Shanghai Xian Tour

Dear Ester

We have just returned from China, had a wonderful time, our time in Xian - was just wonderful, our Guide Hebe, was most helpful and very knowledgeable,an excellent guide. we could have spent more time, on the wall of the old city, and in the old city, and at the the Big Wild Goose Pagoda. The accommodation was ok, although I think the "no smoking" rooms could be a little less smoky. The TangHell Dynasty Show, and the meal provided that night were excellent.

The Terra Cotta Warriors were just amazing, and again we could have spent a lot more time there. Hebe did a great job of guiding us through the site.

I would also like to mention Jonathan, who picked us up from the Sofitel in Shanghai, and then found our flight numbers had been changed, and made a considerable effort to make sure we were on flights with a very similar departure time. And on our arrival back into Shanghai was there waiting for us, even thought, again the flight numbers and time had been changed.

Then there was Tang, and driver while we were in Xian, always there for us, helping with umbrella's, and water. He was of great assistance to Hebe.

Thanks so much for helping to make our China experience enjoyable, and maybe from our report, you can extend times on the wall of the city, in the old city, and at the Big Wild Goose Pagoda.

Please pass on our appreciation to Hebe, Jonathan and Tang.

Regards
Dawn

Hi Colin,

We are very glad that we found you. It was a really great trip.

It was an excellent tour. The guide in Guilin, Danni, has been wonderful. She is very gracious and happy and wants to show us the best of Guilin. She took me for a foot massage and it was the best I've ever had. Shanghai was very hot, but thankfully we had air-conditioning.

We got to see some very important things. The cities are much more modern than I expected with lots of construction going on. We got to see how silk is made and how silk rugs are made. We had our own private fashion show at the silk factory. It was very important to see the terracotta warriors and to meet the man who was digging a well and discovered them. It was very important to see the Li river and unique mountains in that area. We didn't get to see the cave because of the flooding but that was o.k. We got to be out in China's heavy warm rain.

The hotels were great. The service was much better than what we get here in the U.S. When we called room service and asked for a couple towels, we had them in 60 seconds. Here we would be lucky to get them.

The food was always very good. The only problem was always too much. That must be the custom because that is how it was in all restaurants no mater if it was part of the tour or if we were on our own. Our friends in Beijing served too much food also. We heard that the food on the train was not good but I found it to be very good and not too much of it. I took the kids to the dining car and saw that we were going to have a problem ordering because of the language. I walked through the car and found a westerner talking with some Chinese men. They could speak English and one of them was kind enough to help us order. We each got a bowl of rice, a bowl of soup and a drink and we shared a plate of chicken with vegetables. It was very good and not too much food. We went to a Mongolian bar B Q. It was good but we get the same thing here.

All of our guides and drivers were excellent. They all put in long hours and worked very hard. I hope the guides get paid a lot. We liked them all very much. We wanted them to eat with us but it must be against the custom or against the rule.

I would highly recommend you.

Thanks for the great trip.

Linda & Bob Burke