Hello Foring,
What a wonderful trip we had!!!. The private tour is definitely the way to go. The driver and the tour guides were wonderful. Especially the tour guide in Xian. She was more homely and nothing was a trouble for her. She kept at a pace which was for our age group and treated us well. The hotels I would class as 5 star, really very nice and in the centre of the cities, or so it seemed to me. Food was excellent and so much more flavorsome than we have in Australia. I am afraid we have westernized Chinese food. In Beijing we were surprised to had to tip the rickshaw rider and the guide we had in the old city, but other than that thank you for all your planning our trip. I would definitely recommend your company to friends who were planning to visit China.
Regards Carol & Richard Owens
Beijing, Shanxi Province and Xian Tour...