This was my second visit to China, and we booked several trips with Catherine. I highly recommend her services! Catherine is fantastic—she’s easy to book with, reliable, and able to customize the itinerary to perfectly match our preferences.

Catherine was a rockstar with our amazing itinerary. So grateful for the wonderful time we had in all of our beautiful destinations with our brilliant tour guides. Henry was our hero in Shanghai, he gave us the history behind the city and its traditions, he even shared hilarious local jokes that made the whole orientation so much fun. He took such good care of us, he was so patient and indulged us with what we wanted to try, taking our family to the best local restaurants. He went above and beyond to make sure we had the best time ever in the breathtaking gardens, temples and water cities. Will definitely look forward's to spending more time with him in the future, he is an excellent tour guide and friend.

The tour was perfect in one word. It was easy to organize and communicate online. If you don't have an idea, they will put together a complete tour, but they will also fulfill extra requests, so you can see the sights you want. Ruby the tour guide was very engaging, knowledgeable and kind, a true professional. 😇 During the tour, everything went exactly as described and discussed earlier. The car and tour guide were always waiting for us at the agreed time. We received a lot of information that we would not have received in case of an independent organization. The drivers were also nice, the cars were clean. The program they put together allows you to see many more sights in less time than if you organized it yourself. They are not in a hurry, they take time for everything. It was a high-quality tour that met all our needs, for which we thank you very much! I highly recommend it to everyone! Ruby, thank you for everything! I hope to see each other again soon.

We booked this tour through Catherine and it was an amazing day. She is a great tour operator and we ended up booking a few other tours through her in different cities- all were wonderful. This is my 5th time to China- and my 1st time using Catherine and her team- I will definitely book with them again. Out of all my trips to China (I’ve brought groups here before) - her team of guides have been my very favorite guides- fun personalities, great English, and very knowledgeable. We booked a few different all day private tours through Catherine (Beijing, Suzhou & Shanghai) and they were all excellent. You can trust her for great service and communication. On our private day tour in Shanghai- we had Summer as our tour guide. She was excellent- great English and she knew all the secret spots to go for amazing photos and to see fun historical sites. Our group loves history (studied some Chinese history and culture in college). It can be hard to find guides that can go deep on different historical topics. Catherine and all of her guides exceeded my expectations in every area. I was impressed. I will be going back this Fall with some friends and I plan to book this exact tour again through Catherine and request Summer.

Exploring the iconic sights of Shanghai and the serene Zhujiajiao Watertown over two days was an unforgettable journey. Shanghai, with its dizzying skyscrapers and bustling streets, offered a glimpse into China's rapid modernization. The contrast between the historic Bund and the futuristic Pudong skyline was mesmerizing. Transitioning to the tranquility of Zhujiajiao Watertown, I was transported to ancient China. The waterways, arched bridges, and traditional houses provided a peaceful retreat from the city's hustle. This blend of the modern and the ancient encapsulates the essence of China's diversity and heritage. Many thanks to our two magnificent guides, Kathy and Ruby. You both make our days touring around even more exciting. If you are planning to visit Shanghai, I recommend you take this tour with Catherine Lu Tours in order to get a better understanding of the history of the city and country.

Had a lovely time at Tongli Water Town with tour guide Benny. A car drove me to and from Tongli from my hotel and Benny met me upon arrival for an in-depth, relaxed tour of the town. He took me through museums and the popular streets, as well as areas with zero tourists. He also found an authentic place for lunch and ordered us some local Suzhou dishes. Highly recommend!

Catherine was amazing!! We had already used her services in Beijing for one day trip and was so nice that I asked her to organize a short and last minute trip to Tongli and around! She responded immediately and arranged a trip within an hour, with an amazing driver and a great your guy, both very professional and friendly!!’ I highly recommend Catherine’s tours, she is the best! It was so easy to book the trip and so well organized!

this private tour is very good. 2-3 months before I contact with jenna and make the itinerary. the response is so fast. when we arrive the driver is so polite and helpful since pick up us until drop us to flying back. Ruby, our guide is so nice. she can explain with fluently. she choose the route n place to lunch. also give us suggestion to choose dinner. overall 9/10 for the service.... 👍

The guide and tour provided by Catherine Lu tours made this city magical and wonderful. We learned about the history and enjoyed lots of food . This was the best of all options for us a private guide, driver and lots of cool things to see and do . Much appreciate this tour option

Ruby was the best! She really showed us a flavor for the city, it's history and surroundings...Great English, fun and entertaining, we would definitely ask for her again!

I just wish to comment that I had two very pleasant days with your guide David in Shanghai and Zhujiajiao Water Village. He was very skilled, with good knowledge about the past and present Shanghai and China. And the driver took us around in a safe way!

My family of 4 spent 3 days in Shanghai. We arranged a 2 day private tour through Catherine Lu tours and Ruby was our guide. She was great! So knowledgeable about the city and its history. She is also really sweet and bubbly. Jenna, at Catherine Lu arranged 2 great days of touring for us, adapting everything to our interests. She is incredibly responsive and truly cares that a great time is had by all. We also used Catherine Lu for 3 days of touring in Beijing as well as for all of our airport and train transfers. Everything was arranged perfectly, there were no problems at all. Highly recommend Catherine Lu tours and Ruby if you are in Shanghai!

I came to know catherine lu tours from trip advisor and decided to get our whole 7 day trip in China from shanghai, xian and Beijing planned by them.got some emails exchanged and done our package. Right from airport pick up,city tours,bullet train tickets, transfers everything well planned. Our guide RUBY in shanghai and Kim in beijing were good .they had good English command and good knowledge of china history. We enjoyed our trip

We just completed a 2-day tour of Shanghai and Zhujiajiao with Catherine Lu Tours. Our guide the first day was Ruby who was fun, funny, and energetic. We were picked up at our hotel in a comfortable, clean van and provided water. Both Ruby and Lily were flexible on the start time to help us avoid some of the rain which was in the morning on the first day and the afternoon of the second day. Since we only had 2 full days in Shanghai, we felt that this tour really helped us to maximize what we were able to see. Plus, having an English-speaking guide to tell us about the significance of what we were seeing and tell us about the local culture was invaluable. Both Ruby and Lily were helpful in ordering lunch. And Lily helped us with shopping in Zhujiajiao to communicate and negotiate with the store-owners (although the prices there were super-reasonable! Our lunch at a local dumpling place was about $2 per person!). We were leaving by bullet-train for Hangzhou the next day and Lily was nice enough to write down directions for us (in English and Chinese) to the subway stops we'd need to take in Shanghai as well as Hangzhou. And she told us to text her on WeChat the next day if we had any problems or questions. It really felt like you had a local friend that was there to take you around town. Overall we give them 5 stars and would highly recommend both Ruby and Lily of Catherine Lu Tours!

This was our first trip to China and we decided to use Catherine Lu tours to arrange our tours and transportation between the four areas we visited - Beijing, Xi'an. Guilin/Yangshuo, and Shanghai. From the beginning of our communications through to the completion of our trip, the preparations for and execution of the details of our trip were handled professionally and smoothly by Catherine and Jenna in the office. They even went well beyond the call of duty to help us arrange for transportation of some of our luggage between Beijing and Shanghai, so we could travel lighter on the domestic trains and planes. This was also our first experience using only private tours in a country and we left convinced that this was the best choice we could have possibly made to maximize the value of our experience and minimize the hassles. In Shanghai, we combined a mix of modern Shanghai with what is available from the past. Our guide Ruby was enthusiastic and flexible in adapting our itinerary at our request. We enjoyed the night time boat ride down the river to see all of the flashy building lights and had a brief stroll down the Bund before moving to some of the latest modern shopping and restaurant areas. Although some additional time had been allocated the next day to other modern parts of Shanghai, we felt there were other options of greater interest, so Ruby shifted that itinerary to include visits to old Chinatown and some other areas. Our visit to the water town was interesting and we had a chance to buy some different hand-made crafts and souvenirs, as well as sample local foods. Ruby was very helpful in pointing us to the right shops to find what we were looking for and also helped us pick up on the debate that the lunch waitresses were having as they tried to guess our ages, so we could help them out and make more of a game of it. On return to Shanghai, we had a chance to visit the Little White House and view the work of artisans who have space to work there. We also walked through a park and had the pleasure to see the many (generally) older citizens who go there daily to sing, dance and play instruments. . Having such an excellent guide and a comfortable vehicle to take us from place to place helped provide an amazing and full experience for us.