China Highlights

Gemma   -  Traveled, November 2024

The basic itinerary of the trip is excellent but exhausting in its current format. Be prepared for flights that get you to your hotel at 3am and a very basic overnight train. If the overnight train was replaced with the fast bullet train it would make the world of difference. Despite this there were plenty of highlights. The Li river was a highlight as was the cycling and rafting in Yangshuo. It was wonderful to experience some countryside as well as the big cities. Of course the Terra-cotta warriors, Tiananmen Square and walking the Great Wall were fantastic. And the light show and the best acrobatic show I have ever seen. We had a wonderful guide, Frank, who took us for some fantastic meals and got us to all the sights before the crowds. It was a fantastic trip with a great group of people but I would urge Explore! to tweak the itinerary to make the trip less exhausting.

Source: Tour operator   Submitted: 11/27/2024

Nicholas   -  Traveled, November 2024

We had a great time on the China Highlights trip. Frank the Explore leader was excellent. The Itinerary is a little rushed with one really incovinant internal flight. The Hotel in Hong Kong is too far out like visiting London and staying in Uxbridge, and the Hotel in Yangshuo is well below the standard expected (dirty)

Source: Tour operator   Submitted: 11/28/2024

Keith   -  Traveled, October 2024

A full-on tour including a bullet train, sleeper train, river cruise, internal flight, chairlift, optional cycling/ river show and acrobat show, with visits (and plenty of walking) to the Terracotta Warriors, Tiananmen Square and the Great Wall. An extra day would have been helpful but nevertheless a very enjoyable tour.

Source: Tour operator   Submitted: 10/24/2024

Anonymous   -  Traveled, June 2020

There were many highlights including river cruise, Xi’an walking tour, bike and raft trip in Guilin, Great Wall and lovely food. The overnight train journeys were not good especially the one where for some reason we ended up in the 6 berth open carriages. The hotel in Xi’an was unacceptable as was dirty and unpleasant.

Source: Tour operator   Submitted: 06/20/2020

Anonymous   -  Traveled, June 2020

As a whistle stop tour of a huge country, it was fascinating, exciting, and exhausting in equal measure. I loved it, but don't go if you're not prepared for early starts, sleeper trains, and eating on the go. The itinerary meant we really covered all the major things you expect to see/do in China, and our guide, Frank, was great at making sure it all ran pretty smoothly. But it was at a fast pace, and if you go in summer, expect it to be very hot. Accommodation and food was really varied depending on the day and the location. There was an issue with one of the sleeper trains which meant we were in very busy hard sleeper carriage rather than the 4 berth soft sleepers and no one got any sleep that night! On travelling days KFC or noodle pots with hot water were the order of the day. But Xian and Beijing were great for food. Highlights for me were the Star Ferry evening harbour tour in Hong Kong (but we did that ourselves on our first night), the bustling Muslim Quarter for street food in Xi'an, the river boat and the evening light and theatre show in Yangshuo, walking on the Great Wall, the Forbidden City, Peking Duck, and wandering around some of the smaller food streets in Beijing in the evening. Top tips would be prepare yourself to be on the go - don't expect luxury or a lie in! Embrace it and go with it. Change money before you go and take enough with you for the duration. Some of our group found it hard to find atms that would accept UK cards. Take loose comfy clothes for the sleeper trains, there's nowhere to change. Also take soap/hand sanitiser as well as tissues - very few of the public toilets have either. In Beijing, try heading to Tieshuxie St and Dashilan West Street about 10 mins walk north of the Dong Fang hotel in the evening for bars, restaurants and food stalls. We found it by accident but went both nights.

Source: Tour operator   Submitted: 06/30/2020

Anonymous   -  Traveled, June 2019

Highlights: Victoria Peak, & the cable car trip to Lautau Island's Big Buddha. Xi'an: Shaanxi Grand Opera House With Chinese Music & Dance. The Terracotta Warriors (a couple of hours was much too short time). The Great Wall at Mutianyu. Beijing: The Summer Palace, & The Temples and view South over the lake towards Tianiman Square, The Nat. History Museum with dinosaurs only found in China. The Temple of Heaven and surrounding park. Drop the first old train and use the New Bullet Train allowing more time in Hong Kong. One more day in Yangshou, & one more in Xi'an giving time to visit the Shaanxi Nat. Museum and both areas generally. Drop the "Legend of Kung Fu" theatre performance - (as with wrestling) - was boring, suitable for children, the naive and weak-minded. An alternative theatre visit for intelligent people. Provide Beijing map with English text. Also a Beijing underground map with ALL stations named, line 8 updated, as they are those nearest the hotel. Also where the maps underground line colours are identical with those in use on the lines! Provide the possibility of adding extra days before in Hong Kong & afterwards in Beijing, we would have liked one extra day in Hong Kong, we did add 3 extra days in Beijing, a minimum in our opinion.

Source: Tour operator   Submitted: 06/20/2019

Anonymous   -  Traveled, June 2019

Covers most of the main sights so inevitably quite full on with very little down time or time to do your own thing - although that wasn't an issue. Two overnight trains are not the most comfortably experience, but understand the practicality of getting from A to B. Tour leader, John, was excellent - very calm, efficient, flexible and adaptable.

Source: Tour operator   Submitted: 06/20/2019

Anonymous   -  Traveled, June 2018

This itinerary was the only one that accommodated exactly what I wanted to do in China, so I could not be more pleased with what we saw. However, what was completely unexpected was how much the group/tour leader contributed to my experience in the country (was only focused on the country itself, not what value the tour would bring, aside from taking me from point A to B). Betty was an amazing leader in many ways. I was impressed how she could focus on accommodating our individual needs within a group that had so many. When there was downtime, she always assisted each of us to find what we each desired to do - above and beyond the call of duty. She also helped organize dinners, which was also beyond what she needed to do, and gave myself a great peace of mind to just be able to sit after a long day and not search for food and struggle with language barriers. She rarely took a break. I loved her contributions to my knowledge about present-day life in china, and religion. She always prepped us for crowds, pushing, when we had to move quickly or when we could linger at a slow pace, what accommodations would be like, how to interact with locals, where to use the bathroom/exchange cash/buy water. I felt comfortable 100% of the time, and because of that comfort I could let my guard down and EXPERIENCE my surroundings in a focused way to get the most out of the $ I paid for this trip. I was pleased with ALL of the accommodations and could have even stayed in hotels with less to offer to save more $. I really like the expectations Betty set before we did an itinerary, because it allowed me to get in a space where I could enjoy the activity, as she stated. For example, ignore the pushing (from people) and focus on why you are here. Or, the food may not be good today, bring along something that you may like. She always prepared us well, so that we could be comfortable. Unfortunately the only negative to this vacation were some other folks on the trip that complained about accommodations, not having time to shop, the limited western standards, the spicy food, etc. Betty handled each of these people with grace, never letting the rest of the group skip a beat, but also trying to accommodate them. I believe their reviews will be unwarranted, because when traveling in another country - it is different customs that are sought. In fact, I would have enjoyed even more unique things, but know that it is important to adhere to a group in a group setting. These folks should book INDIVIDUAL guided tours for special accommodations. Each day, their needs contradicted their needs from the day before (i.e. one day complaining about shopping, the next day asking why we weren't) or not even knowing the itinerary that they booked. I focused on mentioning this because I do not want negative reviews to impact the trip. Finally, as China is a limited place for travel for many in my network of people, the feedback I received about the experiences I posted were "THAT'S CHINA!!" These were my sentiments exactly. I booked to explore a new country, have a new experience and understand more about one of the world's leading countries. Unexpectedly I got a lot more out of it, because of the sites I saw, the information provider by the leader, and the experiences that were pre-planned to make the most of each day.

Source: Tour operator   Submitted: 06/30/2018

Anonymous   -  Traveled, June 2018

This is a brilliant tour which does indeed cover the highlights of China - although the panda sanctuary would have been an interesting addition. There was an awful lot to fit into the 10 days so it was very full on but well worth it. Our tour guide Betty Lui was excellent and was always well organised and cheerful even though there were some people on the trip who were quite hard work.

Source: Tour operator   Submitted: 06/11/2018

Anonymous  -  Traveled, June 2018

This tour to Hong Kong and China was not as good as my previous tour to Morocco. Yes, we hit the highlights in HK and southern and northern China, but the tour's level of assistance and engagement was lower. Not much advice on where it was safe to eat, and limited directions to find ATMs that worked in English. I expected that safe water would be bought in bulk daily as it was previously from a joint fund. No baggage assistance of any kind on this trip either, but we were warned. (Crossing into Mainland China we walked 2.4 miles with our baggage!) I think part of the reason for this was was the Chinese culture, certainly the Chinese are reserved and self-sufficient, and made customer service very limited everywhere we went. All hotels but one were clean, modern, and with adequate breakfasts. The hotel in Xi'An was unacceptable - dirty, with no heat or AC, and inedible breakfasts. Sadly one tour member was difficult - very demanding and complaining. Our tour leader, Betty Ciu, kept calm and pleasant throughout, while she endeavoured to meet this individual's needs. But it made the tour uncomfortable for others. Nothing can be done to prevent this unfortunate situation and Betty did her best. The only place we had a local guide was in Hong Kong; Betty did it everywhere else and did it well. We had lots of free time too. Highlights of the trip for me were Hong Kong, the Li River cruise, the Terracotta Warriors, and the Great Wall. I wouldn't have missed them for anything.

Source: Tour operator   Submitted: 06/30/2018