Dear Yolanda,

The tour was a fantastic experience. Starting from my very first
experience interfacing with the staff at China Exploration, all the
way through the airport pick-up, guide service, etc were all first
rate experience. While I initially had concerns about booking travel
through a company operated out of my home company, the folks at China
expoloration did a great job in making the entire experience top-rate
and worry-free and it lived up to my very high expectations. Your team
clearly has the best local experience at the China Market which is why
I chose you. For comparison's sake, I have also traveled with premier
US based companies in the past and your trip lived up to those very
high expectations.

All-in-all, a fantastic Panda viewing experience and you were a
tremendous help as my guide. Thanks again. I hope to book the
Jiuzhaigou Valley tour through China exploration in the not too
distant future.

Thanks again for everything you did to make the trip so memorable.

-Eric
 

Dear Jason,
 
I have just finished yesterday the classification of all my pictures taken during the trip. It allowed me to think back on the fantastic journey that our group could make in China.
As you know I am active in the travel business myself, working as a sales manager for the Belgian national airline Brussels Airlines. Next to that, I also organise every year a few private trips for family and friends. In the past I organised group trips to Peru, New Zealand, Oman, Australia, Mexico, Kenya, Jordan, Montenegro, Egypt, Senegal, Syria, USA, South East Asia....so I have a bit of experience.
I am pleased to say that you and your company gave me the best organised trip I ever enjoyed.
1. Preparation: When each year I start organising a tour for our group of 20-25 friends, I contact about 10 local tour operators and compare their offers, normally in a very detailed way, looking at tour descriptions, prices, hotel selection, etc...In the case of our China trip, there was no need to compare the offers in a very detailed way: your offer was head and shoulders above the others, in terms of :
- price/quality ratio
- hotels selected
- clarity of information
- exact fulfillment of our requests
I especially enjoyed the exact and fast replies you gave to my detailed questions.
Furthermore you/your company were very flexible in re-arranging things when necessary (for example when a few participants were added, when the Yangtze cruise had to be advanced with 2 weeks, when Tibet was temporarily closed, when domestic flights were cancelled or rescheduled,...).
2. The trip itself: from the very moment we arrived in China on 11 July 2008 until we left on 4 August 2008, your company (and your local associates in Beijing, Shanghai, Chongging, Yichang, Guilin, Yangshuo, Kunming, Dali, Lijiang, Shangrila, Tsetang, Lhasa, and Xian) gave us an excellent service. Every where we arrived, we were welcomed by your local associates, with the bus waiting, the hotelrooms prepared, the local guides well briefed and capable, very good restaurants selected, etc...
3. The country: A part from your organisation, our participants were highly impressed by China as a country itself: on beforehand, we all had a few negative thoughts on our mind about freedom of speech and of moving, friendliness of the people, hygiene, quality of the hotels, etc...I can say that we were all extremely positivily impressed by what we saw and experienced in China: a well organised and very rapidly developing country, beautiful scenery, spectacular events and shows, very interesting historic places, etc... and above all, everywhere very friendly and open people.
The only dubious feeling we had in Tibet: many military in Lhasa, closed monasteries and areas, etc...We really hope that a solution can be found that satisfies all people involved in this magnificent country....
4. The food: food was superb at all places at all times (with 2 exceptions: we did not like too much the Chongging hotpot on 15 July and the first restaurant in Lhasa - but your guides changed the restaurant after our remarks). For the rest we were amazed by the variety and quality of Chinese food. Many of us had doubts about having to eat Chinese food 3 times a day for more than 3 weeks in a row, but we actually enjoyed every Chinese lunch and dinner and never missed our western food. On top of that, when we arrived back home we noticed that we all had lost 2 to 3 kgs in weight although we had been eating like kings: the doctors in our group explained it by the lack of sugar and alcohol and the abundance of fresh vegetables in Chinese food.
5. Hotels: all hotels were excellent, even in remote places like Tsetang or Shangrila. Absolutely to be recommended are the Jiannanchun hotel in the heart of the old city of Lijiang, and the excellent Regent hotel in Dali. The President boat on the Yangtze was really first class.
One element where China has to improve is the availability and cleanliness of toilets for tourists along roads and highways....
6. Last but not least a very special word about our tourguide Luna, member of your staff in Chengdu. She accompanied us during 3 weeks and did an excellent job. She is a very able and friendly young lady who mixed very well with all adults and young people in our group. Please pass her our thanks and best regards.
 
So, dear Jason, from all of us a very big thank you to you and your staff and your partners for the excellent trip you organised for our group.
Best regards
Patrick
 
 Oct 30th, 2008

Hello Jason,

thanks for your news. I was back to office later last week and
sadly very busy with what I left for my holiday.

My travel in China was very pleasant to me, it was a holiday together with a
cultural experience, thanks also to the good services I got from your
organisation. Guides were always very kind and helpful and almost everything
went as planned (you may have heard that my flight from Xian to Guilin was
delayed for fog and I arrived in Guilin late in the night, but that did not
prevent the excursions). So, I was very satisfied of what I saw and learnt
of China and surely I have not wasted my time and my money.


I undoubtedly believe that your share of incoming tourist will raise
dramatically this year particularly and over time with reasons, so good luck
with that.

Thanks again, and best regards, Mauro

Jan 21st, 2008

JASON,

Nov 18th, 2008.