Hi Sara,
First let me apologise for not having responded sooner to your recent
e-mail. We have finally managed to get reorganised after our trip away.
We enjoyed our trip to China very much and would have difficulty
finding fault with that part of our trip you organised. We had spent
two enjoyable weeks Volunteering at the Bifengxia Panda Base prior to
commencing your itinerary. We will make comments about the different
components of that part of our trip Sinoway Travel organised for us,
which you may find useful.
- The Guides & Drivers.
The guides varied from very good to excellent always meeting us on
time and being generally most helpful with a good level of English
language skills. In the excellent category we would place "David" who
looked after us in Pingyao. The drivers were generally very good,
managing the busy Chinese road conditions with great skill.
- Hotels
All were well chosen at the level of accommodation we were expecting.
All were well located.
- Food
The hotel food was good. The restaurants & food chosen by our guides
was very good and gave us a good appreciation of Chinese cuisine.
- Rail Transport
The level of cleanliness in the overnight soft sleepers varied from
poor to good. The train staff were excellent, both helpful and
courteous. A major difficulty was negotiating the numerous platform
stairs with bags weighing 18-20 kgs. & their storage in the limited
space of the sleeper. Fortunately we were fit and managed OK. As this
was our choice of transport we would not offer these comments as
criticism This form of transport would be best suited to young
backpackers with small packs.
- Sinoway Travel
Always very professional and helpful with sound suggestions regarding
our itinerary. Of particular help was the prompt reply, within 24
hours, to e-mails. This was much appreciated.
Generally we has a great China experience meeting the polite helpful
local people and learning a little of your culture & cuisine. We would
certainly use Sinoway Travel for our next China trip which we hope
will not be too far away.
A special thanks to you Sara.
Kind regards