My annual holiday usually focuses on the months of November/December. Having travelled much of the world I have learnt to do a preliminary itinerary early in the year usually based on others experiences and research on the internet but hand it over to experts when the plan gets clearer. This year I chose China for my annual vacation and true to form, I contacted Odynovotours and their experienced travel consultant, Mike Goa, to set the wheels in motion. After the initial exchange of emails, Beijing, Xi'an and Shanghai were short listed. The most popular sights highlighted, a selection of hotels recommended according to my budget, transport, airport transfers, meals and personal advice were generated and a final decision was taken. On what proved to be a superb vacation, Xi'an stood out for a few different reasons. Met by my tour guide, the fluent english speaking Jessie brought me on a wonderful experience. Starting with the opportunity to see the legendry Terracotta Warriors, this was an experience to behold. Jessie gave 2 full hours of their background and seemed to stroll through the morning which made it so enjoyable. Back to the city to visit The Wild Goose Pagoda, she was still at ease describing the background. She took me for a long walk in the same area to view many monuments and statues still giving an in depth background. The next morning commenced with a visit to the Ancient City Wall but both of us feeling energetic and revisiting our youth, hired bicycles and went about cycling the 13km wall with it's 14m wide cobble stone surface. What an experience!!! Poor Jessie felt the pressure and demanded a pit stop. This was followed by a visit to a Chinese family on the 15th floor of an apartment complex where I was introduced to the husband and wife and became the touring chef when shown and then made to prepare dumplings and noodles which we cooked and ate. Thanks to Odynovo, I had a great experience before moving on