8 Day Tour in China Including Yangtze River Cruise
Marianne M

Marianne M

New Zealand

Reviewed on February 27, 2019

We chose a private tour as we wanted a relaxing trip, some time to ourselves, and flexibility. I arranged our 18 day trip through Catherine Liu (China Discovery, based in Chengdu). I made several changes to our itinerary, had many questions and a few concerns; Catherine responded quickly allying our concerns, providing more information, and making the changes requested. We travelled by air, bullet trains and private vans. All our guides were great, heaps of historic and local knowledge.

The Ice & Snow Festival in Harbin was on our bucket list, so expectations were high. Harbin is awesome: very friendly people, great food, stunning scenery, and didn’t feel as cold as we expected (due to the dry air, it felt 10 degrees warmer than it actually was – still cold though). I do recommend visiting the Snow Park towards the end on the day so you can catch the light show, it’s stunning. The second floor of the tourist information centre has some entertaining stuff to look at too.

Beijing was great! I do recommend going in the winter/off-season, as it is much less crowded. Our tour guide Eric was amazing; we loved his sense of humour, entertaining way of telling us about the history & chatty story titbits, and his enthusiasm was contagious. We were always either in awe or laughing. Unfortunately I started to get sick while in Beijing.

Xian was impressive, but unfortunately I got sicker. Catherine had kept in touch throughout, to see how I was, and arranged for me to visit the hospital with our interpreter. That was an experience I won’t forget.

We were so impressed with our tours, interpreters, drivers, and ongoing attention to detail (both pre & during the trip); we asked to meet Catherine when we were in Chengdu to thank her personally. The tour far exceeded our expectations, accommodation was great, and Catherine ensured my request for hotels with comfortable beds was met.

Thanks again to Catherine, our guides and drivers.

Date of Experience: February 22, 2019
Trip Type: Traveled as Families
Tour Customized by: Catherine

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