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Testimonials - China & Japan

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Michelle P, Palm Bay, FL - 12 Day Classic China with 4 Day Yangtze River Cruise, April 2009

Just a quick note to let you know how much I enjoyed my recent trip to China. Although I'd never before taken a group tour and was reticent about what to expect, I was pleasantly surprised, and in fact, absolutely blown away by the entire experience. That it was fantastic is an understatement.

Any concerns about "group travel" and the size of the group were quickly allayed by Maggie, our Beijing-based tour guide, who took a personal interest in everyone in the group and orchestrated a tremendously successful trip from beginning to end. She immediately took charge and ensured we had the best experience she could deliver in 12 days. She was a personal ambassador of her country, and approached our trip with enormous enthusiasm to ensure we could see, do, touch, taste, smell & experience as much as possible. Additionally, each local tour guide (Mervyn, Phil, Mike & Julia) was tremendously talented in his/her own right, and were great ambassadors of their own cities and destinations, each imparting personal insight, and peppering city highlights with history, folklore and stories. From the beginning, to the very end with Maggie arranging transfers and Julia personally escorting us to the Shanghai Pudong airport, each guide was personally invested in the trip.

I've already filled out the guest comment form in Shanghai, but wanted to additionally email you and tell you how well-planned, and tremendously well-orchestrated the 12-day China Tour is. Starting from Beijing and crescendo-ing in Shanghai - it was perfectly thought-out and well-executed. I look forward to future trips with Gate 1.

Kimya J, Hyattsville, MD - 9 Day Affordable China, September 2008

I just returned from your 9 day affordable China trip. I am accustomed to traveling independently and have never taken a tour before. The trip was absolutely amazing! From our arrival to our departure, every aspect was taken care of. Our guide Hong, was informative, bright, funny and able to tailor to our special requests. We saw remarkable sights, ate great food, saw brillant performances and were cared for and tutored along the way. I cannot say enough about this trip and would use Gate 1 in the future. Thank you for making this meaningful trip so very special.

Leah B, Omaha NE - 9 Day Affordable Japan, March 2008

I wanted to pass along some positive feedback on my first Gate 1 Travel experience. I had the trip of a LIFETIME traveling to Japan last month. It was my first trip oversees with a tour group and anytime I asked a silly question prior to my departure, the team at Gate 1 always put my mind at ease.

Once I got in country, the guides took wonderful care of me! From the moment I arrived, until the moment I left. My kindest thanks to Yoshi, our gracious guide during our tour. She was very professional, knowledgeable and her communication skills were very impressive. Yoshi was very patient and took time to get to know all of us on the tour, which meant alot to all of us.

I would HIGHLY recommend your company to anyone that is considering taking a tour overseas. I can also tell you that I am sure that I will be traveling again soon and will look to Gate 1 once again to provide another exhilarating experience.

Thank you so much!

Dennis C, Phoenix AZ - 9 Day Affordable China, Aug '07

We are back and feel we had a trip of a life time. Everything we were promised happened and more. We brought back so many memories and stories. There are several people already who asked how we made our arrangements, so we will be sure to refer them to you and Gate1 Travel. Our tour guide was Brian. He was the best. Easy to understand and took care of every need we had including umbrellas for the unexpected rain, and locks for our luggage. He gave us a few side tours and kept us busy. The restaurants were wonderful and the hotels were great. Brian had such a lot of knowledge he shared with us, and had a great sense of humor. He even knew of some American slang words.

The whole trip will be something we will always remember and share with our family and friends. Thanks for all your help in making it so enjoyable.

Rebecca N, NY NY - 9 Day Affordable China

Thanks so much, our trip was fantastic!! We really enjoyed every aspect, including the size of our group, the itinerary and in particular our tour guide. Lily was extremely knowledgeable, friendly and catered to all travelers needs. Our local guides were also very good, including Ben in Shanghai.

We enjoyed ourselves immensely and look forward to our next Gate 1 adventure!

Barry G, Springfield VA - 12 Day China with Yangtze Cruise, Apr '07

The trip was spectacular!!!! We enjoyed it thoroughly. The river cruise on the Yangtze was the "Icing on the Cake". The Gate 1 guides were outstanding, especially Mr. Li. Thanks for putting the trip together.

Leroy T, Mesa AZ - 12 Day China with Yangtze Cruise, Mar '07

I can't tell you how much we enjoyed our recent trip to China. It was perfect and our guide made it a trip we will always remember. Duan had insight that taught us about a totally different culture. Again, this is our second trip with Gate 1 and we will continue to use you. Thank you.

Jane and Lou J, Tallahassee, FL - 7 Day Beijing Value Vacation, Feb '07

The trip to Peru was great! I was well looked after from my arrival to departure. My tour guide was Juan Carlos and he was fantastic! I didn't have to worry about anything because I knew he was handling all of the arrangements. The hotels were great, especially the Marriott. I've stayed at Marriotts in many locations around the world and this was the best! It's location, across the street from the Pacific Ocean and a huge mall, was perfect. The service was outstanding. The Liberatador was nice, including food and location, as well. The local tour guides, Maria and Sonya were excellent! It was a great trip and I'm glad that I decided to travel with Gate 1.

Michael G, Burbank CA - 7 Day Beijing Value Vacation, Jan '07

We were both very pleased with the trip. The Grand View Garden Hotel was wonderful. Gate 1 Travel was efficient and helpful and we will be looking forward to booking future trips. We especially appreciated the value. Until we saw your package deal we thought that a trip to China was out of our budget entirely. The 4 full day tours were extremely enjoyable. The half day Hu Tong tour was especially exciting and rewarding. We so enjoyed the children in the Kindergarten.

Pat O, Rio Rancho, NM - 7 Day Tokyo Vacation, Sep '06

I had a WONDERFUL time. The tours were really great and Martin and the tour guides were so knowledgable, interesting and friendly and a lot of fun. I would definitely recommend Gate 1 for future travel. Accommodations were excellent as well as all the food. It was such a pleasure to put your suitcase out and just get on the bus and know that everything is being taken care of for you. Thank you so much again.

Robert S, Staten Island, NY - 10 Day Hong Kong, Bangkok & Singapore, Aug '06

Thank you very much. The trip was very interesting and we enjoyed all the time while we were there. The hotels were beautiful and we received a very good services. All the itinerary was on time and we were very happy with Gate1 services. That's the reason I'm a recurrent customer.

Jeffrey S, Dunkirk, NY - 9 Day Affordable China, Jul '06

My China trip was fabulous!!! Thank you for all your work! Even though I travel a lot, this was my first guided tour. Gate 1 exceeded my expectations and relieved me of all my normal worries. All the local guides were terrific!!! So were all the drivers. The guides were all VERY knowledgeable and proud about their country. They took care of all the details for us so all I had on my mind was enjoying and learning about China. They provided us with unbelievable optional entertainment (i.e. the Tang music and light show, Shanghai night river tour, etc), which I really, really, appreciated. Some how our guides almost always seem to get us the best seats in the house. All my airplane seats were great too!! This was one of the best travel experiences of my life. I plan to go to Egypt and the Galapagos and I plan to use Gate 1. Thank you for a wonderful travel experience :)

Sandra G, Willow Grove, PA - 9 Day China Value Vacation, Mar '06

I wanted to pass on to you our very favorable impressions of our trip. First, having our seats pre-assigned for all our flights was fantastic. Upon arrival our guide Li was right there to meet us. Apparently, he is a veteran guide --he was so patient and considerate of everyone. He seemed to anticipate individual needs and he was forever vigilant in the crowd. He also was very attentive to our vegetarian needs --informing the kitchen at every large restaurant we went to and even sometimes supervising the serving staff. I also watched him as he watched everyone in the group listening to the local guide, or maybe inadvertently going the wrong way in the crowd. He had a great sense of humor. Sometimes he carried someone's bag back to the bus or to the hotel when they decided at the last minute to remain in town and not go back to the hotel right away. He had excellent customized advice on shopping and he openly thanked people for spending their money in China because it helped the Chinese economy. I found that refreshing. Another good aspect of the trip was the baggage collection and check-in at the various domestic airports. Our bags were collected at our hotel room door and we did not see them again until we arrived at the next hotel in the destination city. Excellent! They also took care of all of the tedium of boarding.

Li was also very knowledgeable about culture and history and shared many personal anecdotes. The weather was also great --60's, 70's and even 80 on our last day in Shanghai. Li said that the end of March/beginning of April was a great time to visit with the beginning of the nice weather and before the big influx of tourists.

Thanks for the opportunity to enjoy this great trip.

Pam R, Walterboro, SC - 7 Day Beijing, Mar '06

We had such a wonderful time that I don't think words can explain. We really enjoyed all the sites that Beijing had to offer!! Our guide,"Andy" Song Jun was amazing. He accommodated all of our needs. We had a vegetarian in the group and he made sure that at all the meals she had something to eat. We even arranged to see two additional shows while we were there and he made all the arrangements.

On our free days, we visited additional places. Before he left us each night, he made sure that we had the places we were visiting on a card to show the taxi cab driver, even when we were not going to be with him!!! The hotel was great and the absolutely PERFECT location!!!

Kimberly H. - 9 Day China Value Vacation, Feb '06

I thought that the tour was absolutely fantastic - I couldn't have wanted more. Our guide, Susan, was phenomenal. I can't recommend her highly enough.

The trip was just the right length, with enough extra activities to fill up "free" time. I am highly impressed.

Jaydev S., Walpole, MA - 9 Day China Value Vacation, Jan '06

We returned from China recently and had a wonderful time there. I am impressed by the quality of service and the knowledge of your local guides in China. We stayed at good quality hotels and we were thrilled with Brian, our local guide. He is a terrific person, always smiling, very competent and extremely patient. We thought he did a splendid job and we saw a lot of the country in the limited time we had. We should also commend the other local guides, Kathy in Xian and Warren in Shanghai. They all did a great job and all our transfers and trips were hassle free.

This is our second trip with Gate1. We went to Rio last year and I am impressed with the way your organization works. We shall tell all our friends about your company and we hope to use your services in many more trips to come.

Bobby P, Taylors SC - 9 Day China Value Vacation, Jan '06

This was one of the best tours we have been on. The hotels were great and the guides were knowledgeable and always on time. And the value, we were amazed that you could do so much for as little money. We are glad to have found this tour.

Earl A, Oak Park, IL - 9 Day China Value Vacation, Jan '06

It was an awesome trip. One of the best. We did not have any problems. My wife and I have been telling everyone who asks to check out www.gate1travel.com. Everything was perfect, especially the locations of the hotels, train tickets and especially the included breakfast. We are planning this year's trip and we will use Gate 1 when we book in June.