Hello Robert
This is just a note to thank you for the organisation of our second trip to
China. We had another exciting and wonderful time. Your itinerary was
excellent and the choice of hotels was very much to our taste.
We certainly saw more than just the cities and were blessed with good
weather for most of the time. Heather adored the Yangtze cruise and because
there were only 38 people on it due to the tomb sweeping holiday even I
found it a pleasurable experience. I was glad for that little bit extra room
though.
Once again thanks and I hope that you are well.
Andrew
Dear Robert,
I want to thank you very much for the terrific organizing you did for our trip to China.
It all worked beautifully and was an excellent trip.
The boat was great - though interestingly only 6 english speaking passengers - of which 2 were german!!
Suzhou was the unexpected delight. Even in the cold and rain it was beautiful.
Thank you again for your help.
I will recommend Travman to friends who are going to China.
Kind regards
Joan
Dear Sonya,
Just wanted to let you know that we had a wonderful trip to China. Everything went smoothly and the range of things we saw was great. The guides were excellent and more than helpful and attentive to our needs. Jim in Chengdu is to be particularly commended - not only was he an excellent guide who gave us personal insights to the sites we visited, but he also arranged a cake on Adrian's birthday. That personal touch was greatly appreciated. Also Jim very efficiently organised the return of money and cards that Fiona left in the Tibet hotel safe. When Fiona told us that she had lost them, she wasn't even sure where and we were certain that was the last we had seen of them. But Jim contacted me and arranged delivery of them to Guiyang. We really appreciated that. I will be contacting the hotel as well to thank them for their honesty.
To me the highlight was our visit to 2 of the Miao villages. In one there was a wedding in progress - day 1 of 3! The people were so welcoming and through our guide, the bride shared some of the excitement of the occasion as she showed us her gifts and head dresses. Later that day we visited and unscheduled village (road closure prevented the original village) This village does not have many visitors and we spent some special time 'chatting' to a village elder, watching her exquisite embroidering and sharing photos. I will send some photos to the village. It was a low key very special day.
We also appreciated the careful choice of food made by the guides - I think they enjoyed having us try some local delicacies not all tourists eat - and also suggestions of places to go for dinner.
So all in all it was a very successful trip.
Thanks for your work planning our China sojourn.
Gretel, Rod, Fiona and Adrian.
Hi Juliet
Thank you for your email. We had a wonderful time. The weather was perfect. We only had one morning of rain. Weather was hot and humid. I must say that the tour guides that we had during the trip we really good. However the young girl that we had in Hanoi was just fabulous. We got on really well and we had a great time with her. Please pass on our recommendations to her superiors. The only hickup was when we were to catch the boat to go to Cambodia. We were told by our tour guide that somebody would meet us at the hotel at 6.45 a.m. to take us to the boat as we had no idea where we had to go. However nobody turned up and the chap in charge of the boats obviously had a list of people to go and sent tuk tuks to pick us up which we had to pay for. Not that that worried us. We had definitely confirmed the arrangements with the tour guide the night before with a young lady who had come to organise our Cambodian Visas which we already had. We were told by the tour guide that the young lady would come to collect us from the Hotel. Everything turned out alright however. As I said it was only a minor hiccup. The accommodation was very good and the sightseeing was great.
The only suggestion I could make is to recommed to the tour guides that they give some ideas as to what people can do in their free time. They did give us lists of restaurants which was greatly appreciated however we had to find out what was available from other sources as to what other sightseeing attractions were available in our spare time.
On the whole we were very pleased with the tour. We opted not to go to the Killing Fields in Cambodia as we both would have found that very disturbing and the tour guide was obliging and took us to some other places of interest including the Russian Markets, a Department Store and at my request a book store so that I could buy a book to read on the plane.
Overall we had a great time and would recommend that tour to anyone.
I would also like to thank you for all your help. Hopefully when we decide where to go next year we can again use your firm. My husband has been talking about Cuba however that could change a number of times.
Marlene Simmons
Hi Sonya,
As you probably gathered from our emails, our latest trip to China was outstanding.....thanks largely to you.There is just so much beauty in China and the people are wonderful! (It was good fun going where we were the only Caucasians and I even tried out my appalling Mandarin!).Every day we were just so grateful for the fantastic service that you and Robert (and the CITS team in China) gave us.
Both Bill and I were particularly tired when we embarked on our last trip, so were most appreciative of the beautiful upgrades that were organised for us...and for the panda tour (which turned out to be a real highlight because the pandas were active!).
Xu Bing (Jim) our Chengdu guide helped us to start the trip well with an upgrade to a king size room for both our visits to Chengdu and you and Robert very kindly helped us with the upgrades in Jiuzhaigou and Zhangjiajie that made such a difference to us. A big thank you both for that support.
There so much we could report that would help future clients who visit Sichuan or Hunan. Rather than inundate you though, we’ll just offer some comments.
If ever you need (or would like to know more) please do ask....we’d love to share our knowledge!
1. We were advised by CITS that catching the boat to view Le Shan was not popular with foreign tourists. We decided to do it anyway, so Robert kindly arranged the boat trip as an extra for us. It was excellent and a must do!
It’s the only way to see the giant Buddha in all his glory, so we’re glad we did it before we hiked up, down, round and through him (or at least, his cliff!).
We’d strongly recommend visitors do the boat trip....and travel out of peak season so they can do the stairs down to his toes
2. At Emei Shan, we headed to the top, for the Golden Summit (despite the fact that most of the time, it’s covered in cloud/mist/fog).
Again, we’re so glad we did because the clouds cleared and we had the most amazing views of the beautiful summit statue, the golden and silver temples and the whole area. Walking up through the fog, via the monkeys, was quite eerie but well worth it. The cheer that went up as the cable car broke through the clouds was loud as we all cheered the fact that we would actually see the summit!
3. If ever clients are concerned about going to high altitude areas, the Chinese herbal medicine Hong Jing Tian is excellent. It has ginseng root in it, amongst other herbs, and is first class. Bill and I bought it in China (with the able help of our guides) and found it to be excellent. No ill effects at altitude were experienced at all.
4. When you asked for advice from your offices in China about the new cable car at Huanglong, you were advised that it is better to walk up and down rather than use the cable car (which doesn’t offer any views). Whilst there are no real views, I would strongly encourage any tourists to do what we did....and take the cable car. You still have to walk 3 kilometres on level boardwalks through the forest (which is lovely) but you do get to be able to see all of Huanglong. We learnt that before the cable car, 90% of tourists never made it to the top of Huanglong because of the stairs and altitude.
We, on the other hand, despite altitude and snow falling, were able to thoroughly enjoy all of Huanglong on the 4 kilometre walk down the valley. We were tired but so glad we’d taken the cable car up. Otherwise, we wouldn’t have been able to make it.
5. Hailuoguo Glacier was amazing. It was a long trip to get there but it was worth it. The scenery was amazing and the Glacier Ropeway (cable car), a real feat of engineering.
6. The infrastructure at almost all the tourist sites we have visited over the past 4 years has been excellent.
The World Heritage sites, the national parks and so on, have been very impressive, not only for their beauty but also for their impeccable tourist management.
The high standard of engineering, whether high altitude, zig zag mountain roads, fleets of eco buses, or modern Austrian built cable cars is to be commended.
Travelling out of peak season is a delight as there are no queues and we almost always step straight onto our means of transport to be whisked away to the next photographic highlight. Travel to explore China’s natural beauty is a pleasure.
7. In a number of the places we went to, Bill was apparently entitled to a senior’s discount (and given one eg at a number of places eg Jiuzhaigou etc etc). In future costings, is the fact that Bill is 66 years of age able to be taken into account?
8. Finally, a real thank you for giving us emergency, after hours contacts for when we’re in China.
Our contacts in Chengdu, Ms Lee, and in Beijing, Diana Zhao, were invaluable when Bill lost his money belt (we managed to get it back, minus 1,000 Yuan) and when we missed our flight to Zhangjiajie (because of fog in Chengdu).
Once again, our very special thanks for working so hard for us to have such amazing and memorable experiences.
We came home to a whole host of physical and mental health issues with our son and my parents, so we’re eagerly reading up on our next escape! I’ll be in touch shortly, to confirm details.
In the meantime, I’ve sent you a small gift that I hope you enjoy. It’s a gift that either will hopefully help you nurture yourself in this dark time or will be there to take with you when you finally head off on the Silk Road! It’s a very small thank you for being such an excellent consultant and friend to us us.
You are the reason we keep returning to CITS Travman, year after year...and the results of your hard work, are the reason we keep returning to China!
With thanks,
Jill
Hi Sonya,
Just letting you know our first trip to China was a great success. Our Guides on the whole were fabulous , giving us lots of information about the sites we were passing, stopping at, or the Province generally also things to see in our few spare days as well as shows to see in Lushan, Yangshou, Xi’An and Beijing. These were fabulous
We have come home with an great appreciation for the Chinese culture and the generosity of the people.
The guides spoke well and even shared a few Western style jokes with us . we do have 2 guides in particular which we need to really congratulate, LuLu from Chongqing office and Lily from Beijing office. They gave extra attention over all especially when it comes to thinking about “ Happy rooms”. Their spoken English was excellent and their understanding of English was very good. We had no problems understanding them. The meals were good and the girls were happy to tell us exactly what we were eating. Their knowledge of the area was excellent.
All the drivers were excellent and obviously knew their territory like the back of their hand. Always there on time and helping with the baggage etc
We would like to recommend these two young women , as they stood out from the group and made our holiday a big success. We would like to acknowledge these great young woman. Should we do this in separate emails or is this sufficient for you to pass on ‘glowing reports’ to their Supervisors in China.
We have Lily’s address in her CITS office, but do not have Lu Lu’s. Lu lu is getting married soon and we would like to sent her a wedding card so we are hoping you can supply us with an address so we can sent a card of congratulations from Australia to her.
Thankyou Sonya for your assistance over the last 12 months. In the end it all came together very well and the 3 of us had a wonderful 25 days in China. We would recommended Travman to anyone looking to travel in China.
We look forward to getting a contact address for Lu Lu and would appreciate that you pass on to those responsible that both Lu Lu and Lily should be congratulated for an job done exceptionally well
Best Regards
Graeme and Margaret (Anne)
Hello Juliet,
We thought the accommodation, guides, tour arrangements and meals were all excellent. (Two "Chinese buffet" lunches from hot food bars in Beijing and Xian, and the Mongolian barbecue in Shanghai were not as good, but all the rest of the meals were like banquets.) The Beijing tour was very busy and tiring, but I don't know what you could leave out: there is so much there to see. The tour became a bit quieter and more relaxing in Xian and especially in Guilin.
We enjoyed our trip very much and I can't wait to go to China again. Maybe the year after next.
Thanks again for your efforts in booking the tour.
Warm regards,
Peter & Carol.
Robert,
We just arrived back from our holiday on Friday, hence the delayed response.
Richard and I had a lovely time in China. The tour was well organised, food was good and our tour guides were knowledgable. I can also say that we found the hotels to be more than adequate.
Whilst all the tour guides looked after us well, Mr Lee in Beijing especially went out of his way to take care of the group. (You will be pleased to know that Mr Lee was there to meet us late in the evening after our flight out of Sydney was delayed.)
Overall, we can say that we felt well looked aftered by Travman and CITS.
Thank you for organising the trip for us. If in future we decide to do another tour, we will be more than happy to consider going with CITS again.
Regards,
Selina Tan
Hi Juliet,
Thanks for touching base with us regarding our tour.
We had a really good time and truly enjoyed the experience. We provided some feedback to our guides in Beijing and Shanghai, however we appreciate the opportunity to provide feedback regarding the whole tour.
Beijing:
* The tour in Beijing was well organised and I felt by the time we left we had seen the major sites.
* Our tour guide Lee went to great efforts to keep the group happy, it was no easy feat keeping 22 people in line, especially with the amount of people around.
* We felt we spent a little too much time at the Forbidden City and would have perhaps preferred a shorter time there or more free time to look around ourselves.
* The night prior to leaving we went to the Peking Opera, most people on the tour agreed we would have preferred to see this on another night as we departed from the hotel at 5:45am the following morning and would have appreciated an earlier night so we could pack etc.
* The hotel in Beijing was very good.
Xian
* The hotel in Xian was not of the same standard as that in Beijing and Shanghai. The two English channels on the television did not work properly in our room (or anyone else’s in the tour) and our towels were well worn (one even had a hole).
* We enjoyed the programme in Xian and felt it was well worthwhile.
* Our tour guide Anna was professional and well organised.
Shanghai
* I felt the programme in Shanghai was not as comprehensive as that in Beijing. We had some extra options (which we paid for) being an evening cruise, a ride on the Mag Lev and a visit to the Black Market. All of these were worthwhile and I think should probably be added to the programme in Shanghai.
* Our tour guide David was professional, however because he didn’t carry a flag it was difficult to find or follow him in crowded places.
* The hotel in Shanghai was very good as well.
Food
* The food was very good throughout the tour.
* At some meals we were provided with one beer / soft drink and then we had to pay whilst at other meals we were provided with unlimited beer / soft drinks. Perhaps more drinks could be included in future at small increase in tour price. Our Beijing tour guide was very helpful in advising before hand whether we would have to pay for drinks or not, I think all the guides should also provide this information.
Overall we were really pleased with the tour, everything was organised for us and there was no fuss. We enjoyed the sites we saw and the guides were professional. Thanks for your help in organising the tour; we would highly recommend it to our family and friends.
Regards,
Glenn and Angela
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