Hi Karen,
The China trip was quite good. We enjoyed trips to the great wall, Terra Cotta Warriors, Li River cruise and biking in Yangshuo. I think the last two are most memorable for our family.

The best tour guide is Rebecca of Guilin and Yangshuo. Jeffery in Shanghai is close second. Jeffery is more experienced. Rebecca is more personable and she really know how to get kids involved and interested. Rebecca also went extra miles to find kids bike for my younger son. Unfortunately, it did not work. We were still able to bike in Yangshuo because Rebecca found a guide to ride a tandem with my wife while I took my son. In comparison to this good experience, we had to give up biking on the City Wall of Xi'an which would have been a highlight of the tour also.

The hotels are generally good. The kids like the Paradiso hotel of Yangshuo the best.

The best meal is Peking roasted duck. We were surprised by the good quality of it. You can only get this quality in Beijing. The one in Los Angeles is far worse even if the name of the restaurant is the same. The other food everyone should really try to have is Guilin rice noodle. We can fully understand why folks from Guilin always miss their rice noodle back home.

I think I do not have to advertise for the great wall and Terra Cotta warriors. They are too famous for anyone to omit. The Li River cruise is a must for people going to Guilin. Actually, Guilin and Yangshuo are the places we would consider visiting again in the future. Biking in Yangshuo is very enjoyable especially for kids. We regretted that we did not have enough time to spend in Shanghai museum. The self guided audio tour is very good. The whole family enjoyed it and learned a lot from it.

The quality of shows in China is amazingly good. The KungFu show in Beijing, acrobat show in Shanghai and Tang Dynasty dance and music in Xi'an are all very good and worth going. We think the Impression of Liusanje is over-rated. Admittedly, there are some novelty in using river as a stage.

We had no choice but to travel during the summer vacation. I would recommend tourists to avoid this time to travel to China. It is hot and humid. It is also high season for Chinese to travel. You would encounter many big Chinese groups with guide using loud speakers. The volume is so high that it would blast your ear drums when they pass by. You would not enjoy pushing and shoving within sea of people just to get a glimpse of what you are supposed to see.

We would recommend China Highlights to anyone who is planning a trip to China. There are many cheaper options you can find in the market. But, you have to prepare to sacrifice the quality. We have heard of many horror stories about traveling to China from friends and relatives before our trip. Our parents strongly advised against traveling to China before we went. The experience with China Highlights proved them wrong.

Chenduen

• Client's Information: CHENDUEN, United States
• Tour Starting Dates: July 10, 2007
• Tour Itinerary: 12 Days of Well Seclected China Highlights Tour
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