Guilin Holidays

He care given by the representatives in each Ithaca were wonderful and Penny who travelled with us for our journey through China was exceptional.

Sam in Japan was most thorough and caring.

However, we did have a few niggles!

In China we were were not told in advance about the optional extra trips, which were not really optional as there was no alternative really. Having taken enough cash for our spending we had to find a bank or ATM to get more cash. We were not alone with this problem. Everything in Japan was included.

We cannot understand why the China rep in Guilin didn’t know about the World Cycle race that caused delays for our coach getting back to Guilin. She decided to try and walk us to another venue until the coach could leave our hotel, on a hot day with no footpath and lots of traffic. Most of our group were in their 70’s and 80’s…and it was very hard. After refreshments, transport was found and took us back down the hill we had walked up, back to the coach, which could now drive into the town!

Wendy Wu delivered a fantastic itinerary on their "Wonders of China" trip. It covered all the major cultural attractions in Beijing, Xian & Guilin travelling by plane, boat & bullet train.
Addison, our national guide , was brilliant in every way & is a great ambassador for his country, hometown of Xian & the Wendy Wu company. We became his 'family' for the tour & we all loved him. All the local guides in each city were very knowledgeable & helpful too.
The local cuisine throughout was a delight to the palate & we have been left with wonderful memories that will last forever.
The icing on the cake was our three day adventures in Tibet thanks to our lovely guide Yangte. My knowledge of Buddism has greatly increased & I have gained a great friend in the Himalayas.
Thank you Wendy Wu for your excellent organisation & help with the visa. You made it so easy & I will certainly travel with you again.

Service rating : Easy online booking with any queries quickly answered. Visa process very efficient and final paperwork and documents arrived in plenty of time.
Product : It was never going to be a relaxing holiday and a few of the day's involving internal travel were pretty full on but China is a big place and it has to be done. The organisation was superb from the time we were met by our national guide Eileen at Shanghai to the time she (tearfully) waved us goodbye at Beijing the tour ran like clockwork. All hotels were good by any standard and any room problems were quickly resolved. Free bottles of water were provided in every hotel. Some locations were better than others with the hotels in Guilin and Yangshuo particularly well placed for an evening stroll and see local life. Our local guides were good although they did tend to give a heavy sell on the "optional" tours on offer. The selling at the factories we visited tended to be a bit full on but then again I did manage to get a bargain at the jade factory. Don't be afraid to haggle hard and maybe you will be offered a "secret" price. We were a group of 25 with 7 different nationalities who bonded well and made the trip enjoyable.

Could not fault the organisation from start to finish. Well looked after through out the tour lots to see and do. Accommodation in most cases was perfected, Guilin was a bit dated but clean and tidy.
The one let down was the wall. We did see the wall but the section we went to, no matter which way you walked required many steps. Of are party less than half attempted to climb the steps and it was brutal. The brochure intimate that you could hire a bicycle which gave the Impression there may be some straight section,wrong.

Service rating : The national tour guide Addison is an asset to the success of the tour ... his dedication ensured that our experience was memorable , action packed , well organised and amazing adventure he is a credit to the company , he is well informed , hard working , generous , proud of his peers , assertive and a true gentleman. Natalie ( my eldest daughter aged 28) and I arrived in Shanghai ,,, One of the tour guide was waiting for us at the airport .. welcoming us to china with a great big smile. Allow me to explain in brief an introduction to our adventure known as "the glories of china" . being in such a large country as china plus I don't speak Chinese I believed traveling with Wendy wu tours would be a sensible option . At the hotel we was greeted by our national tour guide Addison , the communication between the guides is amazing , he welcomes us to china stating he is pleased to meet us , he gives us our room key with an invitation to meet for dinner in a hour . From leaving the taxi to arriving in our room took maximum 5 minutes. Addison had checked us in ready for our arrival , he had porters ready to help with our bags , taxi door open by the doorman , lift door open by someone else .. we feel like royalty. We meet for dinner just a short walk away from our hotel the restaurant staff great us welcome us in offering us drinks (Chinese beer is very similar to lager ). The arrangement for meals is Addison orders a selection of dishes which is shared with our new travel buddies , we will affectionately become known as the Addison family 16 in total . Our first dinner is only 8 due to others arriving late evening .. this was perfect all the dining tables are circular most with a lazy Susan ( turn table ) in the centre so here we are sharing a new experience , culture , food and practising chop sticks with strangers !!! It was fabulous food fabulous people . After our long journey from Home to Shanghai ( 23 hours) the thought of going out to sharing food and pleasantries with strangers over dinner was not on the top of my to do list .. it's an amazing introduction to china . Brilliant evening. We are here slap bang in the middle of the Chinese New Year 2018 celebrations.. our first port of call is the the old town and yu gardens .. did I say there is a population of 26 million in Shanghai ??? Well there is !!! and I believe they was all there with us in the old town !!! What an amazing atmosphere, sights , smells , music , .. we get our first understanding as why it's a must to book on a tour . We don't join queue's we go via VIP entry on all of the excursions ( apparently Wendy wu is a very powerful woman across china and well respected ) everyone aim to please us. Shanghai known as Paris of the east with modern skyscrapers , European style mansions intermingling with shikuman buildings presents a blend of cultures modern and traditional. The old town of Shanghai where cobbled streets are lined with traditional shops selling herbal medicines, handcrafts, tea and an array of snacks .. the yu garden is the home to jade rock , goldfish ponds, pavilions, dragon walls and plants. We also go to the Silk museum, a walk around Shanghai up to the 88 floor of Jinmao tower , a ride on the maglev trains and a night cruise on huangpu river fills up a very good day .. We are driven to zhujiajiao it's a water village ( think Venice ) built on an old canal system alley ways , stone bridges, temples. We take a boat ride (Chinese style gondola ) . In and out of sights that take you by amazement at every turn . From here we now go to people square do some exercise with the locals, visit Shanghai museum finally finish the day with an evening stroll along the bund. Next day we fly to Guilin we check in to our hotel named waterfall-located on a lake. This location is breathtaking the lake has the sun ( red ) and moon ( gold ) pergolas. Our hotel becomes a waterfall daily at 9pm . ( the wall of the hotel just flows and flows water from the roof top down past the bedroom windows ) The seven star park with the mountain back drop is what makes Guilin beautiful countryside. After another tasty dinner we went for a beer or two on western street in an Irish bar . Today we cruise the li river to Yangzhou stunning scenery .. check in our hotel ready for our liu sanjie evening open air show on the lake .. the back drop is the stunning mountains , the performers are the local farmers their families and town folk . The show is directed by zhang yimou the creator of the Beijing Olympic opening ceremony. Absolutely amazing !!! A day with the local farmers land and their homes , they cook us a very tasty lunch, have a photo taken with the fisherman's two cormorants. Enjoy an hours reflexology massage feet and shoulders . Out for dinner drinks and dancing on western street . A very cultured day visiting the pearl museum , explore the sun and moon pagodas on for lake , connected by an underwater tunnel . Another night in an Irish bar there seems to be one in every town in china !!! Today we take flight to Xian visit the wild goose pagoda ( the only building that survived one of the strongest earthquakes in world history ) a night at the theatre enjoying a Tang Dynasty dancing show after sampling a feast of traditional shui jiao dumplings in comes a birthday cake !!!! My new travel Addison family and the restaurant staff sing both English and Chinese version of happy birthday .. 🥃🎂🥃.. Ok how do you describe the terracotta warriors ... one of the most significant archaeological discoveries of the 20th century . I could go on and on and on with all the facts and the sheer amazement of the site however it would never prepare anyone for the experience . In the afternoon we walk the city wall ( china likes their walls ) of Xian giving us a birds eye view over this fantastic city .. followed by admiring the lights of Xian on the tang ever bright night walk marvelling at the fountain light show outside the big wild goose pagoda . I stand in the middle getting soaked from the spray totally freezing now .. shower bed fabulous . Today we travel to Beijing on the bullet train experience a rickshaw ride through the warren like hutongs ( homes ) we visit the locals part take in exercise in the park . Eat with them in their homes , very kindly they prepare a feast for all of us . Today we rise early putting our best foot forward to walk/climb the Great Wall of china !!!! Over 700 years old I find it a strange experience like I'm in a dream the day is bright blue skies visibility is perfect the climb is steep however it's a must do temp -3 c. On route to summer palace we have a photo stop opportunity at the famous nest and cube Beijing Olympic stadiums. Call in at the jade museum. I strike the massive Buddhist bell in summer palace a former holiday retreat for Qing emperors . After feasting on dinner we go to the Kung fu show/story. Is it possible to see and experience more ??? Tiananmen Square , temple of heaven , forbidden city topped off with an evening on feasting on Peking duck .. is just a brief of my last day on the tour . Sorry the blog is lengthily I have not include all my experience as it would be a book .
Product : Every minute of the tour is fabulous 👍😎👍

Service rating : If you only had the sixteen days to see China,then this is the tour. It ticked all the essential boxes and more. Hectic pace but worth the getting up early. Wendy Wu tours looked after us really well. Jacky Sun was a truly exceptional national guide. If you get him you have the best. Went out of they way to make sure your tour was trouble free. Would recommend without question.
Travelled 9 April return 25 April 2017
Bob and Sharon
Product : A great trip. Well worth the £3300 each. Flights, internal flights, hotels, all meals, and most excursions. Boat trip fours days Yangsie, and also Guilin and Pandas also. Fantastic.
Bon and Sharon

Service rating : We had Sophie Lee (Lixianhui) as our national guide, she was excellent and help to make our holiday such a great success. She was very well organised, helpful and also very knowledgeable with a good sense of humour - a credit to Wendy Wu Tours.
Product : The holiday, although very busy was wonderful. There was so many highlights. We enjoyed The Great Wall, the Yangtze river trip and the Li river trip from Guilin very much and would have liked to have stayed longer.in China. The organisation was excellent, and I would not hesitate to travel with Wendy Wu again,

Service rating : Sophie, our national guide, Lili our local guide in Beijing, Rebecca on the boat and also our local guide in Guilin were excellent.
Product : I would prefer to stay in hotels with softer beds and BBC World News on television.

Service rating : Perfect Local and National Guides!
Product : The Yangtze cruise could be reviewed and maybe a day shorter and a day longer maybe at Guilin or Shanghai!

Service rating : Grace was very helpful, patient and informative and a lovely lady to spend time with. She handled the whole tour very professionally and made it a lot of fun too.
Product : A very good tour visiting all the main sights you could want to see plus a few extras. Day 16/17 however could have been arranged better. instead of staying in Dali for the night and getting up at 4am the following morning, it would have been better to drive the 5 hours back to Guilin after dinner, and stay there for the night before flying to Yangshuo the following day, maybe on an earlier flight as extra time in Yangshuo would have been better than getting up so early and risking missing the flight and everyone being so tired. Or have an extra day in Dali and leave the following evening would have been far more relaxed and enjoyable. All other transfers were very smooth and well organised, although maybe we could have caught a train from Chongqing to Chengdu, as it was quite a long drive. My only other minor issue was the coach for the last six days in Hangzhou, Souzhou and Shanghai. There was not enough leg room unless you were shorter than 5 foot! Luckily the coach was not full so we could have two seats each, but we did have to sit sideways as it was not possible to put our legs in front of us, so it was quite uncomfortable.
The hotels were good quality and the beds firm but comfortable. I would like to have known they included hairdryers and kettles in every hotel, and I would have left mine at home and put in an extra pair of trousers instead.
The food was quite good, and usually plenty to go around, but it did get a little repetitive, however there were usually supermarkets close by to get extra snacks/drinks if you needed them. One evening four of us did not have dinner with the group and found a hot pot restaurant, which was a great experience. Especially as no one spoke any English, but we got by. Overall we had a fabulous holiday and met some great people from UK, Australia, New Zealand and USA. I wasn't expecting such a mix of people, but it worked out well and we have great new friends to go and visit now. Overall and excellent experience for my 50th birthday. Thanks especially to Grace and all the local guides.

Great education/experience made very special by our national tour guide Ivan with great support from the local tour guides in Beijing (Peter) and Guilin (Jenny).

Service rating : Service was good, but the meals were somewhat rushed
Product : This was a very good trip, which might have been even better if there had been a little more time in Beijing and Shanghai, and a little less in Guilin and
Yangzhou.