6 Days Dongchuan Red Land Tour

Enjoyed touring the Forbidden City and Great Wall of China in Beijing. Thanks to our guide Mark. He was very knowledgeable and made our time there very enjoyable.

We were looking for a tour in SW China while in the area for work and found this one. While we wouldn't normally get a private tour but surprisingly it was actually cheaper than most of the group tours in the area and was great value. While I would usually rather keep one guide for the whole tour, as you get to know each other and they get to know what you are interested in, we changed guides 5 times during this trip (fortunately we had the same guide in Kunming at the start and end of the tour which was a real bonus as Murphy, our Kunming based guide, was excellent.) In this case changing guides had the advantage of local knowledge at each site so compensated for the change. Of the 4 guides we had 3 excellent and 1 very good with each of them working hard to look after us and make sure we enjoyed our trip. Vicky, our Dali based guide was also extremely good making our time there a highlight. The tour gives you 2 days at each base ie travel in the morning, have the afternoon and the next day touring the area then drive to the next base. We chose the driving tour as we feel it gives you a better experience of the area and you get to see the locals in action. All the drivers we had were great - they went out of their way to look after us and were very safe, which is saying something for driving in China. While all of the guides were very fluent in English none of the drivers could speak English which was a slight disadvantage as you didn't have the guides with you when traveling between bases but the friendliness and helpfulness of the drivers more than made up for this. The tour was very well organised and we knew what we were doing from the time we met our guide on arrival at the Kunming railway station to when we walked through security at the airport on our way out. The tour comes with 4,5 and 6 star accommodation choices and we went for the cheapest 4 star option. While the English at the hotels was limited the guides made sure we were checked in and out and took care of any issues (which were minimal). The 4 star option is largely "Chinese style" hotels ie designed for Chinese visitors with breakfast consisting of what many westeners would consider dinner style food but there was always eggs and toast for the less adventurous. The hotels were all clean and comfortable and generally very well located. The Hotel in Kunming (Jin Jang Inn) was a bonus as it seemed higher than 4 star and we stayed there both on our way in and out. As well as breakfast, lunch came with the tour which was enjoyable as the guides choose the restaurants so we got a variety. I got the feeling that most of the restaurants were owned by friends or family or there was some arrangement with the guide, but as you get to formally review each guide and the meals at the end of each stop they work hard to make sure you enjoy the meal and there was always an abundance of food. We tried a range of local cuisine and there was only one meal we didn't think was up to par. You get your own dinner which also suited us as there is invariably a range of restaurants or for the more adventurous there is the street vendors and you can choose what you want. The vehicles we were driven in were all very good- plenty of space and very comfortable. Being a private tour, while there was a set itinerary, which was diverse and very interesting with something for most people, the guides could tweak it to suit individual interests eg more time at one site and less at another. It is easy to get a bit templed out but overall the itinerary was a good mic of nature and culture. I would thoroughly recommend the tour and the company and we will be looking to the company if/when we go back - Guilin is next on the list as the guides were very happy to discus what they thought we would and wouldn't enjoy based on working with us on this tour,

My extended family of 11, ages from 14 to 82, visited Shanghai, Xi'an and Beijing. Lilly was instrumental in helping us planning the family trip. She was always prompt, helpful, and pleasant responding to our endless inquiries. We had Vicky in Shanghai as our guide. She was caring and sincere. Even though dinner was not included in our itinerary, Vicky accompanied us to restaurants so that we wouldn't get lost. When we left Shanghai, all of us missed having Vicky as our guide. Sally in Xi'an was professional. Cathy in Beijing was energetic, funny and caring, and we bonded with her instantly. At the end of our tour, she even took us for shopping after her service was officially over. At the airport, as we hugged each other to bid farewells, I felt as if I was parting with a longtime friend. All 3 guides were extremely accomodating my 82-year-old mother-in-law and assited in hiring a wheelchair for her at each sightseeing site. Because of each member of TCT with their mpeccable service, our family trip was a memorable one. I highly recommend TCT to anyone who is planning a trip to China. Thank you Lilly, Vicky and Chathy. You guys are awesome!!!

We took a Li river tour into the mountains on our only day off. All I can say is do not miss this opportunity. The views are spectacular and you will even go past the scene on the back of the 20 yuan bill. Amazing!

Great Hotel stay Very Nice Tour guides Convenient planned daily trips Average selection of restaurant for food though

My sister and I were looking for an independent tour to China and Tibet and after writing to three different agencies with our proposed route and activities we decided to go with TCT travel. Why TCT? Daniel Mo, our contact person responded quickly to every email that we sent. He was both professional and friendly. An excellent travel agent! The planning was personal. If we didn’t like a proposed hotel or tour, he came up with something better. He made recommendations about sights worth seeing and places worth skipping. Nothing was too much to ask; he wanted us to be satisfied. The other two agencies were more inclined to offer standard hotels and tours. The bank transfers were efficient. There was no hassle with money. Our route: Beijing, Lhasa, Xian, Guilin-Yangshou, Shanghai, a total of 17 days in October. Seeing Tibet was to be the highlight of our trip. Daniel arranged the Tibet permit, a hotel in the center of Lhasa and a local Tibetan guide who was truly amazing. If you have the time and are not frightened off by the high altitude (you must take medicine), go to Tibet!! That being said, our entire China-Tibet trip was fantastic. We enjoyed everything that we did, all of our tours. The hotels had excellent locations (extremely important). Our guides were wonderful and did everything they could to make things run smoothly. They all met us at the airport(s) upon arrival and assisted us at departure. They accompanied us everywhere organizing and translating and of course supplying us with information at all of the tour sights. They ordered our lunches based on what we like to eat (my sister is a vegetarian). We were never herded around like a tour group. The approach was personal and flexible. All of our transportation was arranged perfectly by Daniel/TCT; flights, trains, vans, cars, boats, bicycles and rickshaws. We could not have asked for a better introduction to China and I would certainly recommend TCT to anyone who wishes to travel independently. From the planning phase to the actual execution; excellent!

I went to China with my family( wife & two children) for sightseeing on 16th June 2017 for a seven days itinerary in China, three days in Hongkong & three days in Singapore . We booked our flight, hotel rooms and train tickets by our self from UAE. Hotel booking we made through Booking.com . After evaluating the charges of various tour operators in China through internet ,we engaged TCT ( Top China Travel ) for our sightseeing arrangement in China – Beijing , Xian and Shanghai. We requested for one private vehicle and English speaking guide. One Miss. Joyce was our contact person in TCT. Thanks for Joyce, she arranged everything perfectly . We reached Beijing at 2300hrs and our guide Mr. Jack receive us at Beijing airport and adrop us in the Shangri-la hotel. They provided a six setter Toyota van exclusively for us . Jack stayed with us till we completed check in to the room. Jack speak good English and sound knowledge about all the monuments, shopping area, good restaurants in Beijing area. We spent three days in Beijing- Great wall in cable car, Summer palace, Lama Temple, Beijing Zoo to see Panda and went to Xian by fast train. Train tickets we purchased online and they deliver to our hotel one day prior to our arrival in Beijing. Fast train is very neat and tidy. Seat arrangements are similar to flight- two seat on each side. There is a shelf for storing large size baggage neat the entrance. Hand baggage could be stored in the overhead storage area .Train was moving at a speed of 280-315 Km per hour, but we don’t feel any vibration inside the train. Clean toilets are provided in each compartments. It is advisable to take fast train instead of domestic flights in China. Xian our Guide was waiting for us at railway station –Miss. Christina . She also was very professional ,sound knowledge of xian sightseeing places. She use to give us a perfect description /history of each monuments to us in the vehicle on the way to each location. Terracotta warriors, Xian museum , Art museum are main highlights of Xian. We went Xian to Shanghai in flight . our Guide Christina accompany us to air port till we receive our boarding pass. In china an English speaking guide is essential to support us everywhere , since local people cannot communicate in English- even at KFC very difficult to purchase food. But in Xian Air port ,our 1700 Hrs flight cancelled at 2300hrs and send us to a local hotel by airline. Next day morning they arranged flight Xian to Shanghai . As per our fellow passengers flight cancellation is quite normal in China. Hence Fast train is always better for domestic trip . Due to flight cancellation our sightseeing time was very limited in Shanghai. TCT Guide Mr.Mark tried his best to show us maximum locations. Miss.Joyce was in touch with us in Whatsup and extended her full support to make our trip comfortable. In Beijing and Shanghai we cancelled few prearranged sightseeing due to bad weather and lack of time. But TCT refund the charges for such cancelled sightseeing . It is really appreciated, normally tour operators will not refund . We paid 30% of TCT charges to them by TT from Dubai and remaining amount by Cash US$ at Beijing . Our hotel Shangri-la at HaiDian -Beijing was very good and Sheraton at Xian & Shanghai was also comfortable . Most of the hotels in China serve pork items ,was the only thing not comfortable for my family. It is worth visiting China and I can recommend TCT since they are very cooperative , professional and reasonable price . Best time to visit China is during spring –ie April- May

My wife and I booked a private tour with Top China Travel for 6 days , From the outset the help we got from TCT was first class and Joyce our representative in China answered all our questions and tailored the tour accordingly . On arrival at Beijing airport the guide Venus and driver Mr Howe were there to meet us and take us to our very comfortable hotel which TCT had arranged. The second day we visited the Great Wall which was fantastic. Neil the guide for this trip was knowledgeable and very informative and later in the day we wandered around the beautiful Summer Palace at leisure. The Forbidden City with Venus our lovely guide was incredible as was meeting local people in the Hutong and market. A trip to Xi An to see the Terracotta Warriers taking the bullet train from Beijing was incredible travelling at 306 kilometres an hour. Comfortable and spotless taking just 4hr 20min to cover 1,200 Kms . Again when we arrived in Xi An station our guide Vincy and the driver Mr Toa were there to meet us and take us to our hotel. The next morning our car driver and guide took us to the Buddhist Pagoda in Xi An the first to be built in China, Very Interesting and so peaceful. The terracotta warriors were incredible, a massive site with five pits. We cannot thank Top China Tours enough for helping us to have an experience of a life time and we recommend them unreservedly. Clive and Lynne..

My parents and I used top China travel for ten days across China, they were excellent to deal with. The Guilin trip was amazing, such wonderful place I highly recommend it to everyone. our guide was very helpful and went well beyond expectations to make sure we were comfortable and got to see all the things we wanted to. Thank you very much :-)

We did a private tour of Beijing and the Mutianyu portion of the Great Wall in October. The company seamlessly put together the tour for us (graciously making changes to accommodate our preferences) without any problems. All the staff I dealt with (Joyce as the organizer and Sisi as the tour guide) was absolutely fantastic. Very kind and knowledgeable people who goes out of their way to make suggestions to ensure the most amazing experience you could possibly have. I wholeheartedly recommend this company for anyone wanting to travel to China. Truly an amazing company!

This company has assisted me greatly for more than 3 years. The staff.especiaaly Maggie.are very helpful.prompt innovative. I highly recommend this company for all traval. Hotels.tours.airline tickets.

At first, we were a little skeptical about this company because we found it online and we had to pay the full amount before the trip. We took a chance and it turned out to be a really good, credible company. We would not hesitate to book another trip with this company in the future. This company provided adequate English-speaking tour guides. Overall, this is an excellent tour company. We would highly recommend this to anyone who would like to travel to China for a sight-seeing trip. And if you happen to go to Beijing, don't forget to ask for a tour guide named Mr. Kong. If you decide to use TCT to tour China, we would highly recommend to contact Yocky for exceptional customer service.

With forty years of travel to the far corners of our world we have encountered many guides. Like most travelers some have not been very good, some decent and the rare few that are outstanding. During our three weeks in China last month we encountered just such a rare individual. Our guide in Guilin was a young women named Ping (I'll provide her email later). Ping demonstrated knowledge and command of the history, stories and culture all along the way. Beyond that, Ping exuded infectious enthusiasm not only for our touring, but for us personally as well. We had a serious medical issue occur suddenly, in fact one of us went into diabetic shock. It was four in the morning but no matter, after calling Ping she took command and arranged for the hotel to send us, with a car, driver, and assistant to a hospital. Upon our arrival there was Ping who obviously thru on some clothes, got on her motorbike and rushed to meet us. There she not only served as translator but as though a family member, she became invested in our proper care and recovery. Truly remarkable to have such a person supporting you. In small ways she flavored her guiding with a sense of our interests and preferences, like the day we mentioned our love of pomegranates and the next morning there she is smiling and with samples for us as a treat. When we left a jacket behind, once again was on it as Ping arranged for its shipment to out next stop and tracked it until it was in our hands. Beyond that, Ping was in frequent contact to make certain of our full medical recovery and to offer her help where or whenever it might be needed while in China. Amazing! Ping can be contacted at bellakanas@163.com Sheila Hertz, Howard Entin

From my first contact with our tour operator Janet, I felt very comfortable that she would organise a great trip for us. She was very clear, professional and helpful in our correspondence. We visited Beijing, Pinghao, Xian, Guilin and Shangai and everything was organised in the most perfect way! Also the guides we had along our trip were very good, helpful and flexilble and they all spoke English very well (sometimes a problem in Asia). I highly recommendvTop China Travel and Janet. Many thanks for the services...

My husband wasn't even interested in China, after researching all of the great things to discover, checking reviews, services and prices we decides to trust TripAdvisor reviews and we booked with Top China Travel, PRIVATE TOUR. OMG, it was amazing!, we booked with Rebecca, very professional, she answered all of my questions and we had manny, we went the to get our Visa at the China consulate in San Francisco it was ready in 3 days, we book our own flights. When we got to Beijing beautiful and safe city, there was our first PRIVATE tour Guide, Daniell, even our plain was delayed, when to a very nice car with our driver, very nice hotel Howard Johnson Beijing, all of the hotels very nice, like 4 to 5 stars. After that we went on high speed train to Xi'an, we wanted to experience 305 Km per hour speed, the same thing great city, private tour is the way to go! It was only getting better, then Chongqing, Yangtze river cruise so beautiful and peaceful, Shanghai, waw, Guilin a must see natural beauty, then Hong Kong, every thing was so well coordinated, the bilingual guides super nice, the breakfast and lunch included more than enough to skip dinner. My husband says now, "Money well Spent", we recommend TOP CHINA TRAVEL" to anybody, thank you Rebecca