TestimonialsClient Information
Name: Sara. Nationality: South Africa
Itinerary: Golden Triangle Muslim Tour 8 Days
Time of Traveling: Jun 25 to July 02, 2013
Assalamualaikum Johan
Please find feedback as follows:
IslamiChina Travel website www.islamiChina.com; - Good
Communication with ICT representative; Very good. You were helpful and professional and convinced us why we should book with IslamiChina instead of any other tour operator.
Guides:
Our guide in Beijing was ok. She struggled with English a bit and we could not understand what she was saying some of the time.
Our guide in Xian was very good. She was very knowledgeable about her country and was keen to share her knowledge with us.
Our guide in Shanghai was ok. She asked us a lot of personal questions and I did not like the fact that she asked for her tip and the driver’s tip the day before we left. However the following day, when our flight got delayed and we had to organise new flights, she was very helpful in communicating with airport staff.
Hotels;
Beijing - Ningxia Hotel had no wi-fi which was a problem for us. The bed and pillows were too hard and the shower drain was blocked. I asked my guide every day to explain to the staff who didn’t understand English that they should fix the drain, which she did. Every day they told us that it had been done but it wasn’t. The good part about the hotel was that the food was halaal.
Xian. Grand Metropark Hotel was very good. The only downside was that the we could only eat fruit at breakfast as we did not know if the vegetarian items and pastries were made with meat fat/lard.
Shanghai. Ramada Hotel – our room was a bit small but other than that the hotel was good. The only downside was that the we could only eat fruit at breakfast as we did not know if the vegetarian items and pastries were made with meat fat/lard.
Meals; The good part was that we were taken to Muslim restaurants. But in Beijing, our guide would order meals for us without consulting us. We therefore had to eat food we didn’t enjoy such as omelettes at every meal. Our guides in Xian and Shanghai were more accommodating and consulted us before ordering therefore we enjoyed the food much more. In hindsight though, we would not take a food package and rather request that we be taken to Muslim restaurants at meal times where we could order and pay for our own food.
Sightseeing: The sightseeing was excellent and we especially enjoyed going to the masjids/mosques.
Shopping: We do not enjoy shopping stops in general.
Driver service: The drivers in Xian and Shanghai were very attentive. They would open the doors for me at every stop and accommodate our requests. The driver in Beijing was satisfactory. He did not open doors for us and sometimes parked a bit far from our stops so that we had to walk quite a bit.
Recommendations: it would be good if we could have gone to mosques for the 2 afternoon prayers and the 1st evening prayer.
Overall, we enjoyed our trip to China and would recommend IslamiChina tours with a few minor adjustments.
Thank you!
Sara