Hubei Reviews - What Our Customers Say about Their Trips to Wuhan/Wudangshan...

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

Hi Vivien,

Actually, we liked the trip a lot, and I am even planning to go there again for a study

Hi Rita,

Today is wonderful! Thanks. We really enjoyed. I have to collect the photos from a few different phones, but I will send you some and write a review. We were so happy to have Amy guiding us. And she was very patient with our kids. If we are able to take another trip, we will definitely contact you.

Autumn

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

Hello Johnson,

Thank you for asking, all was good, enjoyable weekend trip. I have posted a few pictures in my moments, you can take a look.

Roy

Dear Jack,

Thank you very much for your advice and organizing of our 4 day trip to beautiful Wudangshan. It was a great big-city break and a perfect combination of nature and culture. Amy is an expert guide who knows her place well and showed us some most serene spots. We were very luck with the weather as well and are already thinking of coming back in autumn for more hiking and tai ji.

Best regards,

Lisa&Joe

Hi, Rita,

Thank you very much for asking. Sean was a great guide. We enjoyed the trip very much.. Seans suggestions about which places we should go was very appreciable.. and he was very caring the whole trip. Truely speaking I did not find any mistake to improve. Sean was very interactive which was amazing we never felt bored! Also he took us to his aunt's place for tea testing.. we enjoyed a lot.. thank you too for arrenging everything..

Wuyishan is beautiful indeed. So calm and not commercialised much.... very good selection of place for if someone wants to relax...

Dear Catherine,

Many thanks for organising the tour for us. Even though we have not ended the tour, i would like to provide feedback.

1. Thank you Catherine for being so prompt in the reply and your excellent organisation and planning. You are also very patient and accommodating towards the many requests and incessant enquiries from all of us.

2. Pick up and transfers at each destinations has been very prompt and smooth. There was never a time when we have to wait for the tour guides and this is very commendable.

3. At YiChang, i must commend Faye for her fast response. She has been very impressive and quick witted to get the tickets changed when my husband's passport was the wrong one. I must apologise for not checking that he has a new passport. Pls help me extend my most heartfelt thanks to Faye because it was too rush then.

4. Zhangjiajie's tour guide Wendy and driver Tang has been very accomodating towards the group's demands. She has been extremely patient with all of us , making our trip so peaceful. She also went beyond her duties to bring some of the members to the hair salon and shopping and kept us company till very late at night.

She has been very thoughtful in all her little actions, including packing our breakfast when we were catching an early flight.

She was able to integrate very quickly into the group and at the same time be quick to make all arrangements n command our attention. 

Her knowledge of Zhangjiajie has helped us to understand the locals, the cultures and she is also creative to describe the different caves n peaks in the mountains so that enjoying the scenery became even more menaningful.

We are enjoying ourselves and hope that the last part of our tour will help us bring back great memories of China.

Thank you Catherine once again for your excellent service.

Wendy

Dear Riley,

I agree to allow my answers and comments below regarding our China travels arranged by our Tour Operator Ms Riley Guo be put on your website.

1.Did your travel consultant of our company quickly reply to your E-mails and were they patient enough to answer your questions?

- Yes, Ms Riley Guo assisted me in planning our entire tour from beginning to end (from Kunming to Beijing) months before our trip, patiently guided me through every aspect of our journey making good suggestions and provided alternates.

- She always replied to my email inquiries promptly, answering all questions I had for her.  She is extremely patient and courteous throughout the "developmental" stages of our planning.

2.Do you have any comments concerning your tour arrangements?

- The tour arrangements were exactly as planned, with the only exception when we encountered a problem where the original plan had to be modified, see answers to Q 4 below.  The Tour Operator handled our problem in a timely fashion to our great satisfaction, in face above my expectations. When we encountered other minor problems during our tour, we received prompt attention and assistance from Ms. Guo promptly via WeChat and phone calls, often outside of regular office hours.  

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

- Definitely "Yes".  I have no hesitation of recommending your services to anyone interested.

4.What is your general opinion of us?

My opinion regarding:

- Advice and guidance provided in planning stage: Excellent!

- Ms Riley Guo our Tour Operator: Very knowledgeable, paid attention to details.

- Cost: I found your cost very reasonable and easily affordable.

- Efficiency: You run an efficient operation.

- Accuracy: Ms. Guo's suggestions and plans were accurate.

- Honesty: My travel team and I are particularly impressed by the honesty and integrity of your approach to business and in treating your customers when problems do arise.  I will cite the following Two Examples:

(1)  When Ms Guo made a minor error in our planning, she offered to take $100USD off from our final fees.  When I found out that the fee reduction would come out of her commission I was so impressed with her honesty I declined to accept the fee reduction.  I would suspect many operators would not even inform the client of such errors.

(2) You were not able to book the high speed train ride for us from Yichang to Beijing after the Yangtze River Cruise.  Instead your company put us on a flight for that, and you arranged for a guided day tour of Yichang while waiting for flight time at NO EXTRA costs to us.  It was a surprise and pleasant tour.  

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

- I think you are already proving a reliable and trustworthy service to your clients as experienced by me and my travel companions.

- The fact that Ms Guo has such a superb command of written English would no doubt be an invaluable asset to your company in helping non-Chinese speaking clients from overseas who want to explore China.

Hi Johnson,

Hope this email find you well. 

My family and I have returned to Sydney after 6 weeks of travelling! I want to thank you for arranging our 25 days China tour which we have really enjoyed. The itinerary was good although a bit tiring! 

China was amazing and your service in organizing and trouble shooting while we were there was greatly appreciated.

On reflection, we realized the highlights during our tours were the cities where we had a good guide and driver.

FYI the guides in SuZhou (Sarah), Guilin (Summer), Kunming (Jessie) and Lijiang ( Susan) and Chengdu (Jane) were all amazing. Their English and knowledge were very good. They made these cities/ places come alive for us.

Alan in Hangzhou took us to the best restaurant and ordered the best lunch we had in 25 days. Again a memorable city for us

On the flip side, Dali which was a beautiful city but we did not enjoy mostly because our guide ( Shirley) does not speak English well. We could not understand her narrative or explanation most of the time. The guide in Wuhan ( Jennifer) was very unhelpful, was on her phone most of the time unless we asked her questions. For e.g. The highlight of Wuhan to us was the yellow crane tower but she did not even bother to walk up with us  ( and gave us 20 min to go up and come down) As we all could not read Chinese , it made all the beautiful artworks, poems and historical significance a complete loss to us! At the Eastlake, again a beautiful area she rushed us in and out because she said we did not have enough time but we ended finishing the day around 4 ! As you know she also ignore us during lunch so I had to send you the complaint myself! So Wuhan to use was the least enjoyable day.

For your reference, I think you have to ensure the guides you provide to any group you organize speak good English and are experience and helpful.

Overall, I think it was a great tour and your service is excellent from start to finish. I will certainly recommend you to my friends and hope to organize a Silk Road tour with you  in the near future !

Thanks again

Regards

Sharon

Hi, Laura,

I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for the excellent work that you had done for us in organising the holiday.

We all had a fantastic time and the guides at Chongqing, Yichang and Zhangjiajie are all excellent. The cruise was great and sceneries at Zhangjiajie are just breathtaking.

The transition from cruise to train and also to plane went smoothly. The train ride from Yichang to Zhangjiajie is an interesting experience for us as we are not use to bunker beds on train. We probably should have pick seat only. Anyway, an excellent tour and I will certainly recommend your company to any of my friend who maybe heading that way.

I also attached a group photo so that you can remember us.

Thanks again and have a happy national day holiday.

Thanks & regards,

Sin Poh

(The following photos were shared by Sin Poh)

Sin Pon and his Group visited Yangtze River

Good Morning Wonder,

Sorry it took so long to say Thank You for your follow up. You had been so gracious to call me this morning, we were in route to the 3 Gorges when you called, unfortunately we got disconnected before I could even say Thank You for your being so concerned about us on your day off from work. 

Everything went so smoothly from Yichang to Zhangjiajie, Fe from Yichang waited and made sure we were situated in our cabin before she said goodbye, she even got us a porter to help us with the luggages.

When we arrived in Zhangjiajie, Lily was already standing by the train looking for us. She even helped with our luggages by herself. Both guides from these 2 places did absolutely wonderful. But I knew it is all because of you being on top of everything.

What ever happened is in the past, I am the kind of person that never look back, I only look forward. The reason I brought them to your attention was for the sole purpose of just updating.

To me, you are still the person I knew , you made our trip wonderful and I truly appreciate everything you did to make this happened.

Thank you.

Sincerely,

Rosy