Rainy visit in China From October 8th to 28th of this year, me and my son Marek - who is learning Chinese - visited the classical regions of China.Since we planned a three-week trip, we decided it would be best to use a local travel agency.After speaking with three different companies, we chose Odynovo, based in Guilin, with Mola Xiao responsible for planning our itinerary.She even invited us to dinner during our stay in Guilin - a very kind gesture.Our trip included, in this order:- Beijing- Train to Pingyao and then to Xi'an- Flight to Zhangjiajie- Over 7-hour train to Guilin- Boat trip to Yangshuo- Flight to ShanghaiThe organization of the entire journey - hotels, transfers, guides, and selected attractions - was perfect, and guides exceeded what had been arranged in advance.They often helped us choose and order local dishes for lunch (Laura in Beijing taught us how to order meals at self-service restaurants), accompanied us on an evening stroll around the city, and pointed out local attractions.They also assisted us with visits to theaters that were not included in the itinerary (paid separately by us).For example, in Xi'an our guide Vina accompanied us to a performance about Empress Wu of the Tang Dynasty, and in Yangshuo Ellen helped us attend the famous Impression Sanjie Liu show.Unfortunately, during the first 11 days of our visit (October 8-19), the weather was very poor, with constant rain and fog.This had a disastrous impact on our experience of the Mutianyu section of the Great Wall, and especially Zhangjiajie, where we spent three full days - two of which were wasted due to visibility of only 5–10 meters.Many attractions, such as the Tianmen Mountain Cave, were completely invisible. Despite surveillance cameras with publicly available streams at every viewpoint and the efforts of our excellent local guide,Alpha - who did everything possible to show us the best available sights - our visit to Hallelujah (Avatar) Mountain and many other beautiful spots was disappointing and, for me personally, very tiring.I think that in a mountainous places like Zhangjiajie, the guides should have the freedom to choose which day to visit which part within a specific itinerary.Fortunately, once we arrived in Guilin, the weather changed dramatically to sunny and warm, allowing us to admire the extraordinary landscapes of Longji's golden rice terraces and the karst mountains of the winding Li River.A few general comments:In China, nearly all payments are made using QR codes via Alipay and WeChat - cash is practically not used.During the trip, locals were polite and helpful. Their English was poor, though hotel staff generally spoke well.What surprised us was the reluctance of some guides to sit at the same table with us during meals.Tourist sites were consistently crowded and often noisy, and access to certain interiors - such as parts of the Forbidden City - is limited. As for impressions, you'll have to visit them for yourself and form your own opinion.Once again, thanks to Laura from Beijing, Vina from Xi'an, Alpha from Zhangjiajie and Ellen from Guilin, who are in our best memories.

Love our private tour Our tour guide, Tracy and our driver, were exceptional-attentive, friendly, and always willing to walk with us at our pace. Her experience really showed in the smooth coordination of every part of the tour. She was incredibly flexible, adjusting plans easily to make sure everyone had the best time. We especially loved visiting places such as the Great Wall and the Forbidden City, where we learned so much about the Chinese culture. She also took wonderful care of our elder family members during the Great Wall visit and other places where longer walks were required. in addition, she recommended fantastic restaurants where we could try popular local foods, which made the trip even more memorable. We even tasted Dou Zhi haha.Highly recommended! We had an enjoyable trip.

Excellent tour arrangements We booked a 10 day tour to Kunming, Guilin and Guangzhou , Alan Mo arranged the itinerary ,hotels, guides, transport and trains.It was outstanding and went very smoothly , he did an excellent job and we highly recommend Alan and Odynovo. Ken Hughes

Cindy is a fabulous guide for Shanghai and Shanghai is a fabulous city! My husband and I recently spent a month in Asia, including a week in China. Odynovo Tours planned the trip and it was exceptional. Part of the experience, of course, is having access to local people who are knowledgeable about their city, its history and culture. Cindy (her western "name") was our guide in Shanghai. We arrived in late afternoon and it was a bit dreary and drizzly so no one could have blamed Cindy for just accompanying us to our hotel and getting us checked in. Actually, that was all she was booked for but she was far too exuberant to let that be our first night. Instead, she walked us down to the riverfront and we saw Shanghai in all its LED glory! The streets were crowded and it was exciting to see this modern city bustling. Over the next couple of days Cindy took us to important historic sites, introducing us to the remnants of colonial days as well as the birthplace of the First Congress. We visited markets, dined on street food (as well as in wonderful restaurants) and saw Shanghai from the top of its tallest skyscraper. We journeyed outside the city, seeing the countryside, amazing gardens, and picturesque small towns where "progress" has been delightfully stalled. We have many memories of China - too many to mention here - but I can't say enough good things about Cindy. She is a wonderful combination of knowledge, energy, fun, patience, spontaneity and responsibility. I can't recommend her highly enough for anyone who wants to enjoy their time in China.

Amazing Time in Beijing! John was an incredible tour guide who truly understood what mattered most to our family and tailored our tour and his commentary to what worked best for us! From start to finish, John made sure we saw everything we wanted in the Beijing area with the time we had. Patient, kind, and attentive, John made the experience stress-free and enjoyable. We highly recommend this for anyone looking for a personalized and memorable tour! Our day at the Great Wall was the best!

China: 10 cities in 23 days (November 2025) My sister (70) and I (67) just returned from a three-week, "grand-loop" private tour of China (Shanghai - Beijing - Datong - Pingyao - Xi'An - Chengdu - Leshan - Guilin - Nanjing - Shanghai) organized through the Odynovo Tour Company. I wanted to take this opportunity to congratulate the extremely respectful, kind, professional, and clockwork precision of Odynovo's flawless, and no-nonsense organization of their tours to China. From my very first "cold" e-mail contact to Odynovo's John Hu suggesting a tour of a few Chinese cities, within 24 hours we had already received a 23-page, color e-mail response proposal containing pictures of each city attraction, additional possible cities to see, the suggested train arrival and departure times, all Odynovo contact names, all payment procedures, and an overall trip package cost. I hesitantly e-mailed John a change in his proposal so we could enter China through Shanghai instead of through Beijing (n order to get a non-stop flight from Dallas TX), and again (within 24 hours!) I was shocked to receive from John another, 25-page updated proposal. Odynovo's service only got better with each subsequent email communication. We only had to worry about 1) Securing our own Chinese Visas 2) Procuring our plane tickets (it was our choice not have Odynovo purchase those for us), 3) Obtain our own travel cancellation / evacuation insurance, 4) Download the critical VPN, WeChat, and Alipay softwares to our cell phones. From then on, we just sat back and enjoyed every on-time Odynovo tour guide private car pick-up at the Shanghai airport and at every train station and hotel thereafter for 23 consecutive days. Many warm thanks as well to these wonderful guides: Mark, Queena, Rita, Joanna, Zoe, Emma, Alice, Martin, and Run. These tour guides will literally do EVERYTHING for you. That includes hotel check-ins, pick-ups, drop-offs, the purchase of all attraction tickets, assisting with all food orders at restaurants, procuring luggage porters, giving you copies of train timetables, and in some instances even by-passing some line queues with you. Our advice to any elderly person like us that is planning such a trip to China would be a) No matter what those valiant 21-year old travel warriors tell you on the internet...a) Do not underestimate the amount of internal tourists in China that travel all year, even during the off seasons. You only have a few minutes to board each train, and at any busy train station (especially during scheduling changes, infrequent electronic passport-reading malfunctions, and during any luggage security checks), a tour guide's assistance may be INVALUABLE. b) Do not overestimate the amount of English spoken even at Chinese 4-and-5 star hotels, even in cosmopolitan cities like Beijing and Shanghai. Smart phone translation apps on your own can only take you so far... before you begin ordering the wrong lunch, stand in the wrong line, or confuse train waiting gates with platform numbers. c) Do not underestimate the impact of the ~12-hour time difference between the U.S. and China. Odynovo's local assistance is immediate, knowledgeable, and very friendly. Unless you are an experienced elderly traveler who is fluent in mandarin, our advice would be not to try to “wing it” without having a competent tour organizer such as Odynovo on your side. Very well, done, guys. Thank you for a magical three-week China trip that my sister and I will always cherish. Please keep up the good work, Odynovo! Very grateful :-), J.R. Prieto, Dallas TX.

Xi’an Walled City and Terracota Warriors We love our time in Xi’an, walking the walled city and visiting the majestic Terracota Warriors!!! Odynovo arranged everything for us and we love our tour guide Leo! He was fantastic, kind and very knowledgeable he really make our tour one of a life time! Kudos to our driver Mr. Song who also did treat us like family. 10 out 10

We will stay longer the next time! We booked a day tour in Hangzhou and was glad that Samantha is our guide. She speaks English pretty well and explain history fluently to the kids who had trouble understanding Chinese. Would definitely recommend Samantha to anyone who visit Hangzhou.

Great time at Hangzhou We had a wonderful family trip to Hangzhou, and our guide, Jill (Hong), made the experience memorable. She is knowledgeable and shared rich insights about every place we visited. From the serene beauty of West Lake to the cultural depth of Lingyin Temple, Jill’s explanations helped us appreciate the history and significance behind each landmark. The Longjing tea appreciation session at Meijiawu was one of our family’s favourite moments of the trip. Both Jill's and the host's introduction to the traditions and craftsmanship behind the tea made the experience both educational and enjoyable. Jill’s professionalism truly elevated our short stay in hangzhou. We are grateful for her thoughtful guidance.

Father daughter trip to Beijing Sad to be leaving Beijing after 3 nights. Visits to iconic landmarks The Temple Of Heaven, The Forbidden City and The Great Wall did not disappoint. Our Odynovo guide Lili Zhang was very helpful, informative and kind. She really helped to make our trip special. The locals were friendly and welcoming and we can’t wait to come back as so many more experiences to see and local food to eat.

Using someone familiar with China to plan saves a lot of time and reduces stress! We hired Odynovo to coordinate and arrange our trip in Beijing and transfer to Xi’an. Probably one of the best travel decisions made. Totally reduced the stress of travel, navigating payments and tickets. Our guide Eva, picked us up at the airport, helped with getting a local SIM and even called ahead to ensure to check if the hotel could let us check in earlier. She spent 5 days with us, almost from the start of the day to evening. Eva was a warm and accommodating guide who knew not just the history but the little stories that make visiting historical sites so much more interesting. Effectively bilingual in English and Mandarin, she told jokes in both! She also knew traffic conditions and always gave us ample to be ready and prepared so as to avoid the worst of Beijing traffic. A special shout out to driver Hou! A warm friendly old Beijinger (老北京人) he knew the roads, the best times to visit attractions and was a steady driver at all times, always ready with a warm smile and a quip. Thank you for saving us the stress, and to Forest who corresponded with me for months and made all the preparations, he was totally responsive and helpful!

Great time in Beijing Our guide Tracey was amazing. Her knowledge of the city and the resources she had made our trip amazing and smooth. She made it a priority to make sure my mom and I had the best experience. If you want a guide that will go the extra mile to help you coordinate extra curricular outside the tour itinerary and get past long waits, she is your guide. Her experiences in this really shows where she learn and understand what you want as a tourist and accommodate for that. I am very grateful to have her as a guide. Her recommendations, tips, and attentiveness made our trip really easy and great.