TRAVELER REVIEWS

There's no better way to learn what a trip is like than from the firsthand experiences of your fellow travelers, and our Traveler Reviews are the real deal—unbiased and unedited—giving you an honest appraisal of the experiences that await you on this trip.

Imperial China, Mysterious Tibet & the Yangtze River

This trip is fabulous and our tour director Jue Zhang was the best. She made this trip by always being there and anticipating our various needs. You will be fortunate if she is your tour director. I have anMSG allergy and she made sure everything I ate was MSG "free".
A few things to know about this trip: there is a LOT of walking, especially steps and uneven pavement. For women bathrooms in China are a challenge. Be sure to do some reading before you go. The food was good, much better than we expected. The hotels are very nice, however AC does not cool to the level we expect in the US. The daily schedule is full with very little down time. I would recommend this trip to everyone. You will not regret going.

Imperial China, Mysterious Tibet & the Yangtze River

Tour guide Jue Zhang was an excellent tour guide. She came with a lot of experience and knowledge that gave us a experience of China that far exceeded our expectations. She was caring and supportive of all our needs. She will be missed and remember as a great person.

Imperial China, Mysterious Tibet & the Yangtze River

Jue Zhang Tour director the best. The best trip of China, loved the silk factory, the Great Wall, the palaces. The cities were amazing, family hosted teas gave a experience of life in China for a normal family.

Imperial China, Mysterious Tibet & the Yangtze River

Fabulous! It was made much more special by our Tour Guide Jue Zhang. She went well above the norm in addressing my trip needs. She was tireless, caring, courteous and professional. I conversed with my fellow travelers and learned that she acted similarly in taking care of them. She's a gem. Can't think of enough superlatives to describe her. Please appreciate the gold mine you have in her.

She was there for me when I suffered altitude sickness in Lhasa insuring I received proper medical attention even though I feel the effort she exerted on my behalf effected her high altitude stability.

Imperial China, Mysterious Tibet & the Yangtze River

This was our first group tour and we were really pleased. The guides were great and we enjoyed all the information about each place. The accommodations surpassed our expectations. I made further comments on the after trip survey. I have a couple of suggestions: I would include in the itinerary a trip to Potola Palace in Tibet at night as I heard it is beautifully lit up. Also we took the subway downtown in Shanghai at night to see the buildings lit up, and I don't think any traveler should miss! Lastly, I would intersperse some American food in the trip, as local Chinese food at every meal was not enjoyable. Betty Coan

Imperial China, Mysterious Tibet & the Yangtze River

A great way to see so much of this huge country. Very, very interesting culture. Yen, the program director was absolutely incredible and knowledgeable. I would highly recommend taking this trip with Vantage.

Imperial China, Mysterious Tibet & the Yangtze River

Our China and Tibet trip was outstanding. We were able to experience so many aspects of the Chinese people, culture, diverse food, and historical sights that we would never have seen if we planned this trip on our own. Our adventure leader Zhang Yan was the main reason why we had such a wonderful experience, as she made sure that everyone in our group was cared for and showed us cultural connections we have not experienced on other trips. The value of the cost for this trip and the excellent accommodations and quality of our tour was exceptional. This was our first trip with Vantage and I can't imagine another travel company exceeding our expectations as much as this tour and Zhang Yan did for us. We are definitely going to use Vantage again for future travel. Ten stars all around. Thank you!!

Imperial China, Mysterious Tibet & the Yangtze River

The trip was wonderful -- it was more than we expected -- Kellywei was exceptional - she made traveling through China interesting - she made sure that all our needs were always taken care of -- there wasn't much more that she could have done to make the trip more exciting -- I hope to see Kellywei again on future escapes

Imperial China,Mysterious Tibet & the Yangtze River

Thi was a wonderful trip---with top rate accommodations and the best tour director I have ever had on any tour. So many details planned ahead of time to make the trip fun and stress free. Jue was wonderful .
My only suggestion is to find a better place to climb up to the Great Wall---too steep and we really didn't get to see what I looked forward to seeing. There must be a better place to stop for this trip highlight.

Imperial China,Mysterious Tibet & the Yangtze River

This trip was well organized and executed. The itinerary, while ambitious, covered a great deal of venues very efficiently. It allowed us to see all the highlights we had expected and also allowed time for some very interesting cultural connections with local families, both in China and Tibet. The accommodations were top-notch in every city and the mode of transportation between cities well chosen. The opportunity to ride the MAGLEV in Shanghai and the high-speed train to Chengdu were both new adventures for us. Since this was our 9th tour with Vantage we are honestly difficult to impress, but this journey and our adventure leader, Ms Zhang both were wonderful memory makers. We cannot over-emphasize the contribution her experience and sincere care for our group made to our overall impression of this trip. She truly made it a very enjoyable adventure, rather than just a sightseeing trip. While Lhasa, Tibet was challenging, it should not be missed, making it to the top of the Potala Palace was a highlight for me that will remain with me forever. The other most memorable things were the visit to the Forbidden City, the Yangtze River 3 Gorges cruise, the Great Wall, the terra cotta warriors of Xi'an, and I could go on. All these are things experienced travelers should visit on a China trip, and all were well planned into the itinerary and well executed by Ms Zhang and the local guides. As a very experienced traveler (72 countries last count) I don't believe you could find a better way to see the highlights of this vast and extremely interesting country.

Imperial China,Mysterious Tibet & the Yangtze River

Trip was wonderful from start to finish!! Kelly was the best tour director, always there to help with problems & give us good info. From solving a problem with a $57 bowl of soup; getting an injured passenger home; luggage problems; Kelly was always there to solve the problem. I loved everything about the trip and we saw so many different areas and cultures. Vantage kept telling us that we would be taken to a little seen part of the Great Wall. I didn't believe them....but we did and there couldn't have been more than 12 other people on the Wall besides us. What an experience!! Beijing (I would never want to drive there!!); hotel entertainment with ancient musical instruments; hutongs; silk museum; jade museum; pandas; different parts of the country; Yangtze River cruise; pagodas; too many other things to mention. Tibet was a wonderful addition. From the wonderful people to the palaces, the debating monks, the hotel employees dancing each evening and the beautiful fall colors of the Pan trees. All in all, I have never climbed so many stairs in my life!!! But every minute was worth it. Well worth every penny I spent!!!

Imperial China,Mysterious Tibet & the Yangtze River

We had a terrific time, Our tour leader Yan was the best, It was a trip of a lifetime. The hotels were all 5 star and the food and tour was excellent. I would highly recommend this trip Ed and Marcia Soltz

Imperial China,Mysterious Tibet & the Yangtze River

We were wowed with our trip to China . Our guide Terry Shi was top notch ,he was informative and kept us well informed on how far China has progressed in the past 20 years . Terry was fantastic and made our trip to celebrate our 50 th anniversay memorable . We met a lot of nice people on the trip and the pacing was very comfortable . Vantage is very lucky to have employed Terry to represent them,

Imperial China,Mysterious Tibet & the Yangtze River

I thought I had already sent a review, however, this trip should be reviewed twice as it was spectacular. The tour director, Terry Shi, was outstanding, from Beijing, and could answer everything you desired about his country. Going to Tibet for 3 days, a big highlight which included climbing to the 1,000 room Potala Palace, built in the 7th century by and for the Dalai Lamas and their tombs. Magical. The 3 gorges cruise was the weak link in this itinerary, if you can believe, because the other stops were beyond belief - Great Wall in a non-touristy area, Forbidden City, Temple of Heaven, Terracotta Warriors, Potala Palace, Chengdu Pandas, and a too short stay in Shanghai. The hotels, all Shangri-La, were some of the best accommodations I have ever encountered. I will do this tour again with friends in the future, especially if Terry is the leader. And it there was no single supplement. Hats off to Vantage and Terry.

Imperial China,Mysterious Tibet & the Yangtze River

Jue was a wonderful guide. She exceeded all our expectations for making our journey in China and Tibet fun, worry free, and memorable. She was caring and frequently went above and beyond in taking care of the little details of daily travel.

Imperial China,Mysterious Tibet & the Yangtze River

We loved our trip to China. Our tour Guide Jue Zhang was so good and attentive, she always made sure that things were going smoothly and always 10 steps ahead forecasting for any problems that may occur.

Imperial China,Mysterious Tibet & the Yangtze River

Outstanding from pretrip to return home. Tour director Jue was the best person to coordinate from day 1 to the end of the trip. Her insights and detail planning was superb. I believe she made a great trip even better

Imperial China,Mysterious Tibet & the Yangtze River

Great trip. Jue our travel director with Vantage did an outstanding job making sure we were well taken care of. The only reason for 4 stars is because of the airline arrangements made by Vantage. We flow from Dallas to LAX to Hong Kong to Beijing. One less leg would have made a 5 star review.

Imperial China,Mysterious Tibet & the Yangtze River

The tour was excellent - food, sights, cultural connections, everything. I was especially pleased with the skill and professionalism of our Tour Director Terry Shi. Our Chengdu/Lhasa flight was canceled shortly before boarding, and he managed to get all of us on another flight. His humor and enthusiasm was especially appreciated. He is a definite asset to Vantage.

Active tour of China, hotels need better screening

Vantage and its guides did a wonderful job on this active itinerary. Improvements would include choosing hotels that can provide filtered ambient temperature air to keep the air pollution out while allowing the room to be cooled. Opening a window in a polluted city is not a good solution to a hot room. Vantage should also screen out hotels with mirrors and excess lights that shine in the eyes of the person trying to sleep while a spouse is preparing for bed in the bathroom.

Imperial China,Mysterious Tibet & the Yangtze River

Very informative trip. I was in need of medical help with a tooth ache while on the trip & was accommodated by going to American hospital in Beijing & then visited a dentist there as well. This enabled me to enjoy the rest of the trip which I was very grateful for. Was also impressed with our tour leader & her abilities to accommodate the various different levels of health & flexibility.

Imperial China,Mysterious Tibet&the Yangtze River

Trip was great! We saw many dfferent faces of China and also
Tibet. Our Tour Director was SUPER!

Imperial China,Mysterious Tibet&the Yangtze River

Yan, our tour leader was excellent. She provided the group with the best places to view activities, the best food and worked extremely hard to make sure everyone's needs were met. This was a busy agenda and Yan made sure we had the help needed at very point in the adventure. This was tough work as every couple of days we changed hotels, travelled on airplanes and changed hotels repeatedly. Yan made sure everything worked as planned and made sure we all got where we needed to be at the right time with everything we brought with us. What a job all this was and she made it all happen perfectly. I was so glad we had Yan to look out for the group and would be proud to travel with her again.u

Imperial China, Mysterious Tibet & the Yangtze River

The cruise director and local guides were excellent. Kelly was on top of everything, making sure that we always knew the next-day's agenda, meeting times, and locations. She even offered help to my travel companion, Lucia Warrior, who became ill for one day. Fortunately, the help wasn't needed.

Imperial China, Mysterious Tibet & the Yangtze River

The trip director, Kelly, did an excellent job running the trip. She dealt well with unexpected issues and last-minute changes, and she kept everyone informed about upcoming events and itinerary changes.

Imperial China, Mysterious Tibet & the Yangtze River

This was a first rate tour with 5 star hotels, a 5 star river boat and our 10 star tour guide named Jue. She was fantastic with being organized, ,knowledgeable, warm, sincere and extremely efficient. Everything was perfectly timed and ran smoothly. We saw all of the important sites such as the Great Wall, the Forbidden Temple, Tienanmen Square, the Terracotta Soldies, the Polata Palace, the 3 Gorges on the Yangtze along with much more. The meals were plentiful although not necessarily to my taste but I don't travel for the food. The local guides that we had in Beijing, Xian, Chengdu, and Shanghai were top notch, informative, humorous and willing to talk about life, politics and the culture in their country. It has changed for the better since I was there 17 years ago. The middle class has grown enormously and for the best. This is such a worthwhile trip to take to experience communism and capitalism all together in such a different culture than we live in. I highly recommend this trip. This was my 5th trip with Vantage and they never seem to disappoint !

Imperial China, Mysterious Tibet & the Yangtze River

EXCELLENT, EXCELLENT trip !!! We felt we saw it all. And we even got to visit Tibet, recently opened to tourist. The guides were great, the pace was good. Excellent value when you consider we basically toured the whole country. And if you get Jue Zhang as your Program Manager, you really scored !

Imperial China, Mysterious Tibet & the Yangtze River

We enoyed this trip very much. We appreciated the educational/cultural value and recommend you keep the cultural connections or even increase them. I realize you are somewhat limited in Chinas but would recommend country as well as city visits where possible. The Vantage Representative, Jue, Zhang, was extremely knowledgeable and helpful. Jue was always there and had us in the right place at the right time. Jue interacted well with the group and also with the local guides who were all excellent. I would certainly consider using Vantage for another trip in the future. We appreciated the accommodations and this addd to the travel experience. The level of activity was about right for my wife and I (age 74) althought a few found it a little too strenuous. All arrangements were in place and people at each stop were ready when we arrived. This was truoly a great experience.