Minority Exploration Tours

Dear Mrs. Chanel,

We were really pleased with the whole trip that You organised for us.

All aspects were studied very well and we had the opportunity to see beautiful landscapes and to know and love China. All the guides were good and prepared; we remember with special affection Nancy that we had in Shangri-la and who really loved us.

Nancy anticipated of one day the visit to the Jade Mountain Snow and in this way we could see the spectacle of minorities that will not forget for life.

The visits to Guillin were exceptional and Lizzie was really good at explaining. The rice fields of Longji were an exciting experience because they are the demonstration of the secular ability of the Chinese people to adapt to the environment even in the most difficult areas.

The dinner at Your house was a demonstration of friendship that we will not forget and we wish you every luck for your Husband and for Your very good and polite daughter.

Shanghai was amazing and Luisa guided us with great advice in a huge but extraordinarily friendly and organized city.

My wife who speaks very little English has always found herself at ease; all the accommodations we tried were well above European standards and especially made us appreciate the China of small villages and ordinary people.

We gave Your references to all our friends and our 3 daughters encouraging everyone to live this experience because in fact we know little here in Europe of the reality of this great country and only through direct experience is possible to understand a civilisation that thousands of years of history and much to teach us.

We hope to come again and visit the center and north of China that surely reserve us new reasons for wonder and joy.

Dear Mrs Chanel,

Still many thanks for everything You have done for us.

Aurelia e Mario Bignami

Dear CET, My wife, son and I just returned from our trip to China, arranged by Monica. I wanted to jot a note to tell you how impressed and appreciative I was with the services that she provided. From the first email, through the final itinerary, through the execution of the trip, she was an absolute professional. She provided expert advice, helping me craft an itinerary to my needs. In the process she became as much a friend as a Travel Advisor. The trip was handled to perfection, no doubt a tribute to her expert planning and follow-up on the all the details. I asked for specific qualifications on the guides and in most of the cases it was spot on. All of the guides met the minimum expectations, and most of them far exceeded the expectations. I had an opportunity to use a number of different travel agencies in China, but it was her proactive and prompt responses, with very good information that made the difference. She is absolutely terrific -- I can't say enough positive things about her. Sincerely,

After looking at trip advisor, we picked 3 China based travel agencies who we thought might be able to plan a tour of the area around Beijing. One agency suggested factory tours from the outset whilst another was fairly insistent that we travel overnight by train, but Monica proved to be thoughtful and flexible.
We have friends in Beijing and so started and ended our trip with them.
She suggested a day trip to the Great Wall from Beijing plus a tour of Pingyao, Xi'an and Luoyang with 3 bullet train journeys and one plane flight.
We decided not to go with a couple of her suggestions, but she was comfortable with that and re-jigged the trips to suit.
The actual guides provided are generally contractors who can work for several agencies depending on the work available. But the choice of which guides to employ still falls on the travel agency (and availability).

We were also very happy with our guides "Nelson" in Pingyao/Taiyuan, "Grace" in Xi'an and "Frank" in Luoyang as well as the drivers. They all turned up flawlessly on time for every appointment, helped us order lunch and always seemed happy.

There appear to be one or two 'scams' running with guides taking commission on purchases made. But having ordered an evening dance show + meal at our hotel "Grand New World" our guide in Xi'an certainly earned what ever commission she got by making sure that my meal contained no sugar or MSG/Soy Sauce.

Chinese drivers seem to learn to all drive at the Kamikaze school of motoring, but the drivers in Pingyao, Xi'an and Luoyang (Frank did his own driving) (also contracted but independently of the guides) did a good job of not frightening us too much.

Chinese cyclists and motor cyclists don't even follow the correct direction of flow and often drive on the wrong side of the road. Chinese drivers hoot constantly if they want to overtake and can't quite squeeze by!

Coffee in China generally doesn't seem very good (apart from at the large American chains).

The Tian yuan kui hostel in Pingyao is an interesting mixture of traditional and modern. The staff were extremely lovely and the food was tasty. The hundreds of recommendations on A3 sheets on the wall in English, French, Italian, Spanish and other languages were also testament to that.

The Grand New World hotel in Xi'an was a slice of America transported to China. Service was slightly variable. E.g. I had to go to 3 receptionists in order to find the one who was allowed to do checkouts. English from staff was variable though usually adequate.

The Peony Hotel in Luoyang was also like a slice of America. Our safe would not work as it had no batteries in it. We struggled with language problems for about half an hour to get 4 new batteries to fit into it and then to get the Chinese maintenance lady to fit them right way round.

The manager agreed a special picnic lunch for our train journey, but I ended up having to explain to francophone Chinese tour guide in French what we needed! But I guess episodes like this make a tour more interesting.

Many thanks to Monica for arranging this memorable holiday.

We heard of Alex through friends who had used him before. He organised an interesting two-week itinerary for us, combining traditional tourist attractions with some more individual activities. If you can, visit the Panda Breeding institute in Chengdu and the highlight of our tour was a home stay in an apartment with probably the finest rooftop views in Guilin. The three star hotels were all in perfect locations and far better facilities than we expected - apart from some of the breakfasts which can be an acquired taste. Our guides all spoke very good English and went out of their way to show us round street markets or recommend restaurants (A Sichuan Hotpot is a great experience). Using travel agents in another country can be a risk, but China Expedition Tours combined high levels of professionalism with great value for money. Many thanks to Alex and Team!

I have a breathtaking tour experience the amazing Guilin with my son, I’ve been dreaming to travel around such lovely place in all my life, together with my son, we had unforgettable memory of spending every moment in Guilin. Thanks so much for China Expedition Tour work team, we had fabulous time. And our tour guide is also awesome and knowledgeable.On top of Yao Mountain we overlooked the whole Guilin city, green hills and clear water around, Guilin has its unique sight in spring, we felt so pleased when getting so closed nature. Daxu is the old town with local folk style, it reminded me a lot of the past time, that’s funny, and my son said he’d love to travel through time and experience a special moment with local people. LOL.I would like to recommend my friend in Malaysia to travel around China especially Guilin with help of China Expedition Tour. They would plan the best trip for you.