Shanghai and Hangzhou Spotlight Experiences

We recently had the pleasure of going on a tour of Shanghai with China Highlights, and our guide, Ryan! This experience was wonderful, we were able to visit some of Shanghai’s most iconic locations, such as The Bund, the French Concession, and even got to try some famous Xiaolongbao at Jia Jia Tang Bao. Overall, really recommend China Highlights.

Shanghai is a modern big city with some stand out architecture modern and from the past. Ryan was again my guide for Shanghai City tour. We started with Yu Garden which was already flocked with domestic tourists! Yu Garden is the highlight of my Shanghai tour. Ryan explained and pointed out what makes it so special.The next thing we did was go to the Bund and Ryan #chinahighlights, explained some of the prominent old banking buildings and the clock tower tgat was made by the same person that did Big Ben in London. Also pointed out and we entered in disguise, was Peace Hotel. That was another highlight being an Art Deco style original and the Old Men Jazz Band. Then we walked a bit and our driver took us to The Shanghai Tower. Before you go up there is a whole display of Skyscrapers so you can see how the Shanghai Tower ranks. Going up was easy and you would never know you were going so high. It was a rainy morning but visibility was ok. You can walk all the way around to get a view of Shanghai. There were locks you can buy, marketed a "lucky", so you can lock your wishes up there. There is also a metal tree where you can ties a wish ribbon. We then went to the French Quarter which are some old buildings now occupied by modern venues and shops. I was told the area was a night spot so things were just opening. Nanjing Rd is the Retail Heaven thoroughfare, pedestrian only traffic. If you are shopping for name brand you will find it there, just like any other major city. Chinese tourists were out and about, I know they are happy!

Chris, in Shanghai; Alice, in Lijiang; Lee, in Dali; May, in Kunming; and others that we have previously known no less efficient and friendly. My greetings and respect to all of them and also to the drivers. They all have a very good command of the English language and strive to make one dedicate themselves to enjoying what China offers us. Thank you, China, and thank you China Highlights!! Just tell you: SEE YOU IN OUR NEXT TRIP!!!

Our consultant Roger Li did a wonderful job of making a great private tour plan for my husband who wanted to add on a few days in China. He incorporated everything my husband wanted to see and made a great tour based on our needs and wants.Roger Li was very easy to get in touch with and was always available and accessible when we had questions.

My husband and I celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary by exploring China ; and first in our bucket list was Shanghai and Beijing.We booked this trip via China Highlights, and we had a tour guide , named Ryan, who made our trip memorable by not only sending us to Shanghai's best spots but most of all his rich knowledge on all these places. One of the best part is that he communicates very well, fluent in English, made us understand China's culture, its stories behind those buildings and sceneries. No doubt will recommend this travel site to our friends, "High Five" to China Highlights and again kudos to our tour Guide, RYAN, see you again !!

Tour guides under this agency are very well experienced, and questions are always answered in great detail. Definitely will recommend to anyone who would like to go on a flexible tour with guidance.

Roger Li has been AMAZING and deserves to win this advisor competition! He answers e-mails promptly, addresses my concerns, and guides me through the process. He has organized tours for me and my husband for both China and Taiwan, and we are excited to go! I have been thoroughly satisfied with his work in every way.

When we were there, one of the highlights was the Chinese Lantern Festival in Old Shanghai, which is both colourful and has an excellent festivalatmosphere. She bought us a Chinese desert item that was small sweet sticky balls that were very good.

Our family trip to China ended with a couple of days in historical Shanghai. We loved seeing and visiting the historic centers, traveling up the Shanghai Tower, eating delicious dumplings, and visiting the best Chinatown we have ever experienced. Our guide, Quing Quing, and driver Ken were fantastic, informative, professional and fun. Quing Quing even took us to experience the marriage market where Chinese parents try to help their children find potential mates after we expressed that it would be an interesting thing to see. Quing Quing, her American name is Clair, is an excellent and vivacious tour guide. Ask for her when you book with China Highlights you will be in good hands. --Inspire819460

With other two friends I have visited Shanghai in October 2018 and our tour guide was Mary, who has been wonderful with us.She had the smart idea to adapt the schedule of our planned tours in order to visit the city centre with few crowds, even if we were visiting Shanghai right during the Chinese national holidays. Besides the city centre with the panoramic towers, we visited the old French district, the Bund, the old city with the market and Tonglizhen, a water village just outside of Shanghai. Mary gave us also very nice suggestions about restaurants and hotels with panoramic terrace to visit in the evenings during our free time. In the end Mary was so kind to give us some Chinese salty pastries as lunch for our long train journey back to Beijing. Totally recommended!!! ---Vittorio C, Germany

We have been in China 2 weeks and our last day was spent in Shanghai! Our guide Candy Shao was the best...Candy was so helpful in planning the highlights of the city and what we absolutely needed to see and do on our last day. Her English was great and she was young and fun...seemed more like we were hanging out with a friend. Candy also took some great photos of us to capture our experience! I would definitely recommend Candy and China Highlights to all my friends! --Vody, USA

First of all, Daniel is a very friendly, entertaining & knowledgeable tour guide.Not only had he brought us to places in the schedule, but also helped in bookings when we went around the city on ourselves. He is online 24/7 and provided immediate responses for all the questions and inquiries. In addition, he ensured our safety not only during the trip with him, but also texted us to make sure we were back to hotel safely after our own schedule.Overall, he is more than excellent for us, as not only he had fulfilled his duty to guide us as scheduled, but more of providing us hospitality, help and knowledge beyond our exceptions and beyond what we have booked with the tour. Therefore, I would 100% recommend Daniel if any of you are planning for a trip to Shanghai. ---Catherinenodnod

Sophie was an amazing tour guide! She is very knowledgeable about the city, and more importantly, knows all the best places to get food! I was traveling with my wife, her dad, and her grandmother. Sophie did an amazing job at making sure all four of us traveled safely and created an amazing Shanghai experience for us! If you're considering booking through China Highlights I would strongly suggest you request Sophie if possible! She felt like a part of the family at the end of the trip!

Our guide Karen Wen made our trip to Shanghai, the garden city of Suzhou and the Water Village of Tongli very memorable and wonderful. Karen is very passionate with her job as a local guide. She has a lot of knowledge of every place that we visited which made us relate to and understand what we’re visiting. She took us to restaurants that served the best xialongbao and to an old restaurant in Suzho where we ate the best garlic shrimp and steamed fish. She also changed our itinerary when she saw how tired we were coming from Zhangjiajie. Our driver is excellent .I highly recommend you book your trip to China Highlights. It’s local guides are all excellent. ---oesca,USA

A great tour guide brings all these buildings, the river, and most importantly the history to life. Sophie gave us an in-depth tour of the Bund, then took us across the river early in the morning to the top of the Shanghai Tower before it got crowded. The river cruise in the evening was spectacular and such an easy way to see the ever-changing illuminated skyline from so many varied perspectives.

Our tour escort, Sophie Lee, is a talented hospitality professional....our 3 generation family trip was engaged by Sophie due to her vast experience.....chosen out of some 40 applicants to escort US Ambassador to China Gary Locke or leading the LA Lakers Basketball Cheerleaders around town a couple of weeks ago....we chatted with locals on the street comparing our home cities....tasted the best Chinese breakfast burrito ever from a street side vendor. Sophie ensured the safe trek of my 86 yr old mother to the top of Tiger Hill in Suzhou, My mother who immigrated from Shanghai when she was 14 and a academic scholar was impressed with Sophie’s knowledge of Chinese history and literature..... The Garden Tour in Suzhou was more meaningful with the insights provided by her story telling (much better than audio tour you get at Versailles).....As far as the “value” of our custom tour... I would rate as excellent... our 4 star hotel was more than adequate.....good spa facilities, breakfast was very good, we had dinner in the Taiwanese Seafood restaurant and it was excellent....and relatively pricey....our tour included lunch - great stuff! We were able to select items, using advice from Sophie....sometimes we went over budget - may $6 or $8 extra .... it’s worth it to sample as much as possible... such high quality food! Getting hungry writing about food. Gotta go now ----Advntr18 Berkeley, California