Sadly we have nothing good to say about our day with Henry, in fact we believe China Tour's should not use this guide ever again. 1) Henry forced us to go to a different part of the Wall from the part we had booked. He forced his opinion onto us of why we should change despite me saying no we want to stck with what we booked for 2 reasons: _ We had been to the further away area when we lived in China 19 yrs ago so were keen to visit a different part. _ We come from a very small island ( Norfolk Island - 3 miles x 5 miles) and therefore our 10 yr old son is not used to long drives. As it happened we had to pull off the road because my son was feeling very car sick. Although we didn't actually agree he continued to take us to the more distant spot and once there charged us a further 200 yuan! I now wonder if you received this money - I doubt it. 2) Nest we were coerced into taking the Gondola despite telling him we wanted to walk/climb. We are a fit family and had intended to walk. In the end it enabled us to walk further on the Wall however once again we felt forced into something other than what we had planned. 3) During the drive to the Wall Henry made a phone call and then told us the Acrobatic show was booked out so we couldn't do it. ( We were supposed to be doing the show and then the Peking Duck Dinner. He told us he'd made alternative arrangements for us to have dinner first and then attend a different show - A kung Fu show. This show was very good however we know believe he made these changes so that he could leave us and go home early. 4) He then told us that it would be best for us to take the subway home from the show (on our own at night with a 10 yr old in a city where we can't speak the language and don't know our way around) because he said it would be faster due to heavy traffic. We refused this idea. He said it would take 45 mins to drive however in fact it took 15 mins. 5) We believe we were taken to an inferior restaurant for our Peking Duck dinner. We had done this tour with you 19 years before and although we don't remember the actual restaurant we do remember the level of service and food as being very good. Unfortunately we didn't think to get a business card from this inferior restaurant but we do not think it is the famous Quanjude as advertised by China.net. We believe he has a deal with a cheaper restaurant and some-how pockets the difference! 6) I did book the slightly cheaper tour that takes you to 1 place to shop. We were happy with this as we wanted to buy a couple of souvenirs, however he took us to 3 places even though we told him we wouldn't be buying anything more - and then he had the audacity to seem annoyed that we didn't purchase. All in all we believe that Henry is a con-man and should be dismissed from his job with you. With hind-sight we believe the whole story about the acrobatic show being booked out was made up by him so that he could change things around so that he could have his free dinner and then go home early. When we refused to take the subway after the show he had the driver wait for us and he went home. The Kung Fu show was a fantastic show but that is not the point. We had done the acrobatic show years earlier and had wanted our boy to experience it too. Of course he loved the Kung Fu show, as did we, but our whole day was changed to suit Henry rather than sticking to what we had booked and to suit us. Also when he offered these changes and we didn't want to go along with them he was very argumentative and forceful and really just refused to listen to us. I think the only reason we didn't end up taking the subway home is because I threatened to call you. By this time we were sick of the way he treated us. Our whole day was one of disappointment and bad feelings because of his actions. The rest of our time in China was amazing but sadly we do not have fond memories of Beijing due to Henry's actions and also that of a Taxi driver that ripped us off...
Guide spoke very good English and was informative. DId not appreciate beeing rushed at times and been forced to purchase at stops. Otherwise very punctual and enjoyed it. thx..
After we arrived in Beijing, I've notified about my room number on the website & the driver didn't call to inform about the timings. He didn't even pick us up from our hotel. We finally had to book another tour for the next day with another tour provider. Tried calling but no one answered the phone. It was such a disappointment...
We were very excited to see the Great Wall and the Summer Palace, however it was somewhat disappointing that we spent more time at the Jade factory and the Tea Shop then we did at either of the desired locations. Our tour guide, while friendly, did not give us much information about either location and spent more time on his phone than interacting with the group. He was also not able to answer many of my questions, so I stopped asking (I know that I have more questions than most). The description of the tour mentioned a restaurant for lunch but did not mention also going to a tea house; with the horrible traffic on that day all of us in the tour would have preferred to skip the second, unadvertised stop. With the limited time that we had in Beijing I would not go on a similar tour again nor would I recommend it to others...
was a good organized trip. only negative point is asking +200 RMB for each person to go to summer palace via boat. would be better to include in advance since summer palace has no mean without that boat trip..
The stop au the Jade shop was a waste of time. It is only ment for tourists to spend money. Lunch at that location was great though. Not enough time in the Wall. Friendly staff. The tea tasting was fun...
We had an amazing tour with our guide and driver. Our tour guide Jade was amazing she went out of her way to explain not only the history of the places we visited but also gave us meanings and historical facts about the places that a lot of tours don't. It was was very very informative and her English was really good. We had booked a private tour and had the whole mini bus to ourselves it was on time and very clean. Our visit to the Great Wall and the Summer Palace were also excellent and at no time were we rushed, in fact it was the opposite, our guide wanted us to see things and explain the history. We even had time to go to a couple of places that weren't on the tour. We went to a tea house and again we learnt so much about the qualities of tea and their healing powers. I would definitely recommend China Tours and would not hesitate to use them again, the service and quality of the tours were excellent value for money...
The tour itself was fine, the guide was very knowledgable and friendly. HOWEVER.... because of the compulsory visits to the jade factory and tea shop we spent most of the day sitting in traffic (great if you want to see the industrial outskirts of Beijing...). The jade factory in particular was shockingly expensive for not very good quality merchandise, and the tea factory was just ridiculously out of the way...
Reliable service - the driver was very helpful. Used google translate to communicate with the driver...
In general the tour was good, we went to the Summer Palace, then to a Jade Factory, to the Great wall also to see the Ceremony of Tea, the guide know a lot about the history and explain quite clear, the only thing I didn't like was that we don't have enought time in the Summer Palace, but for the rest was good. For the price that we paid was perfect, I highly recommend!..
Thank you Jack, for superb tour. I can recommend you, for everyone. Userfull information a really prompt in fullfilling our wishes...
We took the 1-day tour to Badaling. The schedule was awful: first we arrived to the Summer Palace, then to a pearl shop, so we got only on 12:00 to the Wall. It was very very very crowdy, so we had to skip climbing and touring the wall, since we couldnt get 1 meter without bumping with 10 people. Also we were forced to take the cable for 100 YUAN per person although some of us preferred to climb by foot. On the way back we were forced to take a detour to a tea house although no one of the group (of 6 people) wanted it, so we got stuck in heavy traffic and got to our hotel only after 3.5 hours, at 18:30...
I was very happy with the one day tour to the Great Wall and Summer Palace and especially our tour guide, Sabrina, who was informative, fun and she spoke very good English. She also adapted and gave us a full day even though we were visiting during one of the busiest national holidays so traffic and crowds were especially bad. The tour company did everything that they promised. The only suggestion for improvement, but it is difficult to do when doing a group tour, is allowing for more time at each stop. Perhaps less time at the places to buy souvenirs and more time at the sites, but in saying this, I understand that it is difficult to stay on schedule when doing a group tour. Overall, it was a good day and good value for the cost of the tour...
An excellent tour for the price. The tour guide Maggie gave an excellent tour with plenty of information about the different sites. The lunch was also very good. I have been on more expensive tours in Beijing and this tour was better...
the itinerary was good but almost no choice in taking cable because our group wanted to take a walk for badaling great wall but the guide strongly recommended to take a cable paying an extra ticket on cable car...
After reading some very good reviews I was very excited to try this tour myself. My guide, Davis, called me and was very nicely on time (8:00) so that was a good start. His English vocabulary was okay to good, but due to the heavy accent he spoke with he was rather difficult to understand. We first went to the summer Palace instead of the great wall, where we walked around for about half an hour. He told me a few things here and there, but all in all it was not much useful information and his main concern seemed to be luring me in one of the silk or pearl shops, in which I had no interest. Also, it was way too fast for me. The description says 1-2 hours, but we had maybe 30 minutes. I was a little disappointed about this but since my trip was mainly for the wall anyway, I didn't give it much notice at first. We were off to the wall but due to rush hour (which seems permanent in Beijing around this time), he decided to go to the Juyong Pass instead of the Baladin section of the wall. While this might not be much of a problem, it is rather annoying that he just made this decision without informing me. "-Private tours allow you to tailor-make your own tour itinerary. A designated car and a private tour guide will be at your service." is what the website writes, but I had more the idea that I was at his service. During the ride there he told me a little bit about the history of the wall, but apart from that was rather silent. Once at the wall he didn't come with me because he had a foot injury (blister) and hence could not walk there. I took my time and enjoyed the tough climb, though really missed a guide telling me about the history of the place. The whole reason I booked this tour and did not just take a bus there and walk myself is because I wanted a companion to talk with and hear some information. Next on we were going for lunch at the Jade factory. Again you're pushed to buy and look, but that's okay. The lunch was fine, nothing too fancy, but again I was left alone by my guide. I'm glad I had my book with me, otherwise the lunch was pretty boring. In the shop I confronted my guide with the fact that I was displeased with the amount of time spent at the summer palace, because it was now 13:30 and we did everything on the schedule, which I hardly call a "Day Tour". He made some vague replies and bad excuses, but nothing useful came out of it. He had invited me for some tea and naively I thought he would join me for a drink, but it was just another sales trick. It's fine if you like tea and are interested in this, but it is not something I care for, nor signed up for. The description mentions the visiting of one shop (this was the Jade where I had lunch), but my guide certainly did his best to get me to all four of them. On our way to the tea house he stopped at the Olympic stadium to make up for the time at the summer palace. Though attentive, this was Again without consulting me and to me it is just a big boring building. Nice that he wants to make a picture of me there, but that was not what I signed up nor paid for. I prematurely ended the tea session because I had no interest in this either so I arrived at my hotel around 15:30. My point of this all is that I think your guide can really break or make your day. I would highly advise to make a strong request when booking to have a guide that can walk with you and is talkative, because I had hoped for that and got the opposite. Also a word of warning about the period you go: it was extremely humid today (19th of July) and I hardly had any view. For me this made the 'great' wall rather small as you couldn't see much of it. I was really hoping to have those spectacular views with kilometers of wall stretching out in front of you in a mountaneous area, but instead I saw just fog and a bit green/gray forest mountains. Nothing the tour can do about, but it is something to take into account when planning the trip. Besides from that, I've still climbed the a part of the Great wall and apparently am a man now, and it was quite the experience. The 'tour' and 'guide' parts were just disappointing...
After a recommendation from another person who had a lovely lady as tourguide via CHINATOUR.NET we decided to book the ONE DAY Summer Palace and Badaling Great Wall with cable car tour. To summarize : - Tourguide Emeet made the correct call to the Hotel Lobby the day before to set the pick up time at 7.30 AM - In the morning there was NO EMEET and after some time a chinese driver appeared with a phone with EMEET on the line stating he was delayed due traffic, so he would meet us at the Summer Palace. ALTHOUGH everybody knows the traffic can be terrible, this was a weak excuses since he was travelling by METRO/SUBWAY we found out after. - The driver was very good and nice (only speaks Mandarin, but we understood). We went to the METRO/SUBWAY station nearby the Summer Palace which was about 30 minutes drive. - He went through the SUMMER PALACE, to catch up his own schedule leaving us with ample time to make pictures or walk a normal pace. - The lunch and jade factory was nice to do, the lunch was good food. - The Great Wall was arriving there, He told us to join the line and wait for the cable car and he would get the tickets and hand it to us. We did our waiting time in the line until it was our turn to hand in the tickets and enter the cable car, NO tourguide EMEET to be spotted anywhere and we had to let all the people behind us pass us to enter. After about 5 minutes passed our turn already he came passed the line in a rush with the Tickets, handed it to us. - On the way back from the tour we went to the Tea House, which was ok, we didn\'t want to buy anything anyway. Just did the free tasting and no intention to buy. TO MAKE A SUMMARY, you could have better tour guide than today\'s, since I heard other guides are better suitable for day tours. Cheers, Visited 8 November 2013..
I enjoyed the 1 day tour to Great Wall and Summer Palace. Our tour was on Sat. We had 5 people in total. The tour guide is very thoughtful. She arranged the coach bus to pick us up in the hotel at 6:45am in order to beat the traffic jam and tourist jam. We arrived at the Great Wall around 8:30am and we took the cable car. The line there was very short. We had plenty of time to walk and take pictures. I advise those who wants to visit Great Wall in Fall season should bring a thick jacket. It was much colder there comparing to the city. After the Great Wall, we visited a Jade factory and had lunch there. The lunch was pretty good Chinese food. After that, we visited Summer Palace. We spent about an hour there and then we shopped in a tea house. We were served with different kinds of tea. The service there was very good. We were dropped to hotel around 5:00pm. I highly recommend this tour...
I signed up for a group tour and it ended up being just me so that ended up being a good deal for me. They were punctual picking me up. I was transported in a VW with a driver and the tour guide. The driver was too aggressive with his driving. I understand that some of that is just the way they drive in Beijing but would have appreciated it if he could have toned it down a little bit since he had a guest in the car. We went to the Badaling section of the Great Wall and I had 1.5 hours. I chose the lunch buffet and it was ok. We may have been a little early because the items weren\'t marked so I was unsure of what I was eating. Next was the Summer Palace. We only spent about 40 minutes there and there wasn\'t much time to look around. I would have liked more time to explore the area.I ended the day with a tea tasting with Dr. Tea. Overall, the tour was worth the money though I would have liked more time at the Great Wall and Summer Palace...
We had a very relaxing tour, with punctual pick up at the hotel and very good car. The lunch was tasty and I think enough in quantity (for me at least :)). Our guide was very nice but I think he could have told us more about the things on the way and at the scenic spots. I suggest for the future tours to go first to Great Wall and then to the Summer Palace (even if the last tourist - like me - is picked up from a hotel close to the Palace). The visit in Summer Palace was pretty fast comparing to the big surface. Of course, we had a ride with the boat on the lake (not included in booking price) in order not to walk so much, but then we finished the visit in 30 min. We arrived at the Wall at midday and it was too hot. We used a cable car to go up on the wall, which was in an area not so crowded as the others, but it was quite far from the central point. Then we had just one hour for visit, which was not too much. So, we walked a little and had some rest under the bright shinning sun. And of course we visited the Jade Museum and the Pearl Factory, where nobody rushed us. Where some of us bought some souvenir, and now I am the happy owner of a beautiful set of delicate pink pearls!! But as general impression, I am satisfied with the tour and very glad that I made this choice. After you get in touch with the huge and crowded Beijing, you will be happy that there is somebody to take care of you!!..
