A UK Resident

A UK Resident

Britain

Reviewed on April 21, 2025

Dear Tracy

Here is our formal evaluation form for the holiday we have just returned from yesterday.

1. Travel Consultant.

Tracy Tan provided an excellent, speedy and patient service in putting together a short customised tour for us. She obviously listened to our needs, took account of our age and was proactive in making suggestions for us to consider. We had originally intended to stay longer in China, but we had to change plans and visit Japan instead. No matter, the service we received from your company was unaffected. Other agencies, we suspect, would have downgraded our importance and consequent service level.

2. Tour Arrangements.

Our guides, Peter, Lock and Joe, together with our driver Mr Hu, were a first-class team and deserve extremely high praise for their consideration of our wellbeing, polite manners and flexibility to accommodate our tour itineraries. The level of English comprehension and speaking by the guides was exemplary and is to be congratulated.

In two days in Beijing city, we managed to see Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City, Jingshan Park, the Summer Palace, the Temple of Heaven, practise some Tai Chi, do some shopping in the Pearl Market and wander around the Xinjiekou hutong area.

We did a fabulous two-day trek on the Great Wall from Gubeikou to Jinshanling and on to Simetai West to have a more off the beaten track experience of the Wall, away from the huge crowds in the more popular sections. We even managed to fit in a trip to Gubei Water Town on the way back.

Both hotels we stayed at, the Beijing SSAW Garden Hotel and the Jinshanling Great Wall Hotel were excellent suggestions, and we would recommend their use.

3. Agency recommendation

We have no hesitation in recommending China Discovery to other UK based people who are looking for a more customised service on their holiday.

4. General opinion of your company

Our general opinion of China Discovery, based on this holiday, is that they provide a professional service with a human touch. Normally, we are independent travellers and have been fortunate enough to have lived long enough to have visited many countries across most continents. We are not people who go on cruises or join big tour groups. At no point on this holiday did we feel we were just making up the numbers or were subject to a tired, formulaic, touristic approach, even when the city tours included popular places. In fact, we changed our planned itinerary for an entire afternoon without causing a ripple.

5. Service improvement suggestions

a. We already knew about the restrictions on foreigners being able to access the internet and use basic tools like search, maps and translation. We found this to be extremely inconvenient on our trip. We believe it would enhance your competitiveness in the travel market if you could find a way to help your clients to access the internet and see results in the English language.

b. Our time in China was greatly improved by the use of a portable wifi provided by the company for us to trial. This was similar to technology another company was using for our Japan part of the trip. We believe your competitiveness would be enhanced by making this a standard part of your product offering.

c. We also benefited from the additional support we received from the guides over the use of We Chat and its associated payment app. This social media technology plus the use of Microsoft's Translate app (as distinct from Google's products) helped us greatly in our attempts to communicate with Chinese people in hotels and shops. Neither of these apps can be downloaded by foreigners inside the China Firewall. We suggest you inform your clients to download such apps before they start their journey from outside China and then ask your guides to help enable their use on their arrival.

A UK Resident

Destination(s): Beijing
Date of Experience: April 5, 2025
Trip Type: Traveled as Families
Tour Customized by: Tracy

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