This was a once in a lifetime holiday for me, & lived up to all my expectations. Our group of 24 mixed very well together & we had many laughs along the way.
The only real downside for me was the lack of free time, even when scheduled our time was eaten up by heavy traffic delays & we were always in a rush to make our evening meal. It wasn't until the final day in Shanghai that we had a late morning departure & some free time in the afternoon.
Hotels....All were of good quality & well located in town centres, safe to walk around in the evening, street crime rate is low. Western breakfasts were very good with excellent choices. Other meals in general whether in hotels or local restaurants were repetitive all on a lazy susan. We did have 2 Subway lunches which were pre-ordered at the Great Wall & in Chengdu, which was a nice change!
Internal Travel....All flights were on time, with a change between Xian & Chengdu to the excellent bullet train a 3 hour journey. This was due to new government regulations which now prevents flights between the two so better use is made of it's train services.
Tour Guides....Alan, Suzy, & Ben were all very good & knowledgeable, which helped everything run smoothly & also worked well with our excellent TM Branwen Edwards. Sorry to say David our guide in Xian was the exception, he was arrogant, marched off before we had all left the coach, & generally made life very awkward for Branwen, who somehow managed to keep her cool in difficult circumstances.
All in all an amazing holiday, one I will never forget!!
Barb