Hi Max -
Thank-you again for everything that you did to help make our trip go smoothly! Please see below for our thoughts and comments. Have a wonderful day and all the best in the New Year!
Beijing:
Park Plaza hotel: This was the best hotel that we stayed in during our trip to China. The rooms and the hotel facilities, such as the lounge and restaurant were fantastic. The breakfast buffet was great, as was the happy hour snacks. The location of the hotel was perfect for us to walk around and do some shopping while on our free day.Guide: Richard was a great guide. He was very welcoming, knowledgeable and friendly. As you know, Tuula was with us. She walks quite slowly and appreciates when the guides spoke slowly. Richard took special care to speak slowly and took to our slower pace without any problems, despite it being very cold walking around. We all really enjoyed our time that we spent with Richard. The only negative thing was when we were on the rickshaw ride, we were taken into a local house where the family was trying to sell us paper cuttings. We did not enjoy that part, due to the pressure sales. Other than that, it was a great time in Beijing.
Pingyao:
Yunjincheng Folk Hotell: This was the second best hotel that we stayed in during our trip. The traditional architecture included in the rooms was amazing for us to see. The hotel was perfect in every way.Guide: Jonathon was our guide in Pingyao – he was not as thorough or as accommodating as Richard was. He preferred to walk and speak quickly, thus leaving Tuula out of the conversation and the tour around the old city. It was very cold, and Richard was trying to get back where it was warm. Our free day in Pingyao was great – we were able to walk around at our own pace and see the sites.
Xi’an:
Grand Nobel Hotel: This hotel was very nice. It was centrally located, and the rooms and facilities were very good. The breakfast was another fantastic spread of both western and Chinese cuisine. We tended to prefer the Chinese, and it was always very good quality food.Guide: Elysha was a fantastic guide. She was very knowledgeable and helpful, and was great at adapting to our specific needs. She did not speed through anything and always kept the three of us in the loop with the tour information. A definite highlight was going to her friend’s parent’s home where we made noodles and dumplings. This is a great addition to our tour – and one that we will all be talking about to other travellers. It was really interesting to see inside the apartment complex – a great glimpse into modern Chinese daily life.
Zhengzhou:
Jianguo Hotel: The hotel in Zhengzhou was reasonable quality. The hotel itself looked a little run down, as there were water stains on the floor. That said, they were doing renovations so it may be better next time. The food and lobby facilities were very good.Guide: Lisa was a good guide. She was able to cater her tour to our speed. She was not shy about asking the driver questions that she didn’t know the answer to, which was very good in our opinion. The driver was also very good in Zhengzhou – we hit some heavy traffic and he was very good. One note may be to have the drivers listen to the local road reports, as he would have been able to avoid the whole situation altogether (the highway had been closed for a few hours before we got there). It was a good glimpse though into driving in the cities in China!
Shanghai:
SSAW Boutique Hotel: The hotel in Shanghai was pretty good – the food was not quite as good as in other hotels that we had stayed in. The location was great, as were the rooms. It was nice to stay in a boutique hotel.Guide: Bonnie was another great guide. She was able to alter our planned itinerary since we decided to change a few things on our full day tour. She was also accommodating to our slower pace. Bonnie also was great in that she checked our flights, and we noticed that there was a mistake in our itinerary. This double checking of our flights showed great professionalism on her part. She is very good and thorough at her job.
Overall Max, we had a great trip. The high speed trains were amazing to experience. One thing we were a little disappointed in is that our train trip from Zhengzhou to Shanghai, the longest trip we had, we were not booked in window seats. We really enjoyed seeing the countryside of China from the windows of the train, so this was a little disappointing. Regardless, the whole experience was excellent.
I really appreciate the diligence of everyone that you had on our ‘team’ while we were in China. Overall, everyone was great. The knowledge and pride that they have for their particular cities and sites is obvious, and they were able to share it in great detail with us. I will definitely be recommending Easy Tour China to our family and friends.
Thanks again Max! Hope you have a wonderful New Year and all the best to you and yours!
Barb Heinonen
