I planned a 16 day family trip in August of 2019 to tour Shanghai, Beijing, Nanjing, Guilin, Yangshuo, Xi'an and Chengdu. There were 8 of us, including 3 teenagers and 5 adults. Our requirements were absolutely no shopping venues of any kind, visits to historical sites and physical activities to keep the teenagers busy daily.

I requested bids from three tour services in China: Elysian Tour, Odynovo and ChinaTours.com. I had used Odynovo for a previous tour in China, but after evaluating all of the metrics of cost, classes of hotels, location of hotels, suggested venues and Trip Advisor online comments; I selected Elysian Tour and accepted the bid provided by agent Wendy Tang. I found Wendy was most accommodating to my repeated requests for travel plan modifications which enabled us to maximize the number of venues.

We just completed our China tour. Everyone in our party has had a great experience with Elysian Tour and the local tour guides. The hotels were all 4 and 5 stars by western standards. All of the hotels were in city centers within walking distance to many attractions. We were particularly pleased with the rich choices of Chinese and western food at breakfast. And teenagers were engaged in hill climbing, bicycling, river cruise, bamboo rafting, electric boat rides and swimming at the hotels.

Our itinerary was complex as we all did not arrive on the same day and at the same city in China. Our tour plan entailed 2 bullet train rides, 4 China domestic flights, many trips to airports and a van ride to the Great Wall at Badaling. Other than some flight delays, we did not experience any transportation glitches or problems.

During the whole tour, Wendy maintained contact with us through wechat. Frequently, she checked our travel experiences and offered help if needed.

Finally, she gave us a pleasant surprise. We greatly appreciate a bouquet of flowers and birthday cakes arrived at the hotel to help us celebrate the birthdays of two travelers whose birthdays fell within the travel days in China.

Thanks to Elysian and Wendy Tang, it has been an epic vacation for our family!