Shanghai Travel Reviews on Tripadvisor.com

Took a family trip to China - Guilin, Shanghai, Xian , Beijing. It was well planned and executed trip by Wonder. We thoroughly enjoyed every step of the day. The sights, choice of hotels, guides and vehicles were spotless and well organised. Wonder was very accommodating and patient of suggestions. Quick to respond. Will highly recommend this agency especially Wonder for wonderful experience.

I am overwhelmed and very satisfied with this 13 day China trip! The service I got was beyond my expectations. We were taken care of every places we visited. All local guides and drivers were helpful.

We thought we would face difficulty to find suitable Muslim food but guides took us to the right places and we had very yummy food all over the trip. Even in the Yangtze river cruise, cruise manager instructed his chef to prepare special meals for us! All local guides speak very good English. We always felt safe there.

Special thanks to Leo Li for organising such a wonderful and memorable trip! Me and my family will cherish the memories of our China trip many years to come.

Overall I would highly recommend China Discovery as they did a really good job of planning our tour, putting us in touch with the guides and showing us the relevant sites.

All the guides spoke English quite well and the German was surprisingly good too.

China is diverse and fascinating with history nature and food. Rita at China discovery made all arrangements so we could enjoy most of China in comfort and efficiently with excellent guides at each stay. When our train ride from Shanghai to Beijing was cancelled by the railways, Rita promptly informed us and made alternate flight arrangements keeping the tour moving smoothly. The tour started with Beijing and the forbidden city and the Great Wall are an experience. Tibet is a different world with awesome artwork everywhere. Lin river cruise is a must. The caves were an experience, better than the ones in West Virginia and Virginia. Terracotta Army is a must see. The tourists outnumbered the army and the crowds were unbelievable. The Yangtze River cruise is so relaxing and pleasant. Shanghai is best for the shopping experience and the riverfront.

Thanks to Rita and her team at China Discovery in making this tour so memorable.

We had a great time in China thanks to China Discovery. We had a business meeting in Wuxi, asked them to organize a tour afterwards, but we did it very close to the traveling dates, as we were really struggling with the visa and the dates of the meeting. That left us almost no time to organize the tour, but Rita Jiang from China Discovery was really efficient in doing so. Everything was fast and smooth before going, and exactly the same after arriving there. Everything from hotels to vehicles, guides, tickets, etc., was perfectly arranged, what made that we had a very enjoyable trip and we hope to go back soon to such a beautiful country!

As this was our first visit to China we were relying on Wing and the team to make all the necessary arrangements. Booking accommodation, buying advance tickets and supplying transport and guides.

We were very impressed. From pre-travel suggestions to final send off everything went very smoothly.

It was a bit of a whistle stop tour taking in a lot of the most famous sights in just over two weeks, but we always planned on returning. Next time will be more leisurely.

China Discovery were an excellent agency to work with and always very responsive when we had queries.

They come highly recommended.

Jane and Jon

9 day tour of Beijing/Xian/Zhangjiajie/Beijing

Overall, I cannot say enough good things about this trip! Starting with our travel consultant, Zeva Du. She was so patient and helped us make great decisions. I was hesitant about doing a private tour, but it was the best idea ever and allowed us to see the cities we wanted within our travel dates.

Every tour guide in each city was amazing and spoke English very well. They were very informative and knowledgeable. They could not have been more attentive. When leaving Beijing, we took a train to Xian. Linda, our tour guide, escorted us all the way to our seats on the train. Thank goodness we stayed on the train until the last stop! The train system over there is so efficient and a great way to travel.

Jessie in Xian was wonderful. I think seeing the Terracotta Army was my favorite.

David in Zhangjiajie and Liqi in Shanghai were equally great.

If you like Chinese food, each restaurant we were taken to for lunch was amazing.

Our Peking duck dinner in Beijing was the absolute best.

It was wonderful to see China up and running again. They suffered greatly during the pandemic and is working very hard to recover. I would highly recommend this tour company and would gladly use them again. Thank you to Zeva and her team for such a great trip!

We are very happy with China Discovery (based in Chengdu). Our travel consultant was Wing Zheng. She is very helpful and has great attention to detail. She communicated with us very well, and was very flexible in arranging all the places that we wanted to visit. She is professional and very knowledgeable. Upon arrival to China, I was able to reach her immediately if I have a question. The tour guides were fantastic. we had two separate guides for different locations and they both speak excellent English. My husband’s birthday was during the trip, they were so thoughtful to arrange a nice birthday cake delivered to our hotel as a surprise. Overall, I’m very happy with Wing’s services and would highly recommend this company.

tq so much for China Discovery for arrangement due our trip in China, Wonder as our contact person for arranger our trips are so helpful and always monitoring our trips from we before departure till we are all arrived safe in our home, i recommend Wonder, he is so much helpful and understandable. We using their service before and never disappointed us till now, always pleasure and will using their service in coming trips.

Prompt response to query was appreciated with suggestions for daily guided tours with car and vehicle.

Always in time at the hotel for daily excursions. Very flexible with our request.

Beijing is a must for historical sites. Visit to Forbidden City and the Temple of Heaven and Great Wall is a must. Very safe to walk anywhere even late night.

Shanghai is a must to see the business capital of China and walk along the Bund.

Go the Buddha Jade temple and Yu Garden .

Guides are very helpful till the last minute. A joy.

They are the best.

YS and RS

We took a 20 day Chinese Silk Road trip starting in Luoyang and ending in Kashgar - the western most city in China close to the border with Kyrgyzstan. There were 8 of us in a small privately organised tour which Leo Li managed for us from China Discovery Chengdu.

I have been to China for work and twice before for holidays - this is definitely the best trip hands down. The itinerary was excellent and tailored to our needs. The hotels were fantastic (maybe except for one which was borderline) - all Chinese owned and operated hotels (there was only 1 international branded hotel in the entire 20 days). They were clean, spacious and very obliging to our needs.

The food organised by Leo was excellent on all days.

We requested English speaking guides and had 6 in all at various stages of our trip. They were all excellent, very knowledgeable about the history and significance of the locations in relation to the Silk Road and great company and humour too.

The guides went out of their way to ensure we were comfortable - even to the extent of organising special meals when a few of us got sick and another left his bag in the mountains!

The trip included historic cities beginning with Luoyang, Lanzhou, Xian, Xining, Qinghai Lake, Chaka Lake, Jiayuguan, Dunhuang, Turpan, Urumuqi and Kashgar. The trip utilised a combination of China's excellent bullet trains, private bus and flights (between Urumuqi and Kashgar and Kashgar to Shanghai)

Leo seemed to work all hours! Thank you Leo and your team for making our trip so memorable!

I highly recommend China Discovery Tours and will definitely without hesitation use them again.

Some tips for travelling in China:

1. Bring Cash! - WeChat Pay (linked to your credit card) works, but not all the time. Our personal success rate was about 40%. Even in the big cities like Shanghai. So definitely bring cash. PS - you will need internet connection to pay by WeChat - see internet connection below.

2. Watch for "Spit Bombs" (the Hark...Phui!) - its getting better especially after the pandemic. But in the smaller tier 2 and 3 cities definitely watch for it. Now you know why Chinese people take off their shoes when entering homes! :)

3. Chinese hotels are very warm and the aircon doesn't work in winter. Switching the aircon to cool will STILL give you heat!! So be prepared. However, despite this, as mentioned, our Chinese branded hotels were excellent.

4. Everything in China is huge! Except for the toilet rolls in the hotels! Don't ask me why. So if you need to have a big one, make sure you have sufficient toilet paper! Don't be afraid to ask, they are generous when you ask. (The 4-5 star hotels in the main cities are OK though)

5. Speaking of loos, we tried to make sure we only do No 1s in the public loos. Most of the tourist locations are OK but they are of the squatting kind... Of course the ladies have a tougher time than us guys. So before you embark on your daily tours - as much as possible make sure your system is all clear!

6. Internet connection seems to work fine (yes even Google, Messenger, YouTube etc)...BUT, BUT I think it is because I am on data roaming. Another member of the group had the same experience - No need for VPNs. But have a VPN loaded on your phone anyway as a backup. (We were on Australian Mobile network - Vodafone and Optus). Not sure how long this is going to last. Others not on data roaming had massive issues with the Great Firewall. Of course forget about the hotel wifi, the firewall is strongest there! Also 4G works better than 5G. So setting your phone to only 4G might make your internet connection more stable and reliable.

7. Enjoy the people - they are very friendly and patient (especially with our payment issues with WeChat). Trying to speak mandarin goes a long way!

8. Enjoy the food - it is generally safe but of course be sensible. We stuck to the main markets, hot cooked food and except for a short unexplained stint, we were good.

Above all - enjoy the experience!

Our Tour with China Discovery well very well, I need to compliment them on their organization and choice of guides. Our consultant Wing was extremely helpful, kind and flexible. We did a 14 day, personalized tour and visited the imperial cities with Chengdu and a short cruise on Yangtze River. I would definitely recommend them and will plan another tour with China Discovery in the future (hopefully).

We had a great experience with China discovery, our travel consultant and tour guides were incredibly friendly, helpful, and responsive, and they had a lot of knowledge about all the places we visited. The tour was very well organised and although we went during golden week - which was incredibly busy - the tour guides went above and beyond and were excellent at making sure it didn’t affect our trip. We were treated very well during our tour, got to see some amazing things, and would highly recommend using this service because of this.

I had an amazing experience with my 8 days China trip to Beijing, Xian, Shanghai. I recommend anyone who is planning to go on a China trip with China Discovery. Please contact Wonder Wang, he assisted me all throughout my trip with competence, efficiency, done in a very responsive, responsible way. He responds quickly at all times no matter what time it it wherever you are in the world. And this is very important specially in visiting China where everything has its own system, tickets in place properly sibmitted accordingly including passports, different language, huge crowds....Thanks China Discovery for a memorable China experience!

I had an absolutely incredible time in China with China Discovery. My trip (Chengdu, Chongqing, Changsha, Shanghai, Qingdao, Beijing) could not have gone any smoother. Every tour guide was extremely friendly and knowledgeable and every hotel was great. Every place that I visited was also absolutely spectacular in terms of scenery.

I also want to give a special mention to my travel agent Rita Jiang for putting up with me and my intricate demands (even at the last minute). I would highly, highly recommend China Discovery to anyone who wishes to visit China, especially the more "niche" parts which Western-based travel agencies do not typically offer.

I will definitely be travelling with them again!

Our tour covered all of the main tourist attractions offered by this vast and beautiful country.

We chose China Discovery.com for our China holiday simply because, their website information was easy to understand and their holiday options were numerous and very detailed. From the start there was a strong sense of service and we got that from our very first email to the Travel consultant. Every email was answered promptly and clearly. We were able to tailor our preferred tour option to suit our budget and in the end the choices we made were perfect. The consultant continued to keep in touch either by email or through the agents until tour end.

At all city locations local guides with modern sedans and drivers ensured that we connected smoothly with our transport, accommodation and access to all tourist destinations. At many tourist sites, the long walks and climbing long stairways suited younger and/or fitter clients. We seniors with average fitness were blessed with guides who tailored our visits perfectly to our optimum enjoyment. And still got to enjoy most on offer.

Throughout our multicity itinerary we travelled on the superbly smooth and comfortable bullet trains, high class internal air flights and comfortable high standard river boat cruises. The three day 5 star Yangtse river cruise was very comfortable, modern stylish and the staff service standard was exceptional.

Lastly we believe that it would be very difficult to experience the numerous contrasting features of China, historical and modern and its cultural entity without all the aspects of the China Discovery private tour package.

We visited China in September 2023 for 16 days visiting Beijing, Xian and Shanghai . The attraction Great Wall, Forbidden City (Beijing) Terracotta Warriors (xian) and the gardens and the lights surrounding Shanghai organized by China Discovery (Chengdu) and our consultant Ms Wing Zeng were amazing. Discovery China ( Chengdu) provides a professional first class service. I highly recommend Ms Wing Zeng consultancy and China Discovery C

Rita Jiang was our travel consultant from China Discovery who worked with me to plan our 30 days in China. She helped with a suggested itinerary and when I added or removed destinations, she swiftly and efficiently adjusted it with clever additions I had not researched. I tried 2 other large Chinese travel agencies with my proposed itinerary before settling with China Discovery. China Discovery was not the cheapest, but they were certainly the most efficient in response time and also, most importantly, they created an excellent itinerary with clever routes and efficient transportation options between destinations. When you are travelling for this length of time as a family, efficient travel time is very important. The guides which met us in each location were well spoken and highly knowledgable. The drivers were excellent too. We covered Shanghai, Zhangzhou, Zhangjiajie, Fenghuang, Guilin, Kunming, Dongchuan Red Lands, Lijiang, Chengdu, Juizhaigou and Huanglong Valley, Xian, Luoyang, Zhangye, Dunhuang, Datong and Beijing with our two children aged 9 and 10.

There is no other way to travel efficiently through China and get to understand the culture and history without the help of a local travel agent. I highly recommend China discovery to help you plan your next trip!

The tour company's services were satisfactory, and the trip was enjoyable. Although there were some little mishaps, they were solved duely and professionally. The tour guide was also very helpful and knowledgeable.

My wife and I speak little Chinese and we did not want to join a package group tour. It was great that we found China Discovery online. Mr. Wonder Wang of China Discovery was just fantastic in helping us design a customised private tour itinerary for our China tour. Wonder Wang was very professional, responsible, and responsive. The resultant itinerary was just perfect for us. The english-speaking tour guides and drivers at each of the destinations we visited were just great making it a carefree, comfortable, and thoroughly enjoyable experience. We were connected with Wonder Wang and the respective tour-guides online via WeChat throughout the journey and the coordination from one destination to the next were perfect and smooth. We boarded the Century Oasis Cruise ship for a Yangtze cruise as part of the itinerary. On board we were serviced by one of the english-speaking cruise managers. The onboard service was just excellent. We were connected on WeChat with the cruise manager who kept us informed and instructed every step of the way. The cruise manager also connected with our tour guide at Yichang to perfectly coordinate our disembarkation arrangements. We would highly recommend China Discovery and Wonder Wang to all who wish to visit China with their own customised itinerary and at their own pace.

I have joined a 17 days trip to Shanghai, Beijing, Xian, Chengdu, Chongqing, including Yangtse Cruise. Besides enjoying all the places, they are amazing. I also enjoyed the hospitality from the tour guides on the gound and the cruise ship. They served good foods and yummy. We travelled by plane, ship, high speed train during the tour. The tour arrangement is good, my travel consultant is Mr. Leo Li. Overall, the tour was very nice and satisfying. I definitely will travel to China again next time.

This tour company scheduled and organized our privet tour very professionally. I would strongly recommend using them.

Our trip was amazing, you could see how happy we were from 20 pictures I attached below. Two weeks of travel by plains, bullet trains, Starting in Beijing-Xian-cruising Yangtze river, Shanghai, Guangzhou, beautiful Guilin and finishing up in Hong Kong. We all had a great time and returned back with wonderful memories.

This was my third time to the “motherland “ born a fourth generation ABC that doesn’t speak a word Chinese, did Beijing,Xian, Lhasa, Chengdu, Yangtze River cruise and of course the greatest city Shanghai, Mr Leo Li of China Discovery arranged the trip we opted to go the 5 star route with group of two , Leo answered all my questions promptly and to my satisfaction, the local guides some the best we ever encountered very good English skills on many topics, a couple became friends, question who would I have arrange a China trip? Mr. Leo Li

At first actually i didn't expect much from this trip, however it turns out that me and my mom really enjoyed the whole trip. We visited beijing and shanghai for 4 days, and the whole 4 days have been amazing!! All of local guides are warm and super helpful. When we first arrived at beijing , i asked our guide for food recommendation, she give us a recommendation for peking duck restaurant. Me and my mom actually whrn there and the food was AMAZING. Not forget to mention that the cars the provided are comfortable, my car in shanghai even had heated seat and back massage feature. Perfect!!

Vivien Li made excellent tour arrangement for our 14 day trip to China. Replied to my 20 or more emails immediately, sent both during initial arrangements and also during our travel within China. Responded to all specific requests including last minute changes requested while we were traveling in China. Hotels and guides were excellent, price charged was very reasonable. Took great care of us including contacting us when there was a change in flight schedule due to anticipated typhoon in Southern China.

I requested to arrange travel in Shanghai Maglev train 4 days before arriving at Shanghai and took great effort to arrange this. Changed the flight schedule to fly out of Shanghai Pudong airport and we were able to take Maglev train to Pudong airport. I want to thank Vivien Li for making our China travel a wonderful experience.

China Discovery - particularly travel consultant Wonder Wang - did an outstanding job in organising and supporting our recent trip to the mainland of China. It was a memorable visit. We are now back in Hong Kong after a memorable trip to the mainland of China. The destinations - Shanghai, Beijing, Xi'an, Zhangjiajie and Guilin - were well chosen, with so many interesting and exciting things to see and do. The guides we had in each location were great - well informed, helpful, friendly and mainly with excellent spoken English. The hotels were also very good - comfortable and well located (the Yungshuo river resort was a particular highlight). And the travel logistics - trains and planes - worked seamlessly.

China Discovery was extremely responsive and flexible throughout in putting together and supporting our visit plans. The suggestions for travel options, and readiness to adapt as our plans changed, was greatly appreciated. China Discovery's performance was highly professional, first-class in fact, and I would have no hesitation in recommending the company to others who might be considering a trip to the mainland of China.

Our trip was fantastic - we had wonderful tour guides that had gone above and beyond to make our journey a smooth sailing one. Our travel consultant, Wonder had been extremely accommodating in organizing our trip. Would highly recommend this agency to anyone looking to explore China!

We are very glad that China Discovery helped us organize our trip! It was a very memorable trip with great guides, great drivers and stunning scenery. China Discovery arranged a transfer for us from Shanghai airport when we first arrived in China. Later we were met and given excursions to Zhangjiajie, Chengdu, Shangri-la, Lijiang and Dali. They also organized a wonderful hiking trip for us through the Tiger Leaping Gorge - Everything went smoothly, everyone was very kind, punctual and friendly - although we had a lot of force majeure (airlines canceled flights, someone from the company caught a little cold) the guys from China Discovery held their hand on the pulse and responded quickly and efficiently to all these operational difficulties - Any adjustments were easily made, and everyone was flexible and understanding. I 100% recommend booking trips with these guys XD

I especially wanted to mention Mr. Johnson, who from the beginning of planning until the last transfer, took care of us like his own family!!!

Thank you, China Discovery!!!

We had a wonderful, custom-arranged, private trip as a family of three with China Discovery in summer of 2023 - going from Beijing via Xian, Zhangjiajie, Guilin, Longsheng, Yangshou, Kungming, Yangtze River to Shanghai.

As we expected, we left with many exciting new impressions and memories - really a trip worth taking.

Last not least, we must mention Tracy, our coordinator at the agency, who was from the earliest planning stage all the way through the trip the most competent, most friendly, and most helpful coordinator we could think of - we felt really well looked after! A big compliment and thanks to you, Tracy, and the entire team at China Discovery!

We had a day trip in Shanghai which included the Yuyan Bazar, Jade Budda Temple and finished the evening with a cruise on the Huangpu River. Spectacular light displays on the buildings that are along the river.

Day 2-4, we traveled to the Huangshan/Yellow Mountain region. Even though there was rain and a low cloud cover, we were able to get glimpses of the beautiful scenery. The trails on the mountain are very accessible and well maintained for walking. Our travel guides were excellent and very knowledgeable. Their English was very good and were willing to assist throughout our trip.

9-day private tour to Guilin, Xi’an, Zhanjgijie and Shanghai with China Discovery was beyond all expectations and I have to include the excellent China Discovery (Chengdu) travel services throughout the whole tour.

Our (my wife and I) sincere joyfull thank to our travel consultant, Jack Li for the programme designed .

Excellent assistance.

Congratulations !

Just a week tour with China discovery for Beijing and Shanghai. As a non local, it is very difficult to navigate with all china only app and regulations, not to mention the crowd. China discovery makes the logistics seemless. All smoothly run and avoid all the miles of queues. Highly recommended.

Amazing trip, very good service and memorable vacation. Putuoshan and Jiuhuashan both very aesthetic

Our China tour preparation starts from late May, during this preparation we were so lucky to be contacted with tour organiser Tracy Tan (China Discovery) who was extremely helpful, responsive always everything accurate, that made us so easy to be get ready for tour without any fuss.

On the day of each destination friendly, cheerful and helpful guides were ready to warmly welcome us.

The actual tour, 2 nights in Shanghai and 3 nights in Zhangjiajie was so beautiful memorable. I wish I could go again there. Our team of four persons extremely enjoyed very well organised tour.

I would recommend anyone to take this tour through China Discovery.

Many thanks to organiser Tracy Tan , and guides Vivian and Lily for this memorable tour from start to finish.

Wing Zeng did a custom private tour for five days, including trains, hotel and flights, and everything went as expected.

I was traveling to China for business reasons and wanted to extend my stay a little to see some of it. I had Beijing and the Great Wall in mind as well as the Terracotta soldiers in Xi’An. I knew that with the little time I had I would need all the logistical assistance I could get so when I stumbled onto China Discovery and they responded promptly with a well curated plan inclusive of hotel, drivers and guides I was all in!

They get a sense of your price range and adjust hotel bookings accordingly.

I wanted to travel by bullet train starting from Hangzhou and Rita figured it all out, including the hotel by the airport in Shanghai the night before leaving.

The guides were not only really knowledgeable but also lovely people, the same can be said for the drivers. In just four days I learned and experienced so much. As I was there over the weekend the sites in Beijing were busy, thankfully they took me to a section of the wall a little further out where they were much more manageable. In spite of the number of people, the experience was even better than I expected.

While Beijing is a cosmopolitan city I could easily relate to, Xi’An was simply magic. It is much more laid back, many went out of their way to say hello and welcome me to China and between the terracotta soldiers, the city wall (ride the bike on it!), the pagodas and the Muslim district I absolutely fell in love with it and will go back for sure to experience the archeological museum and the nearby mountains.

Massive thanks to you Jack and Lily!

I recently completed a 22 day rail tour with China Discovery. I let them know what I wanted to see and they planned the entire trip, rearranging my itinerary many times based on my feedback. I appreciated their patience as I made many changes over a period of months and never felt any pressure in any way. They generally got back to me within 24 hours with an adjusted itinerary for me to consider. My trip was well-organized and adjusted on the fly when needed (particularly when a typhoon blew in and things had to be changed at the last minute). The guides were good and the trip was stress-free, largely because of the work that Tracy did in organizing it. She checked on me regularly during the trip and even met me in Chengdu to present some nice gifts.

I would definitely use China Discovery again.

We did a customized tour of Beijing and Shanghai in about 4 days. The coordinator did a fantastic job communicating with us throughout the whole process, and really allowed us to see the sights we were most interested in. Our guides on the ground in both cities did a great job accommodating us, even to the extent of finding a specific restaurant we had in mind. It was an enjoyable trip and being able to put the planning in someone else's hand made it a stress-free vacation!

My wife and I had a private tour from Shanghai to Huangshan in late October 2019.

It was a 3-day visit. We stayed at the foothill of Huangshan. Hotel was clean and pleasant.

The trip was wonderful and the services of the tour guide and driver were also very good.Tracy Tan at China Discovery provided good and prompt service too.

One negative aspect was the private tour price could have been 20% lower. That would have been perfect.

G HeWah

Unsure of who to contact to organise my 8-day tour of China, I contacted China Discovery and they were excellent. I have no hesitation in recommending them to family and friends..

My contact at the company was Wing Zeng and, after a number of emails discussions options we finally agreed an itinerary that met all my needs.China Discovery organised my travel, hotels and guided tours for 3 cities and everything was excellent!

The real proof of the quality of the service came when I arrived at the wrong exit at Beijing station. Despite being 10pm I was able to text Wing Zeng who immediately resolved the situation. Brilliant customer service!! Thank you Wing Zeng for organising an excellent tour

China Discovery organised a 13 day China tour for us from 21/12/19 to 3/1/20. Wendy Dan was the consultant.Covered Beijing,Xian,Guilin,Huangshan and Shanghai. Overall, a great tour! and well organised,thanks Wendy!

Andy our guide in Xian was excellent as were the guides in Guilin and Huangshan.

Vehicles provided in general were good.Restaurants in Beijing were bad however the quality improved after we protested.

Hotels were neat and clean(chose all 5star) except in Xian and after we complained ,we were upgraded.

I would definitely recommend ChinaDiscovery tours and would book with them again on my second tour.

We were a family of 4, all adults.

We would like to thank our tour operator Ms Wing Zeng, all our drivers and tour guides (Melody in Shanghai, Cherry in Chongqing, Fay in Yichang, Derrick in Zhangjiajie, Vivien in Kunming, Peter in Shangri-La, Ya Lan in Lijiang) from China Discovery/Yangtze River Cruise/Tibet Discovery (based in Chengdu) for our holiday.

In December we had 17 amazing days - a very-well organised and detailed individual tour tailored for us to see and visit everything planned by us. During our we felt very safe and looked after at every stage.

The tour guides were also very informative and spoke English well. Special mention goes to:

The itinerary (Shanghai-Chongqing-3-night Yangtze River Cruise-Zhangjiagie-Kunming-Shangri-La-Lijiang-Shanghai) was perfect but the people implemented it were even better. Our tour operator, the guides, and the drivers were all professionals and worthy of high appreciation for a well-done job. We learned so much thanks to our local tour guides, and we are grateful to them for sharing their knowledge with us. Every place we visited was amazing with interesting history, culture, beautiful scenery and unbelievable landscapes. We enjoyed our relaxing Yangtze River cruise on Victoria Anna with all the activities on board and the arranged shore excursions very much. We really did have a great time.

The tour was our second trip arranged with Ms Wing Zeng, and we are very happy to have chosen China Discovery. If in future we have a chance to visit China again, we'll definitely do it with this company and we highly recommend it to our friends and other travellers.

Shanghai visit included two days at the Disney resort. Magic experience with my wife and 19 year old son. Then a transfer to Beijing on high speed train. Tours in Beijing City followed by trip to Great Wall. Snow had fallen the previous night so going up the pass to the Great Wall was a fabulous experience as i come from South Africa where we have very little snow. Left Beijing on high speed train back for Shanghai to check into the "Sunrise on Bund" hotel. Classy Hotel well positioned to explore the city. My agent Lyn Wang did an excellent job of putting my package together. Lyn was constantly communicating with me via email in the run up to my departure date. Tour guides and drivers were friendly, helpful and on time. Special thanks to our young guide Ms Tina in Shanghai who did our transfers to and from the train station and airport. Was with us till we got onto train as well as made sure we had our boarding pass in hand for our return journey before saying goodbye to us. This tour company and my agent Lyn will be recommended to family and friends travelling into China - for a hassle free holiday. Thank you Lyn Wang.

We used China discovery for a private tour ( 2 people ) of 12 days Beijing, Xian, Hangzhou and Shanghai. Riley was our contact. She presented us a very good program covering all the highlights, with a good combination of sightseeing and free time; She was very helpful and quickly replied to our questions, gave advice on questions we had related to the trip and was also flexible and open to change .

We had good guides and guidance , but our Xian guide Gin and our Hangzhou guide Lulu were really exceptionally good , they gave good explanations and really helped us out , also we had our personal car with driver and tour guide and we were dropped at the entrance of the sightings and the tour guides organized the tickets and the food at noon , taking into account our preferences. The timing spent and the program offered were really adapted to what we want. We also recommend to visit Hangzhou, very nice. So we are extremely happy with the service we have received from China discovery and i would certainly recommend them for a china trip. ( i was bit unsure before i booked because you never know via internet , but for those in doubt , really they give good service).

Everything was really organized and well-planned. All our activities matched the itinerary. Lily was remarkably helpful, accommodating, and patient even though our group had some changes nearing the D-Day of the trip! We truly appreciate the panda chopsticks souvenir she sent us :’) & also when she came to see us in person on our last day and sent us off to the airport!

Our local guides in Shanghai, Zhangjiajie, and Chengdu were all friendly and speak good English. Special shout out to our guide in Zhangjiajie Mrs. Tutu who accompanied us till late at night! She also had such soothing voice when she sang to us ;)

Would definitely recommend this agency if my friends & colleagues are looking to visit China.

My wife and I have been regular international travellers over the past decade but had not made it to China's mainland until last month. A conference nearby presented the ideal opportunity to remedy this with a short Yangtze River Cruise to celebrate a significant birthday for my wife and to satisfy our curiosity about other places in this vast country. We are travellers rather than tourists, so I would like to endorse the travel agency (China Discovery) which helped us with our internal travel arrangements. In the first instance, all we had to do was indicate our intended arrival and departure points and our intended length of stay and our assigned agent Echo Gou cheerfully and efficiently provided us with multiple options. Over a couple of weeks we settled on an itinerary including various sites in Beijing, Xian, Chongqing, Three Gorges Dam, Yichang, Shanghai and Hangzhou over 12 days. Highlight was probably West Lake in Hangzhou. Hotels were all of high standard, local individual guides were well-educated and fluent English speakers and drivers were confident and cheerful. Most travel tween cities was by high speed rail, but when we chose to vary this for convenience once in China to include an internal flight and a private car transfer to an airport in another city, this was expertly arranged by our contact agent Echo in Chengdu at minimal additional cost. This flexibility made what might otherwise have been some difficult aspects of our trip into a smooth and enjoyable experience. I can't fault the professionalism and expertise of China Discovery and our agent, and I recommend others who like to travel independently to consider using such an efficient service at such reasonable cost.

Our tour was organized by China Discovery [Rita Jiang] for 15 days covering five beautiful places. Though there were different means of communications available we just used Email and our Journey to china was all set.

Everything was perfectly organized starting from planning, implementing and executing.

We Didn't face any problem anywhere while travelling or while interchanging stations.

Security: We didn't face any problem anywhere either with baggage or other property. Everything was Secured.

Comfort: spacious cars, Door to door services, Hotels in the city center were provided, which was very convenient.

Food: food which was served was exactly the way we liked [Indian Vegetarian]

Awesome and Honest tour guide and Driver treated us like a family.

Incredible People of China !!

Prior to a Princess cruise which departed from Shanghai, we took a nine day China Discovery Tour of three of China's most well-known cities...Beijing, Xian and Shanghai. Catherine Liu, our travel consultant in China, was outstanding to work with as we had numerous questions before flying to Beijing.

Included in the China Discovery Tour she arranged were tours of the Forbidden City and the Great Wall in Beijing, the amazing Terra cotta warriors in Xian and the Pudong and Bund areas in Shanghai. These tours and the many other stops we visited were excellent.

We chose the small group tour of usually 7-15 people that included numerous stops at various sites, five star hotels, excellent guides and drivers, a bullet train ride from Beijing to Xian and a flight from Xian to Shanghai. We met interesting please, saw amazing sites and were thoroughly pleased with our China Discovery Tour.

One suggestion, avoid July and August if possible as students are out of school and visit these three cities with their families which makes for crowded sites. The reason we decided on an August tour was so we could take the cruise from Shanghai which was only offered in August.

Visiting China was extremely educational. We could have never accomplished as much as we did if we had tried to tour on our own. We highly recommend the China Discovery Tour and especially Catherine Liu. Catherine was very professional, was quick to answer our questions via email and made sure our guides were excellent. Ask for her when you book a China Discovery Tour. You will be glad you did.

Beijing-Xi’an-Zhangjiajie-Guilin-Yangshuo-Shanghai (Hangzhou & Suzhou)

Riley Guo did a brilliant job organising our trip. After reviewing the original itinerary, we made some adjustments for logistical efficiency. Riley was always quick to respond to my queries and even shared her WeChat number for even faster response. This was invaluable when we had a minor problem due to my mixing up a day trip time. Riley was quick to change train tickets and saved the day.

As with many other prudent travellers dealing with an unfamiliar Chinese tour operator, I was concerned about making the deposit and subsequent balance. However, I made each payment via Paypal without a hitch.

The greatest benefit of a private tour is the peace of mind at every stop. Driver and guide were at hand and took care of all tickets (no queuing) and lugging of suitcases. All breakfasts and lunches were included - all good to excellent depending on the hotel/venue.

We were able to save time and energy, thereby enjoying the sights and culture to the fullest.

Not only would I recommend China Discovery, I will be using them for our next trip to China.

I'm a meticulous vacation planner and while the pre-planned packages available from various tour companies were good, none specifically met what my wife and wanted to do on vacation. I did some research on where to go and what to see and we originally were going to do 12-13 days to include some trips into the rural areas to see some scenery, etc. We ended up limiting the trip to the three big cities and received bids from multiple tour companies based in China. China Discovery stood out in the quality and completeness of their responses and had the most competitive pricing. The reviews on Trip Advisor were also very positive and helpful.

We ended up booking 8 days in China with visits to Hong Kong, Shanghai and Beijing. We had a list of everything we wanted to see and China Discovery made it happen -- an advantage of booking a private tour is that you can go and see what you alone want to do. (We booked our own air travel to and from China using miles earned on an airline)

In Hong Kong I was not able to find a private guide -- they are all group tours. The buses are designed for around 30 people and we had 10 in our group one day on a Lantau Island tour (fantastic) and just the two of us the next day (Victoria's Peak, Aberdeen Fishing Village/Stanley Market -- avoid it, just find a way to go to Victoria's Peak).

In China's mainland private tours are the only way to go. Why? You are only as fast as the slowest people in your group. And when it was just the three of us (us plus guide/driver) we were much more nimble at getting through crowds and we were in a car or minivan, not a bus, for driving around. The tour company gets the tickets for everywhere you are going so you don't have to wait in line. And we were able to customize portions -- like no Shanghai Museum, but add Tongli water town and a night cruise in Shanghai. Add high-speed train instead of plane between Shanghai and Beijing ... with first class tickets.

I read reviews of the hotels they had chosen to put us up at and all got good to great reviews -- and they lived up to expectations. Note: you can ask for different hotels if you want higher quality or different location -- a China four-star is Western three-star, etc. The Regal Oriental Hotel in Hong Kong was 2 1/2-3 star compared to the other two hotels. Food was average -- I had to teach the cook how to do Over Easy Eggs. The Yangtze Boutique Shanghai was fantastic -- huge room and great service -- 4-4.5 stars! Beijing hotel was the Ramada Park Plaza Wangfujing that was also great ... 4 stars. Food was great at both Shanghai and Beijing hotels. Breakfast at the hotels was included every day and lunch on most days which was in local Chinese restaurants. Extra expenses were tips for our guides and drivers, dinner, snacks, souvenirs, taxis -- we ended up spending much less than anticipated in this regard.

We had different guides each day in Hong Kong because they were group tours, then a guide + driver for the Shanghai area and guide + driver for the Beijing area. All of them spoke English well and were able to answer questions that we had. They were all very knowledgable about the subjects of each tour and even got into nitty gritty details. We were VERY impressed. At meals we would talk about all sorts of things -- especially about how we all lived and family, things like that. The guides had no problem taking photos of us with our phones and were never hurried us along if we wanted to take additional photos or video.

We happened to encounter an annual holiday when we were in Shanghai -- with millions of people pouring into the city to celebrate -- and then rehearsals for a 70th anniversary of the PRC parade and celebration in Beijing shut some roads and attractions. Both could have really thrown a monkey wrench into our plans, but the guides were adept at rearranging the schedule to our advantage and to avoid crowds and juggle going to sights that were open.

What did we see? Each line is what we did in a day

Hong Kong -- Lantau Island tour (4 sights to see) .... rating A

Hong Kong -- HK Island tour ... rating C (avoid as Aberdeen Fishing Village doesn't exist, Stanley Market is OK if you want to shop for clothes, artwork and souvenirs, and you are forced to do a Jewelry Factory Tour that is really a way to try and get you to buy some jewelry, only Victoria's Peak was good on that tour)

Shanghai -- Yu Garden, the Bund, Nanjing Road (shopping), World Financial Center (100th floor observatory), nighttime cruise ... rating A

Shanghai -- Tongli Water Town (has canals like Venice) ... rating B (very touristy, but still interesting)

Beijing -- The Mutianyu Great Wall, the Ming Tombs ... rating A

Beijing -- Hutong Tour/Rickshaw Ride, Summer Palace, Temple of Heaven ... rating A

Beijing -- Tiananmen Square, Forbidden City ... rating A (the Square is kind of meh, but the Forbidden City more than made up for it)

One piece of advice save the Forbidden City for last ... it is so impressive it may make other sights seem much less interesting.

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, Dunjuang, Chendu, 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 Leo of Chengdu Bamboo 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 a number of big expenditures. First, you will need to put an initial balance down on the trip to reserve the reservation. That amount 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 a bit unnerving sending the money to such a strange account, but in the end, the transaction was fine and 100% legitimate. One point of confusion...you may research and book through ChinaDiscovery, however the invoice then turned into Chengdu Bamboo International Tours Co, Ltd. From a payment standpoint, this was fine. I found myself having fears about placing so much money to the this travel company which I only researched on the internet...but in the end, all my fears were unfounded and the execution of my trip was as perfect as it gets.

Expect to pay a few big expenses. In addition to the trip costs, you will also have some other big expenses. You will need to coordinate the buying of your international plane tickets, which I handled shortly after the deposit. If you are a US citizen, you will need to get a visa. In my case, the Chinese Visas costs about $160 per person for a 10 year visa, 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. So plan ahead.

The final expense is that you will be advised (not mandated) to give them tips to the drivers and tour guides. You will find yourself wanting to give them tips for the great service they provide, but you should calculate 2 weeks and 2 persons a day, and understand that it will cost you hundreds of dollars or thousands of Yuan as part of your trip costs.

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 coordination of the planes, trains and automobiles was flawless and as we traversed our way around each city, we never missed a single connection, nor did our guides ever fail to meet us at our designated meeting points.

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 for our trip to Xian, 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.

Bottom line...if you are planning a trip to China, I highly recommend planning it with Chengdu Bamboo and if you are lucky enough to work with Leo, you will not be dissapointed.

We booked an 16 days guided trip to China with China Discovery Tour. Tracy Tan was our booking agent. With her, during the months before the departure, we have carefully studied the journey itinerary. Tracy has helped us make the itinerary according to our whishes. She went well above our expectations to make sure that we could have a wonderful experience in China. If you are considering a trip to China we are strongly recommending this agency and of course our agent Tracy! They sure know how to recommend and customise the best tours for any tastes! We started our visit in Shanghai and then visited the main attractions of the south of China. We went on to spend 2 day in Zhangjiajie visiting "Avarar" park and then travelling by train or car visiting Fenghuang town, Guilin/Yangshuo with a beautifull cruise on the Li River, and Kumning city with the Stone Forest. We reached Dali, Lijiang and Shangri-La to finish with a fantastic experience with Pandas in Chengdu. All the guides, who accompanied us, were top quality and spoke almost flawless English and were very knowledgeable. An absolutely unforgettable trip of a lifetime!!! Thank you Tracy and China Discovery Tours for all your dedication and help to make us experience extra special!!!

Wendy Dan helped us plan our vacation. We added and subtracted from the vacation package. All of our guides were helpful, kind and informative. Mark our tour guide in Beijing felt like part of the family. We travelled with our 14 year old son and 17 year old daughter who were not always up for the challenge of the day. Each tour guide was engaging with the kids and helped to accommodate our needs as they unfolded. It was everything we read about and more.

Xi’an was a wonderful city with a beautiful nightlife for the entire family. Landscape, interactive lit up sidewalk, and a beautiful city park. The park has a rubber track to run, music pumped in and more landscape. Terra cotta warriors was overwhelming with the size of the site. Biking the ancient city wall was a must , fun and inexpensive.

Zhangjaijie was amazing and many unexpected parts. There are gardens within the park and monkeys! We spend a long time watching the monkeys swimming in the river. The town was easy to walk and we enjoyed shopping in the local supermarket.

Shanghai is an easy city and very modern. The Bund at night is a must. Seeing the sun set with the new Shanghai on one side of the river and the old on the other was unforgettable.

I loved every part of our trip. The suggestions that I gave to China Discovery was to provide a street map as I like to explore. The other tip I would suggest so to be aware that WeChat pay is the most preferred method of payment. We had cash which works but I was planning on Visa which was not taken at a few restaurants.

We saw many beautiful gardens, Beijing Olympic Park, historical sites, and modern cities. I wish I could list them all. I did a lot of reading and research before committing to the trip to China. We completely embraced the experience and hope more people take the opportunity to China. Highly recommend China discovery and a trip to China. Our whole family loved it.

I am a history major and I went to China to study ancient Chinese history. The tour guides were very knowledgable and would always answer my questions. It was by far my favorite vacation. Visiting the grottoes, Buddhist temples, museums, ancient fortifications, and cities were the highlights of this history major's experience. My favorite experience was visiting Pingyao ancient city. The walls were first built during the Western Zhou dynasty and the buildings are mostly from ancient China. I stayed in a hotel inside the ancient city, ate the local food, bought traditional clothing, and went to the bar at night. There are many bars that stay open late and some of the locals dress in traditional clothing. It felt like living in ancient China! If you are interested in shopping, there is a gift shop near the terracotta warriors museum that shows you how they are made. You can buy pretty much anything there from a replica terracotta statue with your face on it to furniture, pottery, and replica weapons. I bought a replica sword for 960 RMB and they shipped it to my house. There is also a silk museum in Shanghai where you can buy beautiful clothing. The local people were always very friendly, polite and interested in talking with you. I never felt nervous or disrespected during my stay. The tour guides will go out of their way to ensure you enjoy your visit. I would highly recommend China Discovery for anyone who is interested in visiting China. It is much nicer to have a tour guide show you all the fascinating things to explore and explain Chinese culture and history than visiting China without a tour guide and being blind to all these things.

Ms.Lyn wang was very cooperative & professional right from the time of enquiry, booking & arranging the customized China tour for 12 days covering Beijing, Yangtze river cruise, Zhangjiajie & Shanghai. We really appreciate her for organizing the tour in a very professional manner. We were bit apprehensive initially as we booked directly without any tour operator from my country of origin. It was very wonderful & pleasant experience and we really enjoyed every moment of it.

All all tour guides were very professional & cooperative giving all the required info of the tour. Yangtze river cruise by “president No-7” was very good & enjoyed the way they organised.

Zhangjiajie is a must visit place with such a scenic beauty & we feel three days there would have been more justified to enjoy thoroughly such a natural scenic beauty spot. But the only disappointment was the hotel “Wulingyuan Hotel” arranged was close to the hills but the food was really bad & couldn’t eat at all. The least we expected that the breakfast could be to suit overseas travellers, but was really not up to any standard. Suggest you to recommend any other hotels for overseas guests.

In Shanghai, there was much free time left after covering all the listed places as per itinerary & suggest tour guide could provide some local shopping tips in China as in Nanjing road it was all expensive which are otherwise generally available in any other country. Don't miss Bund walk in the evening, the skyline under lights is most delightful to watch /gaze.

Overall it was very nicely organised & we really appreciate your professionalism for well organised tour. I certainly recommend "China discovery" tour operator & happy to avail for any future tours in china.

Ms.Lyn wang was very cooperative & professional right from the time of enquiry, booking & arranging the customized China tour for 12 days covering Beijing, Yangtze river cruise, Zhangjiajie & Shanghai. We really appreciate her for organizing the tour in a very professional manner. We were bit apprehensive initially as we booked directly without any tour operator from my country of origin. It was very wonderful & pleasant experience and we really enjoyed every moment of it.

All all tour guides were very professional & cooperative giving all the required info of the tour. Yangtze river cruise by “president No-7” was very good & enjoyed the way they organised.

Zhangjiajie is a must visit place with such a scenic beauty & we feel three days there would have been more justified to enjoy thoroughly such a natural scenic beauty spot. But the only disappointment was the hotel “Wulingyuan Hotel” arranged was close to the hills but the food was really bad & couldn’t eat at all. The least we expected that the breakfast could be to suit overseas travellers, but was really not up to any standard. Suggest you to recommend any other hotels for overseas guests.

In Shanghai, there was much free time left after covering all the listed places as per itinerary & suggest tour guide could provide some local shopping tips in China as in Nanjing road it was all expensive which are otherwise generally available in any other country. Don't miss Bund walk in the evening, the skyline under lights is most delightful to watch /gaze.

Overall it was very nicely organised & we really appreciate your professionalism for well organised tour. I certainly recommend "China discovery" tour operator & happy to avail for any future tours in china.

We have just returned from our holiday organized by Jack Li in China Discovery. This amazing tour lasted twenty days and we visited Beijing,Xi’an,Chengdu,Lijiang,Guilin, Yangshuo, Hangzhou and Shanghai. We found China Discovery to be an absolutely reliable tour company,responsible and very attentive. The service was of the highest quality- hotels,guides,drivers and all the restaurants attended and recommended. We have full confidence in recommending China Discovery for anyone needing a stress free holiday in China. In each location the guides were professional,enthusiastic and delighted to give us an insight into their community-history,customs,religions,fauna and flora. In fact each location was a highlight and we have a lifetime of unforgettable memories. We would like to thank Jack Li for customizing our tour and for taking such good care of us. It was a remarkable holiday made possible by the expertise and efficiency of China Discovery and its wonderful team.

We've just come back from 2 amazing weeks in China booked through China Discovery based in Chengdu, our travel consultant was Johnson. We chose a bespoke tour taking in Beijing, Xi'an, Chengu, then a short river cruise on The Yangtze, followed by a night in Zhangjiajie and finishing off in Shanghai. We had the most amazing time. Johnson organised the trip and was very patient with our infinte changes to the itinerary,

Johnson arranged all the transport within China, hotels, and guides in each of the cities, all guides spoke excellent english, were really well organised and knowlegeable. Ruby (in Chengdu), Kimi (in Xi'an) and Johnson (in Zhangjiajie) were absolutely excellent and made our stay really special. Having a guide cuts down the queueing time considerably as tickets are prebooked for you and they only need to be picked up, in some places there are preferential queues for guided tours.

We travelled mainly by high speed train, which is by far the most convenient way of seeing the country. We were astounded by how efficient, clean and punctual the trains were. We also used the underground system of most of the cities we stayed in, we found them all easy to navigate, modern, clean and punctual.

We had 3 days in Beijing, we stayed at the Park Plaza: excellent breakfast comfortable and clean rooms, excellent location. In Beijing we saw the Forbidden city, the Temple of Heaven and the Summer Palace and had a great day on the Great Wall, which is astoundingly impressive, coming down on the tobbogan was great fun. We were supposed to visit the Hutongs and have a go at some calligraphy, but unfortunately due to a mix of Beijing traffic, an early afternoon train to catch and the calligraphy person being called away, we were unable to do this last activity.

The second stop was Xi'an, we stayed at the Grand Mercure on Remnin Square, Less impressive than the other hotels in the square, but comfortable and excellently located. It was built in the Soviet era and had an air of faded grandeur. The Terracotta Warriors were breathtaking and we had a lovely time cycling round the town walls. Xi'an is a really pretty city by night with bustling markets and pretty lights everywhere. We took the opportunity to learn to make dumplings and have lunch with a local family. This was a great experience. It was in one of the super-modern high rise buildings that are ubiquitous, the host was a former guide and it was one of the best meals we had in the holiday. It was more a demonstration of how to fill the dumplings rather than a cookery lesson, but we enjoyed it nevertheless.

Next stop Chengdu, home of the pandas. We stayed in the Dorset Grand, the only way to describe the hotel is WOW! The highlight was the Pandas, we enjoyed Renmin park and the Opera. We mentioned to our guide that we wanted to try the local hotpot so she stayed with us into the evening to help us with ordering and show us how it was done.

The next stop was Chongqing, from here we took a 3 day cruise on the Yangtze on the Century Legend, which was a lot of fun and restful after the busyness of the previous week. Food was ordinary at best. The cruise had group excursions, which made us really grateful that we booked a private tour with China Discovery for most of the holiday (rather than a group tour with a UK based agency) as there was a lot of hanging around waiting for other people. The quality of the guides provided by China Discovery was also much higher. Breathtaking scenary and an amazing feat of politics and engineering.

Second last stop Zhangjiajie, the slow train was incredibly interesting, and it was the first look of small town, rural China we caught. It had a completely different feel from the other places we visited. As we got there we wished we had followed Johnson's advice and stayed an extra day. To sum the place up in one word: spectacular, we saw Tianmen Mountain and the Yellow dragon cave.

Finally a last few days in Shanghai, we stayed at the Sunrise on the Bund, a beautiful hotel, but not really on the bund. We were unlucky that there were night roadworks going on outside our window, but the staff did their best to mitigate their impact. Shanghai does not really need a guide, it is quite westernised and it is easy to navigate. The advantage of having a guide is that you will pack much more into the day. Again, we were grateful to have one of China Discovery's guides for one of the 3 days we spent here. As when we asked the concierge at the hotel for direction for a shopping centre, he arranged for a taxi to take us to a really hard sale place that made us feel quite uncomfortable. During the rest of the holiday only twice we had been taken to places where we felt in some way obliged to buy something, but it was not a hard sell, the trips were listed on the itinerary and we could have said we did not want to go there.

Overall it was a great holiday and we have been so impressed by the organisation and value for money provided by China Discovery and Johnson that we are planning to do a tour of Southern China in the next couple of years.

When researching tours of China we found that China Discovery was the perfect company to book with as we were able to customise our own trip.

We traveled to multiple destinations within China where we had our own personal guides which made the language barrier a breeze as we were able to thoroughly enjoy ourselves with no stress. The guides had excellent English and local knowledge and showed us many things that we would have otherwise missed.

I would not hesitate to recommend China Discovery and our tour coordinator Wing Zeng. She was excellent at planing the whole tour for us, including the internal travel arrangements. I was also very impressed with how she kept in contact with us throughout the entire trip.

When traveling domestically in China, we soon noticed that there were no signs in English at the airports so we were very grateful to have our tour guides assist us with the flight check-ins.

Overall, we thoroughly enjoyed our time in China and would definitely recommend this company to others.

Our group from Singapore & Malaysia with family members of 14 pax, had enjoyable trip in Shanghai 3D2N, by our tour guide Ms Laura, and itinerary planner Ms Rita. We actually be in Shanghai for Royal Carribean 5D4N “Quantum of the Seas”, where we boarded frm Wusongkou International Cruise Terminal. Many of our group members have been to Shanghai years ago, but now this re-visiting have been excellent pleasant experiences. We visited Yu Garden, Shanghai World Financial Centre, Starbucks Roastery, Tian Zi Fang, Buddha Temple. As limited time, we missed Shanghai Museum. But still everything is perfectly well arranged. Will definitely engage the team for next tour in China :).

We booked the 6-Day Shanghai Yangtze Cruise with China Discovery and had a blast! I was very nervous about booking everything online, but Yanny He, our travel consultant, was excellent! All my fears and concerns were handled and I was assured that guides would be there to pick us up and drop us off for the entire trip. It was like clockwork! The cruise was excellent---the ship well appointed (Century Sun), the included excursions wonderful, the lectures and entertainment on board outstanding, the crew delightful, and the scenery mind-blowing. Our days in Shanghai were chilly but lots of fun & our guide gave us some excellent suggestions beyond the tour. All in all I highly recommend China Discovery. Yanny He (my online consultant) was patient, knowledgeable in all aspects of the trip, and very organized---as were all the guides throughout the trip. If you love China or are curious about it, take this trip!

Wonder Wang organised an incredible memorable tour for us. our ten day trip in China was faultless - from the minute we put our feet in China right up to our flight home we were cared for in every detail. our guides and their drivers were simply amazing. Forest in Beijing, besides being very knowledgeable was a caring and lovely human being. Avril in Shanghai and Vivian in Xian were excellent as well. Their English was excellent. Punctual, arranged great lunches and simply excelled in all areas. Wonder arranged lovely hotels in the best locations. I would highly recommend China Discovery to anyone who wants to travel in China. 110% all the way!!

My son and I just returned from a seven day trip to Beijing, Xi'an and Shanghai. The trip was booked with China Discovery and I would like to express my satisfaction and appreciation for a well organized and extremely enjoyable trip from beginning to end. The guides - Lindsay and Vivienne in Beijing , Timo in Xi'an , Laura in Shanghai were all organized, punctual, pleasant and professional. Everything went smoothly and we really enjoyed the 5-star hotel package. The food that was included exceeded our expectations for most of the time and the drivers were courteous and safe . Many thanks China Discovery for helping us to experience such a wonderful time.

Every step of this tour from China Discovery was proactively, kindly and professionally managed by Rita Jiang. I was not sure where to start to safely book this once in a lifetime trip in China from the US. I found China Discovery and so glad I did. The trip to off the beaten path Putuoshan was gorgeous, spiritual and inspiring. I never could have done it by myself. My flight from the US to China was delayed by 24 hours and Rita quickly made accommodations for the delay during a stressful travel time for me. You can’t underestimate kindness, responsiveness and advocacy when traveling abroad, and I will be forever grateful to Rita and China Discovery for this life enhancing journey to China and Putuoshan Island. When headed back to China, I’ll be contacting them again. Highest recommendation from New Mexico, USA.