2-day Hengdian World Studios Weekend Getaway

Our guide Leaf met us at the train station as we arrived from Beijing and lead us on a very well paced exploration of important spots of West Lake as well as a few other historical places in the area.We also took a detour to Anji city and enjoyed seeing the natural wonders of the area including hearing about the history of the Green Tea in the area and had an amazing lunch at a local restaurant. Best Sweet and Sour Pork and Ribs we have had in China.

I took the train from Suzhou to Hangzhou and our private guide Gerry picked us up at the train station. During our stay, we visited the Six Harmonies Pagoda, Meijiawu Tea Plantation and the West Lake. We also spent time walking the streets enjoying tasty street foods such as beggar's chicken, bbq squid and crab dumplings with soup! Gerry was a very knowledgeable guide. He clearly explained the importance of the historical sites, and I was impressed with his command of English language. Gerry also answered all my curious questions. In the evenings, we had dinner at Grandma Homes restaurant which serves local specialties at extremely reasonable prices. The vinegar fish and special pork served with bread are two local favorites. --Gary-at-SF, U.S

Unexpected pleasure and an excellent guide Gerry.When I was researching our trip to China one of the guidebooks I rely on highlighted West Lake, Hangzhou. It isn’t featured on most packaged itineraries, but when I noticed it’s proximity to Shanghai (less than an hour by train), I asked China Highlights to add a couple of days there mostly so we could relax after more than a week of active sightseeing. We left surprised West Lake doesn’t make it on more itineraries as it was an oasis of paradise. The lake itself is beautiful. Very peaceful with bike routes and walking/running paths. Lots of trees and romantic bridges. Just a delightful place to relax and reconnect with nature. If you lived in Shanghai this would be were you would have a weekend getaway place. It can be crowded as many Chinese tourists do visit there. Our guide a Gerry was excellent. Had near perfect English and was flexible with our needs. He realized that due to the crowds that the planned schedule’s order should be reversed. As we had planned to rest at West Lake as that is the primary attraction, he adjusted the schedule (cut out a meal and reduced time at one of the attractions) so my daughter could have more free time to recover. He also organized tickets to the water and light show (which for a culture experience was excellent and one of the best we have seen) and he made sure we knew where to go. Like all of the China highlights guides we had, he worked from early in the morning to late at night with a positive attitude and friendly spirit. We highly recommend Gerry for your visit to Hangzhou and China Highlights for their tour services. --New York, U.S.

Hangzhou for pleasure and business 。We four people visited Hangzhou,led by guide Gerry. He was so helpful to buy a bunch flowers for my business partners. He brought us to beautiful scenes of west lake. At our request He also led us to the motor company for my business. Everything was perfect in Hanzhou our trip. --Ervin, U.S.

We four people visited Hangzhou, led by guide Gerry. He was so helpful to buy a bunch flowers for my business partner. He brought us to beautiful scenes of west lake. At our request he also led us to the motor company for my business. Everything was perfect in Hangzhou our trip. --goatervin1988,Vienna, Austria

Our guide a Gerry was excellent. Had near perfect English and was flexible with our needs. He realized that due to the crowds that the planned schedule’s order should be reversed. As we had planned to rest at West Lake as that is the primary attraction, he adjusted the schedule (cut out a meal and reduced time at one of the attractions) so my daughter could have more free time to recover. --913WorldTraveler,White Plains, New York

Gerry was an excellent guide - very informative, knowledgeable, and fun to hang out with. He is flexible as well; my husband was feeling “under the weather “, and Gerry switched our itinerary to accommodate him. All this, as well as a boat ride on West Lake (with the 3 pagodas on the 1 yuan note) and lunch. We ate our best dish of all China there (that Gerry found the recipe for and sent to us)! It was a Chinese eggplant dish (picture attached). --Sharon T,Grand Rapids, Michigan

We thoroughly enjoyed our time in Hangzhou with our wonderful guide, Leaf. Leaf went out of her way to make our stay extra special, including teaching Mandarin phrases to our daughters and finding just the right spots for photos. When my mother in law hurt her leg, Leaf traveled to the drugstore by bicycle at night and in the rain to get bandages, ointment, etc. Hangzhou was beautiful - we enjoyed walking around the lake and the boat ride. The evening show on the lake was spectacular! --julielbmccoy,Boston

It was a very hot, tiring day but Fiona allowed us to take our time to see the sights. As we decided to finish up a bit early we were very surprised that she offered to help us rearrange our train back to Shanghai so that we could try and get back to our hotel a bit earlier. We learned a lot about the area and found it very interesting learning about Hangzhou's famous green tea amongst other things. Overall a very worthwhile experience. Well done China Highlights and Fiona. --Kathryn，Gundagai, Australia

I went to Hangzhou last year with my mom and we were there just for a couple of days, so we decided to do a guided tour.Gerry was our guide, he was informative and friendly. To every place he took us, he was explaining the history. Also, my phone broke that day and he helped me to go to the store and arrange the reparation. He was very helpful because no one in the shop could speak English. --Miriam

Great one-day tour of Hangzhou with Gerry -- I enjoyed his knowledge of the city's history and culture and his enthusiasm while conducting the tour. He kept the itinerary flexible in order to adapt the tour to my interests. The visit to West Lake was very interesting, and the highlight for me was the chance to see Meijiawu, one of the villages renowned for growing and producing longjing tea. The beautiful landscape consists of terraced tea plants stretching high up the hillsides. After a demonstration from Nana, the tea plantation owner, of the proper technique for picking and drying the tea leaves, we had the chance to sample the longjing tea and learn more about its history. Overall this one-day tour was a great introduction to the sites of Hangzhou. --Michael T