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“General comments: First of all, I thought the holiday...”

written by maryphillips on 12/10/2011

General comments:

First of all, I thought the holiday was fantastic value for money. The hotels we stayed in were very good, the internal flights were efficient and comfortable, and the activities/visits we did were first class. I also thought we were extremely well fed!

Tour Guides:

They were all first class. They were so well informed in their subjects, and made it interesting. They were all very different characters, and I liked the individual angle each one brought to the subject, and also the imagination and flexibility they showed. I loved the impromptu trip to the Art and Calligraphy school in Xian. Our guide in Dali decided we would cut the lake cruise and took us cormorant fishing instead, which was awesome, and one of the highlights of the holiday for me. Angel, our guide in Guilin/Yangshuo, was wonderful when our coach broke down and the whole thing was dealt with so efficiently, with no fuss and very little delay. We actually enjoyed out little wait by the roadside because we could have a breather, take photos of the countryside and look at the plants and the birds! The drivers were all excellent too, especially Mr Ho in Dali/Lijiang who got us safely through the mountains on a hair-raising and dangerous road.

The guides were all very considerate of our individual needs. I was particularly glad that they knew where to find the best loos! They also made sure, when we were going to miss a meal because of a flight schedule, that we had something to eat.

I found tipping the guides was at times a difficult issue - not because I didn’t think they were worth it, because they certainly were. Some of the party, however, clearly wanted to give less and this was embarrassingly obvious when we were in a small group. We were all in some doubt whether we were giving too much or not enough.

Accommodation:

The hotels exceeded my expectations and were extremely comfortable. As we got to the slightly more out-of-the-way places, there were little snags (for example the plumbing in our room in Dali and Lijiang), but nothing major and it was all such an interesting experience.

The worst moment in the holiday for me was when we arrived late and tired in Shanghai from Lijiang, and the receptionist tried to take a 500 Yuan deposit off each of us for the rooms. There were only four of us and perhaps he didn’t realise we were part of a tour. Anyway, we just refused, so he cut off our minibar and TV facilities, and we felt a bit downtrodden and humiliated. When we talked to the others we realised he had indeed made a mistake, because they were not asked for a deposit, so we reported it to the guide, and I think she dealt with it.

However, this was just one bad experience in an overall very good experience, and not the fault of China Links.

Transport:

Very comfortable and efficient. The buses were on time and comfortable, and all well and safely driven. The internal flights were excellent and the guides got us through any problems. We were very touched, on our return journey from Lijiang to Shanghai, when we had to change in Kunming and claim our baggage to check in again. We thought we were on our own, but found a China Links guide (Bamboo) waiting for us to help us get through the check-in in time. She had heard that our plane had been delayed. We really appreciated this care.

Service Staff: All excellent.

Food:

Generally excellent. I personally enjoyed it more, the further we got away from the big cities, in the less sophisticated restaurants. For instance we had wonderful meals in Dali, Lijiang, and the villages. I was less keen on being herded with all the other Western tourists into these huge buffets, but I could appreciate that it was a safe and efficient option in some places. For me the best meal ever was the dumpling supper in Xian.

It went on and on!

Thank you for an unforgettable experience. I have seen and learned so much, and it seemed like three months instead of just under three weeks. The whole country is changing so fast that next year it will all be different, but I would still like to go again!

Mary Phillips
4 October 2011