China tours: lemons or stars
 

I am planning a 18-21 day trip in September to China, which will include Beijing, Xian, Shanghai, Yangtze River Cruise (4-5 days), Guilin and Hong Kong. I have researched tours offered by Globus, Cosmos, TBI,United Vacations, SmarTours, Blueheart, Pacific Delight, China Focus, Abercrombie and Kent. Did anyone out there have a bad experience with any of these tours operators? Were you steered by the tour guides towards certain shops with too long stopovers? Was there adequate free time for you to do independent shopping near your hotel? Were the local tour guides fluent in English? Were the tour busses filled to capacity? Which airlines provided the best service from USA to China? Did the tours end so late at night that you couldn't enjoy the 5-star hotels? Any caveats for me? Other than price and itinerary considerations, how can I evaluate the quality of the tour from the slick brochures? Thanks for your help. I look forward to learning from your experiences.

We used JoAnna Cameron of Cameron Tours of McLean, VA 800-648-4635 to arrange our guided tour of China a few years ago and were delighted with her first-hand knowledge. She runs group tours from her own agency and may be able to give you "expert" advice on the ones you mentioned.

I am very actively looking for a 18-21 day tour with same itinerary. We've lived overseas for 15 yrs so used to traveling independently but will go escorted to China. I've research lots of companies. Narrowed it down to Pacific Delight Tours. <BR> <BR>Other things to take into consideration <BR>-airline--will you go with one that you are a Frequent Flyer member <BR>-what's the policy on smoking on the tour <BR>-many tours guarantee the flight departure, but they do not guarantee the tour departure if not a certain number <BR>-can you pay the tour price by credit card (thereby protecting yourself if a problem and like Discover get 1% back) without paying a fee <BR>-are formal or dressy clothes required for the cruise dinners, etc.? <BR> <BR>I don't have all the answers yet but will advise when I do and would like to keep in touch since we hope to go in March. <BR> <BR>I leave no information un-researched (probably not a word) but then feel confortable about paying for what I get. <BR>

eileen <BR> <BR>we had a great trip in 1995 with firm from australia, with links to CITS (China International travel Service). very well done. we organised it so we were the only 2 people on the tour. no extra cost, personalised service, so we got a car instead of a bus, with our own driver & guide in each city. well worth investigating. <BR>

Nigel--I want to do what you did. Could you please provide info on address of China Travel Service. Where did you go , hlow long? Cost? thanks. <BR>

My wife and I went to China in Nov., 1993, with China Delight. E-mail us directly with any questions.

Went last year with SmarTours. Enjoyed it very much. I'm not a tour-taker usually but found this was quite easy to handle. I think SmarTours offers the best deals around. <BR>