Dear Peter:
We returned from our tour to the Tibetan Autonomous Region of China. Although Ms. Lyou showed us a form on which several of the tour members wrote a sentence or two about their experience, and asked us to do the same, I do not think this evaluation form is a suitable one for a trip of this length and expense. Therefore, I thought that I would take a minute to share my thoughts about the trip with you.

I would like to begin by saying that the TAR is a fascinating place, and I hope to return several more times during my year in China. On the positive side, we had a wonderful experience largely because of Mr. Sun Harry and Ms. Lyou Jin Mei. Mr. Sun accompanied us for the first part of the trip, largely because an American man and his Japanese wife requested an English tour guide. Ms. Lyou accompanied the group for the entire trip, and spoke mainly Mandarin. She offered to speak English with my husband and I, but we did not feel the need after the American and Japanese persons concluded their tour. Both Mr. Sun and Ms. Lyou offered interesting and informative commentary on the sights visited and schedule proposed. We were very satisfied with their performance. We also appreciated the fact that no smoking was allowed on the coach. One does not expect such a luxury in China, where the vast majority of men smokes. Finally, we enjoyed the large bus and the comfortable seating. The scenery in the TAR is breathtaking, and we appreciated the fact that the large windows (especially in the front of the bus) provided expansive views through which to enjoy the scenery.

On the more negative side, there are five points.
The first point relates to the payment experience upon arrival in Chengdu. During our telephone conversation prior to the trip, I asked that you prepare the credit card service. (I understand that credit cards are seldom used outside the international hotels in China, and especially on Sundays, but you stated that you understood my request to pay in this fashion.) Upon our arrival in Chengdu, we went to your office to pay our bill, however waited for the person who could operate the credit card machine for at least 45 minutes! Given that you knew we were going to pay in this method, and I asked that you arrange this prior to our arrival, I expected a quick trip to your office that evening. Instead, the entire process (to simply pay our bill) took over 1 ½ hours. Also related to staff, we wasted quite a bit of time at the Chengdu airport trying to contact, and then wait for your representatives. Upon arrival at the airport (at 6:30 AM as instructed), we called Mr. Zhang Jun (at 13658093297) as requested. He did not provide any information, but rather suggested that we call a Mr. You (at 66373323). We called Mr. You for instructions (expecting to meet the entire tour group). During that conversation, he said he would arrive at the airport in a short while. We waited for him to arrive at the airport for approximately 20 minutes! Upon meeting him, he simply gave us a contact number for Ms. Lyou in Lhasa and told us to check in for our flight! Why did we not simply receive this information when we paid our bill the night before? Why did we have to call, and then wait for him? The second point relates to number of people on the tour. In one of our earlier emails, you mentioned that the group would be 15-20 people. There were 35 on the first part of the trip! I understand that you need to make money, but we were not informed that the group would be almost twice the number! Do you usually compensate guests for this situation? The third point relates to food. Although the Chinese food was plentiful and acceptable (although poorly prepared Sichuan as advertised), we wondered why there was absolutely no Tibetan food on this tour, even though we spent 6 days in Tibet! Moreover, the group ate at the same restaurant every afternoon and evening! By the last day of the tour, only ONE person in the group of 15 chose to eat at that Sichuan restaurant. This situation should provide a clue that people were dissatisfied with the culinary experience. My husband and I, as well as at least 4 other members of our group, ate out several times at our own expense because we were bored with the food. I do not expect to be compensated for these meals, because I fully understand that meals were provided as part of the tour. However, I think that you should be made aware of this situation. The fourth point relates to the itinerary. Nowhere in the itinerary were the visits to the “handicraft” factory and “typical Tibetan home” mentioned. I understand that the tour guides need to make commission from the items purchased, but if we are going to be taken to these places, the members of the tour should be informed prior to the day of travel. (I believe the members of the tour group should be informed prior to making the payment to the company.) I helped Ms. Lyou save face by going into the handicraft factory, but was very angry to be placed in this position. The fifth point relates to the hotel. My itinerary states that we were to stay at the Shigatse Fushangfu Hotel in Shigatse. We stayed at the Paradise Hotel in Shigatse. I understand that the quality of the two hotels is different, with the Paradise Hotel being the inferior one. I would like to know why the hotel had been changed. Moreover, will we be compensated for this change? In short, I would like to recommend your company to my friends who live in and travel to China. I was satisfied with some of the trip, and dissatisfied with other parts of the trip. My intention herein is to share my thoughts so as to create a better experience for your future customers. I thank you for the time that you have taken to read this note.

Sincerely,

Mary

<Back>