Shanxi Travel Reviews on Tripadvisor.com

Wonder Wang arranged a private tour for four comprising visits to Beijing, Pingyao, Xi'an and a 3 night Yangtse River cruise. I can't praise Wonder and China Discovery enough for the arrangements. Wonder responded to all our questions fully and speedily. The choice of 4* accommodation was excellent, and all the accompanied transfers, which one would find difficult on one's own, went without a hitch. All of the guides were very knowledgeable and spoke excellent English. I strongly recommend the company and Wonder.

We found China Discovery online and trusted them thanks to the beautiful reviews they got. Now I can confirm that they are absolutely fantastic and helpful! A special thank to Zeva that was very kind and helped us before the departure for all the organization and suggestions. The trip was perfectly customized according to our needs, we had some difficult request (as we asked to see the fishing with cormorants in Guilin) and she perfectly planned everything. Also all the local guides and drivers were very kind and helpful. During our last day we had the flight at midnight and asked to the last guide to bring us to have dinner before going to the airport and they found a special restaurant for us.

We did a fantastic 11 days Beijing-Pingyao-Xian-Guizhou-Guilin-Beijing Highlights Private Tour, China is enchanting with its spectacular landscapes and temples!!

We booked 2 separate private tours with China Discovery, one for 2 days in Beijing and the other 2 days in Datong.

Rita, our travel consultant, is very responsive and helpful in the course of organising them.

Similarly, the guides for both trips exceeded our expectations, with their friendliness (humour) and knowledge...we felt that we had an excellent history lesson on China and thoroughly enjoyed our trips!!

I strongly recommend their service

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!

T.H. Go

Long China trips for not-so-young people

Four of us in our 60-80s have recently returned from our 25 days trip (26.08-19.09) covering [1] Datong, Hanging Temple, Pingyao Ancient City, Yingxian Wooden Pagoda of Fogong Temple, Hukou Waterfall, Xi’an, [2] North Xinjiang (Urumqi Bazaar, Ulungur Lake, Hemu Village, Kanas Lake, Rainbow Beach, Guozigou Bridge, Sayram Lake, Karajun Grassland,Tekes County aka BaGua City), [3] Chengdu (Leshan Giant Buddha, Emei, Ya’an-Kangding,Luding Chain Bridge, Panda Tour), Huanglong Valley, Jiuzhaigou Valley, [4] Zhangjiajie, Fenghuang Ancient Town and finally, Beijing (on our own, 3 nights).

Above 4 group of sightseeing points are customized and planned with Ms. Wing Zeng of China Discovery with her friendly and professional suggestions and helps as well as personalized responses. Her selections of 7 tour guides (and drivers) all along the routes are mostly fine, who are knowledgeable in the subject matters involved, helpful and have tried their best to answer our numerous questions along the tours. This is in contrast to previous 2 China tours (of two members in our group) with other travel agency where the tour guide(s) were primarily taking them from one point to the next without too much “explanations”. Nevertheless, more “understandable English”-speaking guide (in 1 instance) would help non-Chinese-speaking tourist to enjoy the program more completely. Also, Chinese breakfast with western alternatives would be a plus for some of us (not so easy to adjust to the lifestyle of other country?).

The whole trip is of course no doubt tiring. Fortunately, at the end, we do “overcome”. And all of us are happy with the services rendered to us by this Chengdu-based China Discovery, with which we are connected via WeChat to Ms. Wing Zeng to deal with any unexpected issue arising out of the long trips without any problem as she has immediately, sovereignly reacted to the situation to address them.

We would highly recommend those who want to visit China to take the services of “China Discovery” based in Chengdu with their team of professional travel consultants like Ms. Wing Zeng into consideration to enjoy the trips less hassle.

Attached are some of our travel pictures to share the happy moments of this trip:

From planning to executing. I believe this is the best that everyone can give/get. The driver and tour guide are friendly which makes it easier for conversation for people who are not really good with conversation. I would use your service again when I visit China again in the near future.

I would recommend tourists to download wechat and provide a number for both sides, in case there's a need to contact the tourist/driver/tour guide due to different circumstances.

We had a 7-day private tour to Shanxi and it is great. I asked China Discovery to arrange a free day in Taiyuan, expecting that we would have city tour on our own but instead, Rita added Jinci to our itinerary and thanks for that! We love Jinci very much and really appreciate her professional thoughts. Shanxi has too many ancient temples worth visiting and for sure we will join Chin Discovery again.

My wife and I had a short break and wanted to travel from Huizhou to Shanxi to visit some historical sites in Datong and Pingyao. We booked our flight to Datong and planned to travel on our own, but quickly realized that we might have difficulty navigating the area and fitting in everything that we wished to visit. With only a few days' notice, I contacted Johnson at China Discovery. I the time, I didn’t realize that he had helped me previously, in 2018, when booking a Yangtze River Cruise.

Johnson and I originally discussed the 4 Days Datong Wutaishan Discovery Tour, then adding the two-day Pingyao option, but then cutting it down to only two days, since I specifically wanted to see the Yungang Grottoes, the Hanging Temple at Hengshan Mountain, and worried that the rest would be a challenge due to time constraints and it would be better to save it for another trip.

The entire experience with China Discovery was excellent. From Johnson’s help with the planning and scheduling to the actual experience at the sites with our tour guide Lucas. As noted, Johnson allowed us to modify the published tour to suit our needs, not only scheduling in a way so that what we needed would fit but allowing us to book our own hotels and choose the restaurants at which we wanted to eat. Our guide Lucas was awesome; he was friendly and knowledgeable. He considered our wishes and understood what we wanted to see, so we never felt rushed to move along. He also took great photos, so it was like having a photographer with me and my wife to help us capture the memories of the trip. In addition to Lucas, there was also a driver. He seemed nice, but we didn’t communicate with him much.

The first day started with a visit to the Hanging Temple. Since the Hanging Temple incorporates Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism, Lucas helped us understand how different parts of the temple incorporated different aspects of the religions. We then headed to the Yingxian Wooden Pagoda but ate at a local restaurant prior to entering the religious site. Again, Lucas was both knowledgeable about the site and fun to talk with.

Day two was scheduled to include trips to the grottoes, some local sites in Datong, and a ride to the railway station. I let Lucas know that the grottoes were a requirement, but that I wasn’t concerned about the other sites if it meant that we would need to rush. Again, Lucas was familiar with the site and customs and helped us to understand a bit about Buddhism. He made sure that we were aware of the time and options all along but honored our wish to focus on the grottoes. He got us to the railway station a little early and stayed to show us some meditative forms, that increase blood circulation, from the style of martial arts that he studies.

I am glad that we chose to book through China Discovery and I will continue to reach out to Johnson traveling in China. I also hope to be guided by Lucas sometime in the future or at least to keep in touch.

Excellent tour guide.

Went to Datong trip with three people.

The local guide who was with us was very professional and we learned a lot from him.

The explanation made our visit even more enjoyable.

He also provided recommendations on good restaurants and food. Kind and very knowledgeable.

Thank you for making our Datong trip wonderful.

The driver also was very good and safe driving skills.

Truly recommend it.

After 9 years in China, we're headed to Japan. A lot of life happened (including 3 kids growing up and graduating from HS) while we were here and we didn't make time to really see/experience China oWe used Wonder travel agent in Chengdu to set up our trip in September 2020 to Datong CN Shanxi.

Before the trip, the agent was extremely helpful replying to all our requests nearly instantaneously.

The trip itself was very well organized with a driver (Mr. Luoyang) and a guide (Ms. May) very helpful, always in time and very flexible to accommodate our request for photography.

In fact, we were so satisfied by the service that we are using again Wonder Chengdu for our next trip in October 2020.

The travel consultant Riley is amazing!! She gives all the useful tips and very considerate and efficient!. She made our trips cost effective and arranged the routes according to guests' needs. Highly recommend.

I decided that it was time to visit China again after the last trip to Yunnan Province. For anyone who has the experience of forming a trip from ground zero for a group with different arrival and departure dates, it is truly time consuming and difficult. I finally established the travel route, from Xian, Luoyang/Longmen Grottoes, Pingyao, Wutaishan, Yanmenguan, Hengshang Hanging Temple, Datong/Yungan Grottoes and exit via Beijing. All I relied on was Google Map (checking on location and distance), China's high speed train schedule for connection, Booking.com for hotel, skyscanner for flights and many different sites on the web for what to see. What I needed MOST was to find an expert in China to assess the viability of my holiday plan, offering new ideas and advice to shape my travel plans better. We also needed an English speaking guide, a vehicle, a driver, someone to book/issue our high speed train tickets, and other considerations relating to convenience, flexibility, safety, support, trust, cleanliness, friendliness, speed of response, visa application; and may I add, also a fair price without feeling being ripped off. Having emailed a few Chinese travel agencies, Leo Li from China Discovery reverted in a timely fashion, with clarity of good English, and a competitive quote. We soon started our engagement with emails to and fro. Needy travel companions were annoyingly making new demands and changes. Leo was so prompt and accommodating with multiple changes I made over the period of shaping and tightening my travel plans. I appreciated Leo's understanding and patience and the price revisions he kept making. The only anxiety I felt with Leo was when I had to send money over to China by Paypal to a different named person, without a formal offer and invoice. Despite Leo's explanation, I was worried but took a leap of faith this is China Discovery's work process. It turned out safe and sound, and Leo was quick to confirm the money transfer. Although I have never met Leo, my trust on him soon developed and I felt very comfortable relying on him and his expertise. When the trip started, we were provided with very reliable, friendly, experienced and most helpful and thoughtful guides. We were also impressed with the drivers who took such care on the road for our safety. We ended up having meals together most of the time. The guides recommended restaurants well. We avoided those standard tourist restaurants and went to where the locals would go. We enjoyed the food so very much, and China is not as cheap as before as my memory tells me. Well, one advice on booking hotels in China - use Ctrip.com (you get more options and better deals and can also book China's speed train of amazing network). When you are in Luoyang, make a day trip to explore the gorges around the area of Xiolangdi. When you are at Pingyao, include a day trip to Mianshang. We were there 14-28 Oct 2019, and we had mostly blue skies, autumn leaves and pleasantness around. I want to thank Leo for being such a reliable guy (leo@chinadiscovery.com) and a hickup-less trip! Bravo!

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.

We have heard and seen alot about how amazing China is, so my partner and I decided on a 10 days vacation to China. It's our maiden voyage to China and we selected Beijing as our first destination to kick start our adventure..

It was a last minute decision with additional complication when we decided to include a meet up with friends who are residing in North East of China. Our hectic daily schedule meant that very little time were spent on researching our trip. Fortunately we found China Discovery who were able to provide personalised travel itineraries. Wendy Dan was assigned to assist us in planning our trip. Wendy has a patient of a saint and she is extremely helpful, professional and obviously dedicated to her job.

We appreciate the complexity involved in the trip as we were pretty ambitious with our travel plans and we were constantly tweaking our schedule. Wendy was always on hand to assist and offers suggestions to suit our challenging travel plans. Our constant tweaking were compacting the timeline for Wendy to organise our trip.

We finally decided on a 5 days self organised travel plan prior to engaging the service of China Discovery for a 5 days Beijing and Datong trip.

When we embarked on the trip organised by China Discovery, we were concerned that the schedule may be punishing since we were constantly on the road for 5 consecutive days prior to China Discovery trip. Our concerns were unfounded, we found the travel itineraries very relaxing, accommodating and well planned. All our requests and requirements were well taken care off. The accommodations and transportation arrangement were of excellent and much appreciated.

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.

My wife and I went on a week long tour of the Shanxi region (Datong-Wutaishan-Taiyun-Pingyao) with China Discovery, and booked our tour with the help of Leo Li. Leo was very prompt and responsive to my requests, and the tour far exceeded any expectations that I had.

It was a private tour, and I had only prior experience with group tours and didn't know what to expect. Our tour guide, May, was very knowledgeable, kind, and very open to answering all our questions. We were very impressed by the Yunguan Grottos, the Hanging Temple, and the ancient city of Pingyao.

Accommodations were great, for the most part near the center of activity and very comfortable 3 star-type places. The best part of the trip were the lunches - they weren't tourist packages. Instead May took us to nice restaurants and helped us craft meals to our liking. The food was fantastic!

The tour went at our pace, and left us plenty of time to explore cities during evening free time. There were no shopping stops, nor pressure to take optional tours as one might have experienced in China trips from other companies.

I would strongly recommend China Discovery, organizing with Leo Li, and if you are traveling to Shanxi, requesting May to be your guide.