Hangzhou Travel Reviews

Susan (our guide) is so cooperative with everything that we needed, she explained a lot of aspects of the ways the Chinese culture.The tea plantation has to be the most beautiful part of the itinerary, it's just so beautiful and meeting the local woman (can't recall her name) where she showed us what tea means to the Chinese culture (it's not just a drink) and scenery was just breathtaking. The guide will always make the difference in any itinerary, and Susan made the difference in this one. Would definitely recommend it. Thanks

Wir haben einen Tagesausflug von Shanghai aus nach Hangzhou gemacht. Es war ein absolut beeindruckendes Erlebnis! Bereits die Fahrt mit dem High Speed Train war irre. Unsere Führerin Jill hat uns zuverl?ssig vom Bahnhof abgeholt. Mit dem Minibus ging es an den Westsee, zum Lingyin Tempel und in die Altstadt. Jill war sehr kompetent und ist bereitwillig auf unsere Wünsche eingegangen. Im Tempel waren sehr viele Menschen, Jill kannte alle Schleichwege und hat uns geschickt durch die Menge gelotst. Sie war st?ndig in Kontakt mit unserem Fahrer, so dass wir nie warten mussten. Absolut empfehlenswert!

Sehr interessante Tour von Jill! In einem Tag hat sie uns durch die sch?nsten Orte geführt! Es war stets kurzweilig. Das Englisch war hervorragend.

The trip to Hangzhou was the most enjoyable for my family. The itinerary was well planned and the tour guide 章珂烨 was one of the best that we have come across.She’s bubbly, keen and enthusiastic. She went out of her way to ensure we had a great trip and experience. What impresses me is that she knew that we never had experience taking the high speed rail to Shanghai and she spent time to explain to us and even drew out a map of the checks that we are going to encounter. We went to visit the tea plantation and had a great time at 娜娜’s home. 娜娜 was also great at explaining about tea and the processes involved.

Susan, our guide in Hangzhou was very friendly and knowledgeable about the places that we visited. We had a fun and interesting 3 days at Hangzhou.

This is our third times to Hangzhou and as usual we only want Leaf as our tour guide,because she is fun, caring, knows Hangzhou history very well, and can speak English fluently. For me Hangzhou is the best city in the world. Safe, comfortable tolive in, clean, no air pollution, and the people are nice

Just had a lovely 2 days touring the great sites in Hangzhou…truly a lovely place steeped in culture and history..I particularly enjoyed the tour of the West Lake and got to sample some of the local delicacies..our tour guide Susan did a great job and because she has a great and bubbly personality, our tour was never boring…would definitely recommend this..also please ask for Susan…

Lulu, our professional, friendly & extremely knowledgeable guide was waiting early at airport arrivals for us, & Jenna our safe & competent driver was waiting at curbside. Lulu assisted with checking us in at our hotel. Lulu is very passionate about sharing the history & culture with us of her beloved homeland of Hangzhou as she kept us engaged throughout our 2 day tour starting at the Former Hu Xueyan Residence. It is easy to get lost at this huge mansion without a guide. Lulu knew her way around the maze of rooms, beautiful gardens, pavilions, & described the intricate details of the architecture & the meaning behind each symbol. Next, Hu Qing Yu Tang Chinese Medicine Museum, Hefang Street, Boat Ride at West Lake, Dragon-Well Tea Plantation, Ancient Village Wuzhen Watertown (East & West Area). The watertown has many museums; woodcarving, coin, ancient beds, wine distillery, folk customs, too many to list, an indigo fabric workshop, & a memorial of famed novelist Mao Dun, (one of the founders of the CCP) at his former residence & hometown. The endless artifacts to see within the enclave of the watertown is rich in history. The cozy restaurants & dishes that Lulu selected each day was so delicious. Hangzhou was the host city for the 2023 Asian Games. Also, Hangzhou was 1 of 7 Capitals in China, is when we learned from Lulu about our Ancestors from Northern Song Dynasty in Kaifeng, once the Capital City in Henan Province. On our last night, Lulu went above & beyond & took us to a Chinese pharmacy to buy a needed cold/cough medicinal remedy that helped to suppress a cough that soon subsided. The last day, Lulu assisted us with our high speed rail departure. With our business class seats, she confirmed with the HSR staff that we would be escorted to the correct platform to board our train to our next destination in Shanghai. That was a tremendous relief. We can’t thank you enough Lulu, and truly appreciate all your informative, kind, caring & attentive tour guide service that exceeded our expectations!

Our trip in Hangzhou is an excellent and the most memorable one, largely due to our tour guide Derek. He is an enthusiasts person. Along the tour he explained very well and has a vast knowledge of the site history even China history. He is very attentive, professional and also very passionate with his job. So our trip in Hangzhou feel very easy, light and enjoyable. I think any guests who will be guided by him will be satisfied. He is excellent and perfect ..Thank you very much ...

The trip was so great ! Jill, our guide in Hangzhou was excellent ! A beautiful person inside-out, she took very good care of us and made our trip truly memorable. She took us everywhere and showed all the magical places of Hangzhou! We now look forward to coming back to Hangzhou! Thank you Jill, thank you China Highlights for taking such good care of us!

During the private tour we were escorted by our guide Derek, which made our time truly memorable!! He works with true passion and dedication , and made us feel welcomed and well taken care of during our whole time together. He was very knowledgeable of all the places we visited (West lake , Lingyin temple, tea village), and kept us entertained the whole time with interesting insights, legends and stories. He gave us a lot of tips, and thanks to his great English knowledge, we were able to not only learn a lot about China , but also have a fun time together He had a very good relationship with our driver and the lady from the Tea Village experience, which at the end of the trip made us feel like in a small family. He is a truly professional, reliable, fun, friendly, knowledgeable guide, and if you have the opportunity I would 100% recommend booking a tour with him !!

Wonderful place full of nice surprises...we appreciated everything but overall our guide Derek, very professional guy and nice person...We also ate nice cookies recommended by him...Now we are full of marvellous memories...

Situated just outside of Shanghai, Hang Zhou was an absolute delight offering mesmerising picturesque landscapes in the likes of the Xi Lake (West Lake). The city offers a calm but yet vibrant vibe. It was worth the visit. We thoroughly enjoyed the company of our tour guide, Leaf Zhang, who was very organised and went above and beyond to help us throughout the trip. Leaf showed us a glimpse of what the city has to offer sharing stories of folklores and its history. Another must place to visit on route was Wu Zhen, with its historical architecture and cultural theatrics. We happened to visit it during their annual Drama festival and it was one of the highlights of the trip!

It was a real pleasure to meet Derek which is a very friendly, sympathetic and efficient guide. Give very good advices too. He shares a lot of with us and made his job with passion. So we can better understand the local Hangzhou culture, legend, fairytale...and taste many good culinary specialties. Because we are french and he's an english guide, he made his possible as we can understand. Driver was very good too and we feel safe with her. Thanks a lot for this experience sharing. We particularly like the discovery of art and culture of tea, and the history of the rebuilt pagoda.

My wife and I are touring China through China Highlights and we have just enjoyed a wonderful day in Hangzhou through the amazing efforts of our fantastic guide Susan.

However, our tour guide, Susan, has brighten up our day. She is cheerful and attentive to our needs. She is also knowledgeable and tell us stories when we visited Lingyin Temple.

If you go to Hangzhou you must have Derek as your guide. His English is very good and even knows a lot of American slang. He is very respectful and polite. His stories will entertain you all day. His knowledge of the area is amazing. He had me and my wife laughing constantly with his great sense of humor and outgoing personality. If you go to Hangzhou make sure you ask for Derek as your tour guide. You will be enlightened and entertained.

Our local guide, Leaf Zhang, is passionate in her work, knowledgeable, helpful, and patient. She provides in-depth knowledge of the history and culture of each location. She even helped my wife to choose qipao and helped us in our photo shoots. We would certainly recommend her to our friends and also request for her service again should we come back to Hangzhou again.

Ms. Susan – Hangzhou. From planning to execution China Highlights and the guide and driver they secured were always available and always there while being courteous, professional as well as wonderful human beings.

We had an amazing time in Hangzhou, thanks to our guide, Eleven. He recommended thoughtful adjustments to our itinerary, allowing us to enjoy each site fully without rushing. His friendliness, positive vibe, and great energy made him a fun and interesting companion throughout our holiday. A bonus was his incredible photography skills — he captured many candid shots and beautiful photos for us. Additionally, his wealth of knowledge and fascinating stories about the places we visited added depth to our experience. Highly recommended!

May organized us a perfect journey and Derek was a perfect guide. We liked very much the Lakenheath, the pagoda, the pedestrian Street, the modern center. He took care of us for all our needs and wishes. He was very competent, practical, generous. In other words, perfect!

We were really happy with our guide Leaf. She was helpful, knowledgeable and very caring. She is also flexible with our schedule and see to all our needs. I highly recommend visiting Hangzhou, a World Heritage place.

We had great tour in Hangzhou. Very nice city. Amazing water show. But the best of all was our guide Derek. He is excellent guide with great sense of humor. Very knowledgeable and helpful. We loved Hangzhou the way it was presented by Derek

Derek and the driver were also super accommodating and took us to get a particular gift for my mom. We also had fantastic meals, guided by Derek's recs.

It was lovely strolling by the West Lake and taking in a boat trip to one of its islands. Also, a visit to a tea plantation nearby was hugely enjoyable- especially being taught how to serve tea properly! Thanks to our guide Susan for being flexible to accommodate some changes to itinerary.

Hangzhou is a beautiful city, with magnificent views. We were really happy with our guide Leaf and with China Highlights for organising such an amazing tour. Leaf was helpful, knowledgeable and always made our visit easy. I highly recommend visiting Hangzhou.

We enjoyed a wonderful time in Hangzhou with our guide Leaf. She was always happy and helpful, and ensured that everything went smoothly. She was enthusiastic and has very good English; she obviously loves her work. All our excursions were well organised. We particularly enjoyed: the Meijiawu Tea Village (Na Na was a great hostess); Lingyin Temple with its numerous rock carvings; the beautiful West Lake and the fascinating Hu Qingyu Hall Chinese Traditional Herbal Medicine Museum. We had a very good experience and have no hesitation in recommending China Highlights and Leaf.