



What a trip. What an experience. With Odynovo.
Our family of four - retired couple and two sons in their mid-20s - recently visited China (all of us for the first time). We traveled on a 23-day private tour we had put together with Odynovo. Ouritinerary took us to Beijing, Xi’an, Chengdu, Guilin/Yangshuo, Nanjing, Mt Huangshan, Suzhou, Shanghai and Hong Kong.We absolutely loved the trip! Spending three weeks among the Chinese people, observing and admiring what they have collectively created and are creating in their country was truly an amazing experience for our family, one we’ll remember all our lives.Bottom line: We would never have been able to have this sort of experience without an outfit like Odynovo They organized and booked our hotels, high-speed trains, and airplane flights. Theyhired a guide and driver in each destination, arranged tickets and transport to all key attractions, and even handled most of our lunches.The itinerary planning we did with Odynovo’s help and guidance generated a series of simply incredible days in China. The coordination of our transport and lodging and guides freed us to focus on enjoying China, rather than on logistics. The guideshelped us process all of the things we were seeing and experiencing. They acted as part translator, part advisor, part teacher and we continuously enjoyed and benefited from their work.Overall, we’d rate Odynovo a “10 out of 10.” They completely delivered on their promise of a very special and immersive travel experience. They took most of the stress out of our traveling in anew (to us) and very different place, far removed from our usual holiday destinations in the US and in Europe. Whenever we had a “rough edge” Odynovo promptly set about trying to smooth it.Nobody was more important to the success of our China trip than Jasmine Zhou, our travel consultant and main contact at Odynovo. Jasmine was so amazing! She was endlessly patientand accommodating, and unfailing in her enthusiasm and creativity in helping us craft, and then enjoy, our visit to China.Here are a few additional shout-outs to guides and extra-special experiences in particular cities:In Beijing, our guide John (Jiang) delivered on the nearly-impossible: an uncrowded visit to the Great Wall (Jinshanling Section). Part luck, part ingenuity, he rearranged our schedule to take advantage of shifting conditions and local contacts to ensure we made it to the Great Wall despite intermittent closures due to weather. He also suggested a later-than-usual start to our day in Tiananmen Square to allow the early morning crowds to dissipate before we arrived, critical when traveling at a peak tourist time.In Xi’an, our guide Pong suggested and joined us for an extra evening excursion to Datang Everbright City, a beautiful shopping, dining and cultural area. The place was filled with Chinese tourists taking advantage of its beautiful architecture and bold colors and lights to don traditional costume and take photographs.In Chengdu, our lovely guide Sharlyn selected the most outstanding local restaurants of the trip, helping us to choose the tastiest selection of amazing Sichuan dishes.In Guilin, our guide Teresa went above and beyond by joining our younger son on an optional bike ride around Yangshuo (when the rest of us needed a break from the extreme heat of theafternoon.)And in Shanghai, we’d like to compliment the professionalism and service perspective of our guide Run. He opened his conversation with us by asking us what we were hoping to get out of our experience in Shanghai. He listened to our responses and then he organized our time exactly around the feedback we had given him. We note in particular his suggestion that we considertaking a nighttime small yacht cruise on the Huangpu river. This proved to be one of the highlights of our entire trip, and we never would have experienced it without his suggestion.What a trip. What an experience.A big thumbs up and many thanks to Odynovo, to Jasmine, and to our wonderful guides