Anne's Feedback on 14-Day China Tour

China Highlights, you and all our guides made our trip! Thank you so much to you, Gerry, Jonathon, Mark, Bruce, Ping, and Alex – and of course all the amazing drivers – for what was an outstanding trip to China. I am most pleased that we were able to get to all the places we wanted to get to and we appreciated the extra activities you interspersed into our itinerary.

Hi Lily,

China Highlights, you and all our guides made our trip! Thank you so much to you, Gerry, Jonathon, Mark, Bruce, Ping, and Alex – and of course all the amazing drivers – for what was an outstanding trip to China. I am most pleased that we were able to get to all the places we wanted to get to and we appreciated the extra activities you interspersed into our itinerary.

To give you some of our highlights, I’m going to share some of the things we especially appreciated:

Beijing and Gerry’s masterful job of getting us to see a blend of cultural high points as well as gain insight into local, contemporary life was outstanding. We got to all the appointed places and still managed, with his help, to find additional experiences in the evening. We especially loved the Garden of Virtue and Harmony – the park with all the people doing their various activities. It gave us a glimpse into current day China. Of course, the Great Wall blew us away. But, the Lama Temple was special – as were so many of the temples – for our group that included three Christian ministers interested in other culture’s worship and faith traditions. We appreciated that Gerry stayed with us to get us on the train and helped us understand how bullet trains work. We also appreciated his help in getting us into the Capital M so we could enjoy an outstanding meal and view of Tieneman Square and his help in getting us to the meal of Peking Duck with a River contact of mine. In doing so, we saw yet another part of Beijing, too.

Ping Yao was the perfect second leg in our trip. Going to Jing’s Residence, walking the wall, leisurely visiting the local temple and the setting of Jing’s and the people there gave us a chance to absorb and to rest after the fast pace of Beijing. It has a reflective ambiance that was just perfect at that juncture in the itinerary. Imam, the manager, was outstanding at anticipating our needs and interests.

Xi’an, and Mark and the Hilton, all came together well. Mark’s commentary and enthusiasm for his city and its history gave us great insights. The Terra Cotta Warriors were even more impressive than we’d imagined. The bike ride around the wall gave us the exercise we needed after riding around in the van and it gave us a great perspective on the city. Both couples loved the calligraphy lessons and the ability to buy paintings at the end of the Wild Goose Pagoda. As a result we have special remembrances to hang on our walls to remind us of the trip.

We loved the Reed Flute Cave in Guilin and the boat ride to Yangshuo. Of course it was fun to meet you and we were sorry you couldn’t join us for dinner. Ping was an excellent guide in the cave, on the boat ride and trying to get us tickets to the light show. She filled in as best she could on the rained-out events and we really loved her recommendation for dinner in Yangshuo. As it turned out, we loved walking back to our hotel in Yangshuo because Ping recommended a very good local artisan shop where we could see very fine traditional workmanship. And the evening’s street festivities were energizing and another great glimpse into life in China. Our cooking class and the trip to the market added to the experience. I’m so glad the instructor had patience! We were a tough crowd, with our cooking partners only speaking German and us only speaking English. She was amazing. And now we have recipes to try at home.

Hong Kong was totally different from our other destinations both in weather and in tone. We loved it! The Grand Harbour Kowloon was outstanding as a place to see views of Hong Kong and we were so glad to have rooms on the water! Alex was right there to meet us at the airport (By this time, we had come to expect that.) While we had hoped to do more in Hong Kong, we admitted we were so tired, the shorter day was welcome. Alex did set us up in the evening in great restaurant with a great view. He was very good at reading what we would like!

I want to put in an extra plug for Ping Yao and Jing’s residence. It balanced out our China experience and the Residence was a favorite of all of ours. We highly recommend it for your other guests if they are over 50-year-old Westerners. It may not appeal to a young crowd, but we met several international travelers staying there who were thoroughly enjoying themselves as well.