Shanxi Reviews - What Our Customers Say about Datong/Pingyao/Wutaishan Tours

Dear Wonder

Thank you for your email. We are now back in UK after our amazing trip and we’re very happy to give you some feedback.

1. Is your travel consultant of our company fast enough to answer your E-mail and patient enough to answer your questions?
You have always been very fast in replying to us…….usually within 24hours. When you were going to be unable to do so because of personal commitments or the Spring Festival, you let us know and replied as soon as possible after that. We have been impressed with your efficiency and thorough answers to our questions. When we had difficulty in finding a suitable way to pay because of very different systems in China and UK, you gave us different options and provided all the information we needed. It has been easy to communicate with you and we have been very happy with your service.

2. How is tour arrangement, including the drivers,tour guides,hotels,etc?
Tour Arrangement: The itinerary was so interesting, varied and well planned. We were able to visit the famous places in your country such as Tian’anmen Square, The Great Wall, Terracotta Warriors etc but also places that are less well known to people in the West. All the journeys between cities were carefully arranged and the timing was good. The train journeys were excellent but we found the stations a little confusing, particularly Wuhan. It would have been really helpful if the Guides could have come into the stations with us as we speak no Chinese. Sally in Yichang helped us enormously by writing out in Chinese all the information we needed in Wuhan. We were able to show this to a member of station staff who helped us find the train. It was a very busy 10 days and it might have been good to have a little more ‘free time’ but then we would not have seen as much!
Tour Guides and Drivers: The drivers were all good and helpful. We found the Buick cars quite difficult to get in and out of, particularly from the back seats. The Guides were all great and their English was extremely good. Jack (Beijing), Johanna (Pingyao) and Timo (Xi’an) were fantastic. Their knowledge about all the places was incredible and they were able to explain it all well. They were helpful in explaining and ordering lunch and in understanding our needs eg finding an ATM. They were also flexible in helping with problems eg when our friend needed to see a Chinese Herbalist. We enjoyed talking with the Guides very much.
Hotels: The hotels in Beijing and Xi’an were very good. David and I liked the hotel in Pingyao because it was different and less Western. However, we’re sure that some Westerners would not have liked it and it might be good if you told guests in the itinerary that this was a more typical Chinese hotel. There was no Western-style coffee at breakfast there. The Yangtze Gold cruise ship was ok but we saw much smarter ships on the river. The cabin and facilities were acceptable. We can see that the ship mainly caters for Eastern guests and their cultural expectations which we were happy to accept for a few days but it would be worth noting that Western guests like more flexible dining times, better entertainment and a greater sense of luxury. As all the ports where the ship stopped (except the final port) were deep in the gorge and there were many steps up from the river, this should be noted in the itinerary as some people would not be able to climb up.

3. Would you like to recommend our company?
We would be very happy to recommend China Discovery.

4. Points that your company might find helpful for Western guests.
• It is VERY expensive for Westerners to use their mobile phones abroad so most travellers prefer not to make or receive calls. They do not have wifi unless they are in a hotel etc so communication with Guides is difficult when travelling etc. Western guests might be advised to have a VPN or buy a Chinese SIM card. They might also be advised to download WeChat for easy communication.
• We do not use Alipay or WeChat in the West so this is an unfamiliar way of paying/transferring money. However this is essential in China as most places do not accept western credit cards.
Thank you.

With very best wishes

Sue and David

Dear Wonder

Thank you for arranging our holiday in China which was both educational and extremely enjoyable. I address the questions you ask on behalf of Jean and myself; I expect David and Sue will respond separately. I am not the photographer in the family. Jean will select some photographs to send you.

1. Is your travel consultant of our company fast enough to answer your E-mail and patient enough to answer your questions?
You always fully answered our questions overnight UK time so we had the answer the following morning. You were equally prompt when we were in China.

2. How is tour arrangement, including the drivers, tour guides, hotels, etc?
The tour arrangements were excellent, as were all the guides. Jack in particular was outstanding. The one criticism we would make was I your guide in Wuhan, with whom we had no contact, should have given you better advice to pass on about our the layout of the station at Wuhan. We didn’t realise on arrival for some ten minutes that arrivals and departures were on different floors in the manner of an airport. We ended up cutting it extremely fine to catch the train. We could well have lost it if you had not had the foresight to ask Sally to give us questions in Chinese which we took to the service desk.
The accommodation was excellent., although it might be advantageous to advise clients that the hotel in Pingyao is a historic building ,which is full of character but lacks the amenities of a modern hotel which they may prefer. The one disappointment was the boat, which was in need of refurbishment. While the quality of the food in the buffets was good, it was seldom other than lukewarm. There was a very limited range of equipment in the gym. It was difficult not to feel envious of passengers on Victoria Sabrina which we accompanied downstream.

3. Would you like to recommend our company?
100% - without hesitation. I am sure you personally will be approached by our friends for assistance when they visit China, which we will encourage them to do.

Thank you again for your arranging a memorable holiday.

Best wishes

Barrie

Good morning Zeva,

Sorry for let you waiting, I wanted to send you some picture taken by canon but I didn’t have the time yet.

First of all thank you for everything, The tour fast perfect and we enjoyed so much! We did The review some weeks ago and of course, you can use our comments and pictures.

I attach here some pictures

Laura

Hi, Ms.Wing Zeng,

sorry to reply till now, as follows:

(1) Is your travel consultant of our company fast enough to answer your E-mail and patient enough to answer your questions?
Generally, the answer to my email is fast enough except for weekends for instance when the consultant seems not to be working. As for patience, no problem, we discuss the issues concerned at lengths until it is “solved” one way or the other.

(2) How do you comment your tour arrangements?
Well, the travel plans are created successively as the time goes by, mainly from the customer side. It undergoes quite many changes , even big one (like changing South Xinjiang plan to North Xinjiang plan) and/or at the late stage of the planning discussion to take into account other unexpected issues like the air plane schedule. Some arrangements e.g. those from Shanxi part are mainly taken from your company’s template offering until later when we are adding Hukou Waterfall to it as “it is on the way to Xi’an”.

(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?
From the practical experience with the tour guides you are providing, it shows the difference with other trave company’s offering. Keep on using good tour guide to make the travelers happy.

T.H.Go

Dear Echo 

Sorry for my late reply but I passed the evaluation form to Johanna, did you get it? We love Yi De hotel very much including its restaurant. Johanna and the driver are very nice and helpful too.

Now my husband and I are planning for the next trip and we would like to seek your help also ~ private tour for two, Zhangye/Jiayuguan/Dunhuang, for about 5-7 days, during the period between May 18 and May 28, and we will fly from Beijing. I think May is good season for visiting these places? Your thoughts/proposal is highly appreciated.

Thanks and regards

Amanda 

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 Vivien,

I am writing to thank you for our wonderful trip to china. All the guides and drivers were great and taught us a lot. Our hotels were in good positions with our favourites being sunrise on the bund in shanghai and the Tianyuankui hotel in Pingyao. The others were a little dated and a bit too much alike. Thanks again for a great trip.

Dear Ian,

The day before yesterday we arrived at Beijing, the end of my tour with China Discovery. I am doing some sightseeing on myself in Beijing these couple of days, except tomorrow I will do a day tour to the Great Wall at Mutianyu and the Mings tomb, arranged by Jade. After I am back in the Netherlands, I will give you a more detailed feedback.

However, a first response :

Everything went very well. Johanna is waiting for us when we arrived and she is an excellent, friendly and capable guide. We have enjoyed our tour very much; the tour programme as well as the explanations and care by Johanna. The driver is also friendly and helpfull; did his driving job very well (safe ). Hotels are good. Hotel in Pingyao is on the other hand excellent. Back in Beijing, Jade picked up us on time at the station, as one could expect.

All by all, we have enjoyed our tour in Pingyao, Mianshan and Datong organized by you.

kind regards,

Ing Widya

Hi Isabel,

Happy New Year to You!

The trip was wonderful, we had a great time thanks to all your arrangements :) All the hotels were comfortable and in good locations. The food was generally good with a wide choice  of both western and Chinese choices for breakfast.  The room sizes even with the extra bed for Jessica were also fine. All the tour guides were very good.  I think Evelyn was our favorite, her english was excellent and she had a relaxed manner and was flexible about finding things we wanted to do.

I think my favorite parts of the trip where:

- The rafting trip from Jiuxian, that was so much fun and I would highly recommend it.

- Riding bicycles on the city wall in Xi'an

- Pingyao

- the Great Wall, we were so lucky with the weather, the skies were clear blue and we could see forever, plus as it was the day before the big holiday there was hardly anyone on the wall.

- the acrobats in Shanghai.

It was all wonderful really but those were especially enjoyable.

We did not anticipate how important the New Year holiday was and just how many Chinese people would be out touring during the week of the holiday. Or that restaurants would book up or even close over the holiday. However that was only a problem in Beijing and Shanghai.

We would definitely recommend your travel company to others wanting to visit China. The arrangement were excellent and I really appreciated the way you worked with me as we set up the itinerary. All the information you gave me along the way was helpful and accurate and everything went very well.

Thank you again, and I hope this rather long report on our trip answers all your questions.

Anna McHale