The whole trip was on point day in day out, got to see so many main parts of China, no time wasted, money well spent to see some of the most talked about places in China, the guides always taking care of us, very informative, patient and loved what they do. Best tour guide was Journey in Beijing, she was amazing! All 4 hotels were top quality, excellent views, by far more than what I was expecting, breakfast was bi ordinary, it was more than what you would expect in a hotel, it wasn't just apples and cereal, it was all the protein and health you would need for a long day! but Lijiang Waterfall hotel in Guilin and Gran Noble in Xi'an charged me a security deposit, not sure why, Doubletree Hilton in Beijing and Crown Plaza YingZing in Shanghai did not, which allowed me to have more cash on hand to spend. Overall a lifetime experience, unforgettable, no regrets money well spent on my first trip to China!

I took this tour on May 2018, and it was a wonderful experience. The tour guides were excellent, the hotels were great, and we had fabulous time. We never had any glitches with our tour and our highlight of the trip was Guilin, it was unbelievable to see the beauty of God's creation in these beautiful hills that are beyond descriptions and one has to see by oneself to fully appreciate them. I highly admire the professionalism of our tour guides and the friendliness of the Chinese people in all the places we went. Be ready to eat a lot of noodles and rice :-) This trip was very well organized and I learnt a lot about Chinese culture and mode of living and thinking as well. Highly recommend this tour company and this tour in particular. I think next year I will use the same company because they did an awesome job on this one!

We just went on the China Scenic 11 days/9 nights tour (Dates: 3/16/2018 to 3/26/2018). We really enjoyed our trip!!! There are local tour guides in each city. Leo did a great job taking care of us in Beijing. He communicated each day’s itinerary with us very clearly. We walked through Qianmen street, passed by Tiananmen Square, and toured the Forbidden City. Afterwards, we did an optional visit to the Summer Palace (extra cost). The next day, we went to the Great Wall. The weather was beautiful. A lot of times when people visit the Great Wall, it’s too foggy and you won’t get nice pictures. But we were very lucky. You go to the section of the Wall called Badaling. You can either hike left (more steep, less crowded) or right (less steep, way more crowded). We picked the left side and it was difficult (some uneven steps). You have to wear good gym shoes. But there were 80 year olds walking right next to me, so you’ll be fine. You’ll be sweating, so don’t bring anything that you have to carry. This tour includes some meals, but most of them weren’t very good. They were basically restaurants that moved busloads of tourists in/out. I’m Chinese and the food was horrible actually. Don’t expect too much. Hotel was not really in a good location. But we took a very cheap taxi to get some peking duck (my favorite), which was excellent in Beijing. In Xian, our tour guide’s name was Fish. I would recommend skipping the dumpling dinner and Tang Dynasty Show. Not really worth the money in my opinion. You can walk 20min from the hotel to the Bell and Drum Towers (underground pedestrian walkway system) and walk through the Muslim Quarter for food. You’ll see many interesting things. Try some of the food (lamb kabobs- if you dare)! The Bell and Drum Towers are beautifully lit up at night. You can also walk/bike around the top of the city wall, which may be something nice to do in the early evening. We deviated from the printed itinerary. He brought us to see the Wild Goose Pagoda first (which took several hours) and some people bought some nice paintings. Then he took us to a jade factory/warehouse (we were all confused). Then we finally got to see the Terra Cotta Warriors by mid-afternoon. He didn’t explain the schedule to us clearly. There are three pits. By afternoon, the whole place is super crowded. You should do as the other tourists do and sorta push your way to be front and center. I managed to get excellent photos and was very happy with the visit. We always had enough time to get souvenirs. Flights are all arranged. Each tour guide helps the entire group check in bags at the airport. All of our flights were on time/early. There were no issues. The hotels were all fine (maybe like 3.5 to 4 stars). You get bottled water every day, so I never had to buy any water. If you have respiratory issues- like asthma or COPD- you should bring a face mask and wear it when you go outside. You see many of the locals wearing face masks due to the heavy pollution in each city. Def bring your inhaler if you have one. In Guilin, our guide Helen was amazing. Our hotel is located just across the street from the lake and Sun and Moon Pagodas. We all had an awesome view of it from our rooms. Conveniently, the hotel is also located right next to the night market. Awesome place to browse for little souvenirs and try food. I read about this Indian Restaurant- Kali Mirch in the Lonely Planet China guide book. Helen went out of her way to take us there. The food was excellent! We went to see the Longji Rice Terraces- which was scenic and very beautiful. We had a nice group lunch there at a local farmer’s house which was converted to a restaurant. She also arranged foot/body massages for anyone who was interested (extra charge). She took us to a local place not far from our hotel- and everybody really enjoyed the experience. Not highlighted in the itinerary- but Helen also arranged an evening cruise around the lakes (extra charge). It was a very nice cruise and we got to see the city lit up at night. She did a great job explaining everything and you’ll see fishermen using their birds to catch fish. The next day, we got on the Li River Cruise- which was exactly 4hrs long. The best part is the middle- very scenic and beautiful. Lunch is served on board and there are 6 seats per table, so unless your group is an exact multiple of 6- some people will likely have to be seated with strangers. However, you will likely spend most of the 4hrs on the upper deck taking photos, so your seats don’t really matter in the grand scheme of things. Afterwards, Helen took us to West Street for shopping. Many of the women purchased some very nice handbags and were very happy afterwards. Then we went to the Reed Flute Cave- which was pretty nice. And a pearl shop where many women got some nice pearls. I will mention that at least one couple had issues with not getting hotel upgrades that they paid for. And also just not being told ahead of time that we may not always sit together as a group because the office books cruise tickets, etc. And sometimes it’s just not feasible with different numbers of people in each group. You should be aware that there are some cultural differences and it takes mutual respect and a lot of communication. It seemed like Helen did her best to contact the office and set things right if anything was wrong. I did not book any hotel upgrades and didn’t have any issues with my rooms in each city. Sometimes you will have a double room instead of a king room. The most important thing is to communicate clearly with your guide so that they are aware of your needs. Also- this goes without saying, but you should be early/on time at each meeting point so you don’t hold up the entire bus. And don’t wander off without telling anyone or else the guide will be frantically looking for you. Basic common sense things to know when doing group tours. The coach buses were fine. We started with 29 people in our group and it got smaller as different people were on different itineraries (and went to other cities). I felt like the pace of most of the days was completely fine. Breakfast at the hotel every AM was fine (better in Beijing and Shanghai). You should take time to rest/sleep on the bus and in the evenings. We got to see and do a lot of things each day. And I felt like I learned so much about Chinese culture and history. The only difficult day was flying into Shanghai late at night. We got to our hotel at like 1:30AM. But our guide Vivian already checked in for us so we got to go straight to our rooms. And we got to sleep in the following AM. The Shanghai Museum was pretty cool- I wish we had more time here. There was a super long line, but Vivian made arrangements with the office to pay for us to skip the line. I covered all 4 floors in 70minutes. Will definitley have to come back someday and see everything at a slower pace. Then this is where I deviated from the group and booked my own outside half day tour to see Zhujiajiao Water Town. By the time we got there, it was so crowded. Traffic was bad coming back (took 2hrs). We walked along the Bund, had a bad dinner, and waited in a long line to get on the Huangpu River Night Cruise (this was good). Part of me wishes I stayed with Vivian and did the financial district tour and Acrobat show. Vivian seemed like she was top notch. The other tour I booked with the outside company was mildly disappointing because the tour guide was basically horrible compared to Affordable World’s tour guides. In summary, my husband and I really loved this trip. Everything was very well organized. The local guides were excellent. You should bring extra cash for shopping, extra excursions (that aren’t mentioned on this website when booking), and tips. China is a wonderful country. You’ll love this tour! Just pack appropriately for the weather. When traveling to Asia, bring an empty suitcase or leave some room because you will probably make some unexpected purchases. Hope this review helps! Would definitely book another tour with this company again in the future!

Everything was outstanding, especially the local guides at each city, they made the whole vacation wonderful. The guides took time and adjusted the schedule to make sure we saw all the attractions and even worked out timing to allow extra time, especially in Beijing working around the APEC restrictions and Xian with the Terra Cotta warriors.

I would say that this was an amazing adventure going to China! Everyone in the tour group became a tight-knit family, the hotels were fantastic, the buses we used to travel around in were great, the tour guides (2 out of 4 of them) were amazing and so very interesting. The places were saw were excellent. Some of the additional optional tours they add on while your there can be quite excessive in price! Beware! Our tour guide in Beijing was a character. At the end of that tour, he calculated how much we all needed to give as a tip and to top it off, he counted what we gave him in front of each person and if we gave me less, which most of us did b/c he was so distasteful and rude in how he demanded his tip, he confronted us and recalculated how much we owed him! WOW--we couldn't believe that! Our guide in Shanghai also did somewhat the same, thankfully, he didn't count the $ in front of each person and confront us. Unfortunately, Affordable World gave us a 7 hr and 45 minute layover! It was horrible! If you fly from your city to LAX, you need to probably call them to make sure you DON"T have a entire day layover! We were so exhausted after arriving from Beijing and that long layover could have been avoided if they did a bit of work to see what other airlines we could take. That and the demanding tour guides made the trip not so perfect, sadly. Beware of the shopping tours they make you go to. The silk factory, pearl museum, a few tea houses, etc....very expensive, not all that interesting and remember these are optional. After attending too many of these, we all came together to request not to attend anymore. Other than those few negative things, this was incredibly amazing tour. I would recommend this to everyone, as long as you make sure with them that you don't have a 8 hour layover!

My fiancé and I were skeptical about joining a tour since we are used to making our own itinerary. But the trip (8/30 to 9/13) went beyond our expectations. The hotels and ground transportation in all the cities were excellent, with plenty of food and shopping. Taxis are also cheap if you want to explore. Here are some highlights and FYIs for each city. Beijing: Forbidden City: get ready to do lots and lots of walking because it is bigger than you think. Bring shades (hats, umbrellas, sunglasses, sunblock). The place is gorgeous, full of history and intricate details! The best part was the garden at the end. It was so beautiful and created a peaceful atmosphere. The Great Wall: Take the steep side if you can. The road less traveled is well worth the journey. But be warned…it is really steep. Wear comfortable shoes with traction or be like my fiance and slip and fall on your butt (no worries, she is ok). The view from the wall is breathtaking. Optional Night Market Tour: Tons of fun for adventurous appetites. Go with a group and eat the weird offerings they sell there, such as scorpions, silk worms, and snakes. Tour Guide: Tony was a Beijing highlight, he was knowledgeable, personable and super funny. It took him no time to learn our 20+ names and he made sure to accommodate every request. He really helped me decide how to propose to my fiancé. Throughout the rest of the trip, our group would constantly say “We miss Tony!” Xian: Terracotta Warriors: It was an impressive sight, there were literally thousands of these life size warriors placed in battle formation. The City Wall: Not part of the tour, but got a chance to bike on top of it, worth the time. Guilin: The Li River Cruise: The view going down the Li River is indiscernibly stunning! For all of us that came to Guilin, it was THE HIGHLIGHT of the trip. It was refreshing to see the beautiful countryside. My only complaint was that I couldn’t stay longer! I highly recommend dishing out the extra money to experience this city. Shanghai: Honestly, I could take it or leave it. It’s a metropolis with great architectures but nothing I haven’t seen before. Hong Kong: This was an add-on to our trip. It was the most tourist friendly city because the signs were in English and their subway metro is extremely easy to use. Plenty to see and do and the locals can speak English for the most part.

We took the trip in late September. The weather was good for sight seeing, not so good for fotos, although our excellent guides (Leo Qin in Beijing, Gao Ying/Sally in Xi'An, Michelle in Guilin, Shirley in Shanghai) gave us ample opportunities to do so. They were all accommodating , knowledgeable and caring. The hotels with breakfast buffet were beyond our expectations. Tours, airport pick ups and drop offs were well organized. I can recommend the tour for "sampling" China in very limited time, and I can also recommend the tour company for their professionalism. Agnes

Everything was excellent about this from the hotels which were top of the line, to the attractions they took us, to the tour group and specially our tour guides who were very knowledgeable, patient and experienced. This trip was perfect and I would highly recommend it to anyone. The deal is unbelieveable and you can't beat it. I have been mentioning it to lots of people already. Definitely a trip of a lifetime!!