We enjoyed every minute of it, were impressed with how smoothly everything went
Name: Janet Butler
Nationality: U.S.A.
Date: May 17, 2013
OP: Candy
Dear Candy,
Once again I would like to thank you for your effort in putting together a truly wonderful tour of China for the seven of us. We enjoyed every minute of it, were impressed with how smoothly everything went, and enjoyed each of the guides who were right there at the gate to greet us at every city.
Gary, in Beijing, was very helpful and knowledgeable and has a strong interest in history. He was interested in our grandfather's story so I plan to send him a copy of our grandfather's book. He also went out of his way to help us with the bank.
Guilin was extraordinary and Joe made sure everything went
smoothly! We so loved the trip down the Li River looking at an "ocean
of mountains" all around us. Joe spent several extra hours that evening
walking us around the lake, making sure we were surprised by the
largest man-made waterfall. The next day, he led us on long walks
among the rice terraces, right up until dinner time, and then showed us
several movies about the Japanese atrocities that evening.
In
Shanghai, Darren strongly encouraged us to get tickets to the acrobatic
show. He worked very hard to convince us by describing it as "jaw
dropping." We relented and every one of us was thrilled with the show.
It was like nothing we had ever seen before--truly remarkable. Darren
was exceptionally helpful in Shanghai when we were trying to locate
family buildings. We found the Hongde Church which had been built in
memory of our great grandfather after he had died. The volunteers at
the church welcomed us so warmly and called the pastor who came right
over to meet us. It turns out she was doing a thesis on the history of
the church and on our great grandfather! She brought us copies of
papers she had found which were about his work in China. It was a
wonderful moment for all of us. Darren also accompanied us to the
airport for our departure and stayed with us until the three of us had
checked in.
And in Huangshan, truly the highlight of the entire
two weeks, Gerry was tireless in making sure that we saw the best of
everything. He spent hours guiding us along the magnificent paths after
we had checked into the hotel, even waking up at 5am to make sure all
of us took the 40 minute hike to see the sunrise. Morning, noon, and
night, all of the guides in every one of the cities we were in, took
good care of us and were informative about the sights.
The
hotels were exceptional and all of the meals delicious. Thank you so
much for that delightful dinner we shared with you in Guilin. I felt
badly that you left your family and shortened your vacation in order to
dine with us. We certainly enjoyed meeting you.
Thank you,
Candy, for working so easily to meet our varying needs. You responded
immediately to each of our requests, customizing the trip so that we
could spend most of our days together. The group who went to Lushan
thoroughly enjoyed their time there, and again, especially enjoyed their
guide. And I want to say once again how touched we were when Gary
hopped out of the car to run into the bakery to pick up the birthday
cake you had ordered for Paul. You thought of everything!!
My
only suggestion is to ask if there is any way of avoiding some of the
factory sights where we assume the guides might get a commission if we
make purchases? I think all of us would prefer to be able to choose
which ones we might be interested in and perhaps give the guide an extra
tip if we choose not to go to a certain factory. None of us wanted to
buy jade--way too expensive. The "tea ceremony" was no ceremony, just a
chance to taste the tea and then pressure to buy it. The silk factory
was indeed interesting and I think most of us were interested in and
could afford to buy something in silk. The problem with these visits is
that the guides end up rushing us through something we came to China to
see in order to spend one and one half hours seeing something that we
don't really want to see. I think all of us would have preferred to
have had some time to shop on our own in the markets in the various
cities and villages. I would love to hear your thoughts about this.
Can you send me your supervisor's email so I can let him know how happy we were with your help?
In great appreciation,
Janet Butler
Following is Janet Butler wrote to our manager Mr. Tan: Dear Tan Qiuxin,
I
wanted to let you know what a fantastic job Candy did organizing our
tour. I worked with Candy for a couple of months to organize the trip
for 7 of us. She did a phenomenal job and her trip was considerably
cheaper than one of your competitor's, China Highlights. Candy
responded promptly, she listened carefully to what we wanted as the
group needed to go in two different directions at one point. She
noticed that we would be arriving in Beijing on my husband's birthday
and asked our tour guide to have a cake from the bakery for us. He did
and we enjoyed it immensely. She found wonderful guides for us at all
of our stops. When she found out some of our family history (our
grandfather had been instrumental in helping to save the lives of
hundreds of thousands of Chinese during the Japanese invasion of
Nanjing), she contacted the director of the Museum of the Japanese
Atrocities in Nanjing and he personally escorted us around the museum.
Candy shortened her vacation with her parents in order to have dinner
with us in Guilin right before we flew to Nanjing.
We had the trip
of a lifetime and I cannot thank Candy and Discover China Tours enough
for such a wonderful trip. We will write strong recommendations for the
company on our US Trip Advisor which a lot of people use when planning a
trip.
Thank you,
Janet Butler
