Wendy Wu Tours Reviews

This was our first tour and we were extremely impressed by the organisation and the standards. The size of our group (19) was not overwhelming and allowed us to get to know our fellow travellers well. Our guide Jason was absolutely outstanding at his job. He was caring and knowledgeable with a good sense of humour, which added to the experience. 

Our tour guide, Emiko, was fabulous. I learned so much history and heard the many stories/fables associated with places around Japan. She was very helpful and answered so many questions from our group with a smile on her face the whole time.
I visited well-known places and areas that I hadn't heard of before, which was a good mix. There are lots of temples and shrines in Japan.
On Miyajima Island, near Hiroshima, there are wild deer wandering around. They are very aggressive. I was walking back to the ferry with a gelato & a deer bit my trousers, then jumped on me, then bit me on the hip (it left teeth marks) to get to my gelato. It was a scary & painful experience, unfortunately. I'm relating this in the review for people to be aware not to walk around with any food & be wary of the deer.
The tea ceremony and making washi paper were fun experiences.
I have unusual dietary requirements and although the restaurants are told ahead of time, they usually were not very good at giving me food without the items that I couldn't eat. Sometimes they tried to substitute foods for me. One restaurant substituted a bread roll with porridge! If you can eat anything, you'll have no problems. If you can't, bring snacks for yourself.
There are usually convenience stores near the hotels, so you can also buy food there.
The hotels were very nice and comfortable and in good locations. All had a buffet breakfast of both Japanese and Western style foods.
The coaches that transported us around had lovely drivers and were comfortable, although none of them had toilets. But we did make stop at services along our routes, which were really great.
Japan is a very clean country with the cleanest public toilets that I've ever seen.

Japan uncovered with Wendy Wu tours was fabulous.
It’s very full on, but very well organised, our tour guide was great.
I would recommend flying two days before tour begins as we flew day before our flight was delayed, on arrival to the first hotel after27 hours of travel we were rushed into the welcome meal, didn’t have time to refresh, the meal was very good as was all the food.
The tour takes you from one end of Japan to the other, if there is anything you want to see which isn’t included in the tour, there isn’t much free time but our guide was very helpful to organise anything else for you.
I would recommend Wendy Wu tours

I was surprised by the number of Chinese tourists. They meant that everywhere we had a queue to get in and move through. Very little opportunity to sit down. Some of the places were like theme parks with activities and light shows. I would have preferred more natural scenery. Usual WW problem of too much food. I prefer to have time on my own at lunchtime to snack and wander.

We booked 2 holidays with Wendy Wu this week.
On both occasions we had excellent service, well explained, friendly and professional.

The tour was value for money. The organisation before and during the tour was excellent. The hotels and restaurants chosen were all good. Perhaps a bit of free time would have been beneficial.

Excellent hosts, great hotels, a real flavour and experience of the history, culture and feel of Vietnam and Cambodia. Thoroughly enjoyed our holiday. Very impressed by WendyWu's attention to detail and comprehensive pre-tour information

From the very start, booking and setting up the holiday was very simple. The Wendy Wu team of people making the reservations and setting up the flights were very skilled and efficient. The itinerary is exceptional with all sorts of amazing places, people and local activities. Another important issue - the tour guide. It was my first time with Wendy Wu but I went several times with Explore. They (Explore) are very pedantic in choosing the best tour guides because the success of the tour is very much dependent on their skills. Well, this time I was impressed; our tour guide, code name Jacky (Zhang Bo Tao) was probably the best tour guide I ever met. Very good English, good diction, clear presentations, full knowledge of the places and their history. He has shown a flexibility in tackling logistical challenges in several instances, adapting to unexpected changes in circumstances. In all places he knew how to minimize our queuing time and maximize our visiting time. He also handled all needs of the group members; some had certain dietary requirements, others had too much luggage, beyond their capabilities to handle. The tour guide took care of all of us to ensure a perfect trip.
The variety of the places we visited made this tour exceptional. Very well organized and very well executed.
One little detail - providing all three meals is the best idea as it ensures hygienic places and makes the use of visiting time more efficient. Other tour providers leave open the lunch and sometimes tour members get food poisoning that spoils their holiday.
I totally recommend the Wendy Wu Tours and this one (Majestic Yangtze) in particular.

We had an excellent guide EMI,who shared her extensive knowledge of her country which made a great holiday a wonderful experience shared with a fantastic group of people.

A great adventure but a demanding schedule which meant we regularly arrived late to check into our hotels.
The sights and experience were above our expectations and our tour leader was exceptional. The guides were very knowledgeable but at times gave us too much information for us to absorb.
The group size of 16 meant lunches, toilet breaks etc tended to take a bit too long. (This was our first group travel experience, we usually travel independently or with a private tour for the two of us).
The arrangements were very smooth and we had total confidence in the company and the employees. It was pleasurable to meet so many like minded travellers but we prefer the flexibility that a private tour offers as we did get frustrated , on occasions ,by the time it took to have lunch.

Lovely trip. Well organised.
Our travel guide was very informative and helpful.

# China Tour Review – A Wonderful Country, but a Tour That Felt Too Rushed

I would highly recommend visiting China. There is so much to see and do, and it is an incredible country to explore. However, having completed this tour, I felt the itinerary was just a little too much, with very little time to relax and enjoy the experience at our own pace.

### Flights and Transfers

We flew into Beijing airport but had an internal flight to Shanghai to begin the tour. You need to be prepared to manage this transfer yourself, as you are not supported until you arrive in Shanghai. The airport is huge, and we had to navigate our way to another part of the airport to catch our connecting flight. A translator app is essential.

If you have the option of starting the tour in Beijing and finishing in Shanghai, I would strongly recommend doing so. Shanghai was the highlight of our trip, so it would have been lovely to finish there on a high. The weather also tends to get colder as you travel north towards Beijing, so ending in the warmer south was another advantage.

We flew with Air China, which does not allow online check-in from the UK. As a result, by the time we checked in at the airport, most seats had already been allocated, and my husband and I ended up sitting apart on the next two flights.

On arrival at Shanghai airport, we were met by a taxi driver who contacted our guide via his phone. She explained that she would not be meeting us at the airport and that we would see her at the welcome dinner the following day. Wendy Wu had not made us aware of this arrangement, so it was unexpected. On our return flight home, I asked our guide to help us check in, and I had to pay extra to secure seats together.

### A Very Full Itinerary

Most group tours offer a balance of excursions, free time, shows and relaxed evening meals. Unfortunately, this tour offered very little downtime.

Many days started with an early excursion, followed by lunch, perhaps a five-hour bullet train journey, and then straight to dinner. There was often no opportunity to shower or change clothes, meaning we were expected to go to dinner in the same clothes we had worn while sightseeing all day.

There was rarely even enough time to freshen up, and the constant rushing became tiring. Much of the itinerary involved travelling, and although we saw a lot of the country, we spent most of our time with the group, leaving little opportunity to explore independently or simply relax.

You also spend a considerable amount of time waiting for other group members during meals and toilet breaks, which adds to the feeling that the days are rushed.

The train toilets were not particularly pleasant, and the squat toilets proved difficult for some of the less mobile members of the group. On one occasion, I asked whether we could use the toilets at the train station before setting off on an hour-long coach journey, but we were told there wasn't time. It all felt unnecessarily rushed.

### Food and Drink

Meals were included in the tour, but most evening meals took place in restaurants rather than at the hotels. Drinks were not included, so you had to pay extra for everything, even a glass of water.

Bottled water was not provided during excursions, so make sure you take water from your hotel room each morning.

The theatre show was an excellent performance and well worth seeing. However, the arrangements felt rushed and disorganised, with problems seating people. Catering for vegetarians also seemed to be a recurring issue.

### The Great Wall and Weather

Unfortunately, the weather was dreadful when we visited the Great Wall, with torrential rain leaving us completely soaked.

Other tour operators changed their schedules to take advantage of the better forecast the following day, but our tour continued as planned. By the time we returned, we were all so wet and miserable that we decided not to go on the next excursion to the Summer Palace.

It was disappointing, as these are some of the major highlights of visiting China. I appreciate that the weather cannot be controlled, but a little more flexibility with the itinerary would have made a real difference.

### Hotels

Overall, the hotels were very nice. However, the Mercure in downtown Beijing was disappointing in terms of storage. We stayed there for four nights, but there wasn't a single drawer or shelf in the room. We had no choice but to live out of our suitcases for the entire stay.

When you are travelling for an extended period, little things like this can make a difference to your comfort.

### The Pandas – A Highlight with a Catch

One of the highlights of my trip was seeing the pandas in Chengdu. I had been really looking forward to this, but we only had two and a half hours in the park, much of which was taken up with toilet breaks.

The park was extremely crowded, and visitors were channelled through the panda enclosures, with staff encouraging everyone to keep moving. We only managed to see around a third of the park and a handful of pandas, which was disappointing given how far we had travelled to see them.

We subsequently visited Beijing Zoo, which was a completely different experience. We used a Didi taxi, which cost around £4, and entry was approximately £4 for the two of us. It was easy to get to, there were no crowds, and we had plenty of time to explore at our own pace. We were able to do this because we had paid for an extra night in Beijing at the end of the tour.

In many ways, this independent visit was far more enjoyable and relaxed than the organised panda excursion.

### Would I Recommend This Tour?

China is an amazing country, and this tour allowed us to see a great deal of it. The hotels were generally good, the sights were impressive, and the theatre performance was excellent. However, the sheer pace of the itinerary took away some of the enjoyment.

If you are confident using a translator app, Alipay for payments and Didi for taxis, I would seriously consider organising your own trip. Transport, entrance tickets and taxis can be surprisingly inexpensive, and we found the local people very helpful. Travelling independently would give you much more flexibility, allowing you to spend longer at the places you enjoy and avoid the constant rushing.

If you are less confident travelling independently, or you are a solo traveller who would prefer the reassurance of a group, an organised tour could be a good option. However, I would look carefully at other tour operators and choose one that offers a better balance of sightseeing, travel time and free time.

**My overall advice:** China is absolutely worth visiting, but don't underestimate how tiring a packed itinerary can be. You may see more on a busy group tour, but sometimes having the freedom to slow down and enjoy the experience makes for a much better holiday.