Wendy Wu Tours

I am going 22 February .Hoping the hotels have improved and was surprised travelling at night from Agra.and Ragamthorn.
I am hoping the facilities have improved and the
bottled water on tables t

Did this tour in August/September 2018. It gave us a great overview of the cities and country. The people on the tour were very friendly, great fun and easy to get along with. Our tour guide, Ricky, was excellent and did a great job keeping us informed and entertained. He went out of his way to ensure we had the best experience possible and was always cheerful, helpful and obliging - Wendy Wu Tours have an excellent representative here for their company.
We had Wendy Wu Tours book a private 1-day tour for the day before the actual Tour started and this also was excellently arranged. Likewise, our Tour Guide was friendly, had excellent knowledge of the area of Shanhaiguan (Old Dragon’s Head - Laolongtau Section of the Great Wall) and made this a great lead-up to what was to come.
The accommodation, meals and excursions were first-rate and we would definitely book a tour with Wendy Wu Tours again.

Wendy Wu’s Magnificent China Tour in November 2018 exceeded all of our expectations. We expected to tick a few items off our bucket list like the Forbidden City, The Great Wall, The Terra-cotta Warriors, The Yangtze River, The Three Gorges Dam, The Giant Pandas and the Shanghai skyline by night, but we returned home to Australia with a feeling that we’d only scratched the surface of what China has to offer.
We flew economy from Sydney with Cathay Pacific to Hong Kong and then on to Beijing. The flights were good and the food was above average. Our flight arrived on time and we were met by a Wendy Wu representative who organized our transfer to the hotel. As it was late in the evening we’d missed the meal at the hotel, but our thoughtful National Tour Guide, Ken Wang, met us at reception with a bag of refreshments to hold us over till breakfast. He was aware that Asthma was an issue and checked that our room met our needs. The hotel wasn’t five stars, but it was clean and comfortable despite a firm bed, and provided a good selection of choices at the breakfast buffet. Our Local Guide in Beijing was Jade, and she made sure that our touring schedule ran like clockwork. Jade was knowledgeable and helped us to understand the history attached to the amazing places we visited. Ken worked with Jade to adjust the schedule, so that our outdoor activities such as the rickshaw ride, weren’t greatly impacted by a day or two of rain.
Xi’an was our next stop and as this was Ken’s home town, he also acted as our Local Guide. The internal flight from Beijing was excellent and well planned to leave early, so we could arrive early in Xi’an and enjoy a free afternoon. The Boffo L Hotel was the most luxurious of the entire trip, as it was new and definitely five stars. Xi’an was our favourite city, as it was well planned, very clean and had the most magnificent City Wall. We’re planning to return so that we can cycle or walk the 14km length of the City Wall that encloses the Old Town and to visit the Xi’an Museum. The visit to the Terra-cotta Warriors was incredible and allowed us plenty of time to absorb and appreciate what we were seeing. Ken shared his vast local and historical knowledge with us.
Our internal flight and bus transfer from Xi’an to Yichang, where we boarded our Yangtze River Cruise was well organized. We embarked aboard the Victoria Anna just in time for dinner. The food was plentiful and tasty. The cabins were small but comfortable. Toilet paper was prohibited from being flushed on board and required placement in lined bins which were emptied 4 or 5 times per day. We expected our bathroom to smell, but it was never a problem. The Yangtze River Cruise gave us time to relax and enjoy the scenery. Cocktails were cheaper than coffee and the massage service was good. We opted to upgrade our food package so that we were able to dine in the top deck restaurant which provided table service instead of a buffet, and gave us a choice of menu items as well as including drinks with meals. Tea, coffee and soft drinks were also available along with snacks for most of the day. We were also given the option to upgrade our cabin, which we did. It gave us a few extra square meters of space and a top deck location. The staff were hard working and our cabin was clean and comfortable.
We disembarked in Chongqing and had time to explore Old Ciqikou with Alice as our Local Guide, before driving to Chengdu. It was here in Old Ciqikou that we met Wendy Wu in person. We can attest that Wendy Wu takes a hands on interest in maintaining the quality of her tours. She was generous with her time and listened to our comments regarding our tour to that point.
Cherry was our Local Guide in Chengdu and she told the best ‘Dad’ jokes! She was quirky and funny and a whizz when it came to knowing where and when the pandas would be fed. Cherry ensured that we had the best position for viewing the pandas as they were being given their morning fruit break.
Our flight to Guilin was once again organized seamlessly. Alice was our Local Guide for both Guilin and Yangshuo. The Li River Cruise was an unexpected highlight of our trip. The weather wasn’t cooperating and the rainfall was quite heavy at times, but this added to the gorgeous vistas as we floated down the river. Make sure to pack a waterproof jacket or poncho so that you can enjoy the scenery in all weather conditions. The optional ‘Liu Sanjie’ light spectacular show on the Li River, with a cast of hundreds from the local villages, is not to be missed. It was produced by the same man who did the opening ceremony for the Beijing Olympics and is simply amazing. West Street in Yangshuo at night is a sight to behold, so don’t go to bed until you’ve gone for a walk. Upon returning to Guilin make sure to view the nightly ‘Waterfall’ from the roof of the hotel down the back of the building. The light displays on the lake are turned off at 11pm, so don’t leave your evening walk too late. The breakfast buffet at the Guilin Waterfall Hotel was particularly good, however we needed to request an outside room for fresh airflow here, as the atrium view rooms tended to be a bit smoky from the conference area below. This was also the case in Yangshuo. Ken ensured that we had access to smoke free rooms throughout the tour.
Our final city was Shanghai. The flight from Guilin was delayed by a couple of hours due to air trafic congestion, but it didn’t really affect the tour schedule. Ken kept us informed and adjusted plans so that everything was covered. The evening cruise on the Huangpu River was a highlight and Ken ensured that we were at the front of the queue so we could grab window seats or outside rail positions for the best views. We definitely recommend the optional Maglev excursion to experience train travel at 431km/hr and the view from the Jin Mao Tower is worth the price of admission. Louis was our Local Guide in Shanghai and he did a good job to navigate us around this spectacular city.
There were 18 wonderful people in our group and 17 in another group that was being run concurrently. Both groups were a mix of Australian and British nationalities.
The level of service we received from our guides was excellent and Ken was so good that we hope to do another tour with him as our National Guide!
All meals were included and plentiful and the hotels were all clean and comfortable, ranging from 3-5 stars. Bottled water was supplied daily by each hotel and extra was available for purchase on the bus. The internal flights on three different airlines were all good and on new planes. The buses all had careful, skilled drivers as well as seatbelts which we were encouraged to use. Western bathrooms (Happy Rooms) were made available in 90% of places we visited. If you’re worried, carry tissues, baby wipes and hand sanitizer in your bag-we returned home with a suitcase full as we didn’t need to use them all! Chinese Government sponsored museums/factories for Jade, Ceramics, Pearls and Silk were interesting and not as time consuming or pushy as expected. The Jade and Silk factories were worthwhile if you’re in the market for a premium product at a reasonable price. Bargain souvenirs could be had at the Ceramic factory outside Xi’an but we found the Pearl factory to be a bit expensive compared to prices in Australia for similar products.
We expected smog, smoke and congestion to be ever present throughout China, but discovered electric bikes, flower lined freeways and content people. We were amazed at the level of new construction and the care to maintain the historical areas.
Our Wendy Wu Tour was more than just sight seeing, it gave us an understanding of the history, the culture and the people of China.
Magnificent it is!

The tour itself and itinerary were pretty good
But our tour guide had poor english both speaking and vocabulary which made the trip a bit ordinary
Most bell boys had better english he also managed to waste a lot of time doing stuff for himself and we stopped for lunch at really dirty places where the ladies on tour wouldn't use the toilets because they were filthy
the accomodation was really good and meals in hotel were great but he took us for some meals which he obviously was getting a big kickback and they were ordinary.

Wendy Wu Magnificent Tour was three weeks of amazing sights, experiences and friendship. This was our first organised tour and we can recommend it to all. We started in Beijing then on to Xian, Yangtze River cruise, Chongqing, Chengdu, Guilin, Yangshuo and finished in Shanghai. We expected to see the Forbidden City, the Wall, the terracotta warriors but there was so much more to see and experience.
Our Tour Guide Ken, was fabulous and in each city there was a local guide as well. The whole experience was amazing. The hotels were first class and the internal travel was very well organised. It was not rushed so we were able to enjoy each new place. Travelling in November was perfect. Thanks to all in our group it was a pleasure travelling with you. Best wishes Ben and Jane

It was a magnificent and unforgettable tour of China that gave us a good introduction to the history of an ancient culture.

In this tour, my family of four had the rare opportunity to visit the iconic Great Wall of China, the Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City and the Terracotta Worrier etc.

During Great Wall walk there were lots of stairs involved. Those with sore backs, ankles and knees will be a bit challenged.

The tour was very well organised with good value for money. We were very pleased and grateful to our tour guides Addison, Link (from Xian) and Christie who worked tirelessly and patiently, with their good knowledge and enthusiasm, to keep the whole group of people from diverse backgrounds engaged to the very end of tour.

They treated us with care, and even went as far as to remind us to watch our steps when encountering hazardous areas, such as uneven floors or steps so as to prevent us from accidents.

Addison is a good organiser who meticulously managed our tour from the beginning to the end.

Link has a great sense of humour who made us laugh at all time.

Christie is such a positive, joyous lady who managed her smile and attitude throughout the entire day, no matter how jam-packed our day was, from the early morning to the end of the day, sometimes till 8pm at night.

Thanks to Beatrice, our tour guide from Guangzhou, who arranged the best lunch we’ve ever tasted in our trip. Forgot to ask the restaurant name for next visit.

I would also like to thank our bus driver from Beijing who managed his duties with great dedication and accuracy. He always tried his best to help everyone, especially the elderly, by offering his helping hand when passengers getting off the bus.

Among the hotels, the Boffo L Hotel in Xian is classified as the best. It’s relatively new and it offers good food and service.
Our worst experience was the Mercure Hotel in Beijing that offered nothing but poor service. The hotel was poorly maintained with stained toilet, unemptied garbage bin and dirty floor.

In Hong Kong we were transferred to Grey Line tour, UNFORTUNATELY, which made us quite disappointed, due to the substandard service of the local tour guide named Leo. We all had tickets that were meant to cover 2 trips, one for Peak Tram Sky and another for Sky Terrace 428.
Regrettably, we only took the Peak Tram for sightseeing, because he didn’t bother to take us to the Sky Terrace to view the entire Hong Kong City, therefore leading to a missed opportunity.

Overall, Wendy Wu tours gave us a great sense of peace of mind, as whenever we arrived or depart from Airport, we were punctually greeted by the local tour guides without any hassles.

Many thanks to Addison who we heard about prior our tour from Australia. We really appreciated your prompt service and you lived up to our expectation.

You guys are really amazing. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend Wendy Wu Tours to friends and relatives.

Tour not in accord with itinerary. Half our hotels dirty and lack of maintenance, A lot of rooms at The Fern were full of black mould and stank.. At Pride Plaza Hotel Aerocity New Delhi we were unable to sleep because of DJ disco music rattling ours and 100 other rooms till 11pm at night. This hotel loaded every dining room table with refilled/unsealed bottles of water ( which is a no/no in India.)
the other 3 hotels we stayed at were A1 resembling palaces.
A unexpected surprise to us was we traveled 2,500 kilometers on horribly bad roads for up to 8 hours in a day. Worst was 4 hours in the dark between Agra and Ranthambore which was a death defying journey overtaking lorries every 2 or 3 minutes when at the same time dodging rickshaws, push bikes, pedestrians, barrow boys, horses, camels, donkeys, bullocks and cows, monkeys, dogs and pigs all appearing in front of us without lights. A very scary experience for all 25 of us on our Wendy Wu tour. Our last year Wendy Wu CHINA was brilliant. This one not recommended

This was my 3rd tour with Wendy Wu. They never fail to impress. This was an amazing tour which covers every aspect of Japan from its traditional Buddist and Shintu roots to present day high tech way of life. Staying in both western and tradional accomodation added tp depth to the experience. Despite very full days we still had time to do our own thing. Highlights, snow monkeys, staying in a buddist monestary, lots of temples shrines and castles, shopping, food, great company.

China, what an amazing country. Although we did the highlights, Terracotta Warriors, Forbidden City, Great Wall, Yangtze River cruise, Pandas, to name a few, I know we have only just touched the surface of this remarkable country. The tour was well organised and we met some great people. Our National Tour Guide - RITA was just fantastic. She kept us informed wherever we went and what to expect. She explained a lot about the cultures & traditions of China, she was extremely knowledgeable. She had a great sense of humor and nothing was too much trouble. We were her family for the duration and she looked after each and every one of us. I would recommend Wendy Wu and if you are lucky enough to get Rita as your guide, you will have a great time. Vic & Jill

A lovely trip from start to finish. Our national guide (Lee) look after us from picking us at the airport at Shanghai to sending us off at Beijing Airport. Our group assembled at Shanghai for the start of the Tour. Most of us are seniors and from different countries ( America , Britain, Ireland and Australia). We were well look after and Lee our guide was always there to assist, bus drivers and local guides were excellent. Moving between hotels, cruise ship, airports and bullet train were well organized. Porters assisted in moving luggage between buses and hotels. At most venues that we visited, the tickets were purchased and ready. We just queued up and "Sticky Rice" together behind the Wendy Wu flag and went straight in...At the end of the visit, the bus was always there ready to pick up the group despite very limited parking. We were lucky with the weather as well as the Yangtze cruise was clear sunshine as well at the Great Wall in Beijing. Food was varied and more than enough and gave a taste of what the locals ate. Overall, an enjoyable time for all and many thanks to our excellent National guide Lee for her wonderful work.

Hi, we just returned from India the Golden Triangle, Congratulations Wendy Wu, our trip was fantastic, our tour guide was brilliant AJAY, was one of the best tour guide we had, very informative, pleasant and very helpful, l would highly recommend this tour, hope you get AJAY for your guide,
From Melbourne

Well organised tour, Rita worked hard and is an excellent Professional Guide.

Pros: Iconic destinations unreal, local guides very professional. We felt safe even in crowds. Food generally good but repetitious, you will not starve. Shopping totally cool. Bazaars great, Public Toilets everywhere and pretty good. Shows generally OK and worth the extra dollars. Optional tours worthwhile, eg. Maglev. Hotels 3-4 star, clean but certainly not perfect (mould in groutlines of most bathrooms), hard beds are the go in China, beds in 3 hotels terrible hard planks. Hotel breakfasts pretty good, tuck in here.

Cons: Not enough time, good thing. A little too much propaganda for example the denial of gross air pollution - its clouds! Nup its gross stinking pollution that detracts from the landscape experience due to lack of visibility. Tourism will grind to a halt when tourists know they cannot actually 'see' the Yangtze River gorge more than half a km away or the Limestone Karst of the Li River, or they get sore throats every day from stinking pollution. CHINA YOU NEED TO FIX THIS FAST. The so called 'museums' which are really time wasting shopping. More time in bazaars, local shops would have been more fun and much much cheaper even for non knockoff goods. Some of restaurants toilets were substandard (read dirty), Wendy Wu need to do more inspections/reports on this and change restaurants.

Cruise on Yangtze River on Victoria Anna this boat is a hotbed of sickness. Our group of 26 were generally healthy until the boat trip. Food poisoning, viruses running amok, gross pollution causing sore throats, bronchial issues and coughing (even the Chinese were going down). The ship doctor pours intravenous antibiotic drips into travellers quick smart at $1000+ a pop (make sure travel insurance is up to date). Time for the Anna to be retired from International Tourism. A new healthy, modern boat needs to be put into service. My advice do not do the Yangtze by boat. Go to 3 gorges dam and one or two river cities (or give the polluted Yangtze a complete miss), go on local tourist day cruises (get local guides) and spend more time. When the Anna docks generally 3 or 4 other boats do as well and the local destinations are full to the gunnels with boat tourists which leads to a poor experience of pushing and shoving which is normal for chinese but not so much for us.

Regarding Facebook and Google, Gmail and Google Maps for Australians, we used Telstra roaming $10 per day and Vodaphone on trial for a few days for $5 per day. Both worked well and phone worked as if it was in Aus.

Finally, go do this tour as an introduction but be aware of shortcomings. Be wary of the Victoria Anna.

Just back from the 14 day Majestic Yangtze tour.
What a wonderful experience, loved every minute of it and will definitely go back.
A huge thank you to our wonderful tour guide Mark Wong, he made our trip so enjoyable, always a smile on his face and lots of interesting facts and stories to entertain us on the bus.

We recently returned from a 14 day Majestic Yangtze Wendy Wu tour. We thoroughly enjoyed our trip and saw all the things we wanted to see. There were a few blemishes but the good times far outweighed any bad. The people on the tour were very friendly and easy to get along with. Our tour guide, Mark, was wonderful and did a great job keeping us informed and entertained. He went out of his way to ensure we had the best experience possible and was always cheerful, pleasant and obliging in spite of any difficulties that arose. All of the other aspects, such as hotels, meals, transport and local guides were generally very good.

We have recently returned from Wendy Wu Classic China Tour. It was a bucket list tour and delivered in spades. Accomodation was excellent ,food and transport were very good and our National Guide Summer was exceptional. She made the trip so much more enjoyable, interesting and meaningful. She was ably assisted by the local guides who were also fun and show there own personalities. I have no hesitation in taking future trip with Wendy Wu nor would I hesitate recommending the company prospective travellers. I have already told our Travel Agent if any of her clients,contemplating Wendy Wu, want reassurances before committing we would welcome the opportunity to recommend.
Thank you Wendy Wu for this wonderful experience and please pass on our many thanks to Summer who is based in Xian.

I did 16 day Vietnam Escape tour. The country is AMAZING, however it was made even better by a very knowledgeable tour guide, who was informative and entertaining. We got to see many cities/towns and experience the diversity of each different place. The accommodation was always really lovely, the meals mostly awesome (a few that weren't great - but that of course is just the nature of travel). The information, reminders (did you get everything from your room etc) explanations of where/what we were doing each day were so clear and left nothing uncertain. I would highly recommend Wendy Wu to anyone. I traveled alone, which being with a tour group, made it so much better than had I actually traveled by myself. Shall be booking my next Wendy Wu for 2019 very soon!
I wanted an extra day at the start of the tour, and it was quickly and easily arranged with clear instructions on what to do on arrival and to meet the rest of the group the following day.

We did the 26day grand china tour in 2018 our guide Betty was first class very helpful informative and great company

We have just returned from a couple of weeks in Yunnan, China, on a tour with Wendy Wu. What a difference from the tour we recently did of Eastern Europe with one of the discount travel agents, an agent which handed us over to an Italian tour company as soon as we landed in Berlin. With Wendy Wu we received service, even to the extent of a phone call each evening to check whether our room was satisfactory. The tour leader was an employee of Wendy Wu, as were the local guides and both bus drivers. It was Wendy Wu the whole way. The hotels were all situated close to the areas of interest, and all were four-star or higher. Most of our meals were provided and they were more than we could eat, and all of them appetizing. There were no vacant spaces in the itinerary as there had been when we went on that other trip with the discount travel agent. Our days were filled. The local guides went out of their way to please us, even to the extent of purchasing cold beer elsewhere when the restaurant only had bottles at room temperature.
So, think twice before paying the total tour price up front on the day you book it with some discount travel agent. Look closely at what is on offer. Think twice about trying to save a few dollars and then realizing that you will have to pay for most of your lunches and dinners, and for those many ‘optional tours’ needed to fill in the ‘free time’ set out in the itinerary.
Wendy Wu is for those who can’t afford the extravagance of cheap discount tours.

The Classic China tour of 21 days exceeded our expectations. Every day was a highlight, every site was amazing. We had a wonderful guide in Nick Liu who managed and organised everything, he was calm, organised and a pleasure to know, nothing was too much trouble. I thoroughly recommend this holiday.

Our trip to China was all amd more than we expected. Our trip included Shanghai, a Yangtze cruise, Chengdu, Xian and Beijing. We travelled by coach, plane, cruise ship and bullet train. Our National Escort, Tony Li, was exceptional. We learned so much about China’s past and present. Tony adopted the 28 people in our group as part of ‘Tony’s Family’ and was always available to answer questions, provide advice, and was on call 24/7. He was very professional and was a great ambassador for China and Wendy Wu Tours.