How to Plan Your First-Time Family Trip to China

Die Agency (in unserem Fall vertreten durch Tutu Sun) hat für uns eine perfekte Reise organisiert. Sehr gute Kommunikation im Vorfeld der Reise und vor Ort. Zu 100% verl?sslich, immer pünktlich und an jedem Ort sehr freundliche und engagierte Guides. Wir k?nnen eine Buchung bei diesem Unternehmen absolut und uneingeschr?nkt empfehlen. In Beijing hatten wir mit Herrn Chen 3 interessante Tage inklusive einer sehr spannenden individuellen Wanderung auf der grossen Mauer.

Bruce was an amazing guide and very knowledgeable. He got me past ALOT of long lines fast and knew all the best places to go to take pictures! Also provided good recommendations for additional activities! If you get Bruce you’re in good hands!

The trip included Shanghai where Kris was our amazing guide, Guilin and Yangshuo with Gary who did an amazing job at adjusting the schedule to meet our needs given the incredible heat, Chengdu with Helen who shared her passion for the Pandas with us, had fun in the peoples park with us and introduced us to the local opera which was fascinating and ensured we were able to taste amazing Sizhuan food without burning up! We then moved on to Xian with Jenny who ensured we got to the Terracotta army early enough to get an amazing view, took us to try our hand at making our own warriors, was very knowledgable about the history of Xian which was very interesting and lastly allowed us to try making dumplings which we all loved. Our final stop was Beijing. Ethan was our tour guide and he again did an amazing job ensuring we got to the Great Wall of China early enough to see the amazing wall without too many people and whilst it was still relatively cool, share his great knowledge of the Forbidden City and Summer Palace with us, introduced us to the Beijing Hot Pot and importantly ensured we were able to celebrate our sons 18th birthday in style and with his favourite Chinese food!! Thank you again for making our 2 weeks so special and we will for sure be back very soon.

I had a blast with this tour! Felix is such an amazing person and so knowledgeable! He understands how to share knowledge and make us interested! Me and my friends had a wonderful day with Felix around the city I highly recommend China Highlights and would most likely recommend felix!!!

Jennifer is an awesome guide and the tours were great!

We spent 3 days in Beijing with Jennifer as our tour guide. The Great Wall, Forbidden City and the Summer Palace were all amazing, the Hutong tour was very interesting and we enjoyed seeing a typical home from that era. Jennifer was a wealth of information in Chinese history with names and date’s giving us insight into what we were seeing and the historical significance. She was warm, friendly, kind and professional and I would highly recommend her to enhance your trip

We were a group of 10 people, our trip started at the beautiful Hong Kong, we had the best guide ever, Ken Ku, a really polite man and He always was worried for our needs. We met the Abeerden harbour, the beach side, the grand Buda, beautiful templesVictoria Peak, Temple Street, Jade market and lots of amazing places. Also we spend some days at Beijing and there we were in the main places you should go. The Summer Palace, Tiananmen Place, Chaoyang theater and spectacular show. We also travelled to the Mutianyang area to see the unveliable Great Wall, we eat in spectacular restaurants, we had a comfortable and fresh bus to travel all places. I tried to resume everything but still missing things. Thanks to all the team and our guide Lluvia in Beijing, She was so sweet.

Bruce has been a very good guide to us. We spent different days with him, trekking on the great Wall, visiting forbidden City, hutong, summer palace and many other places in Beijing. He was also able to arrange for me a last second calligraphy class in a school as well. I strongly recommend him to anyone visiting the city.

We are from France and arrived in the best conditions. First of all, Linda, our Beijing tour guide came to pick us up, and we knew straight away that the 3 next days would be amazing. She is incredibly kind, so professional and very passionate. We’ve learned so much with her, from the Great Wall to the Summer Palace, through the hutong and more for you to discover! We are so grateful to have met her and we highly recommend her for your future journey to Beijing. Thank you some much Linda and hope to see you again soon!

We are from France and arrived in the best conditions. First of all, Linda, our Beijing tour guide came to pick us up, and we knew straight away that the 3 next days would be amazing. She is incredibly kind, so professional and very passionate. We’ve learned so much with her, from the Great Wall to the Summer Palace, through the hutong and more for you to discover! We are so grateful to have met her and we highly recommend her for your future journey to Beijing. Thank you some much Linda and hope to see you again soon!

We had a great experience with china highlights. Very helpful and careful. Our trip was splendid, very comfortable and safe cars. Our guide Jack gave us good tips and knowledge.

Our China Trip with China Highlights was absolutely and truly remarkable. The service we received from China Highlights guides (Jack in Beijing, Mervyn in Xi'an, William in Guilin and Martin in Shanghai), drives and their office team was second to none.

Beijing: A mega-historical city. Our tour guide, Jack welcomed us in the airport with a big smile. We stayed at a nice hotel in CBD. In China, if I want to name a problem, it would be language barrier that hardly you can find people who can speak English. Thanks to our tour guides we did not have any issues in our trip. Also, with so many free apps for translation, there is zero problem even we don’t speak any Chinses. Beijing, with the combination of old and new buildings, living side by side, you feel the city is transiting from old to modernism with a high speed. But with the rich history inside the town, I got distracted to chase signs of modernism and rather preferred to sink in the deep well of this ancient history. The resting time inside my 5 star hotel, was a place to think of the Forbidden City, the Great Wall and waiting to see the next wonder which was expecting us in the next day. Amongst all the famous and popular areas that you are expected to visit, I was most impressed when the tour introduced us to a local family in a traditional part of the town to have an afternoon tea with them. That provided us the opportunity to know how traditional people still live. How hospitable these people were. The tour always got our opinion for foods and our answer always was Chinese food. Local Chinses Food. Diversity of the menu is big and everyone can choose multiple options. Meats, pork, chicken, seafood, vegetarian… you name it. After 3 days we went to Xi-An with “bullet train”. This was another careful choice by the tour to give us the opportunity to see the cities and villages on our way. The train with a speed of 310 km/hr was very convenient and clean. On the way, I could see the fast tracking of new construction sites and developments. One think that was interesting for me, most of the machineries that were being used, seem to be “made in China”. Xi-An We arrived at Xi-An at a night maybe 9 pm. This city is the starting point of The Silk Road. Welcomed by our tour guide Mervyn, we entered a smaller city than Beijing. You could see that Xian was more regulated than Beijing. The city was live with many people walking around. We inspected the mysterious Terracotta Warriors where the venue was overly populated by visitors. But what completed the experience for us, thanks to our tour, was meeting a local artist who taught us how these warriors were made with clay. Each of us, even kids, was given some clay and moulds and we made our little statues. After that we visited the city museum where I could see how Chinese were using nice plates and bowls 1500 years ago, some were as fashionable as those we use today. I also visited Muslim district. It was interesting how different religions live peacefully next to each other inside this ancient city. And the surprise here, was visiting a busy street and trying street foods by our choice, and it was all shouted by China Highlights . Oh, I cannot say how much we loved this. Mingling with people and nice shop keepers, taking photos, testing the foods, … Guilin And then we flew to Guilin. Which is a smaller city in East China. It was night. We were welcomed by our tour guide, William. Friendly man with some sense of humour which we all loved it. At night we could not see much comparing to Beijing and Xian. Full of little restaurants on each side of the street and people all out, like it is a national celebration. Later William told us, how people in this city like to enjoy their time. We stayed in Shangri-La in Guilin, very high quality in foods, accommodation and entertainment. This hotel really respects its brand regardless of the location. In the morning when I opened the curtain, I wasn’t sure if the scene in front of me is a minotaur or a natural scenery. Series of mountain peaks, sitting next to each other, like those that you see in cartoons. So, first day we started going to rice terraces in the rural area of Guilin. The extent of beauty cannot be described in writing, but feel free to google “rice terraces, Guilin” and trust your eyes. After some hiking through the terraces, we got to this small village, without proper modern access but all narrow footpaths. We entered a local house and tried local food. Sticky rice cooked and smoked in bamboo, that we learn and prepared it ourselves. Beef, pork, vegetables, rice wine… It was a feast better than those you can find in any luxury restaurant in the cities. The next day we boarded on a ferry to flow on the Li River from Guilin to Yangshuo. Here I witnessed the peaky range of mountains that I had seen from my hotel window yesterday. It was close to 40 degrees outside, but it couldn’t stop me from staying on the roof deck and enjoying the scenery. Day after, we were off to next destination, Shanghai. Unfortunately, the flight had major delay that night. But few interesting things happened in the airport that I cannot miss to add them. First and for most, was the continues support of our tour guide, William, who checked on us until 1:15am when the plane eventually took off and even, I saw his later follow up to make sure we landed safe and been handed to the next guide in Shanghai. This is beyond normal responsibility that you expect. On top of that, we had Kimi, our tour supervisor who kept checking on us. Kimi kept updating us of his follow up with the airline which was happening in the background. In addition to that, kids liked to have KFC which was only available on the other side of security gate. In China, rules are strict and if you have passed the security checks, it is very difficult to cross the gate and start it again. But here, police were so nice and helpful, who kindly helped my family to get their food, stayed with them and after some formalities, escorted them to pass the security gate without any hassle. Maybe 2 or 3 policemen and women, spent 45 minutes of their time to make sure, visitors are in comfort inside the airport and in response to our appreciation they told us, we are just doing our normal work! Oh, I remembered, in China police does not carry guns, when walking on the streets. This is the level of safety! Shanghai Around 4 am, we landed in Shanghai. Welcomed by our very friendly and knowledgeable tour guide, Martin. When we arrived to the hotel, we just went to bed and rest. In the morning, I thought the beds are smaller than King Size as we had in our contract. I checked it with Martin. He double checked with hotel and explained to us the standards are bit different in each hotel. But never the less, they upgraded our rooms to sweets to ensure of our comfort. The new rooms were generously large, double bathroom and shower and high level… it was a heavenly gift mostly for the kids. Next day, we had a walk through the city. Where I was amazed by the tall buildings, modern urban design, strict traffic rules and in one word, a modern city with its high-class citizens. What amazed me even more, was that all these had happened in the last 30 years. We tried to visit the Shanghai Tower, but the queue was more than 3 hours wait, so we gave up. Next day we went to Disney Land. The “Promised Land” for the kids, from the minute we decided to visit China. I, personally am not a fan of manmade excitements, but even me spent 11 hours in Disney Land and enjoyed my time like everyone. This was a good example of cross-cultural understanding between China and the West. And last day, we did some walk around the city before we are taken to the airport. And here was a catch of the day as we have had in every other city. Martin came to us and said he has arranged to visit the restaurant-bar of J- Hotel in level 120 of Shanghai Hotel which is even 2 floor higher than the public observatory that we could not visit yesterday. We were shouted by China Highlights to spend some time in this most luxurious bar! And this is how we left China with the most unforgettable memories. And by the way, we had our two young children with us, 6 and 8 years old. And not that they have been practicing hiking or walking in the past. Like other kids, they prefer watching TV and games, but the walks and places were so attractive to drag them all way with us for 110km walking in 12 days.

We were appreciative of all our guides (Jenny, Jacob, Helen, Nur, Karem and Felix) who all spoke good English, were mindful of our needs and flexible in their approach. We really enjoyed our journey out west along the ancient Silk Road and while it had some challenges we have returned with so many great memories.

After hearing that China was opening its doors for tourists, even though our tour schedule is for next year, Roger Li convinced us to book early because the price was affordable and if it turns out that we cancel the booking, China Highlights will return the full down payment His expertise, patience, and insightful suggestions have been invaluable in work out our itinerary. Roger has been diligent in addressing all our queries, making this planning phase a breeze. Roger Li has been great at working with us and our changing agenda. He is very responsive and very professional Highly recommend his services . Georges N.

My son Taylor booked the tour for us from chinahighlights. we stayed in Beijing for four days.Bruce was our tour guide. He spoke fluent English and there was no barrier between us. He was very patient, he met us at the airport and our flight was delayed for three hours, but when I met him, he was smiling and very warm. He was very professional, He explained every scenic spot to us carefully. We learned a lot about Chinese history from him.We had planned to visit a local Beijing family to learn how to make some Chinese food, but because they were traveling, we couldn't. Bruce rearranged the itinerary for us, and we went to the Confucian Temple and the Imperial College, which was a great place to visit.

Beijing would take a lifetime to fully explore, but we only had 2.5 days. Fortunately, Cactus, our amazing China Highlights tour guide got us up and going early (the July heat was unbearable!) and guided us through the city and it's treasures. It's was clear she loved history as much as we did and she gave us insight into the rich physical and cultural past, present, and future of the city, country, and all of the dynasties. She answered our questions, fed us well, and even parted us with a beautiful gift that we will cherish for a long time. A few days after our tour, we had a few lingering questions and she helped us find what we were looking for and she even made a reservation at a restaurant for us that we were struggling to do with our limited language skills. She went above and beyond. Anyone traveling in Beijing would be lucky to tour the Forbidden City, the Temple of Heaven, and so much more and even luckier to have Cactus as their guide!

We had an amazing tour with our guide TOM. Everything ran smoothly from the pick-up from our hotel and all the transport between the sites. The tour is well organized and completely hassle free as all of the tickets for the sights are arranged by your tour guide and we had just the right amount of time at each sight with the option to spend more time at each if we liked. Our guide TOM was so knowledgeable about all the sites we visited and answered all of our questions. We got a cable car up to the Great Wall which was lovely and scenic, we also weren’t too tired to walk along the wall when we reached the top. It was honestly the highlight of our trip to Beijing. Thanks to China highlights,we highly recommend to everyone for China highlights and best tour guide TOM

We booked a 2-Day tour and were assigned Olivia Tian as our tour guide. She was excellent. Very knowledgeable about the sights we did see and made sure to keep everyone informed. Both my Chinese in-laws and myself (American) had great time. Olivia also made the most of our time by rearranging our schedule a bit to take advantage of the weather and time. The original plan was Tiananmen Square, Forbidden City, Great Wall on Day 1 and Temple of Heaven, and Summer Palace on Day 2. Instead, we did the Great Wall first time on day 1, which meant it was cooler for the hiking. And we did a bit of a faster tour through the Temple of Heaven to be able to catch a theatrical show Olivia recommended. If you enjoy performing arts, the $40-55USD per person tickets are well worth this 60 minute show, the Golden Mask. Great Wall, Temple of Heaven and the Golden Mask Show made up the 1st day. Day 2 was Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City, and the Summer Palace. All were great and Olivia was awesome at knowing some shortcuts and getting us by some of the lines where she could. The day ended sort of early (around 330pm) but depending on how much hiking you did at the Great Wall, (and how fit you are), this might be just what you want. Overall, Olivia provided an excellent touring experience and I can't help but recommend her to others looking for a trip to Beijing.

We booked a 2-Day tour and were assigned Olivia Tian as our tour guide. She was excellent. Very knowledgeable about the sights we did see and made sure to keep everyone informed. Both my Chinese in-laws and myself (American) had great time. Olivia also made the most of our time by rearranging our schedule a bit to take advantage of the weather and time. The original plan was Tiananmen Square, Forbidden City, Great Wall on Day 1 and Temple of Heaven, and Summer Palace on Day 2. Instead, we did the Great Wall first time on day 1, which meant it was cooler for the hiking. And we did a bit of a faster tour through the Temple of Heaven to be able to catch a theatrical show Olivia recommended. If you enjoy performing arts, the $40-55USD per person tickets are well worth this 60 minute show, the Golden Mask. Great Wall, Temple of Heaven and the Golden Mask Show made up the 1st day. Day 2 was Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City, and the Summer Palace. All were great and Olivia was awesome at knowing some shortcuts and getting us by some of the lines where she could. The day ended sort of early (around 330pm) but depending on how much hiking you did at the Great Wall, (and how fit you are), this might be just what you want. Overall, Olivia provided an excellent touring experience and I can't help but recommend her to others looking for a trip to Beijing.

Another wonderful four-day section of our tailor-made three week China Highlights trip, this time in the region around Guilin, Yangshuo and in the Longji rice terraces with our friendly guide Chase. The 4-hour Li river cruise on a 4-star boat, the bamboo rafting - which our guide kindly got us by queueing from 4am onwards - hike to Moon Hill, bicycle river trip and Liu San Jie light show were all excellent, so was the Yangshuo Mountain Retreat hotel. The hike in the Longji rice terraces from Ping’an to another village, bamboo rice cooking experience and Baike Boutique Hotel with its great views were also all wonderful. We wished we could have stayed longer!

Séjour inoubliable dans la région de Guilin avec China highlight et la guide Alice. Choix d’activités surprenantes où nous avons été comblés à plusieurs reprises : grotte de la fl?te de roseau, visite des marchés ou des lieux importants de Guilin ou Yangshuo, spectacle à couper le souffle, visite d’une maison ancestrale de paysans, rizières et visite dans une maison pour faire un repas transitionnel, etc. Tout était super ! Même les enfants ont adorés ! Les choix de logements étaient aussi super ! La chaufffeure qui nous conduisait d’un point à l’autre était aussi bien gentille et patiente ! Expérience et souvenirs gravés dans notre c?ur ! Merci ! 11/10

Another wonderful four-day section of our tailor-made three week China Highlights trip, this time in the region around Guilin, Yangshuo and in the Longji rice terraces with our friendly guide Chase. The 4-hour Li river cruise on a 4-star boat, the bamboo rafting - which our guide kindly got us by queueing from 4am onwards - hike to Moon Hill, bicycle river trip and Liu San Jie light show were all excellent, so was the Yangshuo Mountain Retreat hotel. The hike in the Longji rice terraces from Ping’an to another village, bamboo rice cooking experience and Baike Boutique Hotel with its great views were also all wonderful. We wished we could have stayed longer!

Both Guilin with its amazing rice paddies and Yangshou with the Karst landscape are scenically stunning and a must see in China. Gary our tour guide from China Highlights is incredibly passionate about his role as tour guide and does everything possible to ensure your time in Guilin and Yangshou is memorable. From Guilin we went to see the famous rice paddy fields and spent a day walking through the paddy fields and eating a fantastic lunch in a local restaurant. In the evening we went on a foodie tour of Guilin which was very well worth it and we ate some very local food we would never have tried on our own. We then spent two days in Yangshou. The scenery here is just stunning and there are lots of different ways you can enjoy it. Gary took us up a particular mountain, off the beaten track, that meant we had the view really all to ourselves - absolutely stunning. But the rafting down the rived, cycle ride and the sidecar rides were also great fun. Thank you Gary for making our time in Guilin and Yangshou very memorable

We were treated to the most amazing, full, tailor-made, unique & personalised tour of Guilin & Yangshuo over 4 days.. Our excellent guide Vincent went the extra mile to give us the best experience and included local, personalised activities & adventures, hidden gems off the beaten track! We had the best time, using every minute tfor both 'wow" & 'local' experiences and with helpful advice always. His helper Karpo was also amazing & helped us a lot, as did our driver Mr Tan. It all flowed effortlessly for us, while they were working hard behind the scenes! ..and also to meet our every need. We are so grateful. Thank you for showing us the best of Guilin & Yangshuo, & for looking after us so well, while also avoiding the crowds in high season.

Visiting Yangshou County in Guilin was the most scenic and beautiful part of our 2 week trip in China. Chase from China Highlights was our guide. He was friendly, funny and very personable in our time in Guilin. He had great recommendations for us to try at the hotel and would go out of his way to make sure our wants and needs were met. He knows the area of Yangshou very well and truly made the culture of the area come to life.

Wonderful experience in the amazing landscapes of Guilin area. A big thank you to guide Ken for his amazing help and guidance, and to Carol for organizing this trip on very short notice.

First of all thank you to our English speaking guide Steven, who’s help and knowledge about China made sure this trip exceeded out expectations.

The whole experience was amazing. Chase our tour guide and the driver were super nice. The attractions we went to in Guilin and Yangshou were magnificent and the choices of hotels to stay at were clean and relaxing. Definitely would recommend China highlights to friends wanting to visit China from abroad.

Had an amazing time in Guilin and Yangshou. Everything was well organized and the places we visited were beyond beautiful. Our tour guide, Chase, was very humble, helpful and knowledgeable. He also speaks English very well so we didn’t have trouble in communicating. I did an amazing wedding shoot in Yangshou and Chase was kind enough to take photos and videos. I definitely recommend this service to friends wanting to visit China and will definitely recommend asking the company for Chase to be your tour guide.

Me and my husband took a trip to Guilin and Yangshou and it was for sure amazing! I had a pleasant experience with Highlights in China. The tour Guide Chase was super kind and helpful and very knowledgeable about China. He made the trip easygoing I forgot about the language barrier because he was automatically translating without us even asking. The attractions we went to were magnificent and getting to places was just way easier with a driver picking us up and taking us to far away places. I definitely recommend it to anyone coming from abroad to visit China

We took a trip to Guilin as part of our China journey. We had some great time there due to our guide Frank from China Highlights. Everything was perfectly organized and went as planned. We visited the amazing rice terraces, we took a 4 star boat on the river Lii, we rode a bike along the river, had delicious food, stayed at a wonderful hotel.

My wife in and spent 3 delightful days in the area, including an overnight in the Longji Rice terraces and a cruise on the Li river. We had laid out our preferences and all the arrangement had been made by China Highlights: guide, car, hotels and the cruise. I appreciate their willingness to ability to tailor the time to our priorities, and our guide Vincent, also was happy to adapt the schedule to our interests on the fly. Vincent is an outstanding guide and was an important part of the success. In addition to being knowledgeable and flexible, he is also very personable - critical when someone is joining your vacation for 3 days. He ably helped find and arranged for vegetarian food and took additional photos that he shared with us. I highly recommend both China Highlights and Vincent.

My family and I went to Guilin over the summer, and we had a wonderful experience. We went to see the Longsheng Rice Terraces and on a cruise to see the landscape of Guilin. Our guide Chase was able to make the tour more enjoyable, with his knowledge and his patience. He went out of his way to make sure we got the most out of our trip. I recommend this trip to anyone who wants to enjoy Guilin to the upmost, but doesn’t want to have the hassle of touring with a big group of strangers. Thank you Chase!!

We spent 3 days in GuiLin and Yangshuo. The trip was great! China Highlights booked everything for us so we didn’t have to worry. The accommodations were clean and comfortable and the activities were exactly what we were looking for. Our guide, Chase, was excellent. He spoke fluent English and was friendly, knowledgeable, efficient, very willing to accommodate our requests and pleasant to be around. He was the perfect balance of being warm and helpful while giving us space to have our own trip.

I would like to thank our guide Jenny for our wonderful time in Guilin and yangshuo. Your expertise and attention to detail helped us understand and appreciate the history and culture of the city in a way that we never could have on our own. Your friendly and personable nature made the tour enjoyable and engaging, and we loved the stories and anecdotes you shared along the way. We will never forget this experience and we are so grateful to have had you as our guide. Thank you again for a truly unforgettable tour. We will definitely be recommending you to our friends

I have booked Guilin and Yangshuo tour with Chinahilights and it was amazing. Our guide was Jenny. She is very helpful and good command in English. She take care of our all China trip starting from arrival to return. We did not face a single problem although I did not know Chinese. It is worth to book with Chinahilights and ask Guide Jenny. I guarantee your tour will be memorable. Thanks again Chinahilights and Jenny.

The guy who was our tour guide, Chase, was a total gem ! He was so professional and knowledgeable. He was never overbearing, gave us plenty of space, while guiding us on a breathtakingly beautiful, fun, educational, exciting and relaxing adventure!They arranged for a private driver to escort us to each new attraction.We hiked, saw ancient villages, took a Li River cruise, went to the Reed Flute Cave, hit the local street markets, went electric bike riding in the countryside along rice paddy fields, and more! I would do it again, and probably will do it again with more friends. So, yes, worth it! An absolutely awesome time

Booked a 5 day private tour for me and my senior parents. Incredible experience! Our tour guide was Oscar and he was insightful, professional, and understanding of our questions and needs. The hotels were beautiful and comfortable, the attractions we saw were stunning (Longji rice terraces, reed flute caves, river cruise, etc), the activities were really fun (hiking, cooking class, meeting a villager). Super comfortable, well-planned itinerary. We went a bit off season in mid-June, which was great because there were hardly any tourists in some of the places we visited, like the rice terraces and the caves. Definitely try to avoid national holidays because Oscar said those places get packed.

Our Tour Guide Chase is very caring and full of patience throughout the trip , we have the best of fun in Guilin and Yangshuo , so much to see and sceneries to die for . Thank you China Hightlights!!