Our Tibet journey was life-changing but challenging. Guide Jack taught us to say ‘tashi delek’ properly to avoid offending monks. Driver Dorje stocked the van with oxygen tanks and yak jerky - crucial when we gasped at 5,000m altitude. The Potala Palace night tour was worth every yuan - fewer crowds, mystic lighting. However, Barkhor Street vendors got aggressive; Tenzin taught us to say ‘bu yao’ (don’t want) firmly. tips: 1) Bring your own thick socks - monastery floors are freezing. 2) Bargain harder for turquoise jewelry - our ¥1,200 necklace was ¥450 in Lhasa department store. Hotel shower pressure weak but beds had electric blankets. Best moment? A monk smiled and handed our daughter candy at Sera Monastery debate session.

Walking along Xi'an City Wall, I'm amazed by its grandeur. Cycling on it, I feel like traveling through time, blending the ancient and modern seamlessly. Unforgettable!

The stairs at the Badaling Great Wall are steeper than expected, but with our guide Leo sharing historical stories along the way, we didn’t feel tired at all by the time we reached the top! The old Beijing-style ‘baodu’ (steamed tripe) on Wangfujing Snack Street was absolutely amazing, and our guide even helped us bargain, saving us 30 yuan per person. Such a thoughtful gesture!

The moment I stepped into Grand Tang Mall, I felt like I had fallen into a brilliant dream! Neon lights and Tang architecture complement each other, and actors dressed in flamboyant Hanfu dance in the streets. The special snacks on the street are full of aroma, and the intangible cultural heritage handicrafts are dazzling. What amazed me the most was the lifelike sculptures and immersive light shows. This amazing journey I will never forget! I will come to Xi'an again!!

From our first email to travel consultant Vicky, we knew we’d found a gem. She not only customized our itinerary to sidestep crowds (Terracotta Warriors at sunrise? Genius!) but also warned us about flight/train timings to avoid peak-hour chaos. Our guide Nancy was a revelation—part historian, part comedian, all heart. At the Terracotta Warriors, he whisked us past the queues, secured us prime viewing spots, and explained each warrior’s story with such passion. I love Muslim Quarter—no crowds, just steaming roujiamo sandwiches and laughter with a noodle-pulling chef. Highlights That Stick Terracotta Warriors at Dawn: Nancy “secret entrance” trick meant we had the pits nearly to ourselves. Tang Dynasty Dinner Show: A feast for the senses—Nancyeven helped us dress in Hanfu! Mount Hua “Plank Road”: Nancy's “If you scream, you buy the beer” pact made the cliff-walk unforgettable.

Our family of four travelers recently explored Shenzhen’s blend of futuristic energy and cultural charm with Into Travel China, and we’re thrilled to share our seamless experience! From our first chat with travel consultant Vicky, we felt in safe hands. She tailored our 2-day itinerary to balance Shenzhen’s tech highlights (Windows of the World, OCT Bay) with local flavor (Dim Sum workshops, Lianhua Hill Park). Her responsiveness was impressive—even adjusting our pick-up time last-minute when our flight arrived early. Our guide Jack was a revelation! Fluent in English and Mandarin, he transformed sightseeing into storytelling. At Windows of the World, he skipped the generic spiels and took us to “secret spots” for Instagram-worthy shots without the crowds. His knowledge of Shenzhen’s rise from fishing village to innovation hub gave us goosebumps. Vicky’s planning, Jack’s passion, and Mr. Li’s driving skills turned a “city tour” into a family bonding adventure.

Our family’s 3-day Shanghai adventure with Into Travel China was a revelation—from the moment we connected with travel consultant Vicky to our final farewell at the airport, every detail sparkled with professionalism and heart. Vicky transformed our vague wishes into a seamless itinerary. As foreigners craving authenticity, we requested “off-the-beaten-path” experiences, and she delivered: a twilight bike tour through the French Concession’s hidden lanes, a dumpling-making class with a third-gen chef, and even a pre-dawn visit to the Bund (empty! serene!). Mr. Chen, our driver, was equally stellar—always parked 2 steps from entrances, with a thermos of chrysanthemum tea waiting. Thank you, team—we’ll be back!

Chengdu’s spicy hotpot left us teary-eyed (in a good way!). Guide Lily took us to a hidden alley spot - ¥50/person vs tourist traps charging ¥200. Driver Chen’s van smelled of chili oil for days...worth it! Hotel’s 24hr dan dan noodles cured midnight jetlag cravings.

When I first saw the terracotta warriors, I couldn't believe my eyes! Thousands of terracotta figurines are neatly arranged, each face, hairstyle, and even the folds of armor are unique, like a real legion frozen in time. I heard that these terracotta figurines were handmade more than 2,000 years ago, and it's incredible! The skill of ancient Chinese craftsmen and the military scale of the Qin Dynasty far exceeded what I had imagined in history textbooks. When I walked out of the museum, I repeatedly looked at the photos on my phone – it was not only a feast for the eyes, but also an unforgettable journey through history and culture.

With travel consultant Norman's expert planning, our Shanghai adventure was seamless! Our guide Lena wowed us with insider spots (a rooftop view of The Bund at dawn) and stories of old Shanghai. The Bund, Yu Garden, and a dumpling-making class were highlights. Norman even adjusted our itinerary to skip Golden Week crowds! Professional, friendly, and flawless—Into Travel China made Shanghai unforgettable. Highly recommend!

Standing beneath Giant Wild Goose Pagoda, I’m awed by its majestic beauty. The history and stories it holds make me feel like I’ve journeyed back to ancient China. A truly magical experience!

I'll be honest about why I picked this trip: I wanted the shot of the golden hand with the waterfall valley behind it. That was the whole plan. The day ended up being more than that, but not in the way the photos suggest. We left Guangzhou at eight and the mountains were still under mist when we arrived. The glass platform is the first stop and it's crowded by mid-morning, so if you're there to shoot, go straight there or accept that you'll be waiting your turn at the edge. The reflections on the deck are strange and beautiful in flat light, less so once the sun is high. The Buddha hand itself was a smaller moment for me than I expected - there's a queue, a fee of about 10 to 20 yuan depending on the day, and you get maybe thirty seconds on the palm while someone takes your picture. Worth doing once, but it isn't really the point of the place. What actually got me was the waterfall trail in the afternoon. Multiple cascades along a rough path, the main drop well over 80 metres, spray drifting across the rocks so the light goes soft every few minutes. I spent almost an hour at the observation corridor photographing the whole canyon from above while my feet got soaked through my sneakers. Bring water shoes and a cloth for your lens. Small practical things: lunch is on you, the local steamed chicken place the driver suggested was excellent and cheap; there are vendors at the end of the corridor selling dried fruit, bamboo crafts and herbal tea; and the driver was exactly where he said he'd be at the car park at five. Home by 6:30. I'd go back in autumn when the light is lower.

Nanjing was a stop I added almost by accident between Shanghai and Beijing, and this day ended up being the one I keep describing to people back home. The Presidential Palace surprised me most. I expected a building and got a whole complex — offices, gardens, long corridors — with the twentieth century layered over the nineteenth in a way I hadn't seen elsewhere in China. I spent most of my two hours in the gardens, which was probably the wrong choice, and I don't regret it. Lunch at Ke Xiang was the loudest and friendliest part of the day. I pointed at things and ate them. A man at the next table helped me order the duck, then wanted to know where I was from. That conversation is what I remember more than the food itself. The museum afterwards is a blur. It's genuinely good, but I was already tired, and two and a half hours of display cases is a lot to absorb. If I did this again I'd choose three galleries in advance and let the rest go. Sun Yat-sen's Mausoleum is the part I'd tell anyone not to skip. The walk up is long and there were plenty of people on it, but the scale of the place with the hills behind it is something photographs hadn't prepared me for. The Music Platform next door is where the day finally went quiet. The Confucius Temple at night was the opposite — crowded, commercial, noisy — and I enjoyed it anyway, mostly for the food stalls and a slow walk beside the river. Boats were queuing up, but I'd had enough by then. Not a restful day. A good one, though. I'd rather have seen all of it badly than half of it well.

We travelled with a seven and a ten year old in June, which is hot, humid and sticky. The smartest thing we did was drop things. We skipped the evening at the seafood market because the kids were finished by eight, and we treated the fishing boat as a shorter morning rather than a full session. That fishing morning was the highlight for them. The captain showed them how to hold the rod and my son landed something small and grey that we had cooked at a restaurant by the dock an hour later. He still talks about eating his own fish. Dadonghai in the afternoon is easy with children, shallow and free with plenty of shade. The forest park the next day involved more walking than they wanted, though the suspension bridge made up for it. Take the shuttle up if your kids are already tired, and bring water.

I booked the basic option on purpose because my parents are in their seventies and I didn't want to overschedule them. No guide was included, just a driver, and that worked fine for us since I could translate. My dad managed the glass platform better than I expected, though he held the railing the whole way and skipped the part where you look straight down. My mum sat that one out and had a cup of tea with a vendor near the entrance. The waterfall section is where the day gets real. It's a proper walk with uneven steps, and there's a stretch where you cross shallow water, so my mum took her shoes off rather than risk slipping. The observation corridor at the top is worth the climb for the view back down the whole canyon. We took our time, skipped the extra activities, browsed the dried fruit and herbal tea stalls at the end, and were back in Guangzhou by early evening. My parents said it was enough for one day, and I think they were right.

I'd been to Beijing and Shanghai before, so Nanjing was the missing piece of a longer trip. The Presidential Palace took up most of my morning and I could easily have stayed longer — the interesting part is the mix of gardens, offices and corridors from different periods rather than any single room. Our stop at Ke Xiang afterwards felt short by comparison; I ate fried buns standing up and we moved on. Honestly I would have traded twenty minutes there for more time in the museum, which is huge and impossible to do properly in one visit. I ended up skimming two galleries just to reach the pieces I'd come for. Sun Yat-sen's Mausoleum is a proper climb, and the architecture against the hillside is striking, though the crowd at the top made it hard to stand still and take it in. The Music Platform nearby was where I finally slowed down. We finished at the Confucius Temple after dark, which was loud and full of tour groups, but the boat ride on the Qinhuai was worth the wait. A long day with a lot of walking, some of it uphill — the pacing still worked better than I expected for a single day.

Short break for me, four days between jobs. Flew into Sanya, driver was waiting, hotel on the bay was nice enough that I didn't feel like leaving it much. Ferry over to West Island, swim, walked the palm promenade in the evening, ate seafood twice. The chartered boat morning was fun even though all I caught was a sunburn on the back of my neck. It's not a culture trip, it's a beach trip, and that's exactly what I booked.

We went with the full package because my eleven-year-old would not have forgiven me if we skipped the karts. The 8am pickup from our Guangzhou hotel was early for all of us, but the drive through the mountains was easy and the kids slept part of the way. The glass platform split the family. My son walked the whole circuit without a second thought. My seven-year-old daughter made it about four steps before deciding she'd rather look at the sky, and the cracking sound effects under your feet really didn't help her mood. My wife took her back around and they waited at the far side. Karting saved the day. The karts sit low to the ground, the staff did a short training run, and there are nine bends so you're never just going straight. Both kids were grinning at the bottom. The waterfalls in the afternoon were the prettiest part for me, but the path was slick in places and we should have brought proper water shoes instead of sneakers. Lunch wasn't included, the driver took us somewhere with steamed chicken and noodles. Also worth knowing the Buddha hand photo has a small on-site fee, and there are vendors at the end selling dried fruit and bamboo things if your kids are the souvenir type. We got back around 6:30 and both of them were asleep in the car within ten minutes.

I took my parents, both in their late sixties, and worried the schedule would be too much for them. It mostly wasn't — the morning was easy going and the museum had places to sit down. The mausoleum is the part to think about: there are a lot of steps to reach the top and my mother stopped twice on the way up. She was glad she did it. We skipped anything further after the Music Platform and just sat there, which was the calmest half hour of the day. My dad liked the Presidential Palace far more than he expected — he read every placard, so we ran about half an hour behind. Dinner near the Confucius Temple at the end was easy, and we didn't bother with the boat; the lights along the river seen from the bridge were enough. If you're bringing older family along, this order of stops works.

We are in our late sixties and I was honestly a bit nervous about a week of ferries and boats, so we treated the four days more as a base camp than a checklist. The hotel along Sanya Bay was the right call for us. We could walk straight out onto the sand before breakfast, and the pool in the afternoon is where we actually spent most of our time. The day I keep thinking about is West Island. The ferry took about twenty minutes and then we just wandered. Fisherman's Alley is a real neighbourhood, not a set built for visitors, and I liked that nobody hurried us through it. The Sea Library is an old fishing boat turned into a floating bookshop, and I sat there for maybe half an hour reading with the whole thing rocking gently underneath me. My husband took the buggy up to the ridge; I stayed down by the water. We skipped the seafood market that evening because we were tired, which I slightly regret. Not a trip for anyone who wants to tick off everything. For us it was about right.