The tour was extremely poorly done. From the outset, we were never given information or encouraged to actually experience China. No help was given in terms of the language (no tips with language), items from the itinerary were missed (did not explore hutongs), accommodation from itinerary we were given changed (were told we would stay in the Fawlty Tours hotel in Yangshou and instead stayed in The Explorer - this information is given to China as a part of getting our visa and shouldn't be changed), 'guided tours' were not that (often lasted less than 5 minutes), was specifically told I was NOT allowed to do activities I wanted to do in my free time because Intrepid would make my leader lose his job (ie - rock climbing and bamboo rafts in Yangshou), were never informed how much things were actually going to cost so it kept feeling like we were being taken advantage of by having to keep giving out money, repetitive and poor foods were the only options given every meal as the team leader didn't want to spend much money (surely he is given a stipend to buy food??).

Qin our tour guide was amazing. She was able to understand the group and what we wanted. She catered for all the different types of interests. Small group size was definitely the best part. Having lunch and dinner in groupsand getting to experience all the different food that would probably otherwise have not been ordered. Even on the “free time”sections Qin would go out of her way to make sure we had things to do and help us whenever we needed it, even if it was to go to the pharmacy! She was very knowledgeable of her country also. Only things that I think could be improved: 1. Saying the trip includes Hong Kong should be clarified. It is one afternoon and then the tour ends. A bit disappointing to just end like that without really knowing what to do there. 2. The bike ride around Youngshou should be a fixed part of the tour not an “optional activity”. Because it was the best part of the whole trip! And it would be disappointing for people to pass it up because it was only “optional”.

You need to be ready every day for a full adventure, some people may not be ready for that.

Our tour guide Qin was amazing and made our trip so easy and fun.

Excellent tour guide and itinerary.

Qin was a great tour guide that showed us her home country. This was a great introduction to China with the main highlights covered and more. Great food experiences.

The trip was awesome and perfect organised

Well rounded trip, gave a very varied view of China.

Great itinerary and travel between all the destinations was well managed and pain free. The accommodation was a lower standard as this is a lower budget tour but all of the locations allowed for easy access to the local attractions. All of the hotels/hostels were clean and air conditioned, we were more interested in the sights anyway! Our guide was the best and balanced knowledge with ensuring the group had fun, she was happy to change plans and arrange alternatives if any or all of the group wished to do different things. A really great group of people added up to a fantastic, memorable trip that I would happily recommend to anyone wanting the 'Real China' trip.

We were so fortunate to have Qin as our guide on this tour. She took us to so many places, that we would likely not have found on our own. I was particularly impressed by the fact she was able to order us the local delicacies of every place we visited - I have never eaten so much delicious food. Qin's hometown of Yangshuo was the highlight for me, as not only was it absolutely beautiful, but her personal connections with the city and it's people, made it an extra special experience. As a group, we concluded that the bike ride Qin took us on along the river, should be included in the cost, rather than as an additional activity, as it was truly one of the most breathtaking rides we'd ever been on. Qin was very accomodating, even organising a private bus on our day trip to the Terracotta Warriors, to ensure we would have the best experience by maximising our time there. Plus if we ever had any free time, she always had suggestions or recommendations of things we could do (in addition to what was listed). It is worth pointing out that the trip does include extensive travelling, both at night and during the day, and it would be worth including the approximate travel times for each trip for the purposes of transparency. While the trip says 12 days, the first and the last are not counted, and it would be fair to say we lost an additional two days with travelling. Given the amount of ground we covered, this is to be expected, but the details of this travel could be included more clearly in the trip summary (prior to attending the trip). Although it is covered in the notes received once you have booked the trip, it is certainly worth making note (perhaps like the fitness rating) that the trip, given China's air quality, may provided difficult for certain people, such as asthmatics, including myself. While I had medication with me which I was taking regularly, I still found the air pollution caused significant challenges and it was something I could not quite comprehend until having to breathe through it. Overall, a great trip, and one that I am glad I got to experience with the absolutely wonderful Qin as my guide.

I have travelled with Intrepid before on the India Real Food Adventure and was disappointed that the quality of this China trip was not as high as I expected from my previous experience with Intrepid. The group leader lacked sufficient knowledge on the areas we visited or how to effectively manage a group. It was clear that this was one of his first trips, but it would have been nice to have been warned about this initially so we could have improved our experience. I would say that the blame mostly comes down to Intrepid having irresponsibly not provided this guide with sufficient training before leading tours. Whilst we did go to the destinations specified in the itinerary, we all felt that we missed out on extras that make such trips more enjoyable. Overall, we have all been put off returning to China and do not feel that we saw it in its best light.