We took a private, 7-day tour of Li-jiang, Dali and Kunming. We wanted to see the other China, away from Xi'an, Beijing and the Great Wall. We are very pleased with our experience - beautiful natural areas, many minorities/cultural sites, lots of historical monuments, well-preserved/restored old small town and villages, and impressive museums and unexpected mega-scale Buddhist temples. The views were superb - esp. the cable car trip up the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain, Blue Moon Valley and the Tiger Leaping Gorge on Yangtze (UNESCO site, w/ a network of deep escalators, in the middle of wilderness, that take you down to the river level) - a bit crowded but absolutely worth it. For whatever reason, we didn't quite make it to "The First Bend" of the Yangtze River, only got a distant glimpse. For tea connoisseurs, a tea degustation con lecture/"ceremony" was educational and entertaining. All our guides were excellent - knowledgeable, helpful, flexible, able to improvise, solve problems on the fly. The transportation worked like clockwork, both car and train trips. We made all our arrangement thru Travel China Guide Tours; worked with Amy J. and she did an outstanding job to tune the individual trips to our interests and abilities.

I have yet kto go on this trip but wanted to write this review to say just how excellent the partially custom trip to Dali and Li Jiang and the Tiger Leaping Gorge has been so professionally organized and detailed with backup contact info in case needed. If you are using Travel Guide China then Emily Xin Travel Consultant gets my perfect 100 point rating.

I contacted Travel China Guide to help me arrange a private airport to train station transfer, train tickets between Kunming and Dali, and a 3-day solo custom private tour that included Lijiang, Xizhou, Shihgu, Yuhu, Shuhe, Baisha, Shaxi, and Tiger Leaping Gorge. Doris Chang was my contact and she was a star from the get-go: responsive, patient, professional, and thorough. Our pre-trip planning email communication was seamless. Once in China, we communicated by WeChat. Mike, my English-speaking airport to train transfer guide in Kunming was also great. Mike was friendly, professional, and made sure I got on the right train. Kevin was my Dali-based guide who took me around Xizhuo, Shaxi, and the Shizhonshan Grottoes. Alice, my Lijiang-based guide, took me around Lijiang, Yuhu, Shuhe, Shigu, and Tiger Leaping Gorge. Kevin and Alice were friendly, professional, and knowledgeable. My private driver was also excellent. Travel China Guide delivered excellent, trouble-free service. I look forward to arranging future trips with Travel China Guide. Thank you!

I can't say enough about how wonderful our trip was. Linda who organized the trip was on top of every detail. We went back and forth on a couple of details but really relied on her top-notch expertise to guide us. Traveling during Spring Festival had some challenges because some things were closed yet all of our three guides were always able to find us a good resturant for meals. Ivy met us at the airport and showed us around for 2 days in Lijang and area. Knowledgable, fun and energetic she was just a joy to be with. When I expressed an interest in the embrodiery schools, we stopped for an extra visit. Ivy also arranged for us to get tickets to a cultural show in Lijang and ran and got the tickets while we were eating lunch! She went well beyond any expectations. Jennifer met us to bring us to Tiger Leaping Gorge and gave us some wonderful history and information on ethnic minorities.Tashie met us at Tiger Leaping Gorge to continue our trip toward Shang ri La. As a Tibetan, he had amazing knowledge concerning Buddhism and Tibetan culture and we learned so much. He even invited us to visit with his family for the Lunar New Year- what an amazing experience. OUr flight out was cancelled and Tashie waited outside the airport for nearly 8 hours to ensure we got out. Mr. Ho our driver was excellent on some particularly challenging, winding roads. Hotels were great- Ivy Garden in Lijang and Shang ri La Resort. Meals were varied and really good restaurants. It was a pricey trip particularly because it was Spring Festival but worth every penny.