Highlights of China - Hong Kong to Beijing

Fabulous trip. Best tour leader ever. Went above and beyond with helping us make the most of our time in China and helping me with my vegetarian diet. Would have a liked a little more time in Xi’an and Beijing. We were 80km from a panda sanctuary but unfortunately there want enough time. Tempted to go back and do another part of China.

Overall this was a really good tour which enabled us to get a real flavour of China and to see all of the key sites. The position of the hotel in Hong Kong meant that the tour on the first day was not as detailed as it could have been. More time is required in both Xi'an and Beijing because it felt rushed. The hotel in Xi'an was well located, but was not up to the standards of the other hotels. Our guide was lovely and very knowledgeable. She effectively dealt with forced adjustments to the itinerary.

Loved this trip. We had a few early starts, covered a lot of miles, but it was truly excellent. The trip lets you see some truly amazing sights that will live a long, long time in the memory. All the cities we stayed in were quite different from each other, which means every stop is a new experience. Man Mo temple in Hong Kong, limestone karst peaks, River Li cruise, Xi'an city walls and town, Terracotta Army, Great Wall of China, Forbidden City, and Tiananmen Square. All in one trip with more stuff on top of that. With spare time in the evenings in Xi'an, I recommend seeing the Bell and Drum towers lit up, absolutely stunning, and then get a meal in the muslim quarter which is super lively at night with tons of choice. If you fancy a real highlights of China trip, this does the trick. My only problem with it is that I liked it so much I want to go back and explore more of the country. We were super lucky to have Tracy Zhang as our tour leader, the loveliest person who looked after us extremely well. Her suggestions on what time is best to get to a particular place to avoid the busier period were all spot on. I could have happily had a few days more in Xi'an and Beijing. But you can easily add on more time to yourself in Beijing at the end if you wish. Getting about on your own there is easy and inexpensive on the metro. Loved it.

This trip was brilliant. It covered the main tourist sites all in one go, from stunning scenery at Gulin to Yangshou to beautifully crafted architecture and temples in Xian and Beijing. The people were friendly and the food was fantastic. My highlights were the boat to Yangshou and the country lanes bike ride - the contrast of the paddy fields and Karsts, such beautiful scenery. I could have spent 2 more days in Xian, there is so much to see. What we saw was spectacular - the only complete city wall left in China, the beautiful buddhist art at the Wild Goose Pagoda, the serene Great Mosque and the stunning Terracotta Army. I didn't want to leave and I'll definitely go back to see more of this fascinating country.

Busy tour, but a great tour. We added a few nights on at the beginning for Hong Kong which I would recommend if you haven't been there before. All the staff at The Panda Hotel in Hong Kong were super friendly, (and the hotel great with shops and restaurants all around), but the hotel itself was quite a way out of the centre, (about a 35 minute metro ride into the centre was only roughly £2). All accomodation better than expected and all other hotels very central, apart from Beijing, but it was close to The Temple of Heaven and Beijing is such an enormous city, (and had to travel anyway to go to The Great Wall etc.). Our guide Ollie from China was excellent, making sure we packed in as much as possible and giving us a real insight into life in China. Generally everyone was much friendly than we expected, and left feeling we had more in common than I was expecting. We could pay for extra tours with Alipay with our guide, and definitely worth downloading the Alipay App before you go, can use the App even to pay for fruit in markets if your bank will allow it to work, but a bit of cash always useful. Colourful, exciting, but safe trip. Felt safe at night markets etc..