Dear Jolin,
Thanks for your interest. Hong Kong would have been OK if your instructions weren't in my lost luggage and my phone battery dead!! thanks for sorting it out.
We had a wonderful holiday and it all went very smoothly until the last 24 hours. I would be happy to write a testimonial for your website.
Our favourite bits (as a family with teenagers) were:
The cruise - it was beautiful and very relaxing break in the middle of all the sightseeing. Also we met nice people.
tobogganing down the great wall at mutianyu
some of the tour guides made a big difference to our enjoyment eg Effie in Guilin, James in Shanghai, william in Beijing. THey talked enough to be interesting but not so much they gave us a headache and were very flexible with changes to the itinerary. James even changed our restaurant booking, and Effie rearranged the cormorant fishoing for a different evening.
Bejing zoo, Acquariums in beijing (inside the zoo, has a great dolphin show) and Shanghai
the tourist tunnel in shanghai
the acrobatics show in shanghai was breathtaking - we almost had to hide our eyes
General comment:
Hotels
Guilin Park: nice position, good breakfast, pool open til 23.00. but too many tour groups. REcommended.
HOMA: It was surprisingly convenient as it was on the road from Guilin to Yangshuo. A fantastic location, no tour groups BUT disappointing restaurant, the pool seemed dirty, we had to pay Y40/hour extra to hire bikes to get to the pool, and the staff were useless.
Splendid China: we upgraded to one honeymoon suite and it was well worth it for the extra space, recommended. A balcony would have been nice. Not a luxury boat but very friendly helpful staff, who taught the teenagers to play Mah-Jong. Food pretty good but Drinks etc very expensive - tell people to buy theirs in a supermarket and keep it in the mini-bar!
Astor: we had fantastic rooms on the executive floor, but our friends from the cruise had very cheap rooms on other floors. Lots of character, recommended. convenient for everything,
Soft sleeper: We enjoyed it but my husband didnt sleep. THanks again for fixing an early check-in, it made a big difference to our day that we were able to have a shower and unpack before sightseeing.
Prime: nice, good breakfast, but tiny pool indoors. convenient. Primarily a business hotel but we still felt welcome.
Newton: not 4*. Dirty, small rooms, nasty restaurant. The transfer was too long, not a good area. Not recommended.
The itinerary:
Absolutely great, we were always busy but not too exhausted as we returned to the hotel for a swim in the afternoon.
If anything I would miss Suzhou next time, Particularly at the weekend - or get a train back earlier eg 16.30. The Tongli water town was lovely but the humble administator garden was so busy we couldnt see it and the last garden in Shanghai (Yuyuan???) was possibly nicer, as it was quiet.
We loved having the evenings free to choose our own dinner at local restaurants, or just to have a sandwich and go to sleep early. Recommended for lazy travellers like us.
Jolin,
thanks again for all your help and suggestions, you helped to make it very special for us.
Lia and family
England
July 24, 2007
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