3 Days Best Shanghai and Zhujiajiao Water Town Tour

Enjoyable busy day!7 am start covering Tiananmen Square and Forbidden City early on amidst tight crowds followed by an unexpected stop at Pharmacy institute where we were able for a small “tip” enjoy a short foot massage and consultation with a Chinese medicine expert. Unfortunately this turned into an embarrassing pressure sell of his prescribed medicines which left us underwhelmed!Lunch was acceptable followed by a wiz around the Temple of Heaven. On the way to our final destination the Summer Palace we had another unexpected stop and “selling” opportunity at a pearl factory (store actually). Guide had his own sense of humour and opinions which were often unintelligible or off the wall and his English Weaker than other “English” speaking guides that we have experienced in China.All that said, we had a good day out in some very worthwhile places to visit and felt it value for money. Our favorite was the relative peace of the Summer Palace surroundings and in particular watching the old guys flying kites at heights I could not imagine possible.

We had a 12 day private tour in China mainland (Beijing, Xian, Hangzhou, Shanghai, Zhangjiajie, Guilin) terminating in HK. All went well, mostly thanks to Lily, our tour organizer who was always available and sorted out any little misunderstanding that happened along the route. Also she was very patient as for months spent time with me to customize the trip in every single particular, so that I could for example pick my preferred 5star hotels and book them directly, chose activities and food. Transportation was very good, modern and clean large vehicles. Also they arranged internal bullet trains and flights. We also went to optional night show in Beijing and to the night cruise in Guilin, both were great. All guides were experienced although a couple of them did not speak perfect English, but enough. I would recommend this tour operator.

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.

Vicky Lu of TCT was great! She always replied to my emails quickly and fully answered all our questions, which we found really helpful and efficient. She took the time to understand what we liked and wanted to do, and our budget, and designed an amazing 2 week holiday with private tours of 3 fantastic places: Zhangjiajie (absolutely amazing!!!!), Guilin (beautiful and fun) and Xi'an (Terracotta Warriors are an absolute MUST, plus cycling on the Ancient Wall into the evening, and the thrill of Mt Huashan). It was all so easy, no fuss and no wasted time, with friendly English-speaking guides waiting for us on arrival and smoothing the way for hotel check-ins, getting tickets, and entries to the parks and attractions. It was all professional and just right, no rushing us on, no shopping/factory stops, no bus-loads of people to always be waiting on, etc... The TCT tour was professionally organised and was excellent. From chatting with other travellers at brekky and seeing the masses of local and overseas tourists at all the attractions, without our TCT guides we would have spent a HUGE amount of time getting there, getting tickets and lining up for everything, and spending crazy amounts of time communicating through phone translation apps (generally there are very few English speakers). We reckon that with our TCT guides we got AT LEAST twice as much time everywhere we wanted to be, with private drivers taking us straight from place to place with no waiting, the guides getting us in everywhere with minimal delays, and taking us straight to nice nearby restaurants for good lunches (included in the tour price), giving us maximum quality time enjoying ourselves in nice places. So we can totally recommend TCT and Vicky Lu.. great job, reliable, no hassles, and thanks very much for an exceptional China tour Vicky!!

I first visited China in 1975, the Canton Fair and have been a regular visitor since. In late 1976 partook in a 3 week Australia China Chamber Commerce of "approved" locations, one being that of Tianjin which was near epicenter Tangshan earthquake, staying in a Russian built colossal hotel, my how China has changed! On all previous trips I had business associates assist with my travel arrangements and this Guilin experience was the first I booked. Having never been to Guilin and always wanting to visit the karst formation mountains, I was surfing and an advertisement for TCT appeared to which I responded and immediately received a positive and informative reply from Lily. Informed her that I would be visiting a number of cities in China with my son on business and from our final city of Hangzhou I would like to visit Guilin and some attractions nearby. Lily immediately came up with a 5 day private tour proposal based on 3 star hotels and including private car transportation. The deal was so appealing I did not consider any alternatives. Arrangements were made solely by internet and whilst I was travelling. When I eventually nailed down the date I was to be in Hangzhou, Lily immediately booked a soft sleeper for the train to Guilin, some 18 hours and arranged for the ticket to be delivered to the Ramada in Hangzhou. In the course of the trip with my son in cities such as Taizhou, Handan, Chongqing, Tonglu and Hangzhou we mentioned my intended solo trip to Guilin and all were amazed that I, a Caucasian foreigner not able to speak Mandarin, would be capable of having a successful trip. Well at my hotel in Hangzhou there was the rail ticket as arranged, no problems to take the new Hangzhou subway to the East Hangzhou train station and on my way, sharing my soft sleeper with 3 Mandarin speaking fellow travelers The train arrived at Guilin station precisely on time, 12.18 and outside the terminal was met by my guide for the duration of my trip, the lovely and most capable 23 year old Yu Ming. She whisked me away to see the local sites of Reed Flute Cave, Elephant Trunk Hill, and Fubo Hill then to book into Universal Guilin Hotel 3*, top location. Yu Ming accompanied me to one of her favourite restaurants which offered live; snake,bamboo rats, various turtle and many fish. I settled on what is known as duck bill fish which is boneless but expensive, about RMBY220 per half kilo, other dishes as little as one tenth this cost. Following day joined hoards of other travelers on a flotilla of boats meandering some 83km downstream on Li Jiang (Jiang = River). The karst mountains are spectacular and the water clear and quite rapid, particularly in shallows. Considerable activity along the river conducted mainly from 12 pole bamboo rafts made of PVC pipe! Have a RMBY20 note with you and take a photograph of the scenery around Xing Ping which appears on the note. Met three fellow travellers,Guandong residents, who heard from Yu Ming we were to ride bicycles on arrival at Yangshuo and although none spoke any English they asked to accompany us when we ride hired bicycles to the Yulong River through the Yangshuo countryside. Off we set through relatively busy traffic but soon into serene countryside, easy riding. On reaching the Yulong we( Yu Ming and myself) hire a 10 bamboo pole raft (genuine bamboo), placed our bikes on the stern with poleman, sat in a pair of chairs and drifted down the Yulong (Dragon) River, going over weirs of more than 1 metre high, meandering through beautiful scenery and karst mountains to, too soon, to land at a banyan tree said to be 1,400 years old. Off loaded bikes and before setting on way to hotel, Ai Yuan 3*, bought from local vendor, a BBQ fish similar to a sardine, which you ate ,including backbone, from the skewer. Back on our bikes to have dinner at one of many local restaurants and then to the second performance for the night of Liu Sanjie, a love story familiar to all Chinese. A cast of over 700 from the Zhuang, Miao and yao minority in a setting of 1.4 hectares ( 3.5 acres) with karst mountains in background, backlit. Spectacular colours and lights, each performance holding 3000 spectators. To avoid queues for buses and taxis we rode a motorbike, 3 up, for total of RMBY10. During breakfast I could hear bursts of staccato which, was to see later, a funeral of a father. All mourners in white and the son and daughter of the deceased father were in long whites. The crackers were exploding and vast quantities of paper money floating everywhere to be quickly cleaned up by following street sweepers. Our driver, Qin caught up with us at 8 in the morning for an early start for the Longji rice terraces and the following day a visit to the Dong minority village, Yanzhai in the Sanjiang region (three rivers). More of that elsewhere My one regret, I did not have an additional day to enjoy the serenity of the Yulong River. I have had no further contact with tour organiser Lily, all is going like clockwork, Yu Ming not only a highly knowledgeable guide but is astutely aware of her charge's preferences, who is more than three times her age. I put this awareness down to the fact that Yu Ming is not only text book tourist taught by The Guilin University of Tourism, but she had recently spent some 8 months at the Epcot Centre in Florida.

I enjoyed my trip to China thanks to my tour guides; Angela in Beijing and Waiting in Shanghai. Both of them were incredibly knowledgeable about their particular cities and were able to answer any questions I had. I wouldn't have taken so many great pictures if it weren't for my tour guides and them advising me on great picture moments. With both Angela and Waiting, it felt like I was touring China with good friends; which was great since I went on this trip solo. I will definitely book with TCT next time I visit China. Thank you for making my first vacation abroad memorable.

During the three days in BEIJING,we visited the Tiananmen square,forbidden city,temple of heaven,the Great Wall,summer palace etc.Our tour guide Eric was very helpful and knowledgeable.We were so lucky to have Rebecca as our tour agent,she organized everything for us and we really enjoyed it.It was one of the most enjoyable locations I ever spent.

We've been in China this August from 4th to 20th, starting from Beijing and finish in Shanghai, with many transfers through the "tailor made"trip (we've been in Chengde, Pingyao, Xian, Chengdu, Huangshan...). We're very found in Chinese culture and food, so we asked to the travel agency a "not so touristic" tour. We found everything we were looking for! Janet, our correspondent, made everything work wonderfully, with patience and aknowledgement. We really suggest this agency if you want a really Chinese experience with the best quality and price!

Today we had a great day. We went to the Great Wall. Walked about 1 kilometer of the 8000. We went to a Jade warehouse. We had a great lunch there. We then went to the summer palace and enjoyed the views. We ended our day with a tour of Hutong. We had a fabulous dinner in the home of Mrs. Fan. So far our driver (Mr. Luo)and Dream have been wonderful. Five stars.

This 6-Day tour of Beijing was fantastic! Our tour guide, Tom, gave us lots of great information about China's rich history as we toured Tiananmen Square, the Temple of Heaven, the Summer Palace, the Beijing Zoo, a tea house, a pearl factory, a silk factory, a Hutong tour (where we painted face masks in the Peking Opera style) and the Mutianyu section of the Great Wall of China! The toboggan ride down from the Great Wall was especially memorable! Be sure to include this exciting ride in your itinerary. We learned about the different dynasties, some of the Emperors who built or re-built the historic landmarks in Beijing and the fascinating Dragon Lady! We also saw a great Kung Fu show and, thanks to some last-minute arranging by Tom, we were also able to see an incredible acrobatics show after a delicious Peking Duck dinner. Tom even arranged for one of the locals at the Temple of Heaven to lead us through some TaiChi. This tour is worth every penny. I can't imagine trying to navigate your way around this huge city without a driver and tour guide. There is no way we could've seen even half of what we did in such a short amount of time. We didn't have to worry about driving, parking, buying tickets or standing in line. Tom and the driver took care of all of those time-consuming details for us. Tom taught us so much with his stories and commentary along the tour and he also went way above and beyond by recruiting the help of one of his friends to help us package up all our purchases and ensuring they would fit on the train and plane on our way home! If you are planning a visit to Beijing, make the most of your time and sign up for this tour. You will see more, learn more and have more fun! Be sure to ask for Tom.

My daughter and I had a terrific 6 day adventure hiking the Great Wall of China, made extra special by our wonderful,caring, attentive, informative, experienced guide, Jack Chen, and our kind and thoughtful driver, Mr. Zhou. We hiked the Gubeikou, Jinshanling, Wohushan, Jiankou, and Mutianyu sections of the Great Wall,.5-6 hours a day, with our guide, Jack Chen offering information about Chinese history, culture, politics, life, food, and what's it's like to live in China. Jack even gave us tai chi and kung fu lessons in the evening. The hikes offered spectacular views of the mountain ranges and valleys with views of the winding wall in the distance. You can just imagine the enemy armies trying to attack from the north. We took hundreds of pictures! I even got to celebrate my birthday on the second day of the hiking tour and asked other hikers we met to sing happy birthday to me in their own language. Jack and Mr Zhou surprised me with a delicious birthday cake which we all devoured after dinner. Our accommodations were suitable. We ate delicious food, carefully chosen by Jack, being attentive to my daughter's gluten-free needs...no bread, dumplings or wheat noodles. Hiking the "wild wall" on the 3rd day was really challenging! We hiked on very rough, broken, steep, overgrown, and narrow sections of the wall, but it was well worth it! We did welcome the cable car ride down. By the end of the 3rd day, we were tired and our legs felt it! Make sure you wear comfortable and sturdy hiking or trail shoes, carry a small day pack with snacks and water, light layers and a rain jacket. The weather changes a lot. This was a truly marvelous experience, not to be missed even if you hike only one day. If you are lucky to get Jack Chen as your guide, you will be very fortunate and extremely pleased and satisfied. He is a special person! Our trip was indeed, memorable!

I had such a wonderful time on this very well scheduled and prepared tour! I got to see so many amazing sights and I loved every minute of it. The friendly and helpful guides has made this trip most memorable for me. They was the best tour guides I could have imagined. They made me feel save, guided, comfortable, informed, and interested in our daily scheduled tours. They are professionals who is in tune with his clients interests at all times and could introduce all the places of interest and various landmarks to me at the same time. I will remember this trip forever, thanks a lot! Being in a private tour I could spend more time in the places that I liked and did not feel me rushed. Thanks for the well-planned hotel where I slept were lovely and at breakfast the food were freshly made and delicious. This is a very professional and well-organised tour, it made me feel like I am having friends bring me around to show me the sights, history and culture of your wonderful Country. It was such a wonderful experience and I would definitely recommend Top China Travel Tour Operator to anyone who wants to explore China. I came back to Brazil already missing my Chinese friends and guides. Thank you from the bottom of my heart to all of you for the welcome, professionalism and friendship during my journey through China. I intend to visit China again and no doubt the next time will request your services again. Thanks & Regards Claudio Graziani Romaris São Paulo, BRAZIL

I can't recommend this company enough!!I started talking to Yocky via the chat system on their website, as we wanted to do a 2.5 week trip around China. Our itinerary was:Shenzhen-Beijing-Xian-Kunming-Dongchuan-Chengdu-Guilin-SanyaHere's how things went:1) She was instant in her replies and responded to subsequent emails within the hour (and trust me, I sent A LOT of emails). She was always so thorough and efficient.2) She made us a tailor made trip that covered everything we wanted, including some slightly more off the beaten track attractions.3) She helped us keep to our budget and suggested reasonable things we could cut out when things were too expensive (not something many companies would do as they are trying to make a quick buck).4) She listened to all of our requests for things such as early morning flights, vegetarian food, and readjusting itineraries.5) All our drivers and guides were EXCELLENT; they were prompt, kind, spoke excellent English and had a wealth of knowledge about all the sites we saw. All the cars on our private tours were nice and comfortable and had water.6) Despite asking for 3* hotels, all 7 hotels we stayed in seemed like 4* to us and all included breakfast.7) With such a large and complicated trip there were bound to be a few hiccups (e.g. there was a marathon in Xian one day which meant a lot of roads were closed, so we couldn't access sites). Yocky was in touch with us the entire time and helped us rearrange our plans quickly and ordered complimentary tickets to a show to make up for the inconvenience.We were so nervous about our first trip to China as we speak no mandarin and are strict vegetarian but honestly this was one of the best trips of our life; this company made it so easy for us and I really can't imagine having been able to do it myself any better!

The scenes were amazing. The boat was air conditioned, food was mediocre. A four hour tour that didn't disappoint. A short walk to the hotel.

My 19 year old daughter and her friend wanted to see something of China before spending 8 weeks studying in Beijing. Rebecca from TCT arranged the itinerary. Everything went extremely smoothly and the girls had a wonderful time which included bicycle riding, sechuan opera and the panda breeding center. One of the guides in particular went over and above the call of duty to give the girls a great time. My daughter had her birthday during the trip and rebecca arranged for the guide to buy a beautiful birthday cake for her. it was the trip of a lifetime.