I have so many good things to say about my experience with Rewards Travel China (RTC) that I really…read moredon't know where to start. So let me start by saying that I have never done anything impulsive in my life but impulsively buying a Groupon for 10 days, to China, with this company. Original Groupon said that flights, hotels and two meals per day were included with transportation and an English-speaking tour guide. My husband and I saw the crazy low price of $599 per person and jumped on it.
Is the price for real? The price actually varies on departure location. Because we were leaving from Orlando, Florida the price actually went up to about $800 per person. Nevertheless, with everything included, the price was still too good to pass. Thus my husband and I went for the buy without never actually having planned to go to China or knowing anything about traveling to China. We didn't even know about the Traveling Visa (which you pay for separately and was definitely an expense we were not counting on) that you need to get in order to travel to China. Though Rewards Travel China DID disclose that the Visa expenses were to be paid separately, I really had no idea we would pay around (with all documents required) about almost $300 additionally per person for each individual visa. Again... the traveling visa is compulsory and has nothing to do with the traveling agency. Furthermore, although i know people that were actually able to buy the travel package for under $600 (most of the people I met departing form the West of USA), the trip is still pretty inexpensive since China's government sponsors the trip and provides amazing discounts to the company in exchange of including government funded tours (such as the Silk Factory, Jade Factory, among others). These are all places that when you travel to China, you want to go. Most of the places you will have to listen to the history of the facility and a 10-20 minute sales pitch. Buying is optional and in no way are people pressured to buy. I purchased items on limited places and had friends that didn't purchase anything at all. Finally, the history and sales pitch is not only interesting but funny as they make it very entertaining.
Meeting our tour guides. Arriving to China we followed our itinerary, passed through customs and were received by our Beijing tour guide, Peng Song aka Nick. Peng was very responsable, organized and always carried our itinerary with information. He was endearing, honest, genuine and very familiar with western culture. Peng was always available for us, was very approachable, genuine and accommodating. He was also very knowledgeable on the history and treated all of us as family. Peng had an answer to all of our questions, was patient and went above and beyond to make our experience enjoyable. After Beijing we took a four-hour bullet train to Shanghai and were greeted by Foresen, known as Sen, who was our tour guide for the rest of the days. Sen was hilarious, attentive and very approachable. Both tour guides were extremely special in their own way and both surpassed our expectations. They were very accommodating, dependable and in charge of a group of 33 people. We never had issues and both guides were always making sure we were constantly together.
Optional tours: Initially, my husband and I had only booked some of the optional tours, though later decided to add them while in China. We ended up adding almost all of the additional optional tours since honestly, we didn't know anybody in China and wouldn't know were to go or what to do without a tour guide. I recommend adding most of the day tours with exception of two boat tours. The only boat tour that I would recommend is the boat tour in Suzhou ("The Venice of the East"), since it is inexpensive, the experience is worth it and you later get to walk around the town surrounding the river. The other boat tours you just get in the boat and do not see the surrounding areas. The boat tours at Shanghai and West Lake in Hangzhou I would not recommend since you get a better experience and view of the area on foot rather than by boat.
All in all the schedule is pretty tight which makes it difficult to fully taking in each location. Nevertheless, if you want to make most of your trip and see most of the "must-see" places in China, you GOT to have a tight itinerary. The itinerary is well thought of and the selected locations are amazing. Even the hotels are amazing and the lunch options are well picked. Finally, my husband and I fell in love with China and hope to visit again; we would totally coordinate everything with RTC if possible.
