CHINA CULTURE TOURS Reviews 

I just returned from a 2-week private tour with 3 other family members to Datong, Pingyao, Xian, Luoyang and Beijing. I could wax lyrical about the sights, food and transport but the 'wow' factor was Nora. Her speed and comprehensiveness of responses to our enquiries sealed the deal for us to make arrangements through China Culture Tour. Initially, I was a bit apprehensive as it was the first time using their services, notwithstanding the good reviews we read. I needn't have been because throughout our trip, I felt that we had 2 guides - the person who accompanied us at each stop, and a virtual one in the form of Nora who tracked our itinerary, kept close tabs on the progress of our trip and responded quickly and effectively to any changes in our plans. I have no hesitation to recommend China Culture Tour to anyone visiting China.

Most things went according to plan,hotels were mostly in good locations,guides were knowleageble n helpful

Alvin met us at the Huangshanbei train station with an enthusiastic energy! My 25 and 21yr old daughters LOVED him. Alvin explained our itinerary before each stop and took care of all small details. Alvin always helped us find unique dishes to sample and enjoy. Alvin left his family at 9 pm to help us settle an issue at our hotel.
Request Alvin if you are searching for a stress free and fabulous visit to the Yellow Mountains!

I used China Culture Tour for my Chengdu trip and Nora was my tour agent. She was a very friendly and helpful agent. As I was traveling alone in Chengdu (Jiuzhaigou, Huanglong and Emeishan), she was always checking on me and provided useful advices. Will definitely recommend China Culture Tour to my friends who are interested in travelling to China.

My husband dream to visit china's Great Wall n Guilin but due to his mobility issue m not sure if I could fulfill his dream. I went to TripAdvisor check up a few travel companies and found china culture tours able to Taylor private tours. Email them n very next day Nora replied, she has given me many suggestions to cater to my husband's need. She is super efficient as i have many questions. Each time i send an email for a question she will respond almost immediately and anytime of the day which I greatly appreciate. You have done a wonderful job to make someone's dream come true. Thank u Nora
My husband n I truly enjoyed ourselves during the 12 days tour in Beijing, Guilin. Longsheng n yangshuo arranged by Nora.
From Beijing our guide Annie and driver Mr Su was excellent helping my husband on his wheelchair visit the Great Wall, forbidden city and on and on. Annie also brought us to some great local food, we truly enjoy every meal. Annie n Mr Su m really greatful to both of u which u have given us the insight story of china
From Beijing flew to Guilin and was met up by Lindo which is not our actual guide,as I was told he was tired up at that hr. However Linda is also a great guide too.
From the short span of time she told us a lot about Guilin and she brought us to a very old tradition rice noddle shop for a snack. That taste was super nice we love it Linda really enjoy the short time we spent with u.
Our actual guide for Guilin, Longsheng n yangshuo Mike and driver Mr Gao is a very professional n careful driver every turn around the mountain blind spot he will sound his horn to alert oncoming vehicle I feel absolutely safe sitting in his car.
Our guide Mike, without u I doubt i can manage to get to Baike hotel in Longsheng. Mike pushes my husband from the restaurant to the hotel about 500 to 600 meters up a rather steep slope in the rain to the hotel as there is no vehicle allowed at the section of the mountain. Mike from the bottom of my heart I thank u.
Needless to say the hotels, place of interest in the itinerary are fantastic. Every town has its own beauty The whole team is just so awesome nothing is impossible for you guys. Nora, Annie, Linda, Mike Mr Su and Mr Gao. Wishing all the best in your future endeavours.
With gratitude from Singapore
Margaret

we had the pleasure of being accompanied on our trip to China by this agency. The service was very professional, polite and impeccable. The operations person who followed us, Linda, was very attentive to our needs, and planned some really wonderful days. We recommend without a doubt the seriousness and full satisfaction.

congratulations to Grace, for finding female collaborators who are able to share their life and work. This, nowadays, is not something to be taken for granted and should be appreciated. I would recommend China to anyone looking to experience a trip that combines bustling cities and urban life, stunning nature, and millennia of history. I would wholeheartedly recommend your tour operator because a guide truly makes a difference in a place as rich in history and as different from the rest of the world as China. I hope to return one day and I will choose your agency one million time more!

I had the pleasure to hire China Culture Tours. It was a wonderful experience, they really helped me to organize a great visit and suggested best places to go. I visited Beijing and Shanghai for vacation and Chengdu, Yibin, Naijing for business.
I highly recommend to avoid to plan a visit to China by your own, the visit requires a real knowledge to plan it accordingly.
Nora was a wonderful contact. She managed to put together a great plan, she spoke to drivers and tourist guides all the time to make sure that I was picked up on time and i was with the driver. Thanks for Nora for making feel so welcome in your country.

After much research we chose China Culture Tour for our two week multi-centre trip to China with private guides and drivers. Nora, our travel consultant planned the trip with superb efficiency and constantly excellent communication, meeting our needs and preferences with a varied and exciting programme. She also ensured that everything went well, and made some necessary adjustments while we were there. The hotels and restaurants were all very good, and all four of individual guides were delightful and intelligent young women who we enjoyed spending time with and who made our trip so very enjoyable. They were flexible, pro-active, knowledgeable and interesting. Olivia in Beijing set a very high standard indeed, giving us brilliant tours of the spectacular Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City, the Great Wall, Summer Palace, and local neighbourhoods which gave an insight into Chinese life. Sarah in Xian was energetic and lively, and our visit to the Terracotta Warriors was greatly enhanced by her knowledge and expertise. We visited a local family and made dumplings. Muslim street with its street food was also quite an experience! Linda, our guide in Guilin was exceptional, very caring, kind and interesting - the luxury boat trip to Yangshou on the River Li was stunning, and we also enjoyed visiting local villages, a tea plantation and research institute, the Daxu Ancient Town, the Longji terraced rice fields, and so much more. Fei in Shanghai was a delight and made several great suggestions to ensure that we experienced the best of the Bund, went up the tallest building, and saw the interesting Tongli Ancient Water Town. There were so many other highlights and we found that every single day was really interesting and enjoyable - not a single disappointment. On two occasions we took the suggestion of the guides and went to an evening show - both were superb. The guides really know their stuff and look after you well. It was brilliant to have private transport each day - the drivers never seemed more than a minute or two away. All the (potentially daunting) rail and internal air travel was made easy because the guides were always waiting to greet us as soon as we arrived anywhere, and took us to the furthest possible point when catching a train or plane. The strength of China Culture Tour lies in the very experienced and well organised planning, the attention to detail, the constant quality assurance throughout the trip - and above all the sheer excellence of the guides, their very high standards (and preparation), and their evident dedication and enthusiasm for their job. We felt that we were treated like VIPs - but by friends! We absolutely loved the whole experience and can recommend this company unreservedly.

This was absolutely the highlight of our China experience! While Guilin is exceptional in it's own right, our guide, Cory, made our trip one that will live in our memories forever. He was attentive, humorous, understanding and did everything to make our trip a trip of a lifetime. He changed the itinerary on the fly, listened to us, made sure we encountered locals, made sure we were comfortable every step of the way and truly made us feel like his family. There is absolutely not enough good things I can say about him or China Culture Tours. They were timely, totally tailored our tour to our wishes and professional. I can back up my review as 1) we also tried another agency in Beijing and 2) this was my second trip to Gulin. As to the former, our guide fell way below our expectation and while we saw the Great Wall, Summer Palace and Forbidden City, we walked away with a cold experience and not much extra knowledge. As to the latter, I saw places and did things in Guilin, that were not experienced before but surpassed all expectations. We actually met locals and were immersed with them and it made the whole trip spectacular. Not only would I not hesitate to recommend China Culture Tours!!!! But ASK for Cory- he is truly a wonderful man and so knowledgeable. He will take care of you from the beginning to the end and he will do everything to make sure your trip is a trip of a lifetime!

My wife and I had a great trip to China, everything went well, plenty of highlights- and no hiccups. The accommodation was excellent, food was very good and the itinerary covered all the things that we wanted to see. Thank you Nora!
The Yangtze River Cruise was truly spectacular, the ship, the meals the accommodation and the staff were excellent. Particular thanks to our wonderful host, Lawrence.
Our lakeside hotel at Guilin made our trip there very enjoyable, a beautiful city. The Yangshuo Mountain Retreat was also spectacular - beautiful rivers, mountains everywhere and peaceful countryside environment.
The “big” cities of Shanghai, Xi’an and Beijing and their tourist attractions were unforgettable as well.
Our guides, Fei, Mike, Summer and Jin were friendly, knowledgeable and helpful - thank you. Our drivers were very good and got us to our destinations safely and on time. The bullet trains were terrific as well!

We (a group of 6 friends) have just returned from a tour of China organised by Nora of China Culture Tours. Below is our response to the company's questionnaire. We visited Beijing, Xian, Chengdu, Guilin, Hangzhou and Shanghai. The tour was well organised, the guides were very knowledgeable and spoke really good English, the hotels we used were really good and the food throughout was plentiful and tasty.

1. We have decided that the WOW on our tour included, The Great Wall, Reed Flute Cave and the visit to the family/dumpling making. The Karst scenery around Guilin was quite spectacular. It was also good to meet you.

2. It is very difficult to pick out one outstanding guide. Each of the guides had there own way of interacting with the group and all were knowledgeable. If we have to list the best, then perhaps we would have scored Cory, Clark and Jin slightly higher than the others, but this maybe because we spent more time with them.

3. We were all delighted with the food, both in the quality and amount. In all cases, there was always plenty for us all to eat. Breakfasts were varied, with both western and Chinese foods on offer and in general were very good. The only disappointing breakfast was at the Mountain Retreat, where we thought it was a little limited.
As far as hotels are concerned, they were all very good and were in really good locations. It is very difficult to pick out one above others, as the city hotels were so different from the more boutique style hotels. The Aroma Tea House in Guilin was particularly nice and had lovely views from the window.

4. Tell the guides what you like to eat and leave them to order the food for you. They always know best and introduce you to local delicacies and don't forget to ask for the local beers, they all vary in colour and tastes.

5. The train travel was really good and is an efficient way to get between cities. Our suggestion is to take plenty of food and drink onboard with you for the journey.
Additionally, it is our suggestion that you should not travel on the trains with aerosol sprays, knives, scissors or any bottles of shaving foam/deodorant/perfumes etc over 120ml in size. We were stopped at Hangzhou going to Shanghai and had lots of things confiscated from our bags. Maybe you could issue a warning to future passengers not to take any of the above.

6.We found your company on the internet and finally decided to use you on price, content of the tour, inclusions of travel/hotels/food/guides and most important to us was no free time during the daytime. We wanted to be busy at all times during the day, with free time during the evenings only.

7. We would be delighted to provide references to any potential customers and you have our contact details.

My mother and I had an incredible 10 day trip to China for just the 2 of us. The tour was booked and managed by Nora Zheng who created a tour that was customized to my individual interest for an Ancient China experience. She booked us in traditional hotels and later in luxury hotels. We had guides and drivers in each city. Our guide/driver in BeiJing was Judy and Mr. Zhang. Both of them went above and beyond their duties. They were kind and accommodating. Mr. Zheng drove safely and went to extra effort to drive down the narrow Hutong alleys in BeiJing. Judy was knowledgeable, spoke great English and entertained my mother, who who had mobility issues, when I wanted to run ahead and see the sites that were too taxing for my mother to get to. 
In PingYao, we had Peter as our guide and Mr. Cheng was our driver. Mr. Cheng also navigated narrow, ancient alleyways safely. Peter was incredibly knowledgeable about China, impeccably polite, great English and gave of himself graciously when called upon to help my mother up and down the ancient stairways. His presence was reassuring and he was absolutely charming.
In Xian, our guide was Lucas and our driver was Mr. Yang. Mr Yang was a safe driver and very friendly. I liked him a lot. Lucas was an incredible guide. He knew so much (all the guides did)! He downloaded his brain to me on subjects ranging from Daoism in ancient and modern times to the ancient poet, Li Bao - not to mention the vast amount of information he imparted on the sites we were attending. I thoroughly enjoyed his company and companionship - as I did all the guides. 
Finally, we went to Shanghai and met our guide, Summer and driver, Mr. Xuan. Mr. Xuan was a safe driver and went to extra trouble to accommodate my mother's mobility challenges. Summer has an excellent command of English and made sure all our needs were met and that we had a good time.
I am misty-eyed upon writing this because I never expected the tender-hearted, personalized service from Nora Zheng and all the guides and drivers. These folks are going way beyond service. They are connecting as individuals from the heart. The only thing I could wish for my experience was that it had been longer.

My partner and I just finished a three week trip to major sites in China and thanks to Nora at China Culture Tour every day was an exciting adventure. We traveled from Beijing to Xian, Chengdu, the Yangtze River cruise, Hangzhou, Shanghai, Guilin, Yangshuo and finally Hong Kong. Nora worked with us to find a mix of 4 and 5 star hotels and in each city planned special activities, such as cooking lessons in local homes. She organized excellent and personable guides in each city, as well as private cars with experienced drivers. The restaurants selected offered excellent food as well as cultural experiences.

It's hard to single out the best guides--they were all great. In a couple of cases the English could have been better, but generally they were professional and enjoyable, adding to insights about China's recent past and present. It was almost like touring with a knowledgeable friend. I would give special nods to Sophia in Beijing, Jessica in Chengdu, Linda in Guilin, Fei in Shanghai and Cecilia in Hong Kong.

Recommendations: Book First Class bullet train tickets. More comfortable and more space for luggage. If you need to go by air, consider business class for flights over an hour and a half. Chinese planes don't have much leg room in economy and if you are average to large you will not be comfortable. When you arrive, book a five-star hotel to catch up with jet lag. In Beijing we stayed at the New World Hotel and it was top-notch and convenient for exploring on foot the central neighborhoods of the city. The four-star hotels she selected were all fine, but treating yourself here and there is a nice present to yourself. If you take the Yangtze River cruise, start from Chongqing and consider the Victoria Jenna and upgrade to an executive suite if you want a little extra room and your own table at dinner.

In Beijing take in the standard wonders--Great Wall, Forbidden City, Summer Palace, but don't expect to be alone. Chinese domestic tourism has exploded and the mass of tourists can be crushing in key tourist sites. Be ready for that and patient and you will still have a lot to marvel at. The 798 Art District is lively and fun and filled with young hipsters and artists. The same goes for the Terra Cotta Warrior site in Xian. Wonderful but crowded. A special treat there was a lesson in dumpling making and a marvelous home-cooked lunch in a private home. We adored our time with Lily and her family.

In Chengdu the pandas are a must. So is the Jinsha Museum if you have an interest in early Chinese history. And a trip to Leshan to see the giant Buddha was awesome. On the Yangtze cruise, take the excursions, especially the awesome Three Kingdoms evening spectacle at Chengdu. The trip up Goddess stream is not to be missed. In Hangzhou, West Lake is awesome both in the day and evening. Break out of your hotel and go to the light and water show on your own. We paid for an expensive tea but got a ringside seat at water's edge, rather than stand in the crowd.

Shanghai Museum is totally awesome. We had two hours there and only got through two of the four floors. Don't miss the Shanghai Acrobats. Ask Nora to include tickets in your itinerary. Amazing. Then taxi to the lively/trendy Xitiandi district for an outdoor meal and people watching. Maybe the highlight of the trip was the Guilin region, especially the cruise on the Li River. The scenery is so beautiful. End up at Yangshuo Mountain Retreat, isolated and rustic. If you have time for an extra day to relax, bike or hike, take it. There's another huge outdoor spectacle in the evenings there, which is worth seeing. Finally Hong Kong and the magnificent view from the peak. Although there's a lot of turmoil and unrest there, we didn't encounter any problems on our stay. Again, I couldn't recommend China Culture Tours (and Nora) more highly. They provided a flawless experience--a trip of a lifetime.

My husband and I just returned from a 26-day tour of China that was arranged by China Culture Tour, and all I can say is “wow”! From start to finish, everything was flawless. Nora Zheng was amazing in helping us plan the trip, responding to our requests for itinerary changes and making sure that we had exactly the trip that we wanted. Her organization of the logistics for the trip (which included 3 domestic flights, 3 high-speed train rides and a river cruise) was outstanding, and everything went as planned. She was also in communication with us while we were in China to make sure that everything was going well. She is just an extraordinary travel planner.

Our trip included Beijing, Xi’an, Fenghuang, Zhangjiajie, Shanghai, Yellow Mountains (Huangshan), Guilin, Yangshuo and Hong Kong. All of the hotels we stayed at were great (5-Star or, if that wasn’t available, what was clearly the best hotel in the area). The guides that we had (Jennifer, Summer, Bree, Jack, Raymond, and Kelly) were wonderful. Their English and knowledge of the areas were excellent. Moreover, each had an engaging personality, and it was a pleasure to spend time with them. I don’t know how they managed to find such great guides!

We really can’t say enough good things about China Culture Tour (and their guides) and would highly recommend them to anyone who is planning a trip to China.

Everything ran like clockwork on our 30 day tour of China thanks to Lydia’s organisation and our wonderful tour guides and drivers. Even before we arrived we found Lydia to be thorough and flexible providing an inexhaustible stream of information and suggestions over the several months we were planning the trip. She also kept in contact all through our visit to make sure things were running smoothly.
We started with a fabulous 6 days in Beijing. Our guide, Tom, provided fantastic service all through our stay up to and including settling us into our seats on the train to Xi’an. His knowledge of Beijing, Chinese history, culture and food was impressive as was his ability to answer all our many and varied questions. As well as efficiently shepherding us through our itinerary (including a hike on the Great Wall) he also took time and effort to organise extra activities for evening events and helped us plan our free days - making suggestions, providing background, and explaining transport options. It was an absolute pleasure to spend 6 days with Tom and he made our visit to Beijing a great success.
Tom was followed by the wonderful Christina in Xi’an, Kevin in Chengdu, Brandon in Lijiang, Cory in Guilin/Yangshuo, Martina in Shanghai and David in Huangshan. All had first class English. Their knowledge of their cities and China was extensive and they could answer all the questions we threw at them no matter on what topic. They were always early and could cope with any unexpected turn of events as well as making great suggestions for our free time and making sure we could cope with public transport etc. Christina helped us squeeze in a visit to the tomb of Jingdi even though it wasn’t on our formal itinerary. We were very grateful not to have missed this wonderful site. Brandon, in Lijiang, coped seamlessly with the fact that 2 of our itinerary choices were unexpectedly closed. We were very disappointed that Tiger Leaping Gorge was closed but Brandon’s alternative itinerary was great and we enjoyed learning about Naxi culture from him and enjoyed his immense knowledge and sense of humour.
We were met in Shanghai by the delightful Martina who as well as being a lovely guide was passionate about Shanghai. As well as guiding, she shepherded us in and out of Shanghai through 2 stations and the airport on several occasions as we went to Huangshan for 3 days and returned. David provided expert guidance at Huangshan allowing us to maximise our time on the mountain. When we were due to leave Shanghai our flight was cancelled due to a typhoon and we had to stay an extra day which entailed an extra night at our hotel and changed travel to the airport all of which happened over the National Day holiday. Martina and the car company handled all of this without any bother.
We wholeheartedly recommend Lydia at China Culture Tours as an organiser and Tom, Christina, Kevin, Brandon, Cory, David & Martina for their willingness and ability to share their knowledge, enthusiasm, efficiency and friendliness. Our enjoyment and understanding of China would not have been the same without them.

We recently returned from a very enjoyable custom private tour of China with our extended family, covering Beijing, Xi'an, Chengdu, Guilin/Yangshuo, and Shanghai over a 2 week period. Ms. Nora Z. was our point of contact. When I first contacted CCT, Nora promptly called me first thing her time and things took off from there. She worked with me to customize the tour, offered feasibility guidance as we developed and fine tuned the itinerary over multiple iterations. We had multiple competing quotes from several nationally recognized tour operators and CCT rose above all of them with their highly competitive cost structure providing higher level services at every stop for nearly the same price as their competitors with no hidden fees. They provided all the documents required to get our visas on time from two different countries.

Throughout the duration of the trip, Nora was always available on Wechat to solve issues. When our flight in Guilin was delayed she offered us peace of mind saying if it didn't take off within the next hour, she'd reschedule on another flight. Nora gave us good advise when we asked "should we go to Tong Li, given that it was raining in Suzhou and we were getting delayed in Suzhou." She encouraged us to go to Tongli and took care of all the arrangements and we are very glad that we got to see beautiful Tongli because of her. We covered six cities and Nora set up the pick ups and hand offs seamlessly and we never felt lost of alone. She set us up with very friendly and competent English speaking guides in every city.

More than just a travel professional, Nora played the role of a local friend who you could rely on for support and advice. I would happily jump on a roof top to highly recommend China Culture Tours AND Nora to everyone.

Please forgive that this may be a lengthy post. I will start off by saying that this is my 3rd trip to China. Each summer I have been invited to give guest lectures in Shanghai; while in China I like to explore different areas. The first trip to China I researched tour agencies who could provide me with expertise and assistance in planning. I found China Culture Tour and read great reviews, so I contacted them. Nora planned my first experience and it was wonderful! I shared her contact information and my itinerary with colleagues who then contacted the company also with good results. The 2nd year my husband was able to travel with me. I contacted Nora and told her I wanted the exact itinerary from the first year, including the same guides because it was a wonderful introduction to Shanghai, Xi'an and Beijing. He had a wonderful, unforgettable experience. So, it was only natural that on my 3rd year invitation I contacted Nora again and asked her suggestions on new areas to explore. We worked together to come up with an itinerary to Chengdu and Guilin. Again, I could not ask for a better itinerary or better guides. The customer service is impeccable. As a woman traveling alone I felt secure and confident in the plan and company.
The experiences and itinerary were so amazing, I was able to experience pandas as a panda keeper in the panda keeper volunteer program; I took an amazing river cruise, biked through incredible countryside, took a cooking and painting class, and bamboo rafted down the Li river. All of these were suggestions from China Culture Tour and were unforgettable memory making experiences in beautiful parts of China. Their expertise and suggestions were better than what I could have created on my own. The guides are always enthusiastic and helpful. Jessica in Chengdu took so many photos and videos for me (without being asked to) which was so nice as I was traveling alone. Mike in Guilin was great in helping to finesse the itinerary times to maximize the best experiences.
But more than creating a great itinerary and tourist experiences, this company including people like Nora and guides like Mike are what makes them stand out. Their customer service is outstanding! There were a couple of time on my China travels over the last 3 years that I have had "bumps in the road" one was my first year where I had some difficulty in the airport before I could even connect with my guide and she was able to help me resolve my issue. The next issue came from this last trip where my own flight arrangements (that I made outside of the tour company) had a flight canceled and rescheduled for 2 days later to return to the US. Mike was with me and helping me to navigate the airline ticket counter, helping me to translate, and trying to find me another flight to Beijing to make my connection to the US asap, while I was on the phone to my airline trying to get assistance from them. Nora was trying to use her powers to help as well. Again, this was not their responsibility as these were arrangements that I made, but their extra time, support and resources helped me to not only negotiate a different flight for later that afternoon with another airline, but they also were able to negotiate on my behalf to have a complimentary hotel room and food vouchers while I waited until the later flight. Nora typically, from the very first trip, communicates directly with me during my tours to see how things are going and to make sure everything is just right. This last time was no exception. She continued to communicate with me to make sure I made it back to the US OK after my initial flight schedule difficulty. This above and beyond personal service is why I would recommend them to anyone and everyone! They will be who I call if I get another invitation to China, in fact Nora is already tentatively planning my next China Adventure and I completely trust her guidance and advice based on my experiences in the past with them. I can't wait to return and experience new adventures!

Nora was very accomodating & organized an amazing tour of all the highlights in Beijing. Our guide, Julie & our driver were puntual, patient, knowledgeable, so much fun & ensured that our stay in Beijing was just fabulous . They also provided prompt transfers to and from the airport and railway station.

The wonderful people of China Culture Tour truly delivered on their promise of "personalized luxury and quality" at every stage of our tour of southern China this July. Our travel advisor Ms Nora Feng listened to our wishes carefully and created super-quickly a detailed itinerary for a memorable tour complete with cultural heritage, natural wonders, historic sights, magnificent cities, rural ancient villages and hands-on experiences such as cycling in the countryside, picking tealeaves, cooking food, and even enjoying a private art lesson from a Chinese master. The most impressive and memorable part of our tour were our four absolutely fantastic, skilled tour guides. The fact that they all were locals and really knew the cities and regions where they lived gave us so much more perspective and insight than you would normally get as a tourist. All of them spoke perfect English, were very helpful, knowledgable and extremely flexible and attentive. It really felt that we were travelling with good friends! A big Thank You – Xie xie – to Ms Fei in Shanghai, Ms Fiona in Hangzhou, Ms April in Huangshan and Mr Cory in Guilin. You made our 30-anniversary trip a memorable one.