Shanxi Reviews - What Our Customers Say about Datong/Pingyao/Wutaishan Tours

Hi Jack,

We had a great time on our trip thanks.

The trip went very well (apart from a rainy day in Pingyao), with no hitches.

Guides were all excellent, and took us to some great restaurants! All drivers were good as well - all punctual and drove safely.

Hotels were excellent, with the Beijing and Pingyao hotels standing out.

We had a great time and are sorry that it's over so quickly!

Many thanks.

Steve

Hi Rita,

Comments from Mr Lai : No complaints, excellent tour with helpful tour guide and driver.

I totally agree that Star and Khan both were great and very knowledgeable. Khan is a very good driver and definitely made us felt very safe.

Daily start/end time comfortable as we have many days, so not that tiring with the usual daily 'long hours'.

Thanks

Yee Lan

Dear Tracy,

Just wanted to say the trip was very successful and I enjoyed it tremendously. The itinerary/ sites visited were perfect, every single place was worth visiting. Many thanks for your patience with the many changes made to the travel plans and I really appreciated your prompt response to my enquiries. I would definitely travel China with China Discovery again.

Yours sincerely,

S. Lam

Hi Rita,

Thanks for the follow up.

We are very happy with our guides and driver.

We certainly would recommend your services to people who are planning to visit China.

Maybe one suggestion for foreigners that visit China for the first time: let them know about communication and payment in China. They are done via specific Chinese app/ softwares that sometimes requires a local help (e.g. hotel help desk)

Thanks Rita,

Yves and Chloe

Dear Evelyn,

We are already halfway into our trip. We very much enjoy the program. The guides are great! Thank you for making this possible.

We could not change our departure date from Xian therefore there will be almost no time for any sight seeing on the 21st.

Best regards

Walter

Hello Rita,

Yes we are home safely after an enjoyable, busy 3 weeks travelling around China.

Thank you for putting together such an interesting tour. The time passed so quickly. Had we not been on a 3 week time line I would have added a rest day every 3-4 days. That would have been a good addition.

The hotels were all lovely. I liked those that had a bath best, because after an energetic day walking, one could soak the muscles and rest for a while.

We loved travelling in the trains. Thanks for organising the comfortable upgrades.

I am glad our guides met us at the stations & dropped us off though. The stations are huge and finding the right platform was made easier with the guides help.

We had minor problems.

1. Shanghai- There are 2 exits and we went to the wrong one. However we rang the guide and then we found one another.

2. Another, was when we missed the transit sign & walked the wrong way following the crowd. Fortunately Bruce noticed & helped us get to the right place so we could get the connecting train in time.

3. My seat was already taken on one of the trains. I was advised by the conductor to walk through the train to carriage 8, get off, and get on again. There were 2 trains joined together. I wasn’t sure if the train would wait for me as they only stop for a minute! Fortunately the staff were very helpful getting me off, and getting me on again. They seated me next to Bill.

The tourist attractions we visited were outstanding. Everything we saw was worthwhile. We loved the spectacular Stage Shows.

We loved the cruise. We made new friends, had a lot of shipboard fun. The concierge and other staff were lovely.

Our guides were friendly, helpful and really good company.

We are happy to see how well China is going with trains, stations , roads, housing. National Parks and environmental protection. Good job!

We would recommend your Tour Company should anyone ask . We were very happy with everything.

All being well, we will return to do the other half of the original trip.

Here are some happy photos from Our enjoyable time visiting China.

Yours sincerely.

Carol & Bill

Dear Wonder,

In Datong we forgot to give a comment on the service there.

We were very satisfied with both. The driver was also very polite. May was an excellent guide with good English and knowledge of the history. Many thanks to her. She earns the number 5!

So far we are very happy with the trip.

Kind regards,

Urs and Ingrid

Dear Wonder,

you might WONDER that we put no claim on today’s hotel room. We are very happy, it’s one of the best hotel room with a wonderful view. Enjoy the evening.

Urs and Ingrid

Thank you Rita.

We are very sad that our trip is coming to an end. So far we have had a fantastic time and seen and done some amazing things.

I had a bit of spare time on the high-speed train so came up with this to help your customers. Up to you if you want to use it or make any adjustments (but I think it would be most helpful once people have booked) it reads as follows...

As part of your journey around fascinating and spectacular China, you will most likely take one or more of China Railways High Speed Trains.

These trains are both fast and efficient, enabling you to cover great distances quickly and in comfort.

You may be required to board the train without the assistance of a guide. This may occur depending on station regulations.

The following is suggested as information for travelers. Please note that this is not a definitive guide, as there may be differences depending on station and location, and may be subject to change.

First and most importantly, there are plenty of clean toilets at the stations, and the trains also have Western toilets in each carriage.

Whether you travel First or Second Class is up to you, but there is plenty of leg room in both classes. All trains are non smoking.

AT THE STATION.

Once at the station you will be required to go through security. You will need your passport for this. Your passport is linked to your ticket. We recommend wheeled suitcases or suchlike as luggage trolleys are not provided. Please note that your main bag will travel with you on the train. Unlike a plane where certain items can travel in the hold, prohibited items will be confiscated. Eg. Knives or souvenir swords.Check ahead for prohibited items to avoid disappointment.

You will need your passport, the train number, carriage number and seat allocation for your journey. This will be provided by your guide or on your itinerary. It will also pay to know your departure time.

There are departure boards in multiple places in the stations. These will link your train number with a boarding gate.

Your trains details will be in one of 3 colours.

Yellow: information stage

Green: boarding stage

Red: departure stage.

In order to run efficiently the trains do not wait. Please be in the correct place ready to board. Depending on the number of train carriages, there may be 2 boarding gates. Eg. 4A and 4B. These will correspond to the carriage number. Don't panic if you get it wrong, but it may result in having to walk a little further on the platform to get to your carriage.

You will need your passport to leave the station to go to the platform. There are lines for self check-in and another for passports/ assisted check-in. This may be detailed overhead, or look for the person manning the assisted check-in line. Use this line to proceed to the platform.

PLATFORM / TRAIN

If no train in platform: There are markings on the ground showing the approximate carriage location. You should wait there. If in doubt you can ask for help.

If train is at platform: Check the train number on the side of carriage.(in case two trains either side of platform)

Find your carriage number and board. Seat numbers are clearly labeled. Place your big luggage overhead. Some trains have additional storage at carriage end. Do not store drink bottles overhead as they may leak, due to cabin pressure.

Depending on the length of your journey some basic food may be available (cashless transactions.) You can take your own food if you wish. Hot water is also available on board.

Enjoy your safe and comfortable journey. Be sure to take in the scenery as you travel.

ARRIVAL

Not all train services may terminate at your destination. The next station is shown on a display at both carriage ends (in English also) . Knowing your arrival time will further assist you in getting off at the correct station.

If you are being met at the station your previous guide should give you directions where to meet, as the stations are normally large with multiple exits. You can also have your next guides name and phone number if you wish. You will need your passport again to exit the station terminal, at the manned checkout line.

Depending on the station layout you will be met at the terminal exit, or the arranged location. Your happy, smiling guide will have your name on a signboard to welcome you, and be ready to assist as required.

Dave

Dear Wonder,

we checked in and the room is really GREAT.

Regards

Urs and Ingrid

Dear Wonder,

we had a great time here with a nice guide. She promised us, that her English will improve during the coming years.

Thanks and a good start into the coming week.

Regards

Urs and Ingrid

Hi Rita,

Sorry for the delay, I thought you might like to look at this review and see if you would like to use it.

I have also included some photos that you can use if you want.

Review as follows...

If you are reading this review you are probably wondering should I use China Discovery and is it legit. The answer to both is a definite yes. Coming from New Zealand my wife and I along with our 16 year old daughter did a 28 day trip. We tailored our itinerary (with the help of Rita) and had a private tour. It was all fantastic and super organized. We loved the flexibility that our tour gave us. The local guides knowledge ensures you get the most out of each day and gives you a great insight into the area and local lifestyles.

I would highly recommend them for anyone who wants a great time traveling in China. We certainly did. Many thanks to Rita and all the guides who made our trip so awesome.

Cheers Dave, Tracey and Amber.

Dear Wonder,

Should you be interested whether we arrived good, yes we did! We enjoyed the first week with Jack.

Regards

Urs and Ingrid

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

Good morning Zeva,

Sorry for let you waiting, I wanted to send you some picture taken by canon but I didn’t have the time yet.

First of all thank you for everything, The tour fast perfect and we enjoyed so much! We did The review some weeks ago and of course, you can use our comments and pictures.

I attach here some pictures

Laura

Hi, Ms.Wing Zeng,

sorry to reply till now, as follows:

(1) Is your travel consultant of our company fast enough to answer your E-mail and patient enough to answer your questions?
Generally, the answer to my email is fast enough except for weekends for instance when the consultant seems not to be working. As for patience, no problem, we discuss the issues concerned at lengths until it is “solved” one way or the other.

(2) How do you comment your tour arrangements?
Well, the travel plans are created successively as the time goes by, mainly from the customer side. It undergoes quite many changes , even big one (like changing South Xinjiang plan to North Xinjiang plan) and/or at the late stage of the planning discussion to take into account other unexpected issues like the air plane schedule. Some arrangements e.g. those from Shanxi part are mainly taken from your company’s template offering until later when we are adding Hukou Waterfall to it as “it is on the way to Xi’an”.

(3) Are you willing to recommend our service to your people who also have an interest to visit China?
Yes.

(4) Your general opinion on us?
From the practical experience with the tour guides you are providing, it shows the difference with other trave company’s offering. Keep on using good tour guide to make the travelers happy.

T.H.Go

Dear Echo 

Sorry for my late reply but I passed the evaluation form to Johanna, did you get it? We love Yi De hotel very much including its restaurant. Johanna and the driver are very nice and helpful too.

Now my husband and I are planning for the next trip and we would like to seek your help also ~ private tour for two, Zhangye/Jiayuguan/Dunhuang, for about 5-7 days, during the period between May 18 and May 28, and we will fly from Beijing. I think May is good season for visiting these places? Your thoughts/proposal is highly appreciated.

Thanks and regards

Amanda 

Hello Mr Li

we really enjoyed our tour in China. Hotels in Beijing New World Bejiing Hotel, Sofitel in Xi'an, Sofitel in Chengdu and Grand Meridien in Shanghai were super (meet our expectations).

As for the train it has change a lot in 20 years and you were right it was alright and efficient

Our guides were Sally in Bejiing, Iris in Pingyao,Crystal in Xi'an, Kevin in Chengdu and Caroline in Shanghai. The four first one asked us to complete a form for evaluation of their services we gave them back the form with our comments, we really like them and what we saw

We liked the visit of the hutongs in Beijing, the forbidden city, the summer palace, the temple of Heaven, the great wall and the Ming tombs. Crystal in Xi'an took us on a place between the bell tower and the drum tower it was really a good spot for pictures; when we went to The Terra cotta museum it was raining heavily but she help us find good shoes cover

Chengdu also meet our expectations, the Panda research base, the Jilin street,etc

As we told Iris in Pingyao the bathroom in the hotel was dirty and the food were not good but Iris and the driver were very nice. We liked Pingyao

As for Shanghai heavy rain and smog made it impossible to visit as planned, we were told that Yu garden was under renovation.

We would be pleased to recommend China Discovery

Best regards

Hi Vivien,

I am writing to thank you for our wonderful trip to china. All the guides and drivers were great and taught us a lot. Our hotels were in good positions with our favourites being sunrise on the bund in shanghai and the Tianyuankui hotel in Pingyao. The others were a little dated and a bit too much alike. Thanks again for a great trip.

Dear Ian,

The day before yesterday we arrived at Beijing, the end of my tour with China Discovery. I am doing some sightseeing on myself in Beijing these couple of days, except tomorrow I will do a day tour to the Great Wall at Mutianyu and the Mings tomb, arranged by Jade. After I am back in the Netherlands, I will give you a more detailed feedback.

However, a first response :

Everything went very well. Johanna is waiting for us when we arrived and she is an excellent, friendly and capable guide. We have enjoyed our tour very much; the tour programme as well as the explanations and care by Johanna. The driver is also friendly and helpfull; did his driving job very well (safe ). Hotels are good. Hotel in Pingyao is on the other hand excellent. Back in Beijing, Jade picked up us on time at the station, as one could expect.

All by all, we have enjoyed our tour in Pingyao, Mianshan and Datong organized by you.

kind regards,

Ing Widya

Hi Isabel,

Happy New Year to You!

The trip was wonderful, we had a great time thanks to all your arrangements :) All the hotels were comfortable and in good locations. The food was generally good with a wide choice  of both western and Chinese choices for breakfast.  The room sizes even with the extra bed for Jessica were also fine. All the tour guides were very good.  I think Evelyn was our favorite, her english was excellent and she had a relaxed manner and was flexible about finding things we wanted to do.

I think my favorite parts of the trip where:

- The rafting trip from Jiuxian, that was so much fun and I would highly recommend it.

- Riding bicycles on the city wall in Xi'an

- Pingyao

- the Great Wall, we were so lucky with the weather, the skies were clear blue and we could see forever, plus as it was the day before the big holiday there was hardly anyone on the wall.

- the acrobats in Shanghai.

It was all wonderful really but those were especially enjoyable.

We did not anticipate how important the New Year holiday was and just how many Chinese people would be out touring during the week of the holiday. Or that restaurants would book up or even close over the holiday. However that was only a problem in Beijing and Shanghai.

We would definitely recommend your travel company to others wanting to visit China. The arrangement were excellent and I really appreciated the way you worked with me as we set up the itinerary. All the information you gave me along the way was helpful and accurate and everything went very well.

Thank you again, and I hope this rather long report on our trip answers all your questions.

Anna McHale