Kimkim Trip Reviews for China

This is my first time booking with Kim Kim and by all means it WON'T be the last. Heidi did an excellent job on making sure everything was in point, answering all the questions and always be there when needed.
Heidi THANK YOU so much for such outstanding job. my family and I brought all these great memories from the trip and in a great part thanks to you.
we'll talk again very soon...
Julio Cesar.

Had an amazing well organised trip, Heidi did a great job of suggesting hotels and excursion ideas, overall preparation and ongoing support was very strong. China is a beautiful country, people were lovely and friendly. Also appreciated all my local guides Alice (Beijing), Tracy (Xian), Kevin (Chengdu), Eric Fan (Guilin) and Run Liu (Shanghai). Would recommend.

I had a great time in China. My tour guides were great! Shout out to the guides Yan, Fish Lee, and Run for the great service. Also, the drivers got us to each location safe and sound and they are very much appreciated. I really enjoyed all of our sightseeing locations. One of my most memorable activities was the dumpling making class in Xi’an. The local family was very nice and cooked some very delicious dishes for us. Great hospitality! Overall, I had a very positive experience booking with KimKim, who referred us to Peicy, our travel consultant, and I am looking forward to our next trip!

Peicy helped us organized a fantastic 4 weeks trip to China. This was not an easy task as there were 7 of us in the group, ages 11 to 91. We covered four provinces with one plane ride and many train journeys including an over night train. It was flawless. We loved the hotels that she arranged for us in many great places. They were all unique and allowed for very easy walk to food and sites. I speak fluent Chinese, so do my parents who came in the trip. Her recommendation for places where we should still have a guide was excellent. The whole plan was slow enough for the grandparents and interesting enough for us and the kids. All the guides were very knowledgable and patient with our big family, especially Alvin in Kunming and Baima in Shangrila. All the drivers were very punctual and helpful, especially the one in later part of Yunnan. We couldn't thank Peicy enough for her help! Thank you so much for helping us with such a wonderful once in a life time experience! Kim Kim is very good at finding local experts to make your trip fantastic.

Hello Kim Kim
The trip in itself was unusual to the places where general visitors go to .that said the trip schedule was excellent in its execution. From arriving at Beijing Four days of non stop activity with our Guide Tom. to the Bullet Train to Zibo ( I have to compliment the Chinese railway , a pleasure to ride on a fantastic train in total comfort ) Meeting Chris who was the most enlightened guide that my Grandson has met .
Then to Qingdao where we met Eden , I personally had an excellent time with him as he is a teacher and we spoke about the way he could get his students to understand English better .
Then to Shenyang , all of the train trips and Internal flights were great.
Wherever we went we met the most courteous children , good for the future .
The places we visited for my grandson were the best he had ever seen ( thankyou for that ).
The hotels were pretty ok , The Shangri la was TOP SHOP. Food was interesting but we entered into the spirit and eat a lot of what was on offer.
Kim Kim Thank you for a well organised Holiday with excellent representatives at each city to meet us .
Paul Baker

I have recently returned from the 4 day Chengdu tour and I cannot recommend it highly enough.
The service provided by KimKim was first class from the minute I enquired about the tour on-line, Lemon my first point of contact was very helpful with any questions or concerns I had,
Andie the tour guide and my driver were both excellent and their local knowledge made the trip extra enjoyable.
The highlights were definitely seeing the Giant Pandas which I personally feel was one of the best experiences I've had, the Giant Leshan Buddha was also immensely impressive and well worth seeing. Finally a massive bonus for me was the Sichuan food which is very flavoursome if somewhat spicy and the tour guides knowledge of local eateries was unquestionable. 5*

Could not recommend Kim Kim enough, service start to finish was 1st class

It made things so much easier to be met and have our visits organised and explained, when in a foreign country and you don't speak the language it is often difficult to know shown how things work even train stations!

The guides Max arranged were helpful and welcoming, and keen to answer questions and give us a glimpse into life in China as well as just the 'sights'. The mountains in Zhangjajie and Guilin and the incredible Terracotta Warriors also played their parts!

The cooking class in Guilin was fun and the aubergine (eggplant) dish especially tasty, but the spread we had during the dumpling class in Xi'an was the biggest highlight, and the conversation (almost all translated by our guide) was fascinating.

I was looking for a personalised private tour for my son (8yrs old) and I, as we take adventure holidays over summer every year to a new country. Kimkim and Alice / Lemon, really helped make the planning of this trip to China, both special and memorable with there arrangement of standout guides in each location. The communication which was constant and fluid from the start to very small tweaking at the end made using this service a real game changer for me. I travel on many type of trips year round, this being fantastic for tour arrangements compared to the expensive tour travel agents I've used local to me.

Due to hotel costs being higher through Kimkim (inc fee) and the selection on offer, I decided to book hotels myself. However, the overall cost still worked out better then what a foreign firm was quoting. I was very happy being able to split this arrangement and customise exactly what I wanted assistance with. Superb.

We had 16days around China with the standout parts of each trip besides the main tourist attractions (which we did) where the following making the trip stand out even more:

Beijing - tour guide and Thai chi classes
Xian - cycle ride around the city wall
Chengdu - cooking classes and hotpot choice of restaurant, went there both days for dinner
Guilin - caves, great to cool down in the summer heat and city walk around the sites
LongSheng, - hike in the rice fields and eating rice/chicken cooked in bamboo
Yangshuo - bamboo rafting, kung fu lesson in the park, cooking class
Tunxi - tube rafting and hiking Huangshan

We were collected in each location by our English speaking guide making sure we were comfortable all the time, even helping us order our lunch, which I must save was truly a great experience in ever location. KingKong (Beijing) and Abby (Chengdu) were brilliant in making sure my 8 year old was enjoying himself and enjoying the trip which really made a big difference.

Overall I just felt very happy and content from the start, deciding which places to visit, to planning the route, and tweaking with my own activities. Best way I found to date to plan a trip. Will be using this service again, in fact, already am for big south America trip.

Our guide Mr. King Kong was Fabulous! He was fun, engaging and very knowledgeable about the history of China. He was also an excellent photographer as we were able to take some unique shots we would have otherwise missed.
5* highly recommend!

I d just like to thank Lemon and the team from kimkim for a such a well organised tour of China ! My three guides Jerry, Candy and Danny treated me very well and spoke clear English fluently. My first guide Jerry, showed me the highlights of Beijing, the Great Wall, Tiananmen Square, Forbidden City, a rickshaw ride and visit to a local family and the summer palace. The second guide Candy, she was very experienced and knowledgeable about her tour in Xian, Terracotta Warriors, Museum, old pergoda , calligraphy class andMuslim quarter. My third guide Danny in Guilin, he took me to Reed Flute Cave, Elephant trunk hill , the Li River and moon hill. My guides were brilliant hosts and they all enhanced my China experience. The accommodation recommended and booked by Lemon was exceptional I can not recommend them all highly enough
Once again thankyou
Gary Crettenden

I ran into KimKim while researching our trip to China and thought I'd just send an email to see what happens. Max's prompt, professional, and thoughtful response immediately got my attention. Working closely together, Max pieced together an itinerary that would work for a family of three with various interests and schedules. His honesty and patience sets him apart from the others. He answered every question, was meticulous and never pushy.
During our trip he checked in from time to time to make sure we're in good care, and monitored our guides and drivers on their punctuality and performance. We owe Max a most memorable trip to China.
Locally, our hardworking Beijing guide Dina and Shanghai guide Run led us through thousands of years of history, from palace life in imperial China to trendy style at the Bund. The distance we traveled was short in geography but long in time. With very different personalities and work styles, they taught us to appreciate the old and new China, and what to look ahead.
Thanks to Max, KimKim, Dina, and Run, this was our first visit to China but for sure not the last one!

On the whole, a very nice trip. The guides put a real lot of insight into the places we visited which made the trip extra special and their local knowledge helped us find our way around as well as find some really good places to eat. I especially appreciated Max's efforts in speedily resolving some of the issues we had along the way.

A couple of small things I didn’t like .
1) the train trip from Xi’an to Bejing was too long and would have preferred to have been booked either on the express train or taken a flight.
2) didn’t like being dropped off at the domestic airport or train station 3 hours before our flight.

All of the guides were good but thought Rocky (Beijing) and Kevin(Zhangjiajie) were the 2 standouts for going that bit extra in flexibility and providing extra activities outside of the itinerary which we were interested in. Angela(Beijing) was also a great guide too and gave us a full day of activities.

Lastly, all of the hotels you suggested were fantastic .

We would love to come back one day to see the Li River and visit Shanghai.
I would definitely book again through Kim Kim and would not hesitate in recommending it to any of my friends and family.

We were looking around for private tours that would tailor to our preferences for China and found Kimkim on the internet.
Our initial consultant was very attentive to all the communication and was happy to many small changes to the itinerary to suit our needs and budget. The process was smooth and saved us a lot.of time planning our own accommodation, ticket and transportation bookings etc...
The only issue we had was that we had a flight scheduled from Xian to Shanghai in which we had advised to have our seats booked sitting towards the front with window seat if possible. This was noted by the consultant but upon turning up to the airport with our private tour guide, we had found out that not only we didn't have our seats by the window, my husband and I were also seated in different rows which annoyingly we couldn't even change at the airport (was told they didn't have any available, despite the fact that we were one of the first to check in based on our tickets).
The private tour guides that we had in Beijing, Xian and Shanghai/Suzhou were all good and knowledgeable, with our tour guides Tom and Jessica for Beijing and Xian were standouts. We'd highly recommend private tours so you can skip most queues and have your own private vehicle to travel in. It was also super flexible and us being sick for the first couple of days, our tour guide and driver were more than happy to move things around for us.
The highlights for us were definitely the Great Wall of China, and since we arrived early in the morning as per your guides recommendation, there were barely a sight of tourists on the section we visited, so it was quite a nice experience as we got the wall to ourselves for almost half an hour. Another great highlight was the Terra Cotta warriors which were just surreal when we got there. Our tour guide had so much knowledge and she just knew almost everything about the history when we asked her questions!! We'd highly recommend Kimkim even though we had a small hiccup (which they apologised and did make up later on)! The private tours have many benefits and one of it also includes the great local food that our tour guides did not hesitate to recommend us, which often in big tours you don't really get.

Max arranged an excellent trip for us.
We were met as per our itinerary and the boat, hotels and tours were all first class.
I have no hesitation in recommending KimKim and Max to anyone.
We will be using their services again.
Thank you.

As a picky and non-speaking Mandarin traveller, I did spend some time searching for the right guide for our Xian trip.

Fortunately, I found KimKim website by chance.

With some basic itinerary in mind already, I emailed KimKim my inquiry to which Max promptly replied within 24 hours. Right after, Max arranged for Eric, our designated local Xian guide, to touch base with me.

Although using the KimKim app was sufficient, I would definitely recommend using the WeChat app as well, which I used more frequently to communicate with both Max and Eric.

We took the bullet train (about 4.5hrs ride) from Chengdu to Xian. When we got to the Xian train station, we were immediately greeted by Eric (who I must mention is friendly, knowledgeable, accommodating and very fluent in English) at the arrival hall.

With only 2 days to explore Xian, we kept our itinerary as simple and flexible as possible. We managed to visit the Muslim Quarters, the historic Great Mosque and the very impressive Terracotta Warrior museum.

A nice bonus while in Xian was that it snowed on our way to the Terracotta Warrior museum on our second day of visit. Most of the city was covered in snow by the time we left the site! The downside from this though was that we had to cancel our visit to the City Wall. The cold weather had become too much for my daughter to do another outside excursion. Admittedly, I was pleasantly surprised when Eric refunded me (the City Wall tickets) immediately even with the last-minute cancellation.

Also, I was incredibly impressed when Eric and our designated driver were able to get us to the seafood restaurant (my daughter and I had been dying to go to!) in the nick of time even though we were delayed by traffic.

BIG thank you to Max, Eric and the driver for their outstanding service and for making our brief Xian trip fun and memorable!

Max, the local specialist, did an outstanding job planning our two week tour through China. We moved around alot during the two weeks (planes, trains, boats, etc) and everything went smoothly. We were always met by local tour guides who ALL did a fantastic job showing us around China. Max put together a fantastic itinerary and even called us in China to make sure everything was going well. We will definately use KimKim again for future travels. (This will be our second trip using KimKim - my family visited Iceland in the summer of 2017). Iceland trip was outsanding too.

We had 20 days in China booked but no time to plan the actual trip so we asked Max from kimkim to choose and book the whole trip for us. We mentions that we are fit and like to walk and want to spend extra time on the Great Wall of China and that we like to experience local activities. Max organised a most amazing tour around China for us, starting in Beijing and ending in Shanghai - exactly to our wishes and needs. The visiting to the Great Wall of China was amazing, we walked in a secluded are where there are no other tourists - just us and our guide. It was truly spectacular. At every step we had a local private tour guide who was fun to spend time with and very knowledgeable. Every time we mentioned something that we had seen (for example specific street food we had seen on YouTube and wanted to try) they made sure we got to try it.
The trip was varied, interesting and action packed.
We had a super fantastic trip in China thanks to Max and will definitely go back again :)
Cheers
Mira

This was an amazing first trip to China for our family. KimKim, Max, and our local guides really took the heavy lifting and stress out of planning our family trip to a destination unfamiliar to us.

Max was quick to respond to our initial enquiry, worked closely with us to build an itinerary tailored to our interests, and stayed in touch with our guides throughout the trip. The itinerary details were clear and well thought-out. A helpful contact list gave us additional guidance on things like tipping.

Our local guides (Candy, Beryl and Marjorie) were exceptional and particularly great with our kids (12, 8 and 5 years old). They were incredibly knowledgeable, passionate, friendly and fun. As well as guiding us through all the sites, they were conscientious to ensure we checked into hotels, and got to the right boarding gates for the train and the plane.

Our time in Beijing and Xi’an took in the top sites including the Forbidden City, the Great Wall, the Terracotta Warriors and more, and all lived up to our expectations. However, it was activities at a local level that made this trip extra special: in Beijing visiting local families in the Hutong to make clay model pandas, paint opera masks, and make kites; in Xi’an learning to make dumplings and Biang Biang noodles from Mrs Lee and then eating this as part of a tasty meal in her home.

The food was amazing! We enjoyed long lunches sampling lots of different Chinese food and a delicious Peking Duck dinner in Beijing, organized by Max and our guides.

We have many special memories and lots of photos that we will enjoy for a lifetime!

Thank you so very much!

Yi was a great tour resource for our family. He recommended great places for lunch, things that our kids would enjoy and the providers were on time and friendly. Yi was also able to converse very well in English. Our specific tour guide (Kai) was very knowledgeable as a local to the Beijing area. Thank you Kai!

Now for the great disappointment... We spent an extraordinary amount of money to have a lifetime helicopter tour of the Great Wall. What we paid for was a 30 minute tour but the reality is that we only had 10 minutes hovering around the densely populated tourist part of the wall. We would have expected to see more of the expanse of the Great Wall rather than just circling the tourist area 3 times and calling it a day. It was a complete rip off and disappointment. Don't do it unless you really don't want to walk all the steps (which we did and was amazing).