Really enjoyed every day of this trip!

Name: Daniel and Yael Kord

Nationality: Israel

Date: Nov 27, 2012

OP: Molly

Hello Molly,

Yael and I are back home, slowly getting back to our routine, after the wonderful experience of our China tour. We had a great time, learned a lot about China (ancient and modern), visited many fantastic places, had long conversations with our guides to get to know a little bit about life in China today – and most importantly we really enjoyed every day of this trip. The planning was perfect – not too short, not too long, and I think we visited the most important and interesting places, but of course there is much more to see in China… for the next trip.

We would like to thank you again for organizing the tour, the organization was excellent and we thank you for all the efforts you invested in it.
Please extend our thanks also to our tour guides:  Steven in Beijing, Vivian in Shanghai, Joe in Guilin and Chery in Xi-an. All the guides were excellent, very friendly and helpful, speak very good English, and know the history and the background so they provided plenty of interesting facts about the places we visited.

Regarding the Tour Package we purchased from DCT, it was a very good and complete package and everything was in accordance with our expectations. The only comment I have regarding this package is related to our visit to the Great Wall in Mutianyu. We were surprised to find out that the entrance fee provided as part of the package did not include the Cable Car to go up to the wall, so our options were to climb the mountain by foot (a 2 hours walk up) or pay an additional 80 Yuan per person for tickets to the Cable Car. Obviously we purchased the tickets, such a long walk to climb the mountain is not for people our age (and there was not enough time to walk up and down anyway). In fact, almost everybody took the Cable Car, I saw very few young people tired and sweating from the climb up in the wall.  My recommendation for you is that in the future you include this fee in the package, or of not possible make a clear not in the itinerary advising the customers that there is an additional fee for the Cable Car not included in the package. The problem with the first tour guide in Xi-an was no big deal and the most important thing is that you resolved the problem immediately and the next morning we got a different guide – a young girl, not as experiences as the other guides, but she speaks good English and was extremely friendly and helpful so we enjoyed very much the 2 days in her company.

The hotels were all very good, and the night we spent in the Yang Shuo Resort was a very nice surprise. The resort is incredibly beautiful, I think we had never been in such a luxurious and pampering hotel before, too bad we could not stay one more day to rest and enjoy this place!
The flights and the bullet train ride to Shanghai were all very good, and also the cars and drivers. The traffic in China's big cities is very chaotic compared to what we are used to, so it took us a bit to adjust to it, specially to learn how to cross big streets in Beijing.
The only thing that was a bit disappointing was the Acrobatic Show in Beijing. We purchased the tickets from Steven (quite expensive tickets – 380 Yuan each) and expected to see a truly spectacular show; however on day of the performance Steven told us that the show was canceled, or not open to the public, due to political reasons (???), and suggested we go to see Kung-Fu or Chinese Opera instead, but we don't like these and preferred to get our money back. The agency Steven works for made an effort and got tickets for us in a different Acrobatic Show, and Steven took us there in the evening to make sure we find the place. I am sure this was all done with the best intention so we enjoy our tour, but the truth is that the alternative Acrobatic Show was disappointing; it took place in the cinema of a public library, and the quality of the performance could be better – certainly not the level we expected for such expensive tickets (unlike the show we saw in Yang Shuo, which was simply amazing).  This was not Steven's fault, he was just trying to be helpful, but I think it is important to provide you this feedback for the future.
We developed a very warm relationship with the guides, they told us many things about their lives in China and we told them a little about Israel and the life here. At the end we tried to show our appreciation by giving each one a good tip, we hope they were happy.

This is my "Trip Report", a very good one – I must say. We enclose one picture of Yael and me (taken by Joe). You can be sure that when I hear about friends traveling to China I will recommend your services.

Thanks a lot for everything, and our best wishes for you, Molly !

Daniel and Yael Kord
A Couple of Happy Customers
Israel