Our Story

80% of us started as tour guides, full-time English-speaking guides, who’ve worked on the frontline for years.All of us have been to most of China’s most popular destinations.All of us understand what you want and what you need.

I clearly remember that it was a hot summer day, Mr. Joseph Walker’s family trip was going to come to the end. I was their guide for their last city Guilin. They got a full morning time free before flying back to the United States. Mr. and Mrs. Walker cautiously asked me when I was leaving them the day before.

“Is it possible for you to guide us to a local community?”

“Yes, I think so, since we have time.”

“We’ve been traveling from one city to another through China for almost 20 days, we’ve seen great museums, temples and beautiful landscapes…stayed in fancy 5-star hotels… but we‘ve never seen people’s real life, never talked to people personally…we felt we’d been sort of separated…”

The next day, I guided them to an old community of Guilin and visited a friend of mine’s uncle’s home, where they had a home-made lunch, sipped some tea and talked with them leisurely as friends…

In Mr. Walker’s email later, he concluded that local home and community visit beat all others and was no doubt the highlights of their China trip.

What does a foreigner really need when he is traveling in China? To visit those well-known attractions, to taste the delicious food, etc. Yes, but deeply, to experience and learn the local culture. Culture lies not only in these places of interest, but also in the local people. And this is what China Expedition Tours is dedicated to. Adhering the slogan “Authentic China Discovery”, China Expedition Tours (CET for short) specializes in organizing China tours with distinct characteristics, particularly for families, friends, students, high-end demands and other professionals. In order to offer more opportunities for immersive cultural experiences, our China tours always allow high-level of participation during the trips.

Moreover, our round-the-clock China travel consulting service, professional and caring guides, safe and comfortable land transport, various accommodation choice and nationwide service network all contribute importantly in providing you a safe, comfortable and memorable trip in China.

Welcome to China, and welcome to travel with China Expedition Tours!

Director of CET 

When Your Tour Designer Has Walked Every Mile He's Asking You To

Alex Guan

Quite many tour operators design itineraries from office desks, stitching together hotels and attractions they've seen only in promotional brochures. Alex Guan, the founder of China Expedition Tours, took a different path—literally. Over 25 years, he's hiked the Great Wall's wild sections at dawn, camped in the ancient forests of Qinling Mountains, and cycled through hundreds of villages from Guilin's karst valleys to the Yangtze River plains.

He's not just a guide who's been to these places. He's a National Senior English Tour Guide, a Guest Professor teaching tourism methodology at university level, and the Vice President of the Guilin Tour Guide Association, who sets parts of the industry standards for one of China's most-visited regions. When Alex or one of his colleagues designs your itinerary, they’re applying years of fieldwork, academic rigor, and regulatory authority that no algorithm can replicate.

This is the story of a man born in northern China and shaped by years of living and working in Guilin, whose path led him into the world of tourism in China and travel education as well.

The Explorer: Measuring China by Footsteps From Guilin's Karst Peaks to the Nation's Mountain Ranges

Alex's relationship with China's landscapes began in Guilin, where limestone peaks rise like ancient calligraphy from the earth, so iconic they appear on the 20-yuan note. But his curiosity never stopped at the provincial border.
The Great Wall expeditions: While tourists crowd Badaling's restored sections, Alex has organized multi-day hiking expeditions along the Great Wall's wild stretches near Beijing—crumbling watchtowers where you need both historical knowledge and scrambling skills to navigate safely. He's led groups through sections that require permits, local guides from neighboring villages, and the kind of logistical planning that comes only from personal reconnaissance.
Into Qinling's wilderness: The Qinling Mountains, the geographical dividing line between northern and southern China, remain one of the country's most biodiverse and least-touristed regions. Alex has trekked deep into these forests, where giant pandas still roam wild, studying trails that connect remote Taoist temples and learning from village elders about traditional medicine plants. This wasn't tourism research; this was exploration for exploration's sake, driven by the need to understand China's natural heritage at ground level.
Nationwide field research: Over two decades, Alex has conducted on-site evaluations across China's major destinations:

• Xi'an: Beyond the Terracotta Warriors, into the lesser-known Tang Dynasty tombs and the Muslim Quarter's authentic food networks
• Zhangjiajie: Testing hiking routes through the sandstone pillars that inspired Avatar's floating mountains
• Chengdu: Building relationships with panda conservation centers and exploring Sichuan's emerging ecotourism sites
• Shanghai: Understanding how modern China interfaces with its traditional roots in urban heritage districts
• Yangshuo: Mapping cycling routes and cave systems with the precision of a geologist

Why this matters: When Alex and his colleagues recommend a three-day trek along the Lijiang River of Guilin or a sunrise hike on the Great Wall near Beijing, they’re not guessing at difficulty levels or scenery quality. They’ve been there, multiple times, in different seasons. They know where the trail gets steep, which guesthouse owners speak English, and how weather patterns affect visibility. This is earned knowledge, tested by experience.

The Academic: Teaching How Travel Should Be Done From Field Notes to University Lectures

Many guides stop at storytelling. Alex wants to systematize what makes great tourism work, and teach it.
Today, he holds two rare academic appointments at Guangxi Normal University:
Guest Professor, College of History, Culture & Tourism
Alex doesn't just lecture, he's redesigning how tourism is taught. His courses integrate:

• Cultural interpretation methodology: How to translate historical context, not just vocabulary
• Sustainable tourism frameworks: Applying international best practices to Chinese destinations
• Ethical business models: Why no-shopping policies protect both travelers and destinations
• External Supervisor, Master of Translation & Interpreting (MTI) Program (http://www.cofs.gxnu.edu.cn/2024/0902/c1783a296357/page.htm)

Working with graduate students specializing in tourism translation, Alex mentors the next generation of cultural mediators. His students learn that guiding isn't about memorizing facts, it's about building bridges between worldviews.
The nationwide application: Although his university position is in Guilin, Alex's teaching methodology draws from his work across China. When he lectures on "sustainable heritage tourism," he's synthesizing lessons from Beijing's hutong preservation, Xi'an's archaeological site management, and Zhangjiajie's environmental protection zones. His academic framework applies nationally because his field research spans nationally.

A Policy Contributor Within the Industry, Helping Shape Standards Beyond the Guidebook

What distinguishes Alex is not that he stands above industry standards, but that he is actively involved—alongside many dedicated peers—in the process of shaping and improving them.
As Vice President of the Guilin Tour Guide Association, Alex works collaboratively with fellow professionals, government departments, and industry representatives to contribute to:

• The development and refinement of certification requirements for licensed tour guides
• The formulation of ethical guidelines that support fair, responsible tourism practices
• Ongoing quality assessment across accommodations, restaurants, and tour operators
• Training initiatives aimed at raising professional standards in an industry that demands consistency and integrity

These efforts carry significance beyond Guilin itself. As one of China’s most prominent karst landscape destinations and a key hub for inbound tourism, Guilin often serves as a pilot city for sustainable tourism practices. The policies and standards developed here, through collective effort, are frequently referenced and adapted in similar destinations across the country.
On the international stage, Alex has also contributed as an interpreter and facilitator at forums such as UN Tourism (formerly UNWTO) and the PATA Tourism Trends & Outlook Conference. In these roles, he supports dialogue between Chinese tourism practitioners and global counterparts, helping ensure that local policies are informed by international perspectives, and that China’s experiences are accurately understood abroad.

What This Means for Your Journey A Thoughtful, Team-Led Approach to Itinerary Design

When you book with China Expedition Tours, you’re not choosing a pre-packaged route, you’re entering a carefully guided process shaped by a team of experienced tourism professionals who share the same standards, training, and values.
Alex plays a role in setting the framework, but every journey is the result of collective expertise. No single person could possibly respond to every inquiry or design every route alone—and that’s precisely why the team matters.
Your itinerary is developed through a shared professional approach, informed by:
Rigorous destination evaluation: Each destination is assessed by the team for cultural authenticity, historical depth, and experiential meaning—not simply visual appeal. A visit to the Longji Rice Terraces, for example, is approached not only as a scenic highlight, but as a living system shaped by centuries of hydraulic knowledge and ethnic minority land stewardship. Walking along Xi’an’s ancient city wall becomes an exploration of Ming-dynasty urban defense, understood within the broader context of Silk Road history.
Field-tested operational insight: Hotels, restaurants, transport providers, and local partners are selected through long-term professional relationships, firsthand experience, and shared industry standards. Many members of Alex’s team have worked directly in guiding, operations, and regional coordination. This practical background allows them to distinguish genuinely well-run experiences from those that simply appear “authentic” on the surface.
Nationwide, cross-regional understanding: From the Great Wall in the north to the villages along the Li River, and from high-altitude regions in the west to historic city centers in the east, the team draws on broad regional experience. They understand how geography affects travel pace, how local customs vary across regions, and how meals, accommodations, and daily rhythms can be thoughtfully adjusted for international travelers.
A shared ethical commitment: All itineraries follow a clear, team-wide principle: experiences come first. The no-shopping approach is not a marketing slogan, but a professional norm upheld across the team. This ensures that your time is spent engaging with culture, landscapes, and people, rather than being diverted into commercial stops.
In short, while Alex helps shape the philosophy, it is the strength of the entire team that brings each journey to life, with care, consistency, and genuine respect for both travelers and destinations.

The Father: Grounded in Real Travel Realities
For all his credentials, Alex remains connected to the practical challenges of family travel. He's biked Yangshuo's countryside with his daughter, navigated train stations with luggage and a tired child, and learned that the best-laid academic plans sometimes need flexibility when a seven-year-old needs a bathroom break.
This dual perspective—explorer's ambition meets parent's pragmatism—shapes how CET designs itineraries. We understand that intellectual curiosity needs to coexist with comfort, that adventure requires appropriate safety margins, and that the most memorable moments often happen off-schedule.

Trust Built on Public Accountability

China Expedition Tours operates as a division of Guilin Comfort International Travel Service, a fully licensed tour operator with over 37 years of history. We carry comprehensive liability insurance and meet all regulatory requirements.
More importantly, Alex’s professional background can be independently verified through his ongoing involvement with a range of academic, industry, and international institutions, including:

• University faculty appointments (2023–2028)
• Ongoing service in tourism association leadership roles
• Interpreter and facilitator roles at forums organized by UN Tourism (formerly UNWTO) and PATA
• National Senior English-speaking Tour Guide certification

When you book with CET, you are not relying solely on individual claims or a single company’s reputation. You are working with a professional whose experience is shaped and reviewed within academic settings, industry associations, regulatory frameworks, and international tourism platforms, providing a level of transparency, accountability, and professional continuity that extends well beyond one business.

Why This Matters

Anyone can compile a China itinerary from travel blogs. The real question is: who's deciding what you should see, and based on what knowledge?
With China Expedition Tours, you're guided by someone who has spent over 25 years walking China's trails, from the Great Wall's battlements to Qinling's forest paths, from Guilin's waterways to Shanghai's art districts. Someone who teaches university courses on how tourism should work. Someone who helps set the standards other operators follow.
You're not just getting a trip. You're getting an education from someone qualified to teach it, informed by fieldwork that spans a nation, academic frameworks that elevate interpretation, and ethical standards that protect what makes travel meaningful.
Because the best journeys aren't about seeing famous sites. They're about understanding them deeply enough to be transformed by them. And that requires a professor who's also an explorer.

Ready to experience China through academic expertise and field-tested knowledge? Contact Alex and his team to discuss custom itineraries designed for the curious traveler who wants more than a photo checklist.