China Travel Agents

We did a 5 city tour to Beijing, Xi’an, Chengdu, Guilin/Yangshuo, and Shanghai.

Carol and the China Highlights team was amazing. They arranged for all lodging, transportation, and coordinated private tour guides for each city. We setup our itinerary so that each day had an anchor event or two, and we had flexibility to work with the guide in the evening plans.

Here were a few highlights along with our guide name. We recommend all of them highly and would request them again.

1. Beijing - guide was Sally. We ventured to the Forbidden City, Tianamen Square, Great Wall, Hutong Village, Olympic Village, et al. She was extremely thoughtful and had great food recommendations as well

2. Xi’an - Jenny was an amazing guide, high energy and extremely knowledgeable. We saw the terracotta warriors, bike riding the old city walls, shopping and snacking through the Muslim quarter and more.

3. Chengdu - Helen guided us through the Panda base where we saw some of the new baby pandas in their habitat, the Leshan Buddha, evening show with changing masks and we had to have Sichuan local hot pot as well!

4. Guilin/Yangshuo - William did an amazing job showing us around the beautiful countryside via scooter. We also visited the Reed flute cave and elephant rock. The river cruise was great and we had many great local meals.

5. Shanghai - our last stop was with Kris. He took us on a full day tour starting at Shanghai Tower, eating local cuisine at Nanjing road then walking down to the Bund. We also took some time on our own in the French quarter.

Overall a wonderful trip. Highly recommend!

We had a fantastic family trip to China this December 2024 with our 2 teenage children. Kimkim and Odynovo tours in China made everything so easy for us!

Heidi was really helpful and managed to get all our ambitious itinerary to work in the rather short time we had. She was very helpful with sorting out our China visas from the UK which initially sounded rather daunting!
All the guides we had were brilliant, they all rated 5 star! We were met at every airport and train station by smiling faces even very late at night, and helped to navigate restaurant ordering, which local dishes to try, and help get us on the correct train when we moved to the next city. They were all incredibly knowledgeable and taught us so much about Chinese culture and history. Tracy in Beijing was great fun, and very kind, she made our time in Beijing so enjoyable. Candy in Xi'an made the the terracotta warriors come alive, Kevin in Chengdu was brilliant helping my daughter learn Mandarin characters, Fei in Guilin was great too.

Overall the Panda breeding centre in Chengdu was our biggest highlight, but the Forbidden City in Beijing, the Great Wall, the terracotta warriors and cycling Xi'an city walls, and the scenery around the Li river were all wonderful and unforgettable. The food was fantastic - especially we loved comparing the hotpots in Sichuan and Beijing. My children have definitely come back with a new appreciation for tea.

We will certainly use Kimkim again to organise our next big adventure.

My hopes for an epic trip to China and Japan were realized thanks to
蒋海丽 (Heidi). She gave me alot of her time and energy to help me plan the trip, and she was with me every step of the way during the trip.

I was a little anxious about traveling to China on my own but Heidi was a reassuring influence as I planned the trip with her through convos on KK Platform and phone calls. Typically, I would send her a lot of questions and she always answered promptly with great options and solutions.

The several tours arranged by Heidi were excellent, especially the tour guides. She selected great hotels for me and booked the train rides I needed to see both countries.

Halfway through trip planning, I needed to switch from another Asian country to Japan. Heidi sent me an itinerary and plan for Japan the very next day!

It is always good to balance a review like this with some positive criticism, but I have none. I am so pleased with how smoothly the trip played out, which allowed me to experience both countries to the max. Thanks again Heidi!

Activity Reviews

A Glimpse into China's Imperial Past: the Fobidden City

Beijing

Angela tour guide in Beijing Wu Qiong (Angela) really took care of me in my visit to Beijing. She is an outstanding tour guide, reassuring, and very fun to be with. If you like to grow and learn about the history and culture of China, Angela is like an encyclopedia. Angela led me on two unforgettable days in Beijing, which covered the Forbidden City, the Summer Palace and the Great Wall. Angela made sure to ride the gondola with me at the Great Wall, which was a scary ride for me. When not touring with her, she recommended and arranged reservations in interesting local restaurants when I was not on the tour. The time with Angela in Beijing went by way too fast. I could have spent many more days exploring the city with her and learning from her.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Highlights of Shanghai with Yu Garden and the Bund

Shanghai

JJ, Shanghai tour guide During my tour of Shanghai, JJ (ChenJie陈杰) shared her incredible insight into China and its relationship to the rest of the world. I will remember those experiences as much as the Shanghai that she introduced me to. Although it was a whirlwind couple of days in the busy city of 25 million people, JJ made it all enormously fun and stimulating. JJ always let me set the comfortable pace for me. I appreciate so much how she was so flexible and creative when I asked for changes in the itinerary. There was so much to see and talk about and think about, and JJ made it all very easy. Go see Shanghai for yourself, and try to get JJ for a guide.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

All the guides were very good. I enjoyed Xi’an and Shanghai more than Beijing were we spent too much time in traffic. The cars and drivers were good.
The cruise was enjoyable because of the scenery and the friendly crew but the food was mediocre and the cabin too small

Hotel Reviews

Novotel Peace Beijing

Beijing

Old hotel n need of renovations. Marginal air conditioning. Old furniture in need of replacement. Shoddy workmanship. Breakfast was ok

Authenticity & Character

Location

Near attractions

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Eastern House Boutique Hotel

Clean hotel. Professional staff.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Victoria Katarina

Tiny room . The smallest closet I ever saw. No drawers to store anything. The food is buffet style and is served tepid. Overall the food was mediocre. Upon embarking we had to buy the dinner because it was not included. Big mistake! It was horrendous.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Sunrise On The Bund

The air conditioning doesn’t always work. Very small closet. Nice big bathroom

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

The staff was not friendly but they did their job

Cleanliness & Comfort

Air conditioning!!!

Activity Reviews

A Glimpse into China's Imperial Past: the Fobidden City

Beijing

Interesting site

Quality of Experience

Food

Loud and busy restaurant

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Better car than the old VW provided

Hutongs Exploration: Pedicab Ride and Local Family Visit

Beijing

Nothing special. We didn’t visit any family

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Full day with Great Wall and Changling Tomb in Beijing

Beijing

The Great Wall is a must see. It is impressive but it’s a long drive from Beijing. The wall is very crowded. The tomb excursion is not worth the time

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Chinese dumpling dinner

Xi'an

The show was good. The dinner and service were poor

Quality of Experience

Food

Everything

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Full Day with Terracotta Warriors and Big Wild Goose Pagoda

Xi'an

Very interesting site with some remarkable historical pieces

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Victoria Katarina Cruise Day 4

Chongqing

A waste of time

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Highlights of Shanghai with Yu Garden and the Bund

Shanghai

Very nice excursion thanks to our excellent guide

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Explore the Temple of Heaven

Beijing

Nice excursion

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Visit the Picturesque Summer Palace

Beijing

Nice excursion

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

The Tang Dynasty Show (1hour)

Xi'an

A good show.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Victoria Katarina cruise Day 1

Chongqing

The embarkation process was chaotic. The dinner that we had to buy on board was the terrible.

Quality of Experience

Food

Eat on shore

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Victoria Katarina Cruise Day 2

Chongqing

A pleasant excursion

Quality of Experience

Food

Flavor and temperature

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Day Trip to Suzhou and Tongli Water Town City Tour

Shanghai

A very nice excursion

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Victoria Katarina Cruise Day 3

Chongqing

Very nice excursion on small boats

Quality of Experience

Food

Flavor and temperature

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Each of our guides were warm and welcoming. They were very knowledgable about the history and the current status of their respective cities. Drivers and guides coordinated the transportation aspects very well which provided smooth and relaxing transitions for us.
Restaurant choices were excellent, including the breakfast buffets at each of our hotels.
The Yangtze River cruise was unbelievable. Not only is the scenery outstandingly beautiful, but the staff was congenial and provided a couple of delightful entertainment shows with song and dance.
Our stay in Shanghai was especially enjoyable at Sunrise on the Bund hotel, and our guide JayJay made our time together very special in spite of rain from a typhoon that passed through.