Reviews

Our tour guide David was amazing going above and beyond to ensure our group had a fabulous time. 🤩 The trip is great, but heavy going, with a lot to packed in. Be prepared for early starts, long days, and time sitting on trains, coaches and airports.. In retrospect I’d reduce days spent on the Yangtze and add those days onto Shanghai (so much to see and do). 🤔 Pack light, take a light rain -Mac, spare trainers, use either Alipay or WeChat - both widely used (more than cash or credit cards) in China. Most of all be prepared to be amazed and say ‘WOW’ a lot😉

Our time in China was truly outstanding! Every moment offered something memorable, making the entire experience remarkable from start to finish. We were incredibly lucky to have Britney as our travel guide. Her professionalism was evident throughout the trip, and her extensive knowledge, excellent communication skills, and genuinely caring approach truly elevated our entire experience. Britney’s thoughtful guidance made every moment more enjoyable and memorable.

Would it be possible to add an extra night in Shanghai for our next China trip? Extending our stay could enhance the overall experience and allow us more time to explore the city’s unique attractions and culture.

This 16 day tour of the highlights of China was amazing. Wendy Wu organised everything perfectly, and our guide Gary Guo was excellent. He managed to shepherd 18 of us through Beijing, Xian, Yichang, Yangtze River cruise, Chongqing, Guilin, Yangshuo and Shanghai via 2 high speed trains, 2 internal flights and 2 river cruises (4 nights and 4 hours).

The standard of the hotels was very good, and all busses were of a high standard with good, safe drivers.

Everything listed as included in the itinerary was included, and the few extra options were of good quality.

The food was plentiful and of good quality, although it did get somewhat monotonous over the 2 weeks of very similar dishes for lunch and dinner.

I would not hesitate to recommend Wendy Wu and Gary Guo for a tour of China.

Gems of China was a great way to visit and see all of China’s main experiences whilst getting a little insight into life in China. Hotels were of a really good standard and for the most part food was great (with the exception of a visit to an Irish Pub)
The National Guide was efficient and friendly and managed to keep control of our wonderful group of 26 people. The only criticisms are some lack of flexibility and hard selling at most of the experiences but guess this is China. The river cruise provided a relatively relaxing break in the middle of a full on itinerary and was an opportunity to really get to know the rest of the group. My highlights were the Great Wall and Shanghai - what an eye opener! Immaculate organisation from Wendy Woo as usual.

Great way to see China, However trip 3 days to long should have spent one more night in Guling then on to Shanghai for 3 nights food reasonable to start with ,poor towards the end of trip to many lazy Susans
not enough variety!! 3 meals a day not necessary breakfast and evening meal sufficient with more money being spent on the evening meal Quality

Excellent holiday. Busy but well organised holiday. Saw all the things we wanted to. Sales pitches outweighed information at the silk, Jade and terracotta warrior outlets,. Shanghai hotel not ideally located, otherwise no complaints. Our tour leader CiCi was excellent.

Firstly I’d like to commend our National Tour Guide Sophie Jin who was outstanding and couldn’t have been more helpful with our group of 27 travellers from Australia, New Zealand, England and Ireland. Nothing was too much bother for her and she even insisted on getting up to meet us in the hotel lobby at 6.15 on our departure day, even though we told her not to! Sophie really is an asset to Wendy Wu Tours and her dedication is second to none.

Now for the tour itself: SOOOO much is packed in that we (and others in our group) found it quite exhausting. There is little to no down time with early morning starts, and late returns to the hotels meant we often went straight to bed. Our group was mainly people in their 70s, with 7 or 8 of us in our 60s and a couple in their late 50s. Age is not taken into consideration - you book, you do it. And boy do you need stamina!
Also be prepared to do trips in all weathers. There is no contingency plan for bad weather - we were up Tianmen Mountain despite a Gale warning and driving rain. We all ended up freezing and soaking wet. Because of this we (and a few others) decided to opt out of the Old Town and Yu Gardens trip in Shanghai next day, only to find we had to write a letter explaining why.
We also felt the ‘Optional Tours weren’t very optional. The bus is geared towards those paying for these trips and those who choose not to go must find their own way back to the hotel.
There was also a problem with my food. I’m vegetarian and told Wendy Wu this before booking. Unfortunately the Chinese seem to have no concept of vegetarianism and assumed all that I ate was boiled vegetables. Meat eaters had Kung Po Chicken, Sweet and Sour Pork etc while I was given boiled cabbage, aubergine and Pak Choi. Basically I had side dishes. I did speak to Sophie about getting dishes without the chicken or pork (Sweet and Sour Veg for example) but she said a lot of restaurants wouldn’t do this. I did have a bowl of Sweet and Sour sauce one night, which was lovely, but the boiled tomatoes and ketchup was not appetising with rice and vegetables! I have been in touch with Wendy Wu about this and am awaiting a response.

All in all it was a fantastic trip, hotels were great, everything was well organised and it is a beautiful, clean and safe country. Maybe fewer things to do and a wee bit of downtime would make it more appealing Wendy Wu!

Whilst carrying out my 'due diligence' regarding Wendy Wu a guides name kept cropping up. David. And who did I have the privilege of as the National guide to our group? David. I knew all would be well. His attention to detail was remarkable, he took care of every member of the group as if we were members of his family. Admission to attractions, queueing, train seats, flight boarding procedures and security checks were all negotiated smoothly. We even got a trip on public transport, which I thoroughly enjoyed. His experience helped us avoid many issues and avoid many hold ups. I was always amazed at his ability to 'herd cats'. He worked well with the local guides who all shone as individuals with knowledge of their area. Shirley is fondly remembered, as is the guide on the Goddess stream.
He worked so hard. Being available to deal with any issues on arrival in a hotel, and his advice regarding travel avoided many potential issues. He packed the trip with such variety that I am sure everyone took home many precious memories.
He managed to create a great atmosphere in our motley group of less than 20. A feat in itself. Especially on those early rises, which avoided traffic and got us to places a little before it got too busy. Even though it was a four day holiday period in one area.
My special thanks go to him for helping me meet up with my relatives. He smoothed the way and aided our communication. The finale of Shanghai proved very exciting and my transfer back home went very smoothly. He is a 'more than I am' man and I wish him and his family all the very best for the future.
From a grateful tourist. Who is looking forward to return as a traveller, thanks to his guidance and care. It was more than a five star experiece.
P.S. The snacks that you got us on the bus will always be remembered. A feast.

Kindest regards,
A grateful tourist.

From Beijing to Shanghai and everything in between absolutely amazing holiday.
Tour size (16) was perfect & managed very well by Aaron our tour guide.
Hotel’s & restaurants chosen throughout the tour were very good, my only complaint would be that some of the hotels did not have a bar/lobby to relax & have a drink.
All additional tour guides were professional.
It was good to try different types of Chinese food as we visited different regions.
Overall China exceeded our expectations & would highly recommend this tour, well done Wendy Wu

Fantastic holiday, everything as we expected. Great guide, Summer, travelled with us throughout, plus local guides in Shanghai and Beijing. Great organisational skills, tweaking the itinerary so that we missed the busiest times in Tiananmen Sq and at the Great Wall.
Food was excellent - too much of it!
Hotels also excellent.

This was our first tour with Wendy Wu Tours and it was faultless in every way. The itinerary is amazing and it is complimented with great hotels and an abundance of quality food but most of all incredible tour guides.

The Winter Wonderland Tour includes Shanghai (Christmas Lunch, Dinner, Christmas Markets and the lights of Pudong and the Bund), Chengdu (Panda’s & Hot Pot), Xi’An (Terracotta Warriors & Tang Dynasty entertainment), Beijing (Palaces, History, The Great Wall day & night) & Harbin (Ice & Snow Festival).

Our tour leader Addison ensured that every aspect of our trip was perfect, the job he did for us is truly appreciated because there was nothing that could have been done better for us. The organisation was perfect and we were treated like VIP’s at every location we visited.

I would highly recommend this tour and especially Wendy Wu Tours for China, they will ensure you see the magic of China and come away with a true appreciation of this great Country and it’s people and history.

My highlight was walking different sections of the Great Wall both at night and the day. You will also meet other wonderful fellow travellers who became your family during the tour.

Thank you to Wendy Wu, Addison (the most handsome man in China), Troy (with his soft ears), Cindy (Spicy Lady), Summer (Warriors, changing face masters & Tang Dynasty fun), Jade (“so sorry head cut off” history expert) & Sherry (sub zero fun). You are all the special magic of the tour and did an amazing job for us.

If you want to see China but also experience the Winter Wonderland of the Harbin Ice Festival, this is the tour you must book, you will leave very satisfied.

Shanghai was great. Well organised and the local tour guide was great. Hotel was in strategic location. Its probably too short. I recommend at least 3 nights for Shanghai.

Hong Kong was average. Would be much better if the hotel is in strategic location or near the water. We were told to be picked up at 8.45am but they arrived at 9.18am instead. I needed to call the local tour guide supplier 3 times to check. The program was only half day. I thought we booked for a whole day.

From our arrival in Beijing to our departure from Shanghai this was an excellent holiday with our guide, Betty, going above and beyond to make sure we had a fabulous time.
There were quite a few early starts - this isn't a trip if your idea of a holiday is relaxing with a good book - but there was so much to see!
In Beijing we saw Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden Palace, the Temple of Heaven, the Summer Palace, the Great Wall and more.
We then took a bullet train to Xian (amazing experience - totally smooth journey travelling at up to 250mph). We explored the city including the Muslim food quarter and the restored city walls and then went to the Terracotta Warriors.
The next day we took an early flight to Yichang and made our way to Maoping docks near the Three Gorges on the Yangtze river where we boarded the almost brand new Victoria Isabella. The weather was dreadful for our 4 days on the boat but the facilities and staff were excellent and we did get a few excursions.
We left the boat at Chongqing and went to the zoo where we saw pandas (a real highlight) and many other animals. A second bullet train took us to Guilin where we spent a night in the Waterfall Hotel (at 2030 every day a massive waterfall cascades down the outside of the building).
The next day, the sun came out and we took a boat trip down the beautiful River Li to Yangshuo. After a night there, we made our way back through the countryside to Guilin, seeing local people and the rice harvest.
After a second night in Guilin (a small but beautiful city) we took a flight to Shanghai, arriving in the early evening. A boat trip on the river Huangpu lets you see the Bund area with the most amazing lights display.
Our final day was spent exploring the city of Shanghai including the beautiful Yu gardens.
China is spotlessly clean. There are reasonable, free public toilets everywhere and the people are friendly (several conversation attempts via Google translate). There are security cameras and police everywhere and you are constantly asked for your passport but it never felt oppressive.

We did a 16 Wonder of China tour with a beautiful ****** Britney (Zhang Ru). Britney was organized, attentive, care, patient, knowledgeable in Chinese new and old histories and culture, above all she was lively and fun which made the tour full of laughter and joy. The Great Wall of China is magnificent, terracotta warriors in Xi’an is unbelievable til you see it, cruising on Yangtze River was beautiful with classic and optional shore tour, cruising from Guilin to Yangshuo on Li river was WOW factor, it took our breath away. We have already thinking of coming back to Guilin again just to sit back and enjoy the most beautiful scenery on earth. Shanghai the Bund is jaw dropping.

Wendy Wu you’ve done it again! Fascinating, informative, spectacular and comfortable.
Even though I was found to be in the wrong group at the start, I got to know a few extra travellers!
Eileen our tour leader was terrific and displayed that Wendy Wu professionalism always. Her insight was great and a change of tack to avoid a very long queue at Tiananmen sq was commendable. Always helpful, always full of information.
Would love to see that magnetic train in Shanghai as a mode of transport for transfer arrivals instead of just a ride back to the airport.
Enjoyed all modes of transport. Loved the Yangtze cruise, excursions in the heat and the upgrade fantastic. Accommodation was the best and meals really delicious everywhere we went. Probably would have swapped the cultural centre for the mountains last day of the cruise. Local guides good and they add another aspect for travellers.
Fascinating country and really recommend it. Loved the pandas, the warriors and the wall.