I got to see so much and Lily gave me a lot of interesting information. She was obviously very professional and experienced, knowing exactly how to make the most of our visits. The driver was great, I felt very safe the whole time. The restaurants were a bit expensive for lunch for 1 person but it wasn't a huge deal- I invited Lily to join me because I couldn't eat the huge portions. Overall, I really enjoyed my time in Zhangjiajie and it went smoothly because Lily truly has expertise in the area but was also flexible when necessary.

Kelly

Hello Leo,

Yes we just got back to Beijing last night. It was so wonderful! We had the best time. Everything went smoothly, we had no trouble checking in our room was perfect. Thank you so much for all your help planning the trip.

Jozanne

Hi Leo,

all fine thank you! The cruise was good, and the food was also fine. There was in particular, one girl, Natalie, she was really sweet and treated us very special!

Sofia

Hi Leo,

I absolutely loved the trip! Amy was wonderful and so knowledgeable. The hotel in the maintains was incredible ~ amazing view from the room, excellent location at the base of the cable car and near the restaurants and bus station. Amy recommended the Cable Hotel for food so we ate there both nights, the second night sat outside which had a great atmosphere compared to sitting inside. We went to Golden Summit at 8:30am which meant we missed most of the crowds. The hotel breakfast was excellent in the mountains although they didn't have hot water or tea so had to ask. The school we went to was brilliant. So tranquil in the mountains. We had a massage, did some calligraphy and practiced some Taiji warm ups on the terrace at sunset which was perfect as it was cooler. The view was stunning and so peaceful, I loved just sitting to listen to the birds! We couldn't see the museum, as it closed early which was a shame. We had coffee across the road instead so wasn't a wasted trip there!

Gillian

Good morning Leo,

yes, my trip was great, I had a great time. The guide and the driver were both very nice and very cool. The guide had lots of knowledge, she said a lot of things to me that I didn’t know. I’m hoping to plan a trip to Xian later this year so definitely be messaging you again. I totally enjoyed the trip they were both very very gracious and very cool.

The sites we went to see I was very happy for that time frame going early was better consumers less people and we gotta walk through everything pretty quickly and get everything done that we needed or I want to get done pretty quickly so it was also very very helpful and are going to chairman chair was a guide that can get through the lines are very very good very helpful，so really enjoyed I like everything that we did it was very much what iwanted so thank you guys again.

Inga

Hey Leo.

Sure. I liked the trip very good. The organization and the hotels were good

And my tour guide Ann was awesome i had a great time a and good discussion.

Simon

Hi Leo,

The driver was great. On time and very helpful. He also had good local knowledge as I had some time before going to the airport so we stopped at two local sigthseeing destinations. All in all, I am very happy with the arrangement

Therese

Hi Leo,

Thanks for your excellent performance, fast responses, anwerst to all questions. The arrangement was excellent although we asked the tour arrangement in a short notice, and the trip was very nice and relax.

Ira

Hi Leo,

We are really happy and I will contact you for our future holidays, I learned a lot from her, She has a lot of background on the story; Thanks for all Leo and after the service is finished please tell Jane and the driver that they are great; I will recommend you guys to all my foreigner friends in Hefei; You will be contacted.

Aldo

Hi Leo,

The trip was wonderful, we fully enjoyed ourselves and learned so much on our trip about the culture. Particularly the lifestyles of Naxi, Yi and Tibetan people. Our first Guide, Tony was very welcoming and helped us check in, allowed us time to explore the stone forest. He was flexible, given that our flight was delayed due to a storm. We would have liked more time to explore Kunming by ourselves a little, but our flight delay caused us to miss some time. Tony made sure we checked in for our train successfully before leaving.

We met our guide Frank in Dali, he was very sociable and there was no “awkward silence” as we worried could happen on a tour. Frank took us to a nice restaurant for lunch, showed us around the “new town”. He gave lots of information about China in general, whilst taking us to see our sites. He appeared to enjoy the tour as much as we did! We particularly enjoyed the three course tea and the tour of the ancient town.

Our next tour guide Sandy was lovely, very down to earth and easy to talk to. He offered a directed tour with information about the sites, but also gave opportunity for us to explore by ourselves. He gave lots of information about the lives of the villagers, their beliefs and values etc. One morning, the driver arrived before the guide and asked us to leave earlier than the tour guide had suggested, a surprise to us all. Sandy was tactful when speaking with the driver and asking him to follow the time he specified in future.

Lastly, we met Jack in Shangri-La and he directed us through the tiger leaping gorge and around Shangri-la city. Whilst much quieter than the other guides, he guided us along the gorge. He did not speak much about the gorge, and appeared distracted on the first day in Shangri-La, a little focussed on his phone (perhaps some personal issues going on). Over time, he became more talkative and we learned a lot about the monastery, Buddhism and Tibetan lives, which I was glad to learn about. He even suggested lunch with a Tibetan family, which was very interesting.

My suggestions would be:

- Clearly inform guests that they will need to leave luggage when on the gorge, so they can prepare their necessities beforehand, rather than on the roadside.

- Perhaps factor in some more free time for guests to explore the surroundings a little more.

Overall, we had a great trip and learned lots of information. All the guides were polite, friendly and made us feel safe and welcome whilst on our trip. We would recommend chinadiscoverytours to others and will consider booking again in the future.

Many thanks,

Zoe

Hi Leo,

Overall Experience:

Overall we had a fantastic trip! While we have always been more independent travelers, the changing status of restrictions due to COVID made us reluctant to book our own trip – we wanted to have someone we could call and/or have by our sides to help address any concerns, at least someone with a better fluency than ours. We loved everything about Ping’an and hope to return to see the terraces in a different season. We loved the Yangshou and hope to return there – it’s an easy train ride from Shenzhen.

Transportation:

The train was super comfortable, all pick-ups and drop-offs were good, the van was comfortable and the driver was safe.

Lodging:

We loved the atmosphere, the room, the people, and the food at Longji One Art Hotel. One of our favorite places, we hope to return and stay there. The Family Room had ventilation issues upstairs in the loft, but the room A/C was awesome.

The Shangri-La in Guilin was our least favorite. The room was stuffy and hot, and even with a fan that we requested, it was uncomfortable to sleep. The theme was amusing – as a family room, it had a tent, but the bathroom accessories were for an infant, not an 11-year old. We would not stay there again, nor recommend it to friends.

The Bamboo Leaf outside Yangshou was really great. By fate, we knew a fair amount of people staying there, from Guangzhou and Shenzhen. The food there was FANTASTIC! We definitely plan to return to Yangshou and would stay at the Bamboo Leaf. We would go just for the dinner!

Sights:

Longji Rice Terraces – incredible beauty! So few people were there, we had the whole area to ourselves. We would like to return to see the terraces in a different season. It FAR exceeded our expectations!

Guilin – we live in a big city, so seeing another city is less than a thrill. Reed Flute Cave and Xiangbishan were cool, but not awesome.

Li River – we were the only boat on the river – the sights were amazing, well worth the trip. The provided lunch was actually quite good.

Yulong River / bamboo raft – we liked the more intimate setting, some great pictures.

Comments:

I would recommend you and the tour company to others - everything worked as planned and promised. We appreciate your help, and had the comfort knowing that if the situation changed due to travel restrictions, etc., we had someone to help us. It was a curious time to travel, as cases were picking up in other areas.

Small Things:

It would have been better to know about packing ONE bag to take up to Ping’an. While it wasn’t a terrible inconvenience to unpack/re-pack in a parking lot, I wish we had known.

Peter did a nice job. He wasn’t the best guide we ever had, but he was OK. Very friendly and polite, his English was fantastic, and he shared a lot of his knowledge. However, I would prefer not to use him again.

Leo, if we need help with another guided tour the Fall, I will reach out to you!

Many Thanks.

James

Hey Leo,

Thanks for checking in. Michelle was a great guide - very knowledgeable about the sites, and I think the way she rearranged our schedule made a good use of our time and allowed us to get back to the train station without stress. I would definitely recommend her to others.

We particularly enjoyed the Yunggang grottoes and the wooden pagoda (which unfortunately you can't climb at the moment), but really everything in the itinerary was interesting. I guess the "clay forest" a bit smaller than I expected, but it provided a bit of change of scenery. :-)

Thanks again for the last-minute organization!

Best,

Lisa

Dear Leo,

Thank you very much for arranging today’s tour for us. We had a really great time & were incredibly impressed with our guide, Evan.

As requested, here is our feedback:

1. Is your travel consultant of our company fast enough to answer your E-mail and patient enough to answer your questions? YES!

2. How do you comment your tour arrangements? Leo was very polite & professional in arranging for our tour, answering questions & connecting us with our guide. The gift sent to our hotel room always a very nice touch!

3. Are you willing to recommend our service to your people who also have an interest to visit China? YES!

4. Your general opinion on us? The tour description we found on the website was well-written & Leo answered any other questions for us. Our guide, Evan, was very professional but also friendly. He has a lot of knowledge about the irrigation system, the area, culture, Taoism & Mount Qingcheng. Evan made sure we were comfortable & made today very easy for us to navigate. It was a fabulous tour that we would highly recommend!

5. Do you have any suggestions on improving our services? There were a LOT of stairs at the mountain. It might be helpful to ensure that people understand the level of fitness required for this tour as well as the need for proper footwear :)

6. Can we use your comments of our service, the photos or other images that you took on the tour for our websites, brochures, marketing and publicity? If yes, could you please send us some of your photos by E-mail? YES - attached.

7. We sometimes have requests from potential customers who would like to inquire from or our ex-customers.

May they contact you for advices? Yes.

Again, thank you very much for your arrangements, Leo. Evan was really fantastic & we enjoyed a really special day with him touring a beautiful area of China!

Amy

Thanks Leo for organising this trip. We had good time;

Huangshan: we loved the place but felt sad that this was not the right season for it.. So while booking you can just inform us on the same.. I had checked the weather before going, I knew it was raining but I thought it like shenyang rain.. Light.. Not that heavy.. So if possible just give an info on that to people..

Driver and vehicle: good

Guide: very good

Hangzhou: good place.

Driver: very rude. Not even accommodating a small requirement of stopping at a supermarket.

Guide:Very good.

Shanghai and around: good

Driver: Kind and helpful.

Guide: very friendly, helpful and good.. Appreciate that she helped us for booking food online..

Guides were supportive at all places.. Thank you!! But again a feedback for your company: Try being little flexible when you are doing a customized trip. Customized trip is not just booking hotels or car. Clients need more flexibility in terms of everything when we know we are paying more than just for the trip expense

To whom it may concern:

My husband and I have recently taken a vacation to Zhaoqing and Qingyuan.

It was all organized by this Agency and the tourist agent Leo Li. The tourist guide was Matt

We want to express our gratitude for all the organization as well as the actual trip.

Holtels were just like we asked for, in fact they (2 hotels) were very nice. The places we went were gorgeous and everything well organized. Thanks.

We will keeping using this agency as we have been done in the past for more than 4 trips within in China.

Kind Regards.

Janislene & Floyd

Hi Leo,

Thanks for your email and apologies for not getting back to your earlier but its been a busy return to Beijing.

Verity and I were extremely happy with our tour with Bree. She and the driver went above and beyond waiting for us at the airport until the early hours of the morning as our flight was delayed.

In relation to Bree, she was a great guide. She obviously knew her stuff, was friendly and expertly navigated us around the sites. What we really appreciated was Bree taking us to places that were a little bit out of the way to take us away from the crowds so we could experience the spectacular scenery and views without too many people around us.

In relation to the tour and the schedule, we were really happy with the places on the itinerary and the time we were able to spend at each. Throughout the trip we did not feel rushed nor that we had too much time at any place and were really happy with being able to walk around some really beautiful places.

The choice was hotel was good as it meant we were close to the park which meant less driving in the morning and we were happy with the room.

In addition, the support we received prior to and during the trip from you and Bree was greatly appreciated. We have already passed on the details for the tour and your company to several friends of ours and we are already looking at when we could reschedule our Huangshan trip.

In relation to the Huangshan trip, we were wondering how much notice you need before booking? For example, if we decided on a Monday to do the trip, could we start it on the Friday of that week? We recognise that you require time to lock in hotel bookings, guides, tickets etc. but were wondering how much time was required.

Thanks once again for all your help.

Cheers

Marko

Hi Leo,

Yes, I can give you some feedback on the Beijing trip. In general we enjoyed the trip very much. It was a good idea to go to Jinshanling Great Wall instead of Badaling. Actually we had heard of Badaling being rather crowded during National Holidays, that’s why we asked you to include Jinshanling. It was a good choice;

Jack, our tour guide was very nice, he has a very good knowledge about the places we went and the history behind. The driver was very experienced and we always had a smooth drive, although obviously sometimes the traffic was dense.

The Restaurants that Jack picked were all ok, the experience with the family in the Hutong for the Dumpling making was very nice.

There could be some minor changes to the tour. For example it was more convenient to go to Jingshan Park and Beihai Park on the same day instead of separate days. Actually Jack proposed that and it was good. We went to both of the parks the day after the Forbidden City. There are some further attractions to visit inside the Summer Palace and Beihai Park. You have to buy extra tickets, which are 10 Yuan per person. I think it might make sense to include these in the tour right away from the beginning.

Hi Leo,

It was a great tour! The staff on the boat were so nice and helpful! The accommodations were excellent. The food was so good. If I had one complaint it would just be how rushed everything is when you visit things off the boat. I understand why and know there is a busy schedule but it was so rushed to me. Sorry it took so long to answer. I had no mobile data all day.

The only place I felt it was really crowded was at the fungdu ghost city. Everywhere else had people but not too bad at all for China.

I saw some places were really busy. I heard a lot of people are traveling again. I have a lot of friends who have shown some interest in my cruise. When they ask me for more info about booking the cruise I will definitely send them your contact card. I will put some pictures on WeChat tonight. So many want to see some. That will help I think.

Hi Leo,

Sorry I didn't respond sooner, this has been a busy week! Sylvie and I had a great trip and we agreed the service was excellent. On the boat, all the crew were very helpful, especially Momo and Billy. We really appreciated how well everyone looked after us. The guides we had on the boat and in Zhangjiajie had great English. We really liked that David in Zhangjiajie looked at the weather forcasts to decide what would be the best activity for the day. He knew a lot of less visited areas, which made for a more relaxing and enjoyable visit, even when the park was more crowded. The driver was one of the best I've had in China, though we did have to wait around for him to arrive sometimes. I don't know how much control you have over the boat,but there are a couple suggestions I have.

-On the excursions, it would be helpful to have a translated document of some of the important information about the place. I don't expect an entire spoken translation of everything that is being said, but it would have been nice to have more information at the dam and on the 3 Gorges boat ride, as there was a lot being said in Mandarian and most of it wasn't translated. Just a simple handout, even just using something like Google Translate, would have been nice.

-There were a couple of times another boat docked directly next to ours, which made it impossible to use the balcony or really relax in the room because our "neighbors" were too close and too loud. That's all I can really think of now. Like I said, the service we received was excellent and I would definitely recommend the trip to others. Thanks again!

Hi Leo.

We enjoyed our cruise thank you. We enjoyed the Shanggui Mountain and added both the elevator and fengdu ghost town which were great. The shennv stream wasn’t as good. The cabin was comfortable and everyone really kind on the boat

The stream was beautiful but they made us get off the boat onto a pontoon so the guides could sing. We would have preferred to learn more about the area. Please send a link to your trip advisor page and we’ll leave a review. We appreciate all your help in booking the trip.

Hi Leo,

The trip was lovely. The color of the water was amazing.

Hey Leo,

It was great, thank you for everything, you can send me the information to write a review, that's fine.

Hey Leo,

Yes we are back. Everything was great except the weather - lily the guide is really good and everything went super smooth and We hope to use your service in future :), If you need any specific feedback let me know. The guide was especially great.

Hi Leo, Everything fine and thanks for ask;

Everything was super and thanks.

Hi Leo.

All good, the only thing I can think of is if they could upgraded their gym but I’m thinking I’m the only one who has ever used it. Everyone was really nice, I just wish there were more passengers to enjoy their hospitality.

Dear Leo,

Here are our comments and feedback for the trip.

Overall, we have been very happy with the trip and it has been close to exactly as we wanted it to be. We will surely recommend you and your company to other people traveling in China.

On the more concrete side, we have split up the feedback into a few categories below

Hotels

-       Very well chosen hotels. All of them really hit the mark in terms of the type of hotels we wanted to stay on

-       The Yangshuo Mountain Retreat was especially beautiful and also had a great kitchen. The rest was also very nice, but the Mountain Retreat was really the highlight

-       As a minor improvement point / consideration, the hotel we stayed at in Guilin (where we only had one night) could have been a more regular / simple hotel, since we checked in late and left early

Activities

-       Good balance between guided activities and having time for our self

-       We really enjoyed the guided hikes

-       Other highlights were walking in the rice terraces of Longhen, the Kunming Stone Forest and walking the Tiger Leaping Gorge

Guides

-       We were overall happy with the guides. They were helpful and generally informative about the activities and the site

-       We really like the guide we had in Kunming, we thought she was the best of them

-       One comment for improvement – each guide gave us a document to fill out for feedback to them on the last day. It would have been better if this document was mailed to us. It is a bid awkward to provide feedback to someone as they as watching and giving them the document afterwards – the feedback will probably be more honest if the guides could not read the feedback while we were standing with them. However, we were overall satisfied with the guide

As I hope you can tell from the lack of specific improvement points in the above, we have had great trip and have been very happy with the way it has been organised. We felt very well guided the whole trip and always knew there were an English speaking guide close by that we could ask for help.

Let us know if you have any questions or if there are some areas that you would like additional comments on. We are also very happy to write a recommendation or act as references if that is needed for other customers.

Best regards,

Louise and Morten

Hi Leo,

Here are my answers:

1. Is your travel consultant of our company fast enough to answer your E-mail and patient enough to answer your questions? 

Yes. 

 2. How do you comment on your tour arrangements? 

It was well organized and accommodating.

3. Are you willing to recommend our service to your people who also have an interest to visit China? 

Absolutely.

4. Your general opinion on us? 

Quick response, flexible, provided good guidance, punctual, efficient, friendly.

5. Do you have any suggestions on improving our services? 

None. Only recommendation is to change the hotel in Yangshuo.

6. Can we use your comments of our service, the photos or other images that you took on the tour for our websites, brochures, marketing and publicity? If yes, could you please send us some of your photos by E-mail? 

Absolutely. I will send photos via Wechat.

7. We sometimes have requests from potential customers who would like to inquire from or our ex-customers. May they contact you for advices?

Sure!

Hi Leo, 

Sorry for the delay. May was a wonderful tour guide! She was very knowledgeable about the locations we went to and their history. We had plenty of time to explore every location and she even helped us to take photos! Overall, it was a great experience. 

Blessings,

Ashley

Hi Leo,

I’m back in Chengdu... the trip was a very nice experience! Yes, both of them. I liked Jacky more, she is more authentic... I understand she actually is from CITS, right?

It was a really amazing week and I’m very happy that we did this trip. So many beautiful places. Everything was perfect! Don’t worry any more. Let me know if I can write a recommendation somewhere online. I’m happy to do so.

Hi Leo,

I hope you and your family are healthy. I know the tourism industry has been hit hard in China, but I read in the news that life is getting back to normal.

My family is safe here in the US, and I am fortunate to have a remote job during these times. Since everything is picking back up in China, I would be happy to finally write a review for you. I apologize, I have forgotten where I was to write that review, can you please send again?
Take care,

Molly Sharp

Dear Leo Li,

We are happy for your people that the coronavirus in China is retreating. It gives people living in Belgium hope. 

We wish you all good health. 

With love,

Elizaveta and family

Hi Leo,

Thank you for the thoughtful update. You are a special young man. I sincerely hope you and your family are well and have avoided this terrible virus. I am so sorry for the impact this has had on your business. I realize the hardship this has caused you. I will keep you in my prayers.

With Sincere Regards,

Judy

Leo,

Thanks for the update. Please stay safe and healthy. I will continue to say a prayer for your country. Also, please let me know when the situation improves. I do want to return.  

Julie 

Dear Mr Leo,

Apologies for the late reply as I'm very busy lately.

Overall, I and my family are very satisfied with the tour. We learnt a lot about interesting things in Zhangjiajie from Kevin, not just the natural scenery, but also the food, arts and culture. The schedule was not too packed, and Kevin assisted us well during the trip. The driver is also very nice. Thank you very much for arranging a memorable tour. 

Best regards,

Niko

Hi Leo

Overall, the tour experience was great and the itinerary was closely complied with. 

We were greeted promptly by the local guides in both Beijing and Xian at the very moment we stepped out of the customs.  Immediately, we were brought to our hotel in comfortable vans driven by friendly and safe-minded drivers. 

Sunworld Hotel in Beijing is slightly below expectation as the room is small for 3 of us. Pillows were flat and curtains old. It is however well located within walking distance to Wang Fu Jing and surrounded by convenience stores and shops.

Places of interests in Beijing like the Gu Gong and Great Wall are still as charming as 18 years ago. Public toilets at these places still have a lot of room for improvement though. 

Kai, our local guide at Beijing is professional and knowledgeable. He speaks both Mandarin and English well. His sharing of China history was engaging as he would assess us now and then with Q&A:). He also went the extra miles to send us to the bullet train cabin/ seats and gave us very detailed instruction on when to get OFF the train to ensure we do not miss the stop.

Bullet train from Beijing to Xian is a good alternative to internal flight as the cabins are clean and quiet. Can observe the development of different cities along the way too. 

The Titan Hotel in Xian is much bigger and comfortable. It has also engaged robot to assist in housekeeping. The breakfast has a wider spread than that in Beijing too. 

The Terracotta Army in Xian is eye opening. Our guide at Xian is knowledgeable and explains clearly too. Many new stores and eateries are located outside the TA museum. Would suggest to allocate more time at this commercial site as we were rushing to go for our lunch which was located within a nice resort with 5-star toilets.

Meals at Xian are less exciting and appealing due to our non-spicy and no beef nor mutton diet. Also, most if not all of the meat dishes are served cold including braised trotters. Chinese food in Singapore is served warm/ hot unless otherwise indicated. 

On hindsight, 1-night stay in Xian is sufficient, with a full-day visit to the Terracotta Army Museum, and shopping at the commercial site outside the Museum. Foot and body massage outlets are commonly found in Xian with good services. Will recommend a relaxing massage to wrap up the day! 

Last but not least, thank you for the arrangement and here wishing you a Blessed and Prosperous New Year !

Regards

Jacqueline

Hi Leo,

Upon arrival at Chengdu, we were greeted at Airport by the guide and driver and driver to Hotel. In it our next 2 days itinerary was explained and confirmed . After day 1, it was decided that instead of climbing Leshan Budha, we should consider taking the boat ride which is less demanding and we opted for that. Day 3 was our free day and I googled for things to do and end up going for Global Mall & one old tourist street within the city vide subway. Day 4 was our trip vide train to Xian and we we were taken by our guide to the station and after some 4 hours plus we were greeted by another guide in Xian. Our itinerary in Xian only involved one day guided tour to the terracotta warriors and Muslim quarters ( which we spend almost every day as our hotel is within walking distance) . All in all, it was a good holiday . Chengdu is modern and clean and Xian is historical , I wonder why there is very little organized tour on both cities .

About the guided tour, both our guide in Chengdu and Xian can speak good enough English but we converse mostly in Mandarin , I guess the only reason I ended up with China discovery was because I search tour sites in English as my chinese is not good enough to web-search and write in chinese  and I guess that most of the customer would be non chinese speaker.  I am an experience traveler and I always took my family to new places on my own and prior to my holiday I would plan all the logistic . In places like Japan and Korea, I usually opt for  separate day trip to  places where public transport is logistically troublesome , I either hire guide for a day or limo service for certain trip or  took the single day package , usually vide Viator.

My only reservation is the costs, all in all,  china discovery charge me RMB 12k plus for 3 days of guided tour and 4 transfers (hotel to air port of train station) , I am not sure how much saving I would get if I attended all transfer myself although I think getting the train ticket can be troublesome for outsider like myself. Anyhow, I think it is better to make contact at Air-port compare to meeting at Hotel Lobby the next day. For the record, this is my 3rd time using China Discovery. I was on my own in Beijing (private guide)  - Tianjing (taxi driver as guide)  and Xiamen holiday.

Quah

Hi Leo!

My apologies for taking such a long time in getting back to you. We had a wonderful experience, and I have told my friends back here in the US to take the tour the way we did if they ever decide to go to China.  I think the only helpful note to possibly relay to future tourists is to have Apple Pay set up.  It is not too used here in the US, so I do not have it set up and a lot of the local places only took Apple Pay.

Otherwise, the tour stops were great, we really enjoyed all of our guides - I want to be friends with all of them!

Please let me know if you have anyone that needs to reach out to me that is considering the trip. I would be happy to share my positive experience.

Thank you,

Molly

Hi Leo,

Sorry for late reply. We really enjoyed this 8 Days Silk Road trip for our company trip holiday.

We'll like to thank the Lanzhou tour guide Miss Dong Dong who waited for us at the airport late at night as well as received us at train station from Xining on our last day at Lanzhou. She was kind enough to inform us about places to get good food!

Travelling from Lanzhou to Zhangye, Jiayuguan and Dunhuang, we had Mr Gary guiding us and I must say that I enjoyed all his narratives about the places we were to visit. He was very helpful when we lost a camera and went all out to retrieve it for us. He even helped to repair a jacket for us. Well done!!

We enjoyed our visit to Qinghai lake very much, especially when our guide stopped at an adjoining frozen lake for us to play and take pictures. That was a bonus!

Overall, this trip was great although a bit tiring and cold!! We really like having the places to ourselves. 

The food was sometimes too spicy though.

Thanks China Discovery & Mr Leo Li for your help.

Best Regards

Irene Goo

Hello Leo,

Thanks for your email. Yes I am back to USA after a long trip to China. I have now fully recovered.

Our trip to China is one of the memorable trips we have taken. Thanks to you and China Discovery, we enjoyed our tour without a glitch. It was very well organised and executed.

Our flights and trains were all on time and very comfortable. The vehicle, tour guides and the drivers were very respectful and flexible to accommodate all our needs. We were impressed by all the tourist sites, especially the grottoes and other sites in the silk route. All the sites are well maintained and the facilities were  excellent. We saw several cultural shows and they were all very enjoyable. We have no hesitation in recommending your services and China Discovery travel agency to all our friends and relatives.

Good luck and thank you,

Best regards,

Dear Leo

Thank you for your email. We really enjoyed our China tour with China Discovery. The itinerary planned for us were very comprehensive which allows us maximum time to enjoy the natural beauty and attractions each locations had to offer with minimum shopping trips. We really don't like those tours that spend a lot of time bringing us shopping rather than spending time to explore the attractions and I am really glad the tour that you organized for us did not make us do that.

The transfer from one place to another was also arranged very well and we were well looked after. The hotel and meals arranged were good except for the hotel in Beijing where the toilet is not very clean especially the shower cubicle. Other than that we were really satisfied with the hotels arranged which were in convenient locations in the city center and the food was great.

The tour guides were also very accommodating and look after us very well especially Lily and the driver Mr Chang from Beijing who really made sure that we had a really enjoyable time in Beijing.

We will definitely deal with China Discovery for our next trip to China and will not hesitate to recommend China Discovery to our friends.

Kind regards

Superlative team and organization

Review of China Discovery

Our group of 7 toured 3 weeks across China from Shanghai to Tibet. It was to be the trip of a lifetime, and it was. In my due process to search for the best itinerary and TA for us, I found Leo Li of China Discovery. Compared to other top in-China TAs, CD and Leo Li gave me everything I wanted including the best price for the desired itinerary. None of us were strangers to China. I was born there and had been there 5 times since, while the others had toured the capital cities but never the remote regions of Hunan, Sichuan, Yunnan, and Tibet.

We were always prompted met with a guide as soon as we left the airport security area; we were transported in clean mini-vans with plenty of bottled water. It was always door-to-door everytime. We would be dropped off at one end and after the tour, the mini-van would be waiting for us at the other end -- no backtracking. Nothing was ever stolen or missing in the secured vans. The many guides we met were always courteous and spoke varying degrees of fluency but always well-informed. One even held my wife's hand as she walked slowly on icy pathways in Huanglong National Park.

Their pricing was reasonable -- better than if I booked myself. We stayed in not only elegant country inns, but also at Pullman, Sofitel, Shangri-la, and Grand Hyatt.

I have nothing but praise for Leo and his team. He is easily accessible 24/7. That is really necessary in China. His English is flawless, his personality infectious. We met him in Chengdu. Ask for Leo Li.

Date of experience: October 2019

Hi Leo, 

Yes, the cruise on the Victoria Katarina went very well. The boat was well maintained (looked in better condition than the Yangtze Gold 5, & 6), the food was more than adequate,  the tours arrangements went smoothly. 

Thank you for thoughtfully putting me in the English speaking group for meals, as my Mandarin is woefully inadequate. 

Thanks also for your prompt replies to my queries. 

Best Wishes, 

Dear Mr. Li,

Thank You for the opportunity to give some feedback!

Our journey through China was perfektly organised! For me, it was a very good combination between sightseeing, historical information about the Republik of China and beside that, it became nearly the feeling of a roadtrip with good old friends!!! On the one hand, our driver Ladu (maybe I wrote it wrong!?) drove us very safely and though we couldn't speak a word together, the communication was warm and friendly! On the other hand, our guide Pipoo was always very careing, when we had some problems with the altitude, so that we were never worried. As I said before, all the time he was able to make a good mix between interessting historical facts about the sights and the developement of China, but also framed it with a lot of fun. It never got boring or exausting. Pipoo was also very helpful, when we had some problems with the service of one hotel, to manage this problem. So even in those few problemsituations, we never felt uncomortable or lost!

I want to thank You Mr. Li and Your Team for organising this unforgetable trip for us. From my side, i wish defenitly to come back some more times in this beautiful country and hope to have the same guidance and service I was able to enjoy this time!

Kind regards

CHINA DISCOVERY (CHENGDU CHINA): chinadiscovery.com Highly recommended.

The itinerary ; 16 days private tour in Shanghai Hangzhou Guilin Zhangjiajie Xian Beijing and group tour Yangtze Cruise (13^th Sept to 28^th September 2019)

If there is one word that best describes the flow of our 16 day long tour to China , the word is SEAMLESS. Our tour operator China discovery (based out of Chengdu China) were simply awesome. Right from the time we landed to the our last day they ensured we were cared for and made all efforts to make the trip memorable. It all started with an email to Leo Li (Representative at China Discovery). I’m sure he practices meditation coz he never lost his cool answering the several questions we had and innumerable changes we made before landing. He replied to my queries even whilst on his personal leave….that’s dedication. He guided me on the dates. We would have landed during golden week and that would have been a challenge with the local holiday crowds. Leo was also empathetic when we lost our perfumes, hairspray and swiss knife to security at the railway station in Xian (bear in mind you cannot have these if you are taking the bullet trains). He arranged to pick the confiscated items from the railway authorities and ship it back to us in Dubai. The level of service is par excellence. Having travelled extensively I can vouch for China discovery for the extra-efforts they put in to make it a great experience.

All tour guides spoke good English (Trust me you need one). I would like to mention KAI (Our guide in Beijing). He is an excellent story teller. Got us hooked to the history of China (Wish I had someone like him teach us in School). Then there were the other guides who gave us enough time as required, never overdoing the information bit. Answering the never ending questions we threw at them.

Our only setback during the trip was missing The forbidden city tour. The site was closed earlier than expected; as preparations were on for the 70^th National Day. However we were re-imbursed by the tour operator.

China has something for everyone. We chose the more scene route. Avatar mountains of Zhangjiajie are surreal, the rice terraces of Guilin, the Li river cruise , the lake city of Hangzhou and the Yangtze cruise were all a delight to experience. We insisted on a no-shopping tour.

Food can be a bit of a challenge to a few . Chinese food although popular may be quite different than how its made in a foreign land. If you are a vegetarian , pls specify this to your tour operator to help them guide you.

Hotel rooms were comfortable and locations were perfect. We could wander around the happening streets in every city and enjoy a dinner and a drink whilst taking in the local experiences.

People of China love to take pics with foreigners and its fun to share a smile , a laughter or even a hug with well-meaning individuals. Chinese parents encourage their kids to speak in English. So do indulge in a bit of a chat with the little one’s .

Tips :

When visiting China , ensure you give it at least 2 weeks. It’s a huge country, with every city/town/village offering different experiences.

Keep an eye out for what you cannot carry on train journeys or risk prohibited items getting forfeited.

VPN : Buy it to stay connected.

Have an offline app to translate your language into Mandarin (This is a BIG help)

Do not take offence if the Chinese don’t smile back at you. They are not being rude. It’s just my understanding that they do not know what to make of your smile. They do not understand your intent or it could be that they simply don’t smile often. They are lovely people if you get to know them .

Do not pack in too much for the day. Every location has lots to see, so a lot of walking. Shortlist your choices and finish the day at around 5 or 6 p.m . This way you are ready for the next day.

China will surprise you in ways you weren’t expecting.  This middle kingdom is indeed a sleeping giant as Napoleon Bonaparte rightly put. The country has had a remarkable growth economically. They have adapted to change .The transportation systems are super-efficient , the development in tourism is surprising and all these changes while keeping its traditions and culture alive.

China fascinates.

Hi Leo,

Apologies for my delayed response. My family and I greatly appreciated the beautiful gifts that you had sent us. We also greatly enjoyed our experience with the Tibet tour. My feedback is overwhelmingly positive! Thank you also for accommodating my family's request for the additional hotel room. It was decided on the trip that it would have been best to have three rooms instead of two. The hotel in Lhasa had wonderful accommodations as did the hotel in Shigatse, though our first night in Shigatse had rooms that seemed a bit outdated. However, it was still very comfortable. I also appreciated the experience at the Rongbuk Guest House because it was such a unique experience. Most of us could not sleep at the Rongbuk Guest House but that was due to the high elevation and not because of the room. 

The tour guide and driver kept us on schedule and our tour guide shared very good information. We all felt it was very thorough and informative beyond what we could have learned on our own. He was also transparent with adjusting the schedule and I thought that was a very good adjustment. It was probably better to do the longer sightseeing drive (11 hours) going back to Lhasa from Shigatse rather than what was originally on the itinerary. By then, we had been more acclimated with the altitude so we were less tired and able to enjoy the sights more. I think that was a very good change. He was also great with helping us navigate through all the monasteries and palaces, even with the large number of other tour groups.

My mother did have some feedback regarding some of the bathrooms along the way from Shigatse to Lhasa as well as the bathroom at the Rongbuk Guest House. However, I did share with her that we were informed in advance about the more rugged conditions. She wanted me to share this with you, but everyone else in my group had no issue with the bathrooms as we understand that there are certain areas in Tibet that are far less developed. 

Thank you again for your hospitality. I have also shared my positive feedback with my Uncle Stephen who will be in China with your company later this month. I do plan to return to China and possibly visit a different area in the future and will reach out to your company when the time comes.

Hi Leo,

We are home safe and sound and wanted to let you know I submitted the review. Thank you again for the enjoyable marvelous trip. I cannot tell you enough how much we have enjoyed working with you and your company to make our trip such a success. I wish you great success and happiness in the future. We loved everything about our trip. You planned such fun sites for us, delicious food, and lots of surprises.

Thank you is not enough words to express our gratitude.

With Regards and appreciation,

Hello Mr Li

we really enjoyed our tour in China. Hotels in Beijing New World Bejiing Hotel, Sofitel in Xi'an, Sofitel in Chengdu and Grand Meridien in Shanghai were super (meet our expectations).

As for the train it has change a lot in 20 years and you were right it was alright and efficient

Our guides were Sally in Bejiing, Iris in Pingyao,Crystal in Xi'an, Kevin in Chengdu and Caroline in Shanghai. The four first one asked us to complete a form for evaluation of their services we gave them back the form with our comments, we really like them and what we saw

We liked the visit of the hutongs in Beijing, the forbidden city, the summer palace, the temple of Heaven, the great wall and the Ming tombs. Crystal in Xi'an took us on a place between the bell tower and the drum tower it was really a good spot for pictures; when we went to The Terra cotta museum it was raining heavily but she help us find good shoes cover

Chengdu also meet our expectations, the Panda research base, the Jilin street,etc

As we told Iris in Pingyao the bathroom in the hotel was dirty and the food were not good but Iris and the driver were very nice. We liked Pingyao

As for Shanghai heavy rain and smog made it impossible to visit as planned, we were told that Yu garden was under renovation.

We would be pleased to recommend China Discovery

Best regards

Hi Leo

Thank you so very much for an outstanding your the guides we had were all exceptional. Our gifts were lovely thank you. Yes we want to leave a review can you tell me where on your website you do this? And also if you can convey to all the tour guides how wonderful the all were and so very kind.

Thanks Leo it was truly the best time of our lives.

Hi Leo

We are now safely home in Canberra after our Cruise from Shanghai to Sydney. Thank you for your help in organising this tour and for your ongoing assistance and communication during the tour. It was much appreciated.

We enjoyed our time in China but did find some of the places hard going. We did not realise that it was the School holidays which made places of interest so very crowded. We did however book to coincide with the cruise so that was our problem and could not be helped.

I have provided feedback on each stage of the tour as per your request as follows;

Beijing

Our Guide Linda was excellent. She was very attentive and caring and had a lovely personality. Nothing was too much trouble. She was very professional and knowledgeable and took great care of us, even walking us to our seats on board the train, we were very happy with her.

Our Driver Mr Tang was a very good driver and a very cheerful man. He made sure we were comfortable and went out of his way to be helpful.

We tipped them both extra for their great service and friendship.

The accommodation at Sunworld Beijing was sub-standard. The location was good but as you know we were not happy with worn/stained condition of the room or the uncomfortable bed.

The attractions we liked the best were;

• The great wall – (It was awesome being up there on the wall but at Mutianyu I found that it was a long hard walk just up to the cable car in the heat and the queues were horrendous for the cable car coming back down)
• The Summer Palace
• The Hutongs
• The Kung Fu Show

Xian

Our guide Vivian was very knowledgeable but softly spoken we had trouble hearing her when travelling in the vehicle. She was helpful and friendly and did not leave until we were safely though security at the airport.

The Driver Mr Leo was a good driver and his vehicle was clean and comfortable.

The accommodation at Courtyard by Marriott was excellent, very clean and comfortable and had a great buffet breakfast.

The attractions we liked the best were;

• The Terracotta Warriors and Horses
• The Muslim Quarter &
• Da Cien Temple

Guilin/Yangshuo/Longsheng

Our guide Daniel was very knowledgeable and very attentive, making sure we took advantage of every sight and photo opportunity. He was most insistent that we see the light show in Yangshuo and we were grateful and thankful that we did, it was certainly most spectacular. Daniel also made sure that we saw the Longji Terraces at sunrise and met us at 6:30 am to walk us up to the top of Pingan Village. He went above and beyond our expectations.

Our Driver Mr Zhu Ge was an excellent driver and was very helpful and flexible. He carried our overnight bag up to our Hotel in Ping An, which we did not expect him to do.

We tipped both Daniel and the driver extra for the extra effort they put in to make our time in this area interesting and enjoyable.

The accommodation at Guilin Park Hotel was terrible. The rooms were not Non Smoking, it was old and dated and all rooms they offered us smelled strongly of cigarette smoke. The bed was also rock hard and uncomfortable. We were thankful that we were there for only one night. We did not have time to look around outside the hotel as we arrived so late at night.

The accommodation at New West Street Hotel was reasonably comfortable but we had an odd experience at breakfast in the morning. When we went to the large dining room where everyone was having breakfast but were turned away and ushered to a separate room where they had only a very limited western menu of eggs, bacon, fruit and pastries. We were the only two guests in the room. We felt segregated, it was very odd.

We enjoyed our accommodation at the InYue Hotel in Ping An. It was a unique experience for us being in the middle of the village. The room and bed was comfortable but the food was a little strange for us. I had an upset stomach the following day but nothing too serious.

The attractions we liked the best were;

• The Li River Cruise
• Walking around Yangshuo Town
• Impression Liu Sanjie
• Reed Flute Cave
• Everything about the Longji Terraces – it was hard going with the uphill walking in the heat but we are so glad we did it.

Shanghai

Our guide Frank was most helpful as an interpreter for the Tailor Mr Ding and was there for the fitting and delivery. By the time we got to Shanghi we just wanted to shop and had had enough of history and museums. I conveyed this to Frank and he was flexible and still took us to all the planned sights but allowed us time alone at the museums to just see what we wanted to see. He then waited while we spent a couple of hours shopping in Nanjing Road. We were happy with his flexibility but he did not come across as professional as the other guides.

The driver Mr Shao was a good driver and his vehicle was comfortable and clean.

We gave Frank extra in his tip for his assistance with Mr Ding.

We were really happy with Reg’s jacket and we highly recommend Mr Ding. Thank you so much for organising it for us.

The attractions we liked the best were;

• Yu Garden and Yuyuan Bazaar
• Shanghai World Financial Centre Tower
• Nanjing Road
• Shanghai Planning and Exhibition Centre
• Jade Buddha Temple

All the lunches provided in all of the tours were very good and most enjoyable. The only problem we had with food was the dinner at the InYue hotel as I mentioned before. The family was lovely and did their best.

I hope this review helps. We enjoyed our time in China despite the crowds and heat but were both exhausted from such a packed itinerary.

We did boost the Chinese economy with our purchases and left with our luggage much heavier.

Thank you once again Leo.

Kind regards

Hi Leo,

Just to say that all went well in Tibet,Lily did a fantastic job and also my guide in Lhasa,that Potala palace is unreal, and the other sights also unique, was a real rewarding trip one I've been looking forward to for a long time. I'm over the moon for having had the chance to visit there. Thanks to you,and your company. All the best, was a pleasure.

Regards

Hi Leo,

We're back home. 

We would like to thank you and all the guides and drivers for the great service and care afforded to us during our 2 weeks stay in your beautiful country. With so much left for us to discover, there will definitely be more visits in the future.

Zoe was a great guide and like Ruby before her, she was very knowledgable on anything related to our tours in Xian. She made sure everthing went smoothly. In fact during our visit to Mt Hua, she was checking on the mountain guide (Henry) to ensure that we were both doing well.

Jo Jo doing the Beijing tour was very well prepared on the subjects and did well in handling a large group. We were very impressed with the great wall and in fact we thought that 2 hours allocated to this awesome site were too little.

Thanks again for the perfect organisation. Cynthia will definitely leave a positive review on trip advisor, and I will recommend your services to colleagues and friends planning a China visit.

Well done to you!

Regards

Dear Mr.Leo Li'

Please find below some comments regarding our experience in Tibet-Nepal.

All the guides, in Chengdu (Mrs. Gila), Tibet (Mr. Po Ta) and Nepal (Mr. Bishnu) provided us an excellent service, they were very informative, forbearing and helpful about every matter along our stay (check in/out in the hotels, tickets for the attractions, rides, queues etc etc), also the drivers were very skilled and safe in driving us to the many visited spots.

The vehicles were in good condition of maintenance, we always found bottles of water on board for us (provided by the assistant driver)

The daily organization of the visits in China and Nepal was mostly done in the perfect timing, respecting the schedule (some more consideration about Nepal will follow)

The included lunches and dinners, were very welcome. 

Almost all the hotels were very good, high standard, comfortable, clean and the their staff very helpful.  

The only exception was the hotel in Gyirong, of very low level (one star ? maybe less) and very old. 

Furthermore the morning after we slept there, we found out that there was no water in the bathroom and it was really a bad situation for us and at our request to do something the staff was not helpful at all. 

It seems that the missing of water in that hotel (maybe in all the city) is recurrent , but in this case would have been very simply to provide some spare water in the rooms.

A note about the "road" on the border from China to Nepal.... from the information provided in the program/itinerary we supposed to find a bumpy and muddy one ....but in reality it was much worst than that, the journey by car was stressful, very long and extremely dangerous (no guardrail at all and the overhanging on the river in the valley !!!).

The drivers were very skilled and they drove in the safest possible way, but at end for the time needed to get in Kathmandu would have been better to return from the Everest Camp Base to Lhasa and take a flight.

The itinerary in Nepal should be balanced a bit better considering the huge time needed for the transfers, of course not because of the schedules provided by the guide or the driver but because of the incredible traffic jam and the very poor conditions of the "roads", for example both Patan and Bhaktapur visits would have been deserved more time. 

Same consideration for the time needed to go and to come back to Nagarkot, where, beyond that, the view is also too variable because of the weather. 

In Chitwan park, the possible options to chose from, should have been provided (and booked) before (as we requested many times by email)  because not everyone can enjoy what scheduled by default.

Some of the group didn't like to ride the elephant because this causes him/her pain, and for the same very poor conditions in which the animals were kept (chained and with no space), they didn't like the "elephant breeding center".

To conclude, the suggestion is to include in the itinerary/program all the possible information and details (even the sensitive ones, as  the mentioned bad treatment of the animals), so that the clients have the right to decide what to see and what to skip.

Dear Mr.Leo Li, hope what above gives you a better feedback about the great adventure we lived thanks to your agency services.  

And please share our special thank also to the representatives of the local nepalese agency, they were very welcoming and helpful.

We'll be happy to be back to you, with further details in future if requested

Best regards

Good morning Mr.Leo Li,

Thanks for your email, we're at home safe and very happy for the great experience we lived.

It was our pleasure to meet you in Chengdu, we appreciated very much your gifts and all the efforts you made to make our travel memorable.

It was already our intention to share with you our thoughts about the travel, as soon we have some time we'll let you have a more detailed feedback about the whole tour.

Have a nice day

Hi Leo,

Thanks for your email. We had a great trip in China and thank you for meeting us in Chengdu!

Of the various guides, the best guides were Laura (in Shanghai) and Smiley (in Guilin / Yangshuo). They both chose excellent restaurant, great ambiance, very good selection of food and also gave us choices. They both made us fell very much at home. I would highly recommend them. Smiley’s English was excellent and very much fun to talk to. She even made an effort to take us to clean rest rooms as she knew my wife was very particular on rest room cleanliness.

Eban in Chengdu was good as well, but it was a short meeting with him. 

Willy was fine in Xian and was helpful during the trip. His English was excellent! One area of opportunity for him is to become a better listener. He has great communication but sometimes does t listen. 

Lily in Beijing is an excellent person, but her English can be improved. Many a times we could not understand what she was saying and we had to keep asking her to repeat. She was very good with the kids. She gave us local Beijing candies (very kind of her) and the kids loved it. Also on the food in Beijing, I wish it was as good as other places. The quality of food was not great compared to the food we got in Shanghai/ Guilin/Chengdu which was great! Also the restaurant ambience was not very good. But lily was great. May be this is an area for improvement for Beijing section. Better selection of restaurants. 

Overall an excellent and memorable trip

Also thank you for taking the time to meet with us and for the great time we had chatting with you! Also thanks for the gift. 

Thanks

Dear Leo,

In the meantime we have arrived back home in Germany.

The river cruise was a really good experience.

As I told you earlier on we were really happy with our guide Jay in Chongqing as well as with Nancy in Yitchang.

One has to say that your entire organisation worked very well in our case.

Speaking about the staff on board the boat, they were just great. Friendly and always helpful.

Because of the booking situation on board we were offered an upgrade to the explorer suite, and we took it. Awesome. The food was really nice, no problems at all for us westerners, whatsoever.

Overall this was a great experience which we recommend without any restrictions.

Thanks again.

Best Regards

Hi Leo,

Here is my review. I will likely post it on TripAdvisor to help other tourists out so they know what to expect. Let me know if you would like anything edited (such as the Wire Transfer vs PayPal part) if you find it harmful for your business. My intent is to describe my experience to other Western travellers that may have similar fears about booking a trip like this.

Thanks for all you did. The trip was both flawless and amazing.

I took a 2 week personalized vacation with Chendu Bamboo tours through China. I wanted to put some thoughts down to the TripAdvisor community as I had a lot of reservations going into it, and I hope my review will help clarify some of the items that I was uncertain of.

First, while I researching, I determined that I wanted to do a custom tour as none of the packages that I saw had everything I wanted. The towns I chose were Beijing, Xian, Dunhuang, Chengdu, Guilin and Shanghai. I submitted inquiries to multiple companies and ChinaDiscovery came back to me promptly with a very comprehensive tour that was detailed and in line with my expectations. The scary part of communicating my requirements was that it had to be done mostly through email, although the company was also quick to Skype call me to handle some of my more advanced questions.

If you decide to book a tour like this (and you are firmly in the middle class) this is and expensive endeavor. For you to pull the trigger, you can expect 4 big expenditures. First, you will need to put 1/3 balance down on the trip to reserve the reservation. That 1/3 was placed through PayPay, and the Paypal account that I placed it to did not look anything like the business I was dealing with. It was scary sending the money to such a strange account, but in the end, the transaction was fine. One point of confusion...you may research and book through ChinaDiscovery, however the invoice then turned into (in my case) Chengdu Bamboo International Tours Co, Ltd. I don't fully understand the relationship, but it was legitimate, although a little confusing of why the website said one thing, but the actual contractor that was doing the work said another. Another scary thing came later when I was asked to pay the remaining 2/3 balance, I was requested to do so via wire transfer. Again, a scary endeavor which I felt I would have no protection if the company was not legitimate. So fearing loss of funds, I reached a win/win compromise to use the Paypal account again (with Visa) to submit the funds. Once I received confirmation, the company executed the hotel, train and plane tickets flawlessly, communicating the reservations about 1 week later.

In short, my fears were unfounded.

You will also have to handle 3 other expenses. First, and not surprising are your international plane tickets, which I handled shortly after the deposit. But the 3rd and 4th were not known. As a US citizen, I needed to get Visas for myself and the family. A Chinese Visa costs about $160 per person, and to get it, you must carefully submit a form to the Chinese consulate in a designated region of the country. Because I delayed doing this, I needed to do expedited service. And because the form is brutal and requires you to send your passports to the Chinese consulate, I enlisted a visa expert (CIBT.com) in order to get in processed. Long story short, about $1K later, I received the last of the passports back from the consulate with about 2 days to spare. 

The other warning, since all the trips have drivers and tour guides that take you around, you are advised (not mandated) to give them tips. Unfortunately, there are no guidelines given or direction of how much to give. I spent time researching on the internet what were fair tips for always outstanding service. Now, 1 week after the trip, I still have no idea if I tipped fairly, generously or cheaply. But, calculate 2 weeks and 2 persons a day, you can calculate that it will cost you hundreds of dollars or thousands of Yuan.

Last warning to give about going to China...you'll need cash. Only some (not most) banks and stores are hooked up to the Visa and Mastercard system. This means, (1) you may need to search for the right bank to get cash in China in order to withdraw funds and (2) the vendors that you'll see only will take your cash. This caused some stress the first couple of days as I had trouble finding a bank that worked.

Now...for the good stuff. Once prepping for all that, the trip that was designed by Chinadiscovery (or Chengdu Bamboo Tour Company) was pretty spectacular. The guides were beyond great, and did a truly amazing, amazing job of being everything you would want as a tour guide. Prompt, flexible, funny, sometimes motherly, sometimes brotherly, open, honest, kind, insightful, human, knowledgeable and ...simply great. Each one in each town was different...but each of them took such pride in their cities/country that you are given a great gift.

The hotels were as good as it gets as well. Breakfast was included in all hotels...some food good, and other food great. The hotels were within walking distance to all the good things. For Beijing, 15 min walk to the Forbidden City. Shanghai? 5 minute walk to the River and 20 minutes to The Bund. I could go on, but the accommodations were really good. Combine that with flawless execution of all travel arrangements, it made for a stress free trip. The lunches were all Chinese and again, and food ranged from good to great. They always gave our family of 3 too much food for one sitting, and I felt embarrassed about leaving so much food behind.

In Beijing, our guide took us through Tienanmen Square, Forbidden City, Summer Palace, The Great Wall, and Temple of Heaven (among other places). When she took us to the train station, she insisted in walking us down to our seat on the High Speed railway car. When I asked if that is the company policy, she said 'that MY policy' (to ensure her clients get to where they are going). Amazing. We reached Xian for a day and Zoe gave us great insights of the growing city, the crowds, and life in China. Then onto Dunjuang, where Lily and her driver rearranged the schedule to ensure that we saw all the Silk Road sites. The schedule changes included her and the driver starting at 6AM (after we were picked up at the airport 10PM the night before) in order to ensure we saw everything. Then in Chengdu, Cherry helped so patiently with my wife's shopping at the Panda sanctuary. And in Guilin, Kennedy was awesome describing the land and China's ethnic minority. The insight for the rice fields and rivers were wonderful. We ate probably the best Chinese food of the trip in the fresh country air. Then finally, to Shanghai, where Zack was truly a joy, and one of the friendliest and enjoyable people I have ever met in my life. The city of Shanghai was amazing, and my son enjoyed it tremendously.

Two things I would do over if I could. First, I would plan to take it in June, not late July. We had to compete with the rest of China, which has summer break at this time. As a result, the places were packed with China tourist going to the same sites, which made the crowds a bit much. Second, I would have also altered the trip to spend 1 less day in Guilin and 1 more day in Shanghai. Other than that, I would not have changed anything.

Our Customized China Trip

Good afternoon Leo, 

We have indeed come back home from our 3 weeks in China. I think we filled out a form for Amy our guide in Wudangshan, But all in all the tour was great. Thanks again for being so patient with us, especially when we were afraid of missing the plane from Xi'an to Wudangshan. Amy our guide was also very accommodating and arranged of kinds of special treats for us, for which we were deeply appreciative. her English is great and her understanding of Taoism and Taichi is very good so we were able to ask her many questions.  Let me know if you need more specific feedback. 

Once again, our thanks for your help,

Hi Leo,

In summary, I thank you (and your guides and drivers), for creating what would have been virtually an impossible trip for me to take by myself, into one of the highlights of many trips I have made on 7 continents. (Inc Antarctica).

 The Li River and Three Gorges cruises, plus the Longji Rice Terraces and Panda Research Centre, will long live in my memory – as will the amazing modernisation China is making - as observed in Chengdu, Chongqing, Shanghai and the high-speed rail network.

Once again – thank you so much for a fabulous vacation. Here are the replies to your questions.

1. Is your travel consultant of our company fast enough to answer your E-mail and patient enough to answer your questions?

Communications with travel agent (Leo Li) were extremely good.  His responses to my questions were always rapid - usually giving alternatives to help me choose my best options.  Don’t recall any time when he indicated my requests could not be met.

2. How do you comment your tour arrangements?

Tour arrangements went exactly as hoped for.  Guides and drivers (with one exception - which was probably my fault – for which the guide and Leo were quick to resolve) were always where they were meant to be, at the right time.  Train, boat, restaurant and hotel arrangements were smoothly handled by the guides leaving me little reason to worry about "negotiating” any issues.  Guides had extremely good English and were willing and able to convey their excellent knowledge of what I was seeing – and handle my questions.  I always felt safe and secure in their care!

 3. Are you willing to recommend our service to your people who also have an interest to visit China?

Would be pleased to “highly recommend” your services to any English-speakers wanting to explore “the real China” without concerns as to language or cultural issues.

 4. Your general opinion on us?

Very professional travel service, fully catering for the needs of English-speaking tourists wanting to explore China in a more personal way than in a large package group.

 5. Do you have any suggestions on improving our services?

While probably not something you can do much about, the only area which was at a slightly lower standard, was on the Yangtze Cruise ship, where we essentially were part of  a "large package tour", with an overworked guide who couldn’t effectively manage the number of westerns under her control.

 6. Can we use your comments of our service, the photos or other images that you took on the tour for our websites, brochures, marketing and publicity? If yes, could you please send us some of your photos by E-mail?

Happy for you to use my comments. However, my photos were pretty “cheap and nasty” for my personal recall only and not sure they offer anything the professional photos of places on my itinerary would not show better.

 7. We sometimes have requests from potential customers who would like to inquire from or our ex-customers. May they contact you for advices?   _______

Would be happy to provide such references to potential clients.  Could you please provide them my alternate email address of: gaa@actrix.co.nz

Hi Leo,

We are finally home and settled in to our everyday life in Western Australia.

Feedback is very easy!

We arrived in Beijing to the smiling face of Kai who is a genuine and experienced guide who spent his time with us sharing all his knowledge. He was certainly in control at the restaurants etc and we all loved him. 

We had Sophie in Xian and she too was fantastic. It was great to be taken to the airport and basically put on the plane. 

Shanghai was great too and Bailey was so good at her job. 

The only thing we had that upset us was the haggling over drinks considering the sum we had paid so we  really hope you take this on board with your company. At least one drink of choice should be included with meals!  It was bad luck about the boy choking on some string and we received our money back from you but I feel the restaurant needed to refund the guide as well. 

Hong King saw us with Bec and she was also a very experienced guide. 

Overall we enjoyed our trip and we were glad to have English speaking guides to help us. Having our own driver was also a winner. 

One thing I would like feedback on from you is about tipping! What are the protocols in China for tipping? 

Mist if all we loved seeing all the China highlights.

Kind regards

Dear Leo Li,

I just got back from my trip to China. It was a very nice trip. The Yangtze trip was a highlight!! Too bad we could not go thru the locks with.

Hi, Leo

Thank you for all the arrangements. We all had a great time visiting and learning about China. Eric, David and Waldner were excellent tour guides. We will certainly recommend you to our friends who are planning on trips to China in the coming years.Thanks again for everything.

Hi Leo,

Firstly, thanks a lot for arranging this trip for us and it was a wonderful vacation. If there is anywhere online where I can give a formal recommendation to China Tours (e.g. Trip Advisor etc) then let me know. Will be very happy to give a positive recommendation.

My wife's father has written a personal mail to you and your team giving his feedback and thanks. I am forwarding that to you.

“ Greetings Mr. Leo/ China Discovery tours

My wife Uma and myself have had the pleasure of a weeks trip to China ( 23rd. March to 29th March 2019) with our Son-in-Law Mr. Aneesh and Daughter Amulya.

We had a wonderful time and take this opportunity to personally thank you for organizing very professionally our small private group tour .

Apart from the very nice places of visit I wanted to bring to your attention, the very smooth and professional way all items of the tour were organized.

Special mention of some of the points are:

The tour guides, Mr. Steven at Beijing, Ms. Kelly at Xian and Ms. Shannon at Chengdu, were very smart, English speaking, and full of knowledge and very very punctual and extremely courteous.

One special point to be mentioned is that when we arrived at each place, as strangers, we were welcomed so very warmly at airport/train stations that we did not feel lost or apprehensive in the new place. This is very important to make the tourist feel at home and comfortable.

Also the accommodations reserved were good and comfortable hotels. The transports made available cars and trains also were very comfortable, the cars with very courteous drivers.

I also take this opportunity to appreciate you for being so very punctual and meticulous in replying and arranging all items as requested. I have gone through all the mails exchanged between you and Aneesh and do appreciate all your patience in covering all doubts by us and clarifications.

Once more Thank you very much and appreciate very much the good work and do keep it going.“

Best Regards and wishes from all of us,

Dear Leo Li,

1. Is your travel consultant of our company fast enough to answer your E-mail and patient enough to answer your questions?

Yes, I thought you are very good, fast and clear to answer my questions

2. How do you comment your tour arrangements?

I think you got the message what we want to do and see and everything worked very smooth

3. Are you willing to recommend our service to your people who also have an interest to visit China?

Yes, for sure

4. Your general opinion on us?

I think it’s a very serious company, the guides were really and they knew what they were doing.

5. Do you have any suggestions on improving our services?

No

6. Can we use your comments of our service, the photos or other images that you took on the tour for our websites, brochures, marketing and publicity?

If yes, could you please send us some of your photos by E-mail? Yes, you can

7.  We sometimes have requests from potential customers who would like to inquire from or our ex-customers.

May they contact you for advices? __Yes, through my email_____

Thank you! It was a great trip.

Travel Amazing Guilin

Dear Mr. Li,

We just got back from the trip which was great.

We have also given to your guides our appreciations however I would like to tell you more about my feeling.

The first guide Jack was very good in terms of knowledge of the places we visited, good command of English, his dedication to us as well as his flexibility. Drive was good and discreet and helpful.

The second guide Ms. Alice was also very good the drive was good but best would be not smoking.. though I know it is quite difficult to find.

The last guide was a young one and not as experienced as the first 2 but still quite good.

All in all we think the places you suggested were so good, hotel, the choices of guides and drivers, thank you again and be sure that I will recommend to our friends especially when they saw the pictures of the places we went.

Thank you and best regards

Dear Leo,

I just completed my TripAdvisor review for your company. But I also wanted to thank you profusely for the exceptional experience that you, your guides and drivers (especially Candy) provided me and my sister-in-law. I have just returned home, but I wanted to make sure you knew how much I appreciated everything that you and your team did for us. When I return to China - and I definitely will next year - you can count on another tour for me and my daughter and granddaughter with whom I will travel next time.

Happy Chinese New Year. I wish you good fortune and much happiness in this coming year.

Thank you again.

Hi Leo,

We are back in Western Australia, and have settled in to our normal routine.

Thank you for your wonderful planning of our recent China Tour,all went well thanks to your planning skills.

The trip up the Yangtze River was fantastic, with so much to see.

Shanghai and Chengdu with so many people was exciting.

The Panda Breeding Research base at Chengdu was the Highlight of our tour.

The Hotels you selected were Top Quality, and we lacked nothing.

We will recommend Chengdu Bamboo International Tours Co. Ltd to All our Friends and anyone planning to tour China.

The THREE GORGES DAM SHIP LIFT, would you be able to locate/obtain a DVD showing this, as I have several friends interested in this.

Please keep in touch

Regards.

Hi Leo & Kevin,

I would like to thank Leo and Kevin for their excellent support for the pandas program.  We had an amazing day with Kevin. He picked us up, and friendly talked us more about the stories of pandas. He spent all day with us.  Kevin was one of the best private tour guides with passion and detail oriented.

Because of your excellent support program, Kevin and Leo took care of all our queries at Dujiangyan. This was a really great experience.  It was really fun to volunteer and get right next to the pandas.  I was telling all of my friends and co-workers that we need to all come back and do the tour with Kevin or Leo again.

Thank you again,

Good sunday Leo,

We are now back into our environment, meeting our family and friends who want to know about our trip to China. Having spent most of my time on my own in Beijing and Shanghai, it was good to count on knowledgeable guides during the last week.

We thank you very much for the organization of our diversified, magnificent and learning passage into very special places, accompanied by competent guides. We appreciated each of them. And your kind attention with this particular, unexpected gift and word in Chengdu touched our hearts.

Gratefully yours,  

Hi Leo,

We have just arrived back to Mexico from our Asia trip. Just wanted to thank you for the kind services your people did to us; we got back home SURPRISED not only for all the places we visited but for the hospitality and professional service your company provided us.

Tour guides, vehicles, places... all of it was simply superb.  Please make no mistake that we will recommend your services to our contacts, and from today we are planning our next visit to Asia and look forward to ask again for your services.

Definitely our trip to Asia will always be best remembered... and mostly thanks to CHINA DISCOVERY services.

Best regards,

Hi Leo,

It was great Leo! I couldn’t be happier. Thanks so much for pulling it together so well! 

Hi Leo,

Just want to say that you have a very beautiful country and that we had a great family bonding. We are home now but we are still thinking about your place and the precious memories we had there. Thanks so much for the awesome tour. We will definitely recommend you guys to family and friends. 

Much Love, 

Your Philippine Friends,

Hi Leo,

We have no complaint about Anna. She worked hard to please us. She also cared about our safety by recommending us to give her the taxi money for our trip back to Shiyan. Her plan was to make sure the taxi drove us safely to our hotel in Shiyan then she would WeChat the money to the taxi driver. We followed her recommendation.

We appreciate her concern.

She explained she had my husband’s name for the Taichi hotel reservation. Unfortunately the booking was under my name. So that was why she couldn’t get hold of us sooner.

Also she didn’t have my WeChat phone number.

End well everything is well, Americans say.

Thank you and till next journey, Leo! My husband is very pleased with the first leg of our journey.

We are heading now for Xiamen for the second leg.

Hello Mr. Li,

I am David Pickhardt’s wife and am sending feedback for our recent trip to China. We had the best time, and could not have asked for a better experience. All of our guides were prompt in meeting us at airports, trains and hotels. They were very polite, knowledgeable, had an excellent command of English , and answered any and questions we may have had. The sights that were selected were beautiful, especially the Yu gardens and surprisingly to me, the Urban Development. The pandas, the Great Wall, and especially the Terra Cotta Warriors were of course highlights, and will not be forgotten. The plans you made went according to plan in every way. We will strongly recommend your company to anyone who is planning a visit to China; our experience was perfect in every way.

Thank you again for planning our wonderful trip!!

Most sincerely,

Hi Leo,

Thanks for your email.

We are very satisfied with your attentive service and we are glad to give to you our feedback.

Despite bad weather and some rains, the cruise has been fully satisfactory.

Thanks.

Best Regards.

Hello Leo,

We are glad to tell you that our trip was a success. For the tour we owe it to you and your team's hard work and great services.

When I first called you up to make inquiry for the tour, we were not sure it would work out well. It was your promptness in responses and attentiveness towards details and patience, willingness to tailor the tour as much as possible to our needs that built our confidence.  Your coordination with the local agencies were excellent. The local guides and drivers did a great job and made our tour more enjoyable.

Out trip to Xian was brief but we were certainly impressed by the Warrior Site and the dishes at lunch in the International Hot Springs Hotel.  ChongQin was a beauty and the guide was very thoughtful and remained calm when the driver did not want to go by the scheduled route and argued with her.  By the guide suggestion, for the first time we had a meal of Chinese fast food. The food was like home made and comforting and the price was very reasonable.  The cruise was enjoyable and the crew was amazing. It seems all the staff on board were great multitaskers, each one was doing several jobs, for example a cook was also a performer, etc. Oscar was the interpreter on the boat and he was our group guide and he seemed working day and night and never left any details out, he even made sure that we were to be picked up at next stop off the boat. The scenery along Li River was so beautiful. The guide told us stories about the mountains and places, which made it more interesting. The hotel we stayed at Yangshuo seemed to have more room to improve their services, from the front desk to the restaurants. We are so glad we scheduled the terraced rice fields in our tour, it is certainly worth the trip up there, it is one of the highlights of our tour.

By the way, your website is excellent, especially the self-introduction of staff part. It is good to know a little about the person before calling him or her up for services.

We certainly appreciate your help and great services and will recommend you and your team to anyone who is interested in tours in China.

Thank you again and wish you the best.

Hi Leo,

The ship and cabin was very good and clean.  the Service on Board was perfect. Regards.

Hi Leo,

Thank you for the great gift - the wife really loved the panda items and it was a very thoughtful gift.  I also meant to tell you that you've done a great job planning out our trips - we have had a wonderful time exploring China.

Thanks and kind regards,

Brad

Dear Leo,

Everything was perfect.

Ruby is really a very nice, friendly and competent guide.

She was taking care of us all day long and we could ask her many questions and she was always able to answer.

The driver was a good driver.

The experience in the Panda Base was great. And the time we had to watch all pandas of the base was very good.

We have only missed to see the baby pandas. This was a pity that it is not possible to do this in this base.

Thanks for the very good organization.

Best regards,

Hi Leo,

It was a good trip and worth to see. I would recommend doing both the cruise and the stairs if you have time and the energy so that you can appreciate the giant Buddha completely

Jessica

Dear Leo,

We had a really wonderful time. I have written a testimonial below. You may use it on the website if you wish.

We had a really wonderful family holiday on the China Discovery Ancient Treasures of China 9 day Tour. We loved every minute of it and found the destinations fascinating. China Discovery arranged everything perfectly for us - locations to visit, hotels, travel, food. Our tour guides were incredibly helpful and friendly and our drivers drove us safely and competently around. All in all it was a perfect family holiday and I would highly recommend China Discovery. We loved China and the mix of big cities, famous sights and more rural China and the smaller towns and villages.

Otherwise, my only one feedback point is that although the guides were all wonderful sometimes they only spoke to one person in the party all the time. It would be good if they spoke to everybody present in the group.

Best regards

Sarah

Hello Leo,

Our guides were both nice and patient. We had a great time.

I will put first in my list your company (I used other, also good) and told my friends. Companies that cater foreigners are very expensive, we know the real price, but cannot do anything at all....  if the service is good and easy the arrangements we are happy. Thanks.

Alicia

Hello Leo,

Firstly I would like to thank you for your work in organizing our tour. It was fabulous!

Very important to us was our guide. Lobsang was absolutely fantastic. He was very knowledgeable, passionate about his country and tentative to the group needs. We had a fabulous experience because Lobsang was so good. We are feeling very grateful for him sharing his piece of the world with us.

I will be sure to recommend your company and Lobsang with others who are interested in visiting Tibet.

Thank you,

Lisa

Hi Leo,

Thank you for your message.  We just returned back home yesterday from Shanghai, after 20 hours of travelling.

The Cruise was really enjoyable, amazing scenery and excellent quality of program, staff and food! The room was really good as well.

The only thing that was bit hard was finding the ship in Chongqing :-) But we managed to find it, haha. And maybe the final day for the optional tour it was not really clear what to expect from this tour (maybe include some pictures?), so we ended up taking the standard tour.

Also really enjoyed the Fengdu Ghost Town optional tour. And maybe a bit longer sailing in the Wu Gorge would be great as well as this was really amazing scenery.

Thank you for booking the tour, will definitely recommend your company to others in the future!

Best Regards,

Luuk

Hi Leo,

Thank you for your message.  We just returned back home yesterday from Shanghai, after 20 hours of travelling.

The Cruise was really enjoyable, amazing scenery and excellent quality of program, staff and food! The room was really good as well.

The only thing that was bit hard was finding the ship in Chongqing :-) But we managed to find it, haha. And maybe the final day for the optional tour it was not really clear what to expect from this tour (maybe include some pictures?), so we ended up taking the standard tour.

Also really enjoyed the Fengdu Ghost Town optional tour. And maybe a bit longer sailing in the Wu Gorge would be great as well as this was really amazing scenery.

Thank you for booking the tour, will definitely recommend your company to others in the future!

Best Regards,

Luuk

Dear Leo Li, 

Clients arrived home safely and were thrilled with their tour and your Company.  They had so many wonderful things to say about the guides and the tours your Company provided. According to Mrs. Wallace, your guides were excellent; they were always on time for greeting my clients so that they were never  left unattended.  Everyone spoke excellent English and made the tours so interesting.  Thanks again for taking such good care of my clients, we will be sure to use your Company again in the near future and will let other Travel Agents know what a competent and exceptional Tour Operator for China.

Best regards,

Rose

Hi Leo,

Sorry for the late reply. I was quite busy at work after returning from my vacation.

My tour in China was quite good and enjoyable.   All the guides spoke good English and were quite knowledgeable in the different areas that we visited.  The drivers were on time and professional.  The transit between the 3 cities went quite smoothly with no issues.

The hotels were clean and located relatively close to the attractions.   The Peony hotel in Luoyang was quite nice, however, I found it to be a bit warm in the evening.  It seems it was not possible to adjust the temperature in the room; only adjust the fan speed.  Aside from this issue, everything else was fine.

Overall it was a nice and enjoyable trip!

Best Regards,

Michael

Hi Leo,

Guides were great.  Hotels were ok, but not as nice as the hotels we had during our first trip.  Itineraries were very good.  I was disappointed we couldn’t do the boat elevator at the damn, but I should have pushed more to confirm that aspect. 

Transportation was great also.  Guides were always there waiting for us and were always on time and flexible. Very knowledgeable and helpful. I found you and everyone very responsive.

Tammy

Good morning, Leo!

Thank you for asking about the tour.

Regarding the trip I can only say, that it was really great! We were only 9 English speaking people and we felt really taken care of. Especially Kathy was always very attentive and helpful.

So I recommended your company already to my friend Julia - I think she’s already contacted you...

Herzliche Grüße/ Kind regards

Martina

Hi Leo,

We are now back in Australia after an absolutely wonderful trip to China.

We can not thank you enough for you assistance, guidance, patience, knowledge and kindness in helping us to arrange our fabulous holiday.

We know we would not have had such a smooth and easy holiday had it not been for your hard work.

The fabulous itinerary went like clock work and there was someone to greet us at every port, which was very reassuring.

ALL the guides we had where absolutely fantastic with great English and a in-depth knowledge of the local area.

We learnt so much from them and as they where all so friendly, helpful and accommodating we had a great time with them as well.

The drivers where also great - very safe and helpful.

The cruise was terrific, the rooms spacious and comfortable, the food was great and we had an absolute ball with the friendly, helpful staff.

The accommodation was mostly fabulous and the food delicious.

As a result of all of the above we really did have a wonderful, wonderful time in China and we will all absolutely be recommending

Chengdu Bamboo International Tours Co., Ltd. – and of course you -  to all our friends and any one who wants the BEST trip to China.

So from the bottom of our hearts thank you, thank you and thank you again for making it all possible for us.

Warm regards

Sarah

Leo Li,

Absolutely. I also plan to write a review for the website.

1.    All hotels were excellent with the breakfasts exceptional

2.    The sights were very well planned hitting the highlights of each area

a.    Really appreciate the activities (typically 6-7 hours including lunch)

3.    Exceeded my expectations with the vehicle style and size

a.    Comfortable, roomy with working air conditioner

4.    All the drivers were excellent

5.    Flights were well arranged with only 1 being an early departure (0630 departure)

a.    Seemed like the guides wanted us to be at the airport 2.5-3.0 hrs before the flight.  This seemed a little early for our US standards

6.    Guides were excellent.  Danny in Guilin was the only one where the English was difficult to understand.  Very workable though.  Jerry in Lijiang was exceptional.

Overall, a wonderful and very memorable trip to your country.  I really would not add or change anything to the itinerary, guides, drivers, or locations.

I really appreciate your coordination on all of the issues.  No doubt you were very involved to make sure nothing was missed.

Thank you and would highly recommend China Discovery again (5+ stars)

David

Hi Leo,

Yes I have returned to Australia.

The tour was very good and well run. The car and driver was fine.

David was very professional and informative tour guide. Overall I happy with the tour to Longman Ghrottos and Shaolin temple.

Regards

Andrew

Leo,

Thanks for the follow up. I filled out the form Yiben gave me pretty completely with comments. There were all positive. Being able to fit in Emei Shan and Qingcheng Shan in our short travel time in Chengdu required some long days, but we were up for that and were pretty much able to keep to the schedule. Having a younger guide was great because for example he hiked up Qingcheng with my kids while my wife and I took the boat and the gondola. The Tianfu Sunshine hotel was in a great location because my daughter is a runner and in the morning she could run 3 blocks to the Jinjiang River and then had a nice trail to run on. It was not too far from the subway which we were able to take to the mall (the one with the panda on the side) where we had hotpot with a former student of my wife’s.  The food there was great and the breakfast hours started at 6am which gave us lots of time to prepare for the day in the morning.

The flexibility in the schedule worked out great. From Yiben’s recommendation we went to the show at Emei Shan rather than in Chengdu which fit in nicer with the schedule.

The only small issue is that the drivers became distracted sometimes. One driver left his cellphone in the car when we needed to return from Jinli Old Street so we waited for a while and then walked most of the way back until he caught up to us.  We had to wait over half an hour for another driver when we exited the Dujiangyan Irrigation system at another exit because the path to the temple at the top closed at 5pm.

The pictures from Chengdu are on my wife’s phone and she will be in China until early July. We have lots of pictures from the parks and mountains. I will ask her to send a couple which I can forward to you.

Howard

Hi Leo,

1. First I would like thank you personally and china discovery for the great job you have made by organize our tour.

2. I found China discovery as a very professional tourist agency. One of the point I was afraid from them was the pre-payment.  Now we can say china discovery is very reliable agency.

3. All we have agree about was done even some small points that were not written in the final confirmation like the Peking duck meal.

4. You Mr. Leo Li was wonderful. Very professional, full of patience to all our needs. Your answers were always very fast and full of information .thank you.

Guides:

Carol (Zhangjiajie)

She was great. Very professional, full of knowledge and she took care to all of our needs with full of patience. I really recommend continue working with her. I mean every word I wrote in the feedback form she ask me fill up.

I am sure that in my next visit to Zhangjiajie I will ask you that Carol will be our guide.

Winnie – Shanghai (last day, Jewish tour)

We spend short time with her, only less than 3 hours. But she made good Job, her English is very good and it very easy to understand her.

She is full of knowledge and we had nice tour with her.

I recommend her.

Hotels

I know some of them were my proposal and decision and what I tell you here is information that could help next clients you will have in the future.

Campanile Shanghai: good

Santo Domingo: good

I hope you will find my feedback as helpful information.

Once again, I would like thank you and China Discovery for the great job you have made for us. We really enjoyed our tour. We will be happy recommend you.

Thank you

Asher

Hi Leo,

Hope you’re well.

In summary, the river cruise was very good. The rooms were very nice, food was nice and the staff very friendly and welcoming.

There are a few minor development points that we have noted:

- the activities on board should be included (and the gym equipment should be better maintained);

- a meal upon embankment would have been very nice; and

- we were provided western food on the first night this should have been a choice prior to embankment, as we preferred a more traditional Chinese meal, which we requested for the second night.

Again, I would like to re-iterate that the tour was very good.

Thanks,

Steve

Dear Mr. Leo Li,

Just got back from our month long China vacation, everything went well, the Yangtze tour was great, you,  Mr. Leo Li, had been very responsive and instrumental in helping with our enquiries into booking the cruise or even helping with getting train tickets. Payment methods were convenient as well, really appreciate it.

The cruise itself was great: foods,  entertainments, and services were excellent. One complain I have would probably to include dinner or refreshments the first night of the journey,  since it was difficult to find a place to eat in a new city and with our luggage. The other complain would be the disembarkation moment, all 200 passengers trying to check out and get off the boat at the same time was very chaotic. I think it could be arranged better.

Finally, my husband and I truly happy that we’ve used your company for this part of our vacation. Thanks again for all you do.

Best Regards,

Ing

Dear Leo,

sorry for not replying earlier but sending emails did not work in China and we are just back in Europe.

We had a very good tour. Everything worked out fine. Our guide Ofelia was very good, very helpful, proactive and trying to make the best of our tour. The hotel Longsheng  InYue Hotel was good, clean and good food (a bit cold in the night as no heating). The couple of the hotel made everything possible accommodate us. Unfortunately it rained a little but not enough to keep us away from hiking. Very interesting. The Park hotel in Guilin was OK, best rooms were the renovated ones. The hotel in Guangzhou was OK but nothing remarkable. Guangzhou we liked very much. The tour through the national park with el scooter was good. So overall pleased with the trip.

Best regards

Peter

Thanks Leo,

All's well that ends well. We had a great time and were impressed with the rugged countryside and scenery. The China we saw was much better than is normally depicted here.

We had a big day getting there but were not the only ones. Our check in time was midnight so were pleased we did no have the morning extra tour option to go to.

Throughout the tour the tour guides were great and tried their best but by the time they did their speech in Mandarin the subject was usually passed by the time they got to English so we missed the point often.

I managed to make it to the top of The White Emperors Temple much to the surprise of most. Even had my own personal English speaking guide.

Generally everything went really well and the people were great.

The only thing I could suggest is that you supply a little more information on the optional excursions and the post cruise activities. We would have loved to have seen the Pandas but it was a miserable day when we departed so chose not to but if we had have known we may have pre booked this option.

I also feel that you need to adopt a code for the amount of physical energy required on excursions so that people our age can make a informed judgment. May I suggest that a 1 walking code indicate flat walking up to 1/2 Kilometre and/or some stairs, 2 walking code flat walking up to 1 kilometre and/or up to 50 stairs and 3 code suitable for those of reasonable fitness.

All in all we are very happy with everything and thank you and your team for your assistance.

All the best

Cec & Kati

Hi Leo,

1. Flights to Chongqing was on time, the tour guide picked us up and took us for embarkation

2. The Yangtze River Cruise was wonderful, the staffs in the cruise were very helpful, the attendants in the dining room remembered my issues with food allergies, every dining time (breakfast/lunch/dinner) they would either save me some food and/or show me dishes that I can avoid due to my onion and cinnamon allergies.We upgraded our cabin to the presidential cabin,my gift to my husband, whose health is failing and wanted him to be very comfortable.

3. the flight to yichang was on time, tour guide spotted us right away. Followed the itinerary as scheduled. She was very attentive to my food allergies and very informative

4. The last tour was the Sanyou cave. We opted not to see it, because we were very tired and exhausted, so opted for massage. She refunded us the cost of the cave tour (60 rmb pp). That was very nice of her.

5. Xian- tour guide was waiting for us in the airport. Went on the scheduled tour. I mentioned to her that we needed a wheelchair for my husband if we'll do a lot of walking. She secured it from the hotel. She pushed the wheelchair all the time. I wanted to relieve her but she insisted.

There was a slight issue on the hotel rooms. We had to change to non smoking room/floor. I have asthma, when I smelled the floor and room of smoke, I started coughing. I called the front desk to change our room in the morning, since my husband was already asleep. I wore my face masked all night.They did change our room the next day x2 as the first one (though they told me was a non smoking floor, soon as the elevator opened in 7th floor, I started coughing again, and a very strong fume of smoke was detected, so the bellboy was gracious enough to let us wait in the 7th floor ao he went to the front desk to change another floor/room. Finally, the 8th floor was a lot better. So when the guide showed up we were trying to change room and that delayed out start of the tour.  I think this would have been avoided if the front desk asked us if we wanted the non smoking room on check in.

The massage was relaxing. It was a nice alternate to the cave tour. According to the guide, the tour ends up in a tunnel and see the wonderful mountains and river. I mentioned to her that we had enough mountains and rivers while we cruised. in the train station, we waited while she got our train tickets. Soon as she got them, she gave them to us. She told us to go the gate for boarding, (the gate # was in the ticket), then she left. We had to asked/showed our tickets to  the train staffs to let us know was time is boarding, what floor we need to get the train etc,etc. Communication was a slightly an issue, but managed with gestures. The train staffs were very nice, we were in Q to get in the gate, when she came to us and told us to go ahead and enter the gate, we had to take the elevator to level 1 to take the train and told us to take #2 car. So we had time to load our luggage in the train. In the train, we tried to go to the dining car but they were closed and start again in 20 mins. Again, we had some communication issues, as the staff serving doesn't understand nor speak English. I was asking about the onion in the package to no understanding. Anyways, another person in the dining car came to rescue us and read us the ingredients. When we opened the pack, the individual seasoning were in separate envelops. That helped some, so I didn't add the package with onion/scallion. Overall experience was very good. I thought it was a nonstop bullet train but we stopped at least 6-7 times to drop off/pick up passengers. It was an adventure experience, since that was out first time to ride a bullet train.

Then came to train station in Beijing, we didn't know where to exit-north or south. we followed the crowd to the south terminal. Lots of folks offered to get a taxi but we told them we have someone meeting us and they were insistent. I think because we were tourist and they spot an easy target. We stopped and waited soon as we reached the south exit, they a guy comes and he says "wait", He left to get Richard, the guide, as he was also covering the north exit in case we went that way. So we walked out of the train station to the parking area, and that was a long walk, my husband was huffing and puffing. I wished he told us to wait outside the train station or a corner of the street while the driver fetched the van. Though my husband made it, I told Richard the my husband has lung and brain cancer and is unable to walk long distance as he get very short of breath. He helped us check in. I asked him if he can secure a wheelchair for all those walking tour the following days. Yes, he was able to secure a wheelchair for us from the hotel, just put deposit. He pushed the wheelchair. Yes, my husband made it to the great wall of China with difficulty. He walked the steps till we reached the big rock and up again to the see more of the wall.I thought he was going to pass out on me, but he tolerated all the activities that day.

I have a question: we paid for the gondola ride RT, I thought that was included in the package tour? Also, in the package, it didn't state that the gondola ride was not included and needs to be paid when we get there.I would appreciate an explanation.

Richard helped us a lot in checking in at the airport, and securing a wheelchair for my husband. That was a long walk. We are glad that the Air China staff provided it.

Richard had a good command of English, wonderful guide, very knowledgeable in Chinese history. We learned a lot from his information. The lunch with a family was a very good touch. We enjoyed that a lot, meeting the family and dining on the home cook food, so different from restaurants. The rickshaw ride around the Hutong village was fun too.

On day 7, I noticed now on the itinerary that there was an experience to the Tea Ceremony, We didn't experience that nor we went to one. Also, for lunch, he took us where the locals go so we experienced dining with the local people in that restaurant.

Over all, it was a very good experience for us, hotels were nice and accommodating and tour guides were very knowledgeable in history and seems to be passionate too about their country.

Thanks for setting up a wonderful tour. It was very memorable and one to cherish. My husband checked it off his bucket list!

Again, thank you.

Aireen

Hi Leo Li,

Our trip to China was successful. Your representatives were waiting for us on all arrivals and pickups.  The guides were knowledgeable and adaptable to our needs.  Both Li & Timo were exceptional.  We had very bad weather in Zhangjaijei but Li put a beautiful smile on her face and her umbrella up.

The Century legend ship was very comfortable.  We upgraded in the dining room very worthwhile.

Your attentiveness to my persistence questions prior to going away was commendable.  Thank you so much.

The friends that travelled with us will be contacting you for their next years travel back to China.

Regards

Margaret

Dear Leo,

First of all, thank you very much for your help to arrange the trip in such a rush and short time, your prompt response is much appreciated specially very sorry had to trouble you during after office hour and late night.

Over all the trip was very good, Both of me and my wife enjoyed it very much, Lyla is a very friendly lady, very helpful. The Driver too.

The accommodation was good and clean. The food was o.k.

Just a small comment is that the seats in the transportation prefer to be a bit bigger so that more comfortable during some of the long distance trip ( 3 to 4 hours).

However, we enjoyed the trip and your services.

Thank you

Regards!

Li Chen

Hi Leo,

The 2 trips both in Beijing and Chengdu were brilliant

I left feedback on the site

Thanks for organizing it for us

Michelle

Good morning! Leo,

Happy New Year !

Generally on our whole trip we were blessed with fine weather except on our river cruise to Yangshuo as on that particular morning it was a bit foggy nevertheless it helped us to enjoy the misty landscape and scenery of Guilin.

Our tour guide Alice was super, friendly and knowledgeable.

The van driver was punctual, careful while driving on the road and helpful.

Our only complaint is the New Century Hotel at Yangshou, not new and badly maintained, not recommended for your other guests.

Thanks for making our trip memorable and fun.

Joseph

Hello Leo,

Thanks for your kind e-mail.

Effectively, we are back from China already. At the end, it was a great trip and almost perfect.

Just some details that were not of our full approval:

1,.- The hotel at Beijing was awful and the service was not good at all.  The room smelled to cigarrete and not very clean. Also, the staff was not helpful. I wouldn't recomend that hotel at all¡¡

    The guide at Beijing was a nice lady called Lisa, but compared to the other guides, she did not provide enough informaiton of all of the visited places. Maybe, she needs to study more history of the places we visited.

2.- At Shanghai, the hotel was perfect¡ And the guide was always helpful and very polite.  This was a great experience compared to Beijing.

3.- Finally, at Xi An, the experience was very good as well. The hotel was Ok and the guide was very efficient and his knowledge of history was very good.

4.- After reviewing all the information, my guess is that suggested tips were very high considering that the service was included already in the cost. At least in Mexico, we don't provide such high tips.

If we decide to go in the future, be certain that we will contact you again. And of course, we will recommend your services.

Thanks and Best regards.

Alvaro

Hi Leo,

Sorry to have emailed you only just now. I've been so busy since we came back from our trip..

First of all, we want to thank you for making our 1st trip to China wonderful and a great experience to cherish. For all your patience and support before and during our trip... for always being there to assist our issues and concerns...you've been so helpful, and we are grateful for that. It's not easy to be in a country where English language is not spoken by most people, that's one of the reason why going to China is not our priority, but with you around this has not been much of a problem. Thanks for all the infos u have provided during our trip..

BEIJING:

Dong Fang hotel- is nice, clean and has very good bed w/ white bedsheets and pillowcases and very comfy pillow.

Location is good. Nice wardrobe cabinet..

Hotel lobby is nice and elegant.

Food is ok but limited choices. I noticed that noodles in all hotels are very oily. Inside the hotel room, better if they will provide coffee sachets also for non-Chinese guests.

Our tour guide-Mark, a nice, gentleman guy, helpful in giving us directions on how to take subway trains. Good command of English and knowledgeable. Very caring and accompany us all the way inside the train station up to the boarding gate. This is very helpful because officers don’t speak English, and we feel secured that whatever problem we encounter at least mark is there to see us thru up to the boarding gate.

Driver-nice guy, he is the best of all the 3 we had. After an activity, will always pick us up nearest to the venue...friendly and always offers a smile when he sees us.

GUILIN:

Hotel Universal-nice, clean, spacious room but very limited wardrobe cabinet. There is only one and very small, too squezeey for our clothes.

Please provide coffee sachets as well for non-chi guests

Food: Macau restaurant is not physically nice, more choices of food.. but oily as well. Bread, pastries not freshly baked.

Our tour guide- Mr. Jingle, although older than other guides, he is a nice guy with so many stories to tell to entertain us...very professional and the traditional-like tour guide. The moment we gotten inside the car, he started to give already a brief introduction of Guilin, some important facts and figures which is nice and helpful for us to appreciate Guilin and it gave us the feeling that we are really a tourist and we felt very welcome!. He also orient us about the location of our hotel, what to expect in the hotels vicinity, where we can find food for dinner. He also gave us infos of other attractions nearby our hotel that are worth visiting, which i really appreciate bec at least in our spare time, we can visit them as well..i also appreciate him for his gestures of telling you about nomel's bday..he is soo thoughtful and caring. Thanks again Leo and mr jingle for the bday cake!!! Driver-nice as well but will always make us walk quite a distance. If feeling tired already from an activity like after biking in yangshuo and its a bit drizzling after elephant trunk hill, quite tiring and uncomfy to walk some more..

ZHANGJIAJIE:

Sto Domingo hotel- nice big lobby, high ceiling, elegant, the best of all 3 hotels

Room is very nice, spacious, big wardrobe, clean and comfy bed.

Coffee sachets again pls.. Food- with most variety. Good food,  but oily as well.

Our tour guide-Melody is a nice young lady, .very professional(like jingle),she gave us facts and intro of zhangjiajie upon settling ourselves in the car. She is soft spoken but very knowledgeable, very caring and she is the warmest! She is sincere and caring and will always check the comfort and convenience of her guest. After picking us up from the train station, upon knowing that we hadnt taken breakfast yet, she brought us to a hotel with a very nice buffet breakfast ever!! (must be a 4star hotel).she even helped us get coffee for ourselves.. .she speaks English very well and all the restaurants she brought us to are all nice and attractive restaurants (she has a good taste!). She will always assist us before eating our food making sure that food is served nicely and well. She will even serve food to us personally after the waitress leaves. She’s very thoughtful!.

She is also flexible, she modified our itinerary and gave alternative things to do that she deemed more appropriate so as not to waste time and money. Bec on our 1st day, it was raining and up in the glass bridge, it is soo foggy. So after seeing the glass bridge we went to zhangjiajie national forest park and took the electric train instead and see the natural gallery, which was a smart idea bec down there we can see nice view of the peaks bec not as foggy as up there..

On our last day she even suggested that we watch the show the Charm, Xiang xi, bec she learned that it was our Wedding anniversary on that day and she said that it was a perfect way to celebrate the occasioned were not really keen but she kept on suggesting that we try bec we will not regret it. So we trusted her judgement and she arranged for our tickets and even helped to  bring us to the theater by walking with us, took us to our designated seats as well...she is soo good, doing things at an extra mile. Her client service is very sincere!..True enough, it was a great great show!!World-class! Thank you meloddyyy!! For all your personal touch!!!

But i just notice that she will not eat in the same restaurant where she will bring us:(..other tour guides will eat in the same restaurant with us but separate table..

Driver- nice but same as the Guilin's driver..will make us walk a distance also..

China is a very nice country to visit. Overall the experience is Great! The sequence of order of our trip was soo good Beijing, Guilin and saving the very best for last Zhangjiajie.. our last destination left us with a lot  of experience and the best of memories to treasure....to China Discovery, to you Leo,our tour guides Mark, Mr Jingle and the sweetest.. Melody,.....We, rinah and nomel, thank all of you guys from the bottom of our hearts!!!More power!!

May u continue to serve all your clients with personal touch! More power!!

Sincerely,

Ms. Rinah

Dear Leo,

Thank you for organizing our trip in China.Yes we had a great time.

All the schedules were neatly planned.The tour guides were helpful and friendly.

Need to mention here,

Alyana from Xi'an is very informative and James from Chengdu is always cheerful attentive.

Will definitely recommend your service to my friends.Hopefully we shall make another trip to China in the near future.

Best regards,

Lester

Dear Leo,

Everything went smooth. Thank you very much for a perfect organization!

Thank you!

Ryan

Dear Mr. Leo Li,

We had a wonderful tour on Yangtze-River with the Century Sun. All was going well and good organized. The staff onboard was friendly and helpful, the explanations for the tour given by the Manager were also good an helpful.

There is nothing to complain and we can recommend this tour.

Greetings from Germany

Kohlheim

Dear Mr. Li,

We confirm, that we were very happy with the trip, the suite is really very well maintained and perfectly decorated. All staff were very obliging, helpful and friendly.

Like we exhibit the highest marks to your company and will recommend gladly.

Sincerely,

Siegbert

Hi Leo,

Thanks for the email.  We did have a great time on the tour.  The guides were all really nice, flexible and knowledgeable.  Thanks again for your help!

Kind regards,

Brad

Dear Leo

Here’s the feedback:

1.    Tour Guide. We thought Kennedy was excellent. He looked after us very well. Examples include checking we were happy with hotel rooms, queuing with us to pick up train tickets and always being on time - never ever late.

2.    Driver. He was very good too. He drove very safely. He was also a lovely man.

3.    Hotels. The rooms in all the hotels were good. All hotels were comfortable and clean. We particularly liked the hotel at Longji Village. It had real character. Pity about the building that has blocked the hotel’s view.

4.    Food. The food was pretty good. We enjoyed the breakfasts at Guilin Park Hotel . The breakfast at the hotel in Yangshao was poor. The lunches were good - the one in Longji village was excellent.

5.    The time spent walking with the guide around the rice terraces was very good. Looking back it would have been good if we had had longer in the hills and rice terraces.

So the two of us who joined the Gill Family on this trip were happy with the service you gave. We thought it was good value. We would use your company again should we return to China. Well done!!!

Best wishes,

Roger

Leo,

Just returned to Singapore one hour ago. Sent my message in WhatsApp.

I was cut off from the rest of the world because Google, gmail and Facebook are blocked in China.

I have been in many cruises before in Europe, US and South East ASIA but the Century Legend is most outstanding.

I understand that it was built in 2013 and it looks very well maintained and I am impressed with what the Chinese are doing with the cruises.

I have read many reviews of horror stories on Chinese cruises and I held my breath when I decided to join the Yangtze 3 gorges cruises.

Apart from the incident with the porter who demanded 100 CNY for carrying my luggage I was well taken care of by the hotel manager when I complained that it was so hot in my cabin.

3 times a day a room attendant will visit my room to ensure that it is kept at a comfortable temperature with an Air cooler.

I met some passengers in the train from Yichang to ZJJ and the complained how terrible the cruise was with the Yangtze Gold and Victoria cruises. In fact I passed by the Yangtze Gold and Victoria cruises and they all look so old and badly maintained.

My Cabin was very comfortable after they lowered the temperature with air cooler and the meals were civilised. No need to rush for food like the other boats and no need to upgrade to a different dining room.

The other gripe is that it was raining everyday and we could not admire the beauty of the 3 gorges.

I made some good friends in the cruise and we did things together.

The next trip will be going upstream in the 3 gorges and hopefully there will be another new boat and definitely NOT SEPTEMBER!!

None of the passengers I met had been swindled by the porters because their travel agent arranged the porterage. Perhaps you can think of Creative ways to provide porter service for dependent Travelers who booked thru you.

Or you advised the independent traveller about porters upon arrival @ boat because there are many flight of stairs to climb whereas I saw travel Sgt st drive near the dick with the luggage

Grace

Leo,

Staff lovely and really helpful

Rooms clean and nice balcony

Facilities good

Included trips good

Food buffet well presented and good quality

Would recommend to others

Regards

Louise

Dear Leo,

Hello, wish you well.  Thanks for your concern.  We were back just last night, and glad that we return yesterday, otherwise, we shall need take a train back to HKG instead of a flight as we are having the Typhone today this morning - just pass by 50 KM from HKG.  Very strong wind with heavy rain and all flights are cancelled from 6 AM - 5 PM today.

Taking the opportunity, I would like to thank you for your kind arrangement with our Yangtze River Cruise booking.  All is fine and we enjoyed very much for the whole cruise.  Accommodation on V Sophia was comfortable, same as what we expected and the food is wonderful and we had nice meals that meet with our taste. The Captain is a nice man and we are glad to have the chance of greeting to him. All other crews on board perform their professional service that make us so comfortable and relax.  It is a memorable river cruise.

Once again, thank you so much for everything you had done to organise our cruise.

All the best wishes.

Frankie

Hi Leo,

Sending you a picture of Lindsay, our tour guide in Beijing. She was fantastic and we truly enjoyed her company.

We were definitely lucky to choose your travel agency for our initial visit to the mainland. We will definitely like to come back and maybe invite other family members. It was short but sweet!

Thank you once again, Leo and regards to everyone.

Sincerely Yours,

Malou

Dear Leo,

Please excuse my delay reply your email.

I would like to thank you for your help with the organisation. I was very satisfied with the cruise and can give my most positive feedback to the whole team of Century Sky, who was very friendly, attentive and helpful. I was impressed by the entertainment program organized during the cruise. The meals were also very good, diverse and delicious and the restaurant team was very attentive and friendly. I would like to specially thank the room service, as the room was always very clean and in excellent order.

All in all I was very happy with the cruise and I will definitely further recommend the Century Sky.

Should you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact me.

Best regards,

Ekaterina

Dear Mr. Leo Li,

We would like to thank you for an unforgettable trip to China recently. Everything that you organized went like clockwork to the smallest detail and my family are very grateful. Kennedy, our local guide, spoke excellent English and had an in-depth knowledge of the areas he took us to. He was enthusiastic and took great care at making sure we were having a good holiday.

In the lead up to the holiday you were very prompt to reply to my emails and helpful organizing the tour and all of my extra requests. The tour was great value for money and the hotels we stayed at were very good quality and had large rooms. The food was also excellent and very generous servings. I can't think of anything you could have done better.

I will be recommending you to any of my friends looking to travel to China and will definitely be in touch if we decide to go back to China for another holiday.

Regards!

Shaun, Michelle & family

Hi Leo,

The trip was amazing. Melody was a great guide, she is lovely and very patient. The tour was also great, Zhangjiajie is definitely a magical place. Would definitely recommend it.

Thank you for everything!

Emira

Dear Leo,

First of all, thank you for being there 24*7, literally! Because everytime I had a problem with my travel plan, I troubled you. I remember when I started planning the trip, I had a problem in booking the train tickets. You were the one who helped me out for train tickets, travel dates and even local advice in Chengdu.

Thank you for working so hard to make my trip memorable, thanks for listening to all my problems, thanks for always be there as a tour guide and a friend.

XIE XIE NI WO DE PENG YOU! (Thank you, my friend!)

Lots of best wishes!

Oaindrila

Oaindrila and her Travel Consultant Leo

Dear Mr Leo Li,

We had the most amazing time on the tour. Nancy was fantastic, she went over and above what was required of her, she ordered us beautiful food,  gave us super information and even held my hand on the cable car to make sure I didn't get nervous. Your company is very very lucky to have such a great tour guide!

Dealing with you has been very easy also, you are so quick to reply to all of our questions and queries and you helped us greatly with our visas and processing. 

We would be delighted to write a very positive report on our trip. Please send the link and we will do it over the next few days.

Thank you so much for all your help and support.

Kind regards,

Niamh 

Hi Leo,

We are at the boat and very happy. The services, program, food, entertain etc. The most important we met u.  

Thank you Mr. Li

Lana and Boban

Hi Leo

We did indeed have a great time. You and our guide Kevin were great. The panda experiences were really cool. The panda photo and feeding the pandas and cleaning the panda stuff was cool. I would say the day was a little longer than it needed to be though. I would say the second feeding and the panda cake making are not necessary. If the volunteer event was a couple hours shorter that would be better. We will add a review on trip advisor. Thanks for everything. 
Ross

Hello Leo,

Wonderful! Only thing that would've improved it would be free wifi. In an age where we are very used to free wifi, I don't want to have to pay!Anyway, the crew were absolutely great and the room was very comfortable. :smiley:

Jillian

Hi Leo,

I would surely recommend the agency!!!! Driver and guide were amazing! Friendly, smiley, flexible, and knowledgeable.

And my consultant made his best to organise the tour exactly as we wanted.

Thanks for everything

Maria

Hi Leo,

Thanks for the email and follow-up appreciate it. As requested, please see responses below:

Best wishes;

Ira

Hello Leo,

Please find my answers below.

1.    Is your travel consultant of our company fast enough to answer your E-mail and patient enough to answer your questions?

Yes!

2.    How’s the service of the tour guides during your whole tour?

It was very good. Zínia is a great tour guide. She provided lots of information. Helped me with all aspects of the tour, including food, languages, and how to avoid being in line. I would definitely recommend her.

Tony was also a good guide.

3.    Would you like to recommend our company?

The price was high, but the company provided all I need. I would recommend it.

Thank you,

Silvia