Reviews

We purchased the Silk Road Explorer trip in February 2024 at the destination show and we are a group of 5 friends from UK. We met at the airport and was really looking forward and excited for the flight to Xian transit at Beijing airport. When we landed at the airport we had to fill in transfer forms and there was a long queue of travellers at passport control. We only had one hour to catch the connecting flight to Xian so we missed the late afternoon flight. That caused a lot of anxiety and we were rushing at the airport looking for information. The staff at the counters were very helpful and we managed to catch the late evening flight to Xian. We would have like to leave London on an earlier flight to give more time for transit.
There were 18 of us in the group and our national guide was Hoffman Huo. We felt very safe in his care and nothing was too much trouble. He provided us with information on each day of the iternary of the places we were to visit . He was always at the back counting and making sure that we get on the train and coach safely. We were his family and felt sad when he waved us off on the last day. Well done Hoffman and we hope to get a guide like you on our next trip to China.
We have enjoyed this long journey on the Silk Road. The places on the iternary were historical , educational and interesting. The sceneries of the sand dunes on the desert and changing colours of the mountains were spectacular. The highlights were the art gallery at the Magao caves and the camel ride at the Gobi desert. What a great experience!
Well done Wendy Wu and staff for organising this amazing trip .
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An excellent holiday made brilliant by the quality of the 4 tour guides.

The only black mark was the unethical behaviour of British Airway who sell more tickets than they have seats resulting in passengers being told that they are not guaranteed a seat despite having paid for the flight months in advance and an additional 180 GBP for seat selection.

Wendy Wu - A China experience with Hong Kong in focus extension beforehand October 2024.
An amazing holiday, in which I briefly visited four large cities and saw the highlights of each - Hong Kong, Shanghai, Xi'an and Beijing.
Good hotel choices, great food (western palette, nothing odd - which was a relief, in fact many dishes were suitable for vegetarians).
Just long enough at each site, it's as much as can be achieved in 12 days.
Thanks must go to national guide Gary and local guides Troy, Eileen and Jade - as well as the rest of the tour group, who made the whole experience enjoyable.

Excellant holiday, however could have been one to two days longer with same itinary, to allow some free and rest time

This review is about you Feefo. I spent a least an hour filling in a review for the above holiday last week, checking that all was written well and accurate like I am doing now as I type slowly.
When I pressed the submit button your system told me that I had been timed out. Well that was very unacceptable and a complete waste of my time as returning to the link meant that all of typing and effort disappeared and I would have had to start again. This I was not prepared for you so I laboriously retyped what I could remember and sent by email to Wendy Wu by email. Get you system better organised so that slowness is not penalised or a choice to SAVE what has already been typed or WARNING that timing out was possible.

Friendly, prompt replies, all queries answered quickly and efficiently.

A very well organised tour with a very competent , friendly and conciencious tour guide. The local guides were very enthusiastic but their limited English stifled their communication skills. The hotels and restaurants were excellent and our transport and drivers both of a high standard. The trip content gave us an in depth view of China ,proving it has more than The Great Wall, although the two sections we climbed were very impressive if somewhat knackering!

A great trip on every level - itinerary, expert guide, food, accommodation and transport.

I would highly recommend this trip to an amazing country. We benefitted from an excellent national guide and good local guides and saw all the main sights.

We had been to Hong Kong & Beijing before, but the Grand Tour was a whole new level of understanding of China. The trip organisation by Wendy Wu was faultless & our national guide, David He, was exceptional, showing patience & understanding where needed plus a great knowledge of China. He worked hard to satisfy Gluten / Veggy food needs – not always easy with this style of meal service. Local guides in each town were also really good. Hotels varied from good to great, with priority usually being location. The Yangshuo hotel, for example, was a bit older but we stepped straight out onto West St, and breakfast was simple but had an exceptional view. There is a lot of travel involved with 3 each internal flights & trains, but Chinese trains & airports put the UK to shame! Overall the food was at least good sometimes great. Breakfast did not always include a wide ‘Western’ selection but then we were foreigners in China - How many foreign breakfast options do UK hotels have? Bus management was brilliant – a snap of the electronic fingers & it was there. We had not done a ‘follow the flag’ holiday or used Wendy Wu before. We will definitely do both again. Thanks again David. 

If you are considering a long trip in China for the first time – lessons we learned:
> Grand tour lunch & dinner is 26 days of Chinese food, with set dishes, off a lazy susan except for a few packed lunches & the Yangtze cruise. Some of the dishes may not be to your taste – be flexible.
> You will need to handle your luggage – journeys involve suitcases + escalators + airports & stations
> Out walking at night in China - this is the safest I have ever felt either at home or travelling.
> Don’t think too hard about the tip pot, it just works, saving time & hassle.
> Alipay attached to your UK credit card is super quick & easy to use if you have an active phone.
> Install Wechat to contact family in case you cannot get Whatsapp to work – basically the same (Family will also have to install).
> VPN’s did not reliably work. But they do have 30 day money back warranty. I tried Express / Nord
> If your phone accepts e-sim, get one. Ours gave us access to Western websites with no VPN and always worked.
> You may be sharing China with lots of domestic tourists – check when their major holidays are.
> The Yangtze cruise was great & we are happy we did not upgrade either room or meal options. Upgraders were equally happy with their choice - do not worry about it.
Totally recommended.
Paul & Tracy

Amazing and wonderful ‘full on’ tour - How else could you fit everything in.

On this tour we covered a lot of ground and felt that we saw a huge amount. Our National guide Ivan was outstanding and worked tirelessly the whole 21 days to make sure we were happy and well looked after. The local guides were also brilliant. The hotel standards were all excellent and all the transfers were well managed and comfortable. We should have looked more closely at our flights as we arrived very late ( 11pm) after 24 hours travelling and had an early 5.30am start. We let Wendy Wu arrange the flights but I think if we had looked closer we could have chosen different flights and would have flown direct to Beijing a day earlier to help with the 7 hour time difference. The food was interesting at the start of the holiday but became monotonous as we had a lazy susan of similar dishes presented to us for lunch and dinner every day. It would have helped us all if the guides had taken us to an Italian or other western food restaurant occasionally. The 3 night cruise on the Yangtze River gave us a break from the lazy susan Chinese food and white rice but we had to pay for that as an upgrade.
The holiday schedule was very full and busy with very little time to relax, but we really saw and experienced a lot of China both on an off the beaten track. We had an amazing time with our 24 travel companions and I would recommend this holiday as great way to visit China.

Very well organised, the guides were great. The accommodation in China was a far higher standard than expected, and the foot massage in Yangshuo was fantastic! Our only criticisms would be in Japan the split of time between shrines/temples and gardens could have been different to allow more time in the beautiful gardens and a little less in the temples which all became a bit samey towards the end. The other issue for us was the excessive amount of time devoted to shopping in both countries. We felt this could be severely cut back to allow more time to enjoy the natural wonders of each country. The one other bug bear was the cost of all the additional trips in China which were far more than we had been led to believe and meant having to get more cash out on two occasions. That said they were largely worth doing.

This trip was amazing. The organisation, value, National and local guides could not be faulted. We left with a far better understanding of the social, cultural, historical and natural world aspects of China.

A comprehensive opportunity to see the principal historical sites, towns and varied landscapes of both China & Tibet. Bullet train journeys added to the sightseeing enjoyment of the holiday. Our guide spoke very good English and was often able to expand on the more recent political history of China & Tibet. The tour schedule could be somewhat physically tiring at times but meals were good and cuisine varied. Hotel accommodation was also good. We would really recommend the optional Sichuan Opera performance we attended in Chengdu.
Our particular highlights would include The Great Wall, The Terracotta Army, The Li River cruise, Pandaland, Lijiang, Shangri-La, Lhasa and the Potala Palace and the final evening cruise in Shanghai.
Using the internet was problematic and we were unable to use the recommended Chinese WeChat & AliPay phone payment systems but Yuan paper money was always accepted and in some locations Western credit cards and ATMs were used without problems.