Wendy Wu Tours

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!

Fabulous. Really helpful and responsive personal service. And such lovely friendly people.

Covers all the main attractions of china, plus a few interesting side trips.

Helpful and informative booking staff. Were able to meet our requirements and offer advice

A busy two weeks in Sarawak and Sabah, with a combination of city sites and history/museums (the Sarawak Museum is a must see if you are interested in the people/culture of the region) and visits to national parks, and a Iban people long house. Highlights included sightings of orangutans in the wild, many monkey species, crocodiles and beautiful birds, particularly when we visited Sandakan and the Kinabatangan River in Sabah. Our tour leader, Delilah was brilliant and worked hard to make sure all enjoyed the trip. It was exceptionally hot when we visited so be prepared for demanding and humid conditions. Nearly all accommodation was of a good standard and food reasonably varied but pandered to the less adventurous.

Keith was brilliant giving his talk and Hanna also with the booking. Problem started when we got the confirmation email. Firstly it was for the wrong date and the ATOLcertificate was for the wrong number of days. When Keith gives his talk he emphasises the tours are inclusive without extra things to pay for, however, when you read the detailed itinary there are loads of extras to pay for if you want to do them.

The whole trip just undertaken with Wendy Wu was excellent. I’ve now booked another tour with them for next year, and all is good.

Contacted me after an initial enquiry. Very helpful and pleasant to speak to. Answered all my questions quickly.

It was fast, clearly explained and friendly. Their expertise on holidays to China was obvious.

Our motive for going to China was to visit family, but we also wanted to see the country. Not having visited before, making our own travel arrangements was daunting, and we decided to go on an organised tour.

We chose Wendy Wu’s Gems of China tour as it gave us the opportunity to visit areas such as the Zhangjiajie National Park which weren’t covered by other tours, and we were very happy with our choice.

From the first moment of booking we were very satisfied with the attention to detail and level of support we received from the company. When it was decided (the day after we applied) that British visitors no longer needed a visa, the staff were very helpful, and processed our refund quickly. The information we received before the tour was very comprehensive and answered all our questions.

The quality of the hotels where we stayed, and the transport (including coaches, trains and internal flights) were all excellent.

In an unfamiliar country such as China the quality of the local guides is extremely important, and our main guide, Sophie Jin was fantastic! Her English was great, she was very knowledgeable and friendly, and managed the conflicting demands of a diverse group with tact and kindness. We were very well looked after, and I can’t praise her highly enough. Different guides with more local knowledge were employed in the different places we visited, and they were all excellent.

The tour covered all the main areas of tourist interest, such as Beijing, the Great Wall, Terracotta warriors etc, and included a relaxing Yangtze cruise. We had many opportunities to go on voluntary evening entertainments, and I can honestly say that these were some of the highlights of the tour, and gave us experiences we would never have had elsewhere.

My only (minor) criticism would be that the tour was very fast-paced; it would have been nice to have longer stays in the places visited, and more free time, but this would have added to the cost, which was quite high. All in all the tour was a brilliant introduction to a country little visited by western tourists, and one which challenged previously held ideas. We thoroughly enjoyed it, and would recommend Wendy Wu tours highly.