We just returned from our 15-day family trip to China. We visited Beijing, Xian, Chengdu, Guilin, and Shanghai. We also took the Yangtze River Cruise. The experience was fantastic. A great service provided by the team Elysian!

The service provided by Team Elysian was superb, and their staff were really on top of things. Our primary contact Candy had been very considerate and provided many valuable tips and helps. We are a 3-generation family, with ages ranging from 6 to 70, and she accommodated every one very well. That is quite a challenge.

All the other guides and drivers of Elysian were also amazing. Upon our arrival at Beijing, our guide Irene greeted us with a big smile and Abby, my granddaughter, liked her immediately. She is a lovely young lady, caring for kids, patient and full of energy. She knows Beijing pretty well, and showed us a lot of things we never read and heard of.

Our driver Mr. Yang was a very polite young man. Whenever we were done with the sight seeing, he would pick us up in time, always with a smile. Driving in Beijing needs patience and "techniques". He was very resourceful and handled the traffic very well.

The high speed train from Beijing to Xi'an is very impressive. It was fast the riding experience was pleasant in general. I wish we could have that in the states.

Elysian arranged Maria to meet us at the train station in Xi'an and took us to our hotel, Wyndham, which was about 40 minutes away from the train station. Wyndham in Xi'an has better quality than they are in states. Maybe the chain is redefining itself in China as a high end hotel chain.

Our room has brilliant views, maybe we were lucky, buildings of ancient style in Xi'an looked amazing at night.

The visit to the Terracotta Army was the highlight of this trip, simply amazing! Maria patiently explained to us the stories of the first Emperor of the unified China, his legacy and obsessions with after life accompanied by his soldier . A crash course on Chinese history!

Our driver at Xi'an, Mr. Li, was very polite. He drove us to the train station and waved us goodbye. Another ride of the high speed train, we found ourselves in Chengdu. The trip was short and sweet. A beautiful young girl, Yolanda greeted us at Chengdu, she later brought us to try the hot pot in a local restaurant. I am not sure hot pot is good for everyone, for me, it was very exotic but with a good touch. It's very hot! If you don't like spicy food, you need to mention this to Elysian, I believe they would be able to accommodate it.

We went to Guilin after leaving Chengdu. Guilin is a beautiful city, the karst topography is very exotic, and there are many fragment flowering trees in the city. We cruised more than 4 hours on "Li" river, relaxing and enjoying the grotesque karst hills. We spent the rest of the day riding through Yangshuo with Vincent, our local guide, to explore the enchanting scenery. He always checked on us to make sure everyone was doing OK.

Another bright spot of our trip is the Yangtze River Cruise. Tom and I loved the Taichi Course in the morning. John and his wife, Jullie, and Abby enjoyed the shore excursions. The food on the ship was decent and has some varieties.

We flew to Shanghai immediately after the cruise, and Edwin waited for us there already even though it was late at night, and he brought us to our hotel, and greeted us the next morning. We kind of felt sorry for him, but he didn't mind. By the way, the night view of Shanghai was magnificent.

Edwin spoke excellent English and had our schedules down to perfection. He explained the colonial history of Shanghai to us with proud. Shanghai is very friendly for Westerner, and you can find real gourmet cheese and genuine western food there. We also learned the story of Jewish refugees in Shanghai during the WWII. We enjoyed the panoramic view from the top of Shanghai World Financial Center. There are a lot of sky scrapers there.

I am very impressed with Elysian, and enjoyed their service very much. I would definitely recommend Elysian to anyone planning to visit China.