Just writing to let you know that we had a very enjoyable trip to China. Everything worked very well except our flights to and from Lhasa which were delayed for 1 day 2 different times. Our tour guides were great! We especially liked Peggy (Xian) and Sheri (Beijing).

  Dear Andy,

We are back home from our cruise and wanted to let you know that we enjoyed our time in China very much. Thank you for all the help with arrangements. All of the guides that assisted us were very professional and knowledgeable. They spoke very good English and were able to communicate very well. Our flight from Shanghai to Yichang had to stop in Wuhan because of bad weather in Yichang, so we did not get to Yichang until the following morning, and we were unable to communicate the change with anyone. Yet, your guides were at the airport to greet us when our plane finally did arrive. Because of a low river flow, we were unable to take the East Queen all the way to Chongqing. When we arrived in Chongqing by bus, your guides were there to meet us and they had already secured our luggage. The only point in our trip that we were not met timely was upon our arrival in Shanghai on Sunday, April 7th. Perhaps, that was due to the fact that we were put on a different flight than initially shceduled, but we arrived at the Shanghai airport at the time on our schedule. Fortunately, a man from the same travel agency was at the airport and helped us out.
Thank you again for helping make our trip enjoyable and memorable.

  Yes it was my intention to further brief you on our observations with the tour. On the whole things were pretty well organized although there appears to have been an internal lack of communication.
It had been our clear indication that we wanted to spend a maximum time at the Imperial palace and not to be rushed through. When we went there it was very soon clear that this would not be the case and that the driver had been arranged to pick us up at 11:00 at the northern gate. Earlier we had indicated to our guide that we wanted to see the permanent exhibitions at the palace only to be told that there werent any. On the day itself we had to adamantly insist that this was what we wanted to do and which exhibitions we wanted to see. This was reluctantly agreed to because she was not sure whether a deviation of the standard tour was permitted. Generally if we wanted something that was not preprogrammed down to the level of having a cup of coffee when the opportunity presented itself, opposition was encountered.
The visit to the Beijing Art Museum did not eventuate as your Beijing office did not find out where the museum was nor whether it was open or not. This lead to further frustration so we had to reorganize our schedule and went that afternoon to the Temple of Heaven and the next day to Song Qingling House which was interesting within itself and we would otherwise not have seen, however that does not alter the fact that the organization left something to be desired.
It was only on discussing with the manager the arrangements for visiting the Taoist Temple and our request to see a geomancer that it became evident that no proper attention had been given to our request. Ultimately after some discussion this matter was remedied but only after resistance had been overcome.
Similar rigidity we experienced with the venue for the lunches. These were not chosen with respect to the itinerary to be taken and we would have to back track after lunch to visit the next part of the tour. Such additional unnecessary travel is not appreciated particularly when the restaurants are typical tourist stations with little Chinese character, we could eat in such establishments in any country in the world. The only lunch that was memorable was the one that we had at the Beihai Park but this was after we made our feelings about the chosen venues clear.
In a situation where one organizes what is in effect a private tour, we do expect flexibility and to have our expectations met and it would be advisable that after arrival in China the local office takes the trouble to go through the schedule in detail to know exactly what is expected such that it can make the appropriate arrangements. Our observation is that these were not quite to our expectations.
Having lived in overseas countries for many years now, we know that it is often difficult to get staff that is proficient in English and in this case also we would suggest that Barbara needs to put in a concerted effort to improve her language proficiency as often questions were not understood and answers did not give the required details.
However all-in-all we had a very memorable experience by visiting Beijing and its exceptional sites with the weather cooperating to a large extent with only some dust at the beginning and again at the end of our visit.

  Thank you for all your help with my trip in China. I completed a customer satisfaction questionnaire that I passed to Linda, my guide, at the end of my tour in Xian. The questionnaire was very complimentary about your service - Linda was an excellent guide and although my delayed flight due to the fog had an impact on what I could visit in Xian, everyone was very helpful.

Thanks again though for all your assistance - I had a very interesting and enjoyable holiday and I cannot wait to come back to China again.

Merry Xmas and a Happy New Year.

  Mr. Chen and Dragon were most accommodating. We always felt very safe and comfortable in the van. They were always prompt and cheerful. We asked to make a stop at the Motorcycle City and they arranged the visit easily. Dragon had many extra stories to tell us to help made the history come to life!

All in all, our trip to China was quite wonderful! Thank you!

  Dear Nancy,

I have enjoyed my trip to China very much. Many thanks for your excellent service. There is actually nothing what I could suggest to be improved.

You provide a very good service and I was very satisfied at any point of time. Without organized travelling and a guide on someones side it is very difficult to travel in China for someone who does not speak Mandarin.

I certainly will recommend your organization further.

Good luck and success.

Best regards,
Sandra

P.S. My best regards to my guide Holly.