What To Expect

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Reviews

• Excellent 2-day Service in Beijing

  Joao Luis Z,,May 9, 2018

  - Review from Tripadvisor

  5.00

  We were on a cruise and only spent 2 days (1 night) in Beijing. The support from transport, restaurant, hotel and especially the visit to the Forbidden City and the Great Wall was very well conducted by Leo's team. We were in 3 couples and were guided by Fernando, speaking Portuguese (self dictated, but with good vocabulary) and knowledge of history and culture. I recommend.

  

  

  

• I was to be in Beijing for just one...

  Ysabella H,,Aug 23, 2016

  - Review from Viator

  5.00

  I was to be in Beijing for just one day. I found individual and group tours. Leo Chu From U China Travel Ltd. called to quote the cost of a single person tour. I found it was double of a group tour. After much thought, I decided it was the best way to see and experience the city my own way. A week before I left New York City, I booked the individual tour Leo had quoted me.

  On June 30/2016, Julian, my tour guide picked me up at the hotel at 8AM. We boarded a comfortable mini bus and headed for Tiananmen Square, our first stop. Unfortunately, it was barred from entry on that day. So, we continued our tour to the Forbidden City where we spent the whole morning. There is so much to see, learn and absorb a morning is just glimpse of the extraordinary beauty, craftsmanship and thought. As always it was crowded but one could find pockets of isolated places and focus on astounding specific details the long stones of bas-relief carved one in front of the Hall of Supreme Harmony the other by the Hall of Preserving Harmony, the long colorful ceramic depicting Nine Dragons in front of the Palace of Tranquil Longevity, the Hall of Supreme Harmonys roof decorated with yellow tiles yellow being the emperors color with ten imperial figures adorning the roof ridge. We stopped at one of the imperial gardens which houses, very old cypress trees. At the gift shop, an artist delicately paints landscapes, flowers, animals, insects or your name, if you wish, inside miniature glass bottles. I bought a few as presents.
  Julian kindly reminded the scheduled lunch. He took me to a Michelin star dumpling restaurant. The food was superb. We then proceeded to The Great wall of China. I was driven to the Mutianyu area. Though it was very hot day, Julian and I walked for several hours the southward route from Tower 6, The Grand Zhengguan Terrace to the Big Corner Watch Tower 1, which is the place where East, West and south connect. The name derives from the fact that it looks like a cor

• A FANTASTIC SINGLE DAY IN BEIJING

  ysabella100,,Aug 19, 2016

  - Review from Tripadvisor

  5.00

  I was to be in Beijing for just one day. I looked for individual and group tours. Leo Chu From U China Travel Ltd. called to quote the cost of a single person tour. I found it was double the price of of a group tour. After much thought, I decided it was the best way to see and experience the city my own way. A week before I left New York City, I booked the individual tour Leo had quoted me. On June 30/2016, Julian, my tour guide picked me up at the hotel at 8AM. We boarded a comfortable mini bus and headed for Tiananmen Square, our first stop. Unfortunately, it was barred from entry on that day. So, we continued our tour to the Forbidden City where we spent the whole morning. There is so much to see, learn and absorb a morning is just glimpse of the extraordinary beauty, craftsmanship and thought involved in creating such a place. As always it was crowded but one could find pockets of isolated places and focus on astounding specific details; the long stones of bas-relief carved one in front of the Hall of Supreme Harmony the other by the Hall of Preserving Harmony are just astounding! the long colorful ceramic depicting Nine Dragons in front of the Palace of Tranquil Longevity took my breath away, and much admired the Hall of Supreme Harmony’s roof decorated with yellow tiles (yellow being the emperor’s color) with ten imperial figures adorning the roof ridge; each one with a specific meaning. We stopped at one of the imperial gardens which houses, very old cypress trees. At the gift shop, an artist delicately painted landscapes, flowers, animals, insects or your name, if you wish, inside miniature glass bottles. I bought a few as presents. Julian kindly reminded the scheduled lunch. He took me to a Michelin star dumpling restaurant. The food and service was superb, We then proceeded to The Great wall of China. I was driven to the Mutianyu area. Though it was very hot day, Julian and I walked for several hours the southward route from Tower 6, The Grand Zhengguan Terrace to the Big Corner Watch Tower 1, which is the place where East, West and south connect. The name derives from the fact that it looks like a corner from any angle. My day of sightseeing ended with a speedy toboggan descent (even at age 65 one could enjoy this entertainment). At the end of a fabulous day, I was driven to my hotel. Julian gave me a present from Leo; a beautifully packaged scroll with the traditional art of China of paper cutting depicting the twelve signs of the zodiac. A present I will cherish for years to come as a memory of my only day in Beijing and a reminder of a worthwhile investment of a single person tour.

• A Great Trip!

  David W,,Nov 30, 2014

  - Review from Tripadvisor

  5.00

  My wife and I began planning a trip to China about a year ago. We ultimately chose U China Travel to put our tour together. One of the reasons we did this was because U China Travel does not have scheduled shopping stops for which they receive a commission. Over the period of several months, we worked with Leo to put the tour together. Leo designed our tour based on our interests and physical abilities. He was very responsive and patient with all our questions and concerns. Our tour consisted of three cities: Beijing, Xi'an, and Shanghai. In Shanghai our guide was Lily. She spoke English well and is very knowledgeable of local and Chinese history. At our request we stayed at the Courtyard 7 hotel. While this hotel didn't offer many amenities, it was adequate and gave us a feel for life in the hutong. Our first full day in Beijing was a day on our own. We chose to do this to recover from the long trip the day before. Beginning the second day, Lily met us at the hotel each morning. We visited Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City, and the Summer Palace the second day. On the third day, we visited the Great Wall at Mutianyu and a hutong where we took a ride in a rickshaw. The next day we visited the Temple of Heaven and then were of to Xi'an by high speed rail. Lily helped us through the maze of the train station. Without her, I'm not so sure we still wouldn't be there!! Also, Leo met us for drinks and great conversation one evening. He also had a gift for us! In Xi'an, our guide was Cathy. She too spoke English well and was knowledgeable regarding local and Chinese history. In Xi'an we visited the Terracotta Warriors and were able to walk into the pit 1 platform. The platform got us within a few feet of the warriors. We visited the Xi'an city wall and took a tandem bike ride around the wall - a distance of about 9 miles. We also visited the Big Wild Goose Pagoda. The second day we visited the Great Mosque, the Shanxi Historical Museum, and Han Yangling Mausoleum. Then we flew to Shanghai. In Xi'an we stayed at the Westin hotel, a modern, western style hotel. In Shanghai our guide was Kiko. Like Lily and Cathy, she spoke English well and was very knowledgeable of the local and Chinese history. With Kiko we visited Yuhuan Garden, the Jade Buddha Temple, the Jewish District, and the French Concession district. We also saw the Chinese Acrobats show - amazing. The second day we visited Zhujiajiao water town, and the Shanghai World Financial Center, which provided a great view of the city. We stayed at Les Suites Orient, where Leo was able to upgrade our room to a Bund view room. I'd highly recommend a Bund view. Our tour included all breakfasts and lunches. Dinners were typically on our own, except in Shanghai, where Leo made a reservation at M on the Bund, very nice upscale restaurant. In each city, the guides helped us choose food to our liking. The guides were very flexible, which is why I would recommend a private tour. If we didn't care for a site or if we found one interesting, they would modify the schedule to accommodate our interests. Kiko even helped find a laundry service and helped me get some medicine at a pharmacy. Working with Leo was great. He always responded to my questions promptly. He was patient as we made changes to the itinerary. The hotels he arranged for us were first class. All were in active areas of the city so in the evenings we could enjoy the night life around the hotel. Leo did a great job of planning our trip. Leo also arranged all our transportation between cities. We were met at the airport/train station in each city by our guide and driver, and then dropped off at the airport/train station when we left the city. The driver's were polite and well-dressed, although they spoke very little English. Their vehicles were clean, relatively new, and in good shape. One thing that did concern me was wiring payment to Leo. It's just not in my comfort zone to wire money halfway around the world to someone I don't know! I chose to do this because of the fee that PayPal charges for use of their service. But everything went through just fine. I highly recommend U China Travel. Leo's goal is to create the trip of a lifetime for each of his clients, and he succeeded in that for us!

• Don't hesitate; book you'll not regret it

  millhouze,,Nov 23, 2014

  - Review from Tripadvisor

  5.00

  Summary Usually the summary would be last but to save you reading all the way through here it is. If you’re considering a private tour of China then no need to look beyond U-China, service is excellent, pricing reasonable, they’re easy to deal with and customer service is high on the agenda. It was a little concerning sending large sums of money by transfer but no worries. For 6 of us doing a 22 day tour there were few problems and 99% of those were not in the control of U-China. Their pre-service organising the trip is brilliant and the attention to detail continues once your there. In each city you’ll be met by a guide and driver and when it’s time to move on you’re accompanied all the way to security. I’ve seen other tours taking place on previous visits and again this time with guides carrying portable speakers, flags on a pole and shepherding their large flock of tourists, rest assured this is nothing like that. – Don’t hesitate book now. Arranging In Detail I’ll try to put this in chronological order so you can follow our thinking, any mistakes are mine. The trip actually took place October/November 2014, but our planning started some time beforehand. In fact I can see our initial enquiries to several different agents went out in the beginning of January 2014. By April we’d settled on using U-China as our agent in China and purchased our international tickets from Emirates. It does help if you’ve an idea of what you wish to see and do, although they can advise the more information you can give the better and the more the trip can customised to your own desires. We passed an itinerary back and forth a few times with Leo and his team tweaking until it matched what we wanted and what Leo said was possible. There was a slight hitch with the visas, the embassy in London wouldn’t issue a visa because we had Tibet in the itinerary and no permission for Tibet (that is issued in China), Leo was unable to get the permission for Tibet unless we had a valid Chinese visa (catch-22). In the end we had to remove Tibet from the itinerary, get the visa then at the last minute with the paperwork in place the internal permission could be granted. Paying I sent Leo a deposit by using Currency Solutions, there are other services and your bank may also do this. I found my bank charges to be too high, Forex didn’t want to help because I was sending money for other people what do they think happens with a group travelling. The final sum was paid the same way a few weeks before the tour. Each time within 24 hours U-China sent a receipt to confirm they’d received the monies. The Trip On our itinerary Beijing, Xian, Lhasa, Chengdu, JIuzhaigou & Huanglong, Leshan Giant Buddha, Mt. Emei, Guilin, Yangshuo, Lonngji, Shanghai and Suzhou. We flew via Dubai to Beijing where the local guide Lily met us with a driver and took us to the hotel. Our tour effectively starting the following day with Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City and Temple of Heaven, we’d chosen to have lunch included but not dinner and apart from when we were on airplanes we’d be taken to local restaurants for lunch. In some cities the guides and drivers would stay with us for lunch in others it is not customary for them to do so (just go with the flow). Generally meals were good, the guides will help with choices but do advise beforehand if there are any dietary issues. We didn’t need this help so much as two of our party speak and read Mandarin and one other has some knowledge of the language. It’s possible to exceed the lunch budget but even if so generally the top up necessary is small, quite often lunch was substantial enough that dinner was not needed. Mutianyu Great Wall, Ming Tomb and Sacred Way note that access to the wall can be by chair lift; one of our party has a fear of heights and did not enjoy that so we came down by cable car. Next day the Summer Palace, a brief look at the birds-nest stadium and then the Confucius Temple, escaping from the stadium just as the police were closing the road for a cycle race otherwise we’d have been stuck. Next we flew to Xian to be met by Cathy on the way to the hotel a stop at Han Yangling Mausoleum where there are many artefacts and pottery burial objects from around 150CE. Next day perhaps the most famous of all the Terracotta Warriors a massively impressive site dating back to 210BCE which even now is only partially excavated there must still be many discoveries to be made and to keep the archaeologists busy. Then into the city to visit the Great Mosque before finishing the day cycling the impressive wall around the city a total of 7Km around. After this the following day a flight to Lhasa where we were met by Cizhen and taken to the hotel to acclimatise, this is necessary as the altitude is nearly 4000m. Next day we visited within walking distance of our hotel Jokhang Temple and then a short drive to Potala Palace. Only I and one other climbed to the top and visited the rooms of the palace, the altitude was causing the others problems. Please do not underestimate how debilitating such high altitude can be and perhaps (especially if you may have health issues) consult a physician before planning this part of the trip. Next day in the morning we returned via Drepung Monastery to the airport for a flight to Chengdu, we tried to also visit Norbulingka but ran out of time. Met at the airport by local guide Kevin, who goes well beyond expected and is an excellent guide. We only stopped overnight in Chengdu; in fact we came to this same hotel three times for short periods because Chengdu is a bit of a hub. Next day set of for the drive to the Panda centre to work as a volunteers, this was excellent and I wish we’d allowed some more time for this but we had to limit this to ½ day as we were enroute to Mt Emei and the only access is via a public bus and then a cable car that stops running around 17:00. This is a fair bit of walking to get to between the bus stop and the cable car; next day is a very early start to watch the sunrise too. Next day after seeing sunrise we took the cable car and bus back to meet our van and then stopped in Lashan to see the Buddha and visit a local market, some really lovely fruit before getting back to Chengdu ready to fly the next day to Jiuzhaigou. In Jiuzhaigou met by Rocky another excellent guide and the most dilapidated of the various vans provided for us on our tour an old Transit that had seen better days and unfortunately had been used by smokers. A long drive to the hotel before going into the national park the next day and travelling around on the buses provided by the park, Rocky got us to the park by hiring a couple of taxis to save the queues walking. Jiuzhaigou is stunning scenery, mountains, forests and waterfalls like Lhasa it is Tibetan culture and also high, there weren’t the same issues with altitude here, either it’s not quite so high or as Rocky said to us the trees put enough extra oxygen out. We visited two parks one the day we arrived the next the day we left in the morning both stunning. Then back to Chengdu on the late flight, which was even later because of flight delays due to fog at Chengdu. In Chengdu overnight stop before we had a day to explore the city we’d lost the ever helpful Kevin as he’d been requested for another party and Coral took us around the city she did a great job and we had the famous hotpot for lunch. After the city tour we went back to the airport for the late flight to Guilin where we were met by Helen. In Guilin for just an overnight stop a minor incident at the Guilin Bravo Hotel where one of our party had their AC catch on fire in the room followed by all the electrics failing! Next day collected by our guide Helen (who’s no mean singer with an excellent voice, see if she’ll sing for you) to travel to the River Li for the boat trip to Yangshuo, wonderful scenery, about a three/four hour cruise and the van met us to take us to Yangshuo Mountain Retreat which has stunning views and is a great place to relax. Whilst here we visited the cormorant fisheries, (this is for tourists now) the reed flute cave and Impression Liu Sanjie a open air operatic performance with many of the artists being local villagers all on a massive open air stage. After Yangshuo we travelled to the terraced rice fields in Longji where over many years the hills have be sculpted to grow not only rice but other food crops form there back to Guilin for the flight to Shanghai. In Shanghai for our last 4 days we visited several gardens, the bund, cruised on the river went to Tongli before departing. Hotels The majority of the hotels were good, the one in Lhasa Thangka Hotel was dire, the location was good but pretty much everything else was poor. The one on Mt Emei Golden Summit Hotel was a lower standard than the cities but the best one there by far, a family from Germany on the same bus as us had booked into the other hotel and couldn’t stay it was so bad they came to Golden Summit Hotel so ended up paying for a room not used at the other. A lot of the hotels (big modern ones) have disabled individual control of the AC and seem to think that 26C is an appropriate temperature for a bedroom. The Yangshuo Mountain Retreat has wonderful views and is worth a visit for the location alone. Thoughts If I were to be doing the trip again with the benefit of hindsight I’d perhaps choose to see the Beijing sites without a guide and spend a little longer there, I think we may have crammed a little too much into our timescale. It helps that I’ve been to Beijing 3 times previously for work and visited most of the places we went to on previous occasions. I’d also spend longer at the Panda centre we cut our visit short because we had to catch the last bus to Mt Emei. I’d perhaps also skip Lhasa; the altitude was a chore for several of the group. Shanghai was a little disappointing, just another city; however, I think this was also a combination of us being tired at the end of the trip, the weather being rainy and miserable after pretty good weather all the way through up to this point. Things to take / Note Outside of hotels the chances are any toilets will have no paper and will be squat types and sometimes nowhere to wash hands. To avoid issues take paper tissue with you, antiseptic wipes and/or spray and know how to use a squat. Never miss an opportunity to wash your hands with soap and water. A lot of Chinese people smoke, it’s difficult to avoid in public and sometimes in restaurants. The tourist attractions can get very busy; there are a lot of local people who wish to visit too.

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

• Excellent Service!

  mtrachsler,,Sep 13, 2014

  - Review from Tripadvisor

  5.00

  I visited Beijing for business and asked U China Travel Tours to organize me a private tour for one day to Forbidden City and Mutianyu Great Wall. Leo Chu picked me up directly at the airport and brought straight to the hotel. After check-in and a refreshing shower we started our private tour to Forbidden City and Mutianya Great Wall, with our own driver. Leo first showed me Forbidden City in detail. He explained me many interesting stories about Chinese history and the Forbidden City itself. We walked through the huge area at our own pace. Afterwards we had a nice lunch at Din Tai Fung Dumpling restaurant. The food there was excellent. Leo let me decide which dishes I would like to try. In the afternoon we visited the Great Wall at Mutuanyu. We took the cable car up to the Great Wall. The experience at Mutuanyu Great Wall was just exciting. We had more than enoug time to explore the fascinating Great Wall. Around 5pm we were back at the hotel in Beijing, tired, but with many new experiences I will never forget. The service U China Travel Tours provided to me was just excellent. One cannot organize this tour better. I can highly recommend U China Travel Tours.

  

• 13 Days in China - Private top notch tour

  Ronwol,,Oct 3, 2013

  - Review from Tripadvisor

  5.00

  We just returned from an amazing, enjoyable and an eye opening trip to China. Originally we were planning to go with a group, but due to schedule conflicts we had to change our plans. I found U China Travel on Tripadvisor, and began communicating with the owner Leo Chu, who arranged a customized itinerary that covered Beijing, Xian, a cruise on the Yangtze River and Shanghai. At first I was a bit hesitant to wire money to a small company on the other side of the world, but we are pleased that we trusted Leo, who delivered on his promises! We can't say enough on how we enjoyed the VIP service we got, as we stayed in 5 star hotels, offering large breakfast buffets, both Western and Chinese foods. One could not go hungry in the morning-the selection, variety and quality was superb. Our package included both a guide and a driver in every city. We were picked up in the airport and driven to the hotel, where the guides checked us in as well. We had the pleasure to meet Leo on our last night in Beijing, and we thanked him in person for making sure he kept his promises in terms of the level of the hotels, and the lunches in the high end restaurants he chose in our first three days in China. The trip was customized to our needs and likes, as he asked us about those when we began our e mail communication. Here are the details of our trip: BEIJING: We stayed at the Crown Plaza, which was wonderful, with a nice gym, pool and in a great location, right near a big pedestrian street with shops and malls (good place for a light dinner at the end of the day, as we were usually pretty stuffed after a big breakfast and a huge lunch-the guides let us order as much as we wanted, and of courses always recommended the best dishes in each particular restaurant.). Our great driver, and our sweet and caring guide Lili, managed to navigate in this large and crowded city and we saw everything on our schedule, despite the traffic....The lunch at Dadong Duck Restaurant was memorable, a beautiful place serving delicious Peking Duck! The next day, Leo arranged for us to see the Great Wall at Mutianyu (about an hour and half drive from the city) as it offers a cable car to go up, as we did not want to climb up many steps due to my wife's bad knee (coming back down you have a choice between the 'sky lift/chairs or Toboggan-a fun slide....) so if you have any limitations, and don't want to climb up to the wall, there is an alternative....On the third day, we had the best dumplings for lunch at Ding Tai Feng, where we noticed it was mainly locals at a high end restaurant....Leo basically made sure we avoided any of the 'touristy' places, and we experienced where the locals go for top food.....Lili really took good care of us, and even when we went on a Rickshaw in Hutong (the Chinatown of Beijing) , she was on another one, next to us, to make sure we are escorted even during this “Ben Hur” like event, where the Rickshaws are racing on the little streets of this old part of town (a must see....and experience). XIAN: After three days in Beijing we flew to Xian. There was a small glitch as the local guide got the wrong flight information, but within half an hour, after calling Leo (we asked a guide in the airport to call Leo, as my phone did not work in China), we were back on track with the local guide. First we visited the Yangling Mausoleum, which is a like a mini Terracotta Warriors place, as the figures there are about a 1/3 of human size....Of course the Terracotta Warriors was the highlight of Xian-Leo, per his promise, also got us down to the lower vip level of the exhibit, so we could take really close pictures and stand near the Terracota Warriors, horses, etc. The traffic was pretty heavy as it was during the Autumn holiday, and we had to be flexible with the schedule, but that was the benefit of being on a private tour, as the knowledgeable guide could change things around on the fly.....As this is a smaller city, “only” about 8.5 million people as opposed to the 23 million in Beijing, we found their restaurants a bit below par, although they are still the top in that city...De Fa Chang, which is a famous dumpling restaurant, was a hit and miss, as some dishes were better than others (also, they neglected to turn the AC in the private room they provided us, but we did find the ON switch, before it got too hot....) I assume we are not used to some of their spices, and of course it is not the Americanized Chinese food we are used too....on our second day we went to the Sofitel Hotel for their buffet lunch, which was also a mixture of Western and Chinese. It is a high end buffet, although not as good as you would expect from a Sofitel hotel, but overall acceptable with plenty of choices. We stayed at the Westin hotel in a great area, outside the walls of Xian. The hotel is kind of a museum piece, very unique and bold design, was a bit too dark for our taste, but the room was large with good amenities and a huge bathroom with both a deep tub and a big shower area. Their breakfast was delicious as well. The area around the hotel offered a variety of restaurants, modern malls, theaters and a huge park, where the locals danced in a variety of styles, from Chinese line dancing to couples dancing....a fun place for people watching, and seeing the Chinese way of life in the urban areas. On the last morning, as we were waiting to be driven to the airport, the guide showed up without her cell phone (a real no, no in the travel business, in my book) and could not reach the driver that did not show up...We did make it to the airport in time, as we told her to just take us in a taxi. We later learned that unfortunately the driver got into a car accident, but he is ok. That of course was no one’s fault and we did get to the airport, but that was just one more event that made the Xian experience a bit more shaky, although do not skip this city as you don't want to miss the Terracotta Warriors. We made Leo aware of the glitches in Xian, and he decided to make up for it by giving us a free guide and driver on our last free day in Shanghai before our flight. YANGTZE RIVER: From Xian we flew to Chongqing to board the cruise. Our local guide Erin, was very knowledgeable as well, as she grew up in that city. Per our request, we went to the zoo, so we could see the several Pandas they have there! A real treat for animal lovers as we are.....We had a wonderful lunch experience, as we had a Hot Pot, a typical dish in this region: they place a very hot large metal pot with boiling broth in the center of the table, surrounded by many plates with a variety of meats and vegetables that you place in the broth, and within minutes its ready to eat (similar to the Japanese Shabu Shabu). In the late afternoon we boarded The Explorer-an amazing river boat, with the best service, food and amenities-The king size room was large, with a big bathroom (bigger and more comfortable then on some of the large cruise ships we took in the past). During my communications with Leo, prior to our trip, I asked him about other boats that I saw online. But he insisted on this one, although it was built in 2008, and there are newer ones on the river, he promised me I will love this one. He was 100% right! We got an amazing service (crew to guest ratio is 1.5 to 1), delicious food and unforgettable excursions every day (note: the boat does have free wi fi on the upper deck-to those who need to be connected.....) . The cruise was one of the greatest experiences, seeing the Gorges, going on a sampan with the local Tujia people and seeing the hanging Coffin of the Ba people on the cliffs over the river will stay in our minds forever....The spectacular and dramatic landscape along the river is one of a kind, as we made it to the 3 Gorges Dam, the world largest-a real big wow, and technical wonder. We ended up in Yichang, and were picked up by Kerry, who took us to a very good lunch (the closest to what we have here in Chinese restaurants....), and accompanied us on a bullet train to Wuhan (about two hours) to catch our flight to Shangahi. Leo arranged for her to travel with us in the first class train and take us to the airport. A full VIP service, that made us very comfortable, as it is not easy to figure out where to go, without knowing Chinese.....very few people speak English. SHANGHAI: Kiko, the local guide greeted us in the modern airport of Shanghai. She is one of the best guides we ever had in any country. She is sharp, knowledgeable and was flexible with our schedule, as we were on the last leg of our tour, and by then a bit overwhelmed with this fascinating country.... We stayed at the Radisson Blu hotel-a great location. Again the hotel was super, 5 star, great room, yummy food, although the Internet was at times a bit frustrating, although they did have free wi fi in the rooms (one must remember that both Google and Facebook are blocked in China, and overall it is a bit slower than what we are used to.) Kiko and the great driver made sure we saw all the highlights in this amazing city, probably one of the most beautiful modern cities in the world. Well planned, and despite its huge size, does not feel as crowded as Beijing. We had the best dim sum with Kiko, in one of her favorite restaurants- HengShan Xiao Guan, of course, Kiko did all the ordering, and it was yummy!!! We were very moved in the famous Jewish District in old Shanghai, learning about the fascinating history of the place, where the Chinese opened their border to European Jewish refugees. The impressive Shanghai World Financial tower (101 stories, over 474 meters/1,555 Ft. tall) offered an amazing view from the top! The visit and boat ride in Zhuiajiao Ancient Water Town (a little Venice) was fun, and we ate with Kiko at a little Mom and Pop cafe, that was very nice, and safe....we actually did not have any stomach issues throughout the whole trip...We had a couple of nice treats at the end of our trip as well as it included an incredible Acrobatics Show at ERA (a must see kind of a Cirque Du Soleil show with some of the best acrobatics we have ever seen). And on the last night we had a farewell dinner at the M on the Bund, and Kiko got us the best seats in the house, a table for two on the patio on the wall, overlooking the Shanghai skyline. Leo stood behind his promises, and we are very pleased with his services, and as he was aware of some of the small glitches in Xian, he threw in another half day free guide and driver in Shanghai prior to our flight back to LA. We really appreciated that he took responsibility, even for the heavy traffic in Xian, which was beyond his control. We enjoyed our knowledgeable and courteous guides, and the conversations with them one on one, so we could learn first-hand about their incredible country and culture. They made us feel like visitors, and not tourists....they were all great hosts, polite and respectful. All an all a wonderful experience. If I have to grade it on the 5 star system of TripAdvisor, I would say it is a 5- as some of the glitches in Xian could have been avoided. I did share my opinion and some suggestions with him during the trip, which he appreciated and actually encouraged us to update him during our travel, so he could improve his services. Leo is very passionate about his work and services, and building a nice class A business. As his motto says “Quality, Authenticity and Flexibility”, he delivered all three. Highly recommended, and feel free to contact me for any questions or for more detail.