The trip in China was fabulous!!! I couldn't have asked for a better experience. My favorite part, aside from the trip itself, was the PRIVATE tour. I wasn't sure if we would be traveling with a large group or not but I am so greatful it was just our party. It really made our trip personable and pleasureable!

So, here are some details of our stay in each city:

Shanghai: Vivi was extremely friendly... probably our favorite guide! She was knowlegeable, attentive not only to me, but to my boys as well. Her english was great, and she was easy to get along with. The hotel in Shanghai was clean and the staff was nice but most of the plugs were bad and the beds were VERY hard. The breakfast there was very good but not what I expected for a "western" style meal. Our driver was nice enough... he didn't say much but always helped with our bags and had a smile on his face. His van made me a little nervous because there were no seatbelts and there was a metal piece sticking out the side of the middle seats... not that big of a deal though. We added a cruise on the river to our trip. You should advertise/mention taking that cruise at night or offer it in the package if possible... we really enjoyed that!

Xi'an: Angie was extremely knowledgable and hit it off well with my brother. She seemed very impressed with his knowledge about Chinese history of that time period. I liked her well enough but you may want to gently remind her to pay equal attention to all guests. I felt quite left out of conversation when she was expaining the history at the Terra-Cotta Warriors museum beause she talked to my brother so much. The driver in Xi'an was nice and his van was very clean and comfortable. The hotel in Xi'an was nice and the staff was super friendly. In fact the waitresses at breakfast even offered to make us scrambled eggs and bacon in addition to bringing out fresh orange juice just for us! They were great! But again, the beds were VERY hard and the light didn't work in the bathroom. Our highlight in Xi'an was renting/riding bikes on top of the ancient city wall. That was sooo much fun... I would highly recomend putting that on the itinerary too! Getting on the train was quite an experience (it was very busy) but Angie helped us through the crowd and got us there in plenty of time. We really enjoyed the over night train!

Beijing: Lingling was also very nice. She was reasonably knowledgeable, friendly, and easy to talk to. She did a great job letting us know what to expect and making sure we were comfortable. I liked that the driver provided water in the van for us. He was very nice, patient, and friendly. His van was VERY clean and comfortable. Our hotel in Beijing was the best. It was VERY clean and everything worked... by this time I had come to expect a hard bed. You may want to let your guests know that beds in China may be firmer than what we are used to so they can bring a pad to sleep on or request extra quilts... that's what I did. We added the Kung Fu show to our itinerary. Vivi recomended we ask about it once in Beijing. She thought my boys would like it... and they did! We all did! It was our favorite show of the whole trip! And Lingling got the boys little kung fu people suveniers, which was really nice! She seemed a little unattentive toward the end of our three days but I'm sure she was just getting tired. She worked hard for us!

My only concern at the end of the trip was that I thought I booked the tour with four-star hotels and found out we were in three star hotels. Ultimately the accomodations were fine but I am curious whether or not I purchased the upgraded package and if so, is there anything you can do about it.