Program : Hong Kong – Beijing – Xi’an – Guilin – Longji – Yangshuo
Hi Connie, Paul,
We had a very enjoyable trip and it was extremely interesting and eye-opening for the children and for us. Thank you very much for organising.
As you requested, here are a few thoughts and constructive feedback:
– overall very well organised, everything ran smoothly
– one problem (which was not well solved despite us having talked to the agency locally during our trip) was that the hotel bookings did NOT include the requirement for the two bedrooms to be close to each other. Sometimes it got solved easily when we arrived at the hotel, but sometimes (in Yangshuo) it became a stressful issue.
– the drivers were always on time and polite and well organised (especially the one we had in Beijing – he was great). However the transfers were sometimes really long, especially in the Guilin / Longji / Yangshuo area: maybe you should have explained to me a bit better that we would be spending so much time in minivans on those days – it was hard for the kids, and even for me (I got my back a bit blocked after all those hours sitting in the minivan)
– the hotel in Xi’an was fantastic, and the one in Yangshuo was very good; the ones in Beijing and Guilin were not great but OK; the hotel rooms in Longji were really very low standard – dirty and not comfortable. I’m sure there are much better hotel rooms in Longji, now that we’ve been there
– the activities (such as the tea and the cooking class in Yangshuo, the bike ride in Xi’an) were great
– the guide in Guilin / Longji / Yangshuo was very kind and nice, but not very proactive at explaining things to us or to the children. We had to keep asking her questions to keep her talking…
– on a separate note, we were really surprised by how crowded and hot it was in the Forbidden City and Summer Palace, but also at the Terracota Army next to Xi’an: this place was crazily hot and crowded, and all the tourists (mainly Chinese) were pushing us and walking on our feet – so this was really hard for the children! A good lesson for us on cultural differences… but nothing to do with you – I guess it’s just that we chose the wrong week(s)!
Anyway, we were really happy.
All the best,
Antoine