Silk Road Travel Reviews on Tripadvisor.com

My friends and I just returned from an 8 day Qinghai and Gansu tour with China Discovery. This was a huge bucket list trip for me and my friends and it did not disappoint. Every detail was planned to the exact things we wanted and Rita made sure she was available whenever we needed anything. Our guides Nancy and Jackie were incredible and we learnt so much from them during our trip. Our driver ZhongMing was so friendly and took on the role of a guide when we had long drives between the provinces. Every aspect of the trip was superb and we can't wait to book our next trip. Thanks China Discovery!

China Discovery thanks for all your efforts despite the trouble due to pandemic controls and daily tests, we had a wonderful time, special thanks to Wonder to arrange all this and Adam, our great friendly tour guide!! VAMOS!!! Thanks for your great support you made this experience to be in our hearts and memory forever. Gracias!! Thank you!! Xie Xie !!

Wow, what beautiful scenery we saw. Thank you Jack for recommending this group tour to us.

It was so much fun meeting new people. We had kind guides with lots of knowledge that spoke English well. The accommodation was comfortable and conveniently located.

Can really recommend this company and will definitely use them again for future traveling needs.

I completed the 5-Day Silk Road Tour organized by Wonder with stops at Zhangye (Rainbow Mountains & Mati Temple), Jiayuguan (Fort and Overhanging Great Wall), and Dunhuang (Singing Sand Dunes and Mogao Grottoes).

This trip must not have been easy for Wonder to organize--there were COVID protocols and restrictions to account for as well as flooding in the area, leading to site closures. But Wonder was always extremely accommodating and customer-oriented, letting me know such info in a concise, friendly manner while exploring alternatives.

The trip itself was something special. I'm interested in history and religion, so seeing sites like the Mogao Grottoes and Jiayuguan was absolutely fascinating for me. Rainbow Mountains were spectacular.

The English-speaking guide and driver Wonder helped arrange were also fantastic. The guide was very knowledgeable, offered context and answered questions throughout the trip, and helped me navigate the COVID protocols, which would've literally been impossible without his help. Accommodations were all spacious four-star hotels located in excellent areas with access to night markets.

Throughout the trip, I was sending photos of the sites to family back home who were blown away. More importantly, this was a trip that I'll never forget.

Xinjiang was always in my bucket-list since the day i arrived in China, and finally china discovery made it true. The all in all experience was very good. They agreed to a customized itinerary as I wanted to cover different landscapes together in Gansu and Xinjiang . Our tour guide was not able to join us for one day, even though our driver helped us with the tickets and stuff , the company instantly gave a refund for the tour guide service as well. The tour guides and drivers all were very sweet and friendly. Since I’m from India, the driver in xinjiang offered to play indian songs during our road trips

CD very responsive & accomdating and flexible. Guide professional. A bit expensive but you are well handled. 2nd trip.

We booked a 2 day desert tour in Badain Jaran Desert. Organization by Johnson our consultant was throughout excellent. Moreover, our tour was awesome. Can highly recommend this unique experience seeing the desert in a jeep!

We did a 1 week tour around Dunhuang with this agency and everything was very well organized. Hotels were well chosen, meals were well arranged and good english speakers guides were provided. We booked the trip with very short notice and they were able to prepare it and booked everything which was challenging since was golden week. I definitely recommend this agency, specifically Echo Agent that was in charge of our trip.

We had a wonderful tour of Dunhuang and the Gobi Desert along the old Silk Road. In addition, we explored the amazing area of Zhangye with its Buddhist temples/grottoes and Rainbow Mountains. The trip was fabulous as were our guide and drivers who took care of all our needs. I would definitely recommend this trip to anyone who likes a little bit of everything - culture, adventure, and history.

Amazing 10-days trip in end of August organized by Jack in only one day (guides, drivers, hotels & travel permit for restricted area).

My boyfriend and I travelled accompanied with Peima in Qinghai province and Gary in Gansu and Inner Mongolia. Both of them spoke good English, very friendly and caring.

We appreciated their professionalism, insights as locals and personal stories. When the weather wasn’t the best we trusted their planning changes and it was totally worth it.

Our guides also recommended food destinations and lively areas to visit during our free time. We had to take a COVID test in Zhangye, the hospital didn’t have foreigners before but our guide eased the process and made it efficient.

All drivers were very competent, especially the 4x4 sand expert in Badan Jilin desert. We always felt safe.

Mind-blowing landscapes, all destinations were exceptional. All parks are a must see in one’s life, chinese or foreign, we definitely recommend you to explore this part of the Silk Road. Our favorite was Badan Jilin desert but all were amazing.

We were lucky and could avoid the crowds as most recent group trips were cancelled due to recent COVID cases.

Most parks are very protected and allow visitors only in designated locations. One of them also has a limited time per seeing-spot (Yardan geopark in western Gansu). A bit frustrating not to be more free but once witnessing the beauty of the landscape, one can understand the need of protection/restrictions. Every places is still very worth it and the views are unforgettable.

We will definitely contact China Discovery if need of trip planning and have already recommended to our friends since we were so happy!

We planned our own 2-week trip through Western China and used China Discovery for just one section of that trip.

Communication with Riley was easy through WeChat and email. Her English seems fluent - I didn't ask, but I would assume she either grew up in an English-speaking country or spent a lot of time in one. She tailored everything exactly as we wanted.

Unfortunately, a few cases of covid in the city we live in put a stop to our trip after a few days. We had to return back to the city as some provinces would not allow us to enter. Riley was very understanding and even managed to get us a full refund for the various accommodation/activities we had planned. This was all just a few days before we were due to start our tour with China Discovery.

Though we didn't actually go on our tour with this company, I would highly recommend them for their level of customers service, especially if you cannot communicate well in Chinese. We plan to contact Riley again in the future to re-arrange our trip.

Our family enjoyed our tour of Gansu province and Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region. Our tour guides were knowledgeable and professional and helped us navigate all the different rules and regulations of traveling in these areas. We saw some of the best highlights of Gansu and Xinjiang's Silk Road history and culture. We highly recommend this tour.

First of all, a shout out to our tour organiser - Ms Riley Guo!. We had a memorable private tailor made family tour to Xi-an and Dunhuang. She is bilingual (speaks both English and Chinese). She was quick to response to our enquiries and were always prepared to accommodate our needs and preferences. There is no pushy, hard selling of tour packages and she is always patient to answer all our questions.

I would love also to mention Jacky , our Dunhuang tour guide for 3 days. A lovely and responsible guide that given a chance, i would want to have her again for our future travels.

Well done China Discovery!

My wife and I engaged China Discovery to help us navigate our first foray into post COVID-19 travel, and we couldn’t be happier with our decision. Our liaison Johnson’s excellent communication as well as his extensive knowledge of the logistics of cross-country travel were invaluable to us. The accommodations, meals, and sightseeing attractions they organized for us were all of the highest quality. Highly recommended!

Excellent experience with China Discovery on our trip to Gansu, Qinghai, and Inner Mongolia. Our contact, Jack, was consistently professional, competent, and flexible to tailor his proposal to our requirements. From meeting our guides, to waving goodby to them, everything ran smoothly. The guides were very knowledgeable, and respectful, providing plenty of geographical, cultural, historical information, without ever forcing them on us whenever we preferred to roam around and just look or take photos. The drivers were careful, and the cars were clean and tidy. The train transfers were arranged to our requirements.

Everything run smoothly, it was a memorable trip, and based on the experience of our travelling party of four, I’m happy to recommend China Discovery.

Fantastic trip to western China.

Amazing diversity in scenery, people and things to do. Trip very well organized. Amazingly smooth communications with Rita Jiang. Thoroughly recommend this tour agency../p>

It was a fantastic experience sleeping in the desert. I booked a tent through Riley who helped a lot since nobody from the tent base spoke English. But you kinda lost the connect with the outside world when you was in the deep desert, we got luck to meet some young people spoke English to help us out. Anyways, it was quite a unique and interesting experience worthy of trying.

We visited the Silk Road (Lanzhou, Zhangye, Jiayuguan and Dunhuang)organized by China Discovery and everything was wonderful. Excellent attention, the guide speak very good English, they recommend places to dinner and for lunch they asked what kind of food do we like. The visits were wonderful. We really recommend to travel with them. It was an amazing trip.

We travelled across 3 places over 6 days (Xi'an, Zhangye & Dunhuang).

China Discovery helped arrange all aspects of the trip (travel, stay, food and tour guide) It was overall a wonderful experience. The service was tailored to our specific requirememts (food, flexibility in itenarary etc). They are also very open to feedback at every stage and respond to it well.

Despite some issues (inexperienced tour guide) we faced in one city, we are very glad to recommend China Discovery to other prospective travellers considering a trip in China!

We took a personalized version of the Silk Road / Hexi Corridor tour in Zhangye and Dunhuang during the very busy National Day holiday. Our tour organizer, Vivien Li, arranged meticulously a schedule with guides, drivers, and meals. She was amazing and so were our guides. Highly recommend China Discovery Tours!

I contacted China Discovery about a tour in Gansu. I had booked hotels already but wanted day tours and travel between Dunhuang, Zhangye and Lanzhou to be arranged by them if possible. They provided an excellent service from start to finish. Wonder produced a superb itinerary for me and was straight on to helping me arrange and plan the whole trip. All I had to do was agree or disagree and also Wonder was so understanding about my time and was very patient through the booking process and was always available during the trip with updates and so on as well as checking if everything was okay with the drivers. The whole trip when so smoothly, considering it was Golden Week, it was a miracle nothing went wrong but the main reason why was because of Wonder's efficiency and excellent organization, arranging all of the tickets, drivers and travel plans from start to finish. He even managed to get my friend tickets at very short notice and went above and beyond for us to ensure we had a fantastic time. We certainly did, thanks to him for his help and the amazing team at China Discovery.

I would like to thank you and all your team for this wonderful trip. We enjoyed every minute of it and we'll make sure to pass the word about it.

We traveled from Dunhuang ( Yardang geological park, moon crescent oasis, mogao grottoes) to Zhangye ( Rainbow mountain) ant then to Xinning ( Qinghai Lake. And Chaka Salt Lake). The scenic spot were amazing.

All the guide were really helpful and kind. The driver were are also nice and all drived smoothly.

I really enjoyed the trip and we will ask them again if we want to do another trip in China.

Thanks for all!

Riley arranged our tour to Gansu, everything was perfect. We got to see temples, gobi and desert, my childern loved the desert activities. Will definately use Riley and China Discovery again.

I just got back from a customize private tour to Gansu over the Golden Week. We started planning really late, many tour agencies declined to accommodate us as they were fully booked. We found China Discovery and connected with Wendy Dan. She was incredibly patient and worked around the clock to build our itinerary. She provided very clear explanations and was honest about the challenges and options we had. Wendy also checked in with us throughout our trip to make sure we were happy and comfortable with the arrangements. I highly recommend Wendy - all my preconceived notions and worries about dealing with shady tour agents have been erased thanks to her professionalism and knowledge.

The guide who greeted and managed our trip at Gansu - Mr. Ma was also equally patient and professional. Soft-spoken, polite and ever willing to get us answers to our questions. Our safety and comfort was his priority. He took care of everything and we truly appreciate that we were not taken to any shopping areas/shops.

We had an awe filled holiday perfectly organised by China Discovery. They customized our private family trip to include some fun teen activities (yellow river rafting, buggy racing, camel ride, evening show) . The travel between places is very well coordinated and communication between the guides is excellent. We didn’t have a care in the world and could fully enjoy the wonders of nature and ancient cultures blending together. The guides are very knowledgable and speak English very well. If you are picky about food it’s a good idea to pack some cereal or snacks - even the 5 star hotels have limited or no Western dishes.

For future holidays we will certainly use China Discovery again!

In 12 days we traveled the province of Gansu: Lanzhou Tianshui Xiahe Zhangye Jiayuguan Dunhuang. Echo, our contact person from China Discovery, did a fantastic job. She organised our itinerary from drivers, guides, hotels, entrance tickets to Covid-19 requirements. All was really well organised, all went very smooth and we experienced no problems with reference to Covid-19. Echo made sure we had all the required documents and health codes. We had a fantastic trip!

I made a private tour organized by China Discovery in Gansu Province, starting in Lanzhou, going to Zhangye, Jiayuguan and Dunhuang. The tour was organized very well, good hotels, great cultural and food experience. My guides were very dedicated and service oriented. Highly recommended!

We did the 7 days Zhangye Danxia and Badain Jaran Desert Tour. This was really a great tour with landscapes we did not expect and we had never seen before. If you like different and spectacular landscapes and don't mind the height of more than 3.000m in the first days, this is the tour you should book. Thanks to Vivien for recommending it to us.

We booked a 7 days tour along the Silk Road (Dunhuang/Zhangye/Xining). The preparation, organization and execution of the trip was perfect in all aspects. With the current COVID situation this is of importance and ensures a relaxing and smooth family vacation, which we enjoyed.

Our local tour guide took well care of us and accommodated all requests of a family traveling with kids. Our kids (7 and 9) enjoyed being with her and she even managed to keep them engaged throughout the entire trip, many thank for this. We can highly recommend a tour with China Discovery.

We recently completed a 6 day Silk Road tour beginning in Lanzhou and finishing in Dunhuang. Along the way, we experienced delicious cuisine influenced by the Muslim community which is quite different from the traditional Chinese dishes in the remainder of the country. We traveled in comfort in First Class on the High-Speed trains and air-conditioned modern vans. The beauty of the Rainbow Mountains and the history and of the culture of the Grottoes are not to be missed. This tour can be as active or as relaxing as one chooses. From climbing the westernmost portion of the Great Wall to scaling 500-foot high sun dunes or just relaxing with a stroll along a river. Our two guides Eric and Tony went out of their way to ensure we had the best tour possible. Tony even asked us to message him when we arrived safely at our next destination. I highly recommend China Discovery and their travel consultant Ms. Riley Guo for all your travel needs in China. Ms. Riley Guo is an absolute professional. We have traveled to many places in China on tours Riley has planned for us, all were great without any worries, delays or hiccups.

Drivers and tour guides were professional and helpful. Hotels were comfortable and clean (though be prepared for the linger of cigarette smell even in designated “non-smoking” rooms). Public toilets varied in standard of cleanliness (remember to take own toilet paper and hand sanitiser/water for washing hands in case taps do not work). Recommend comfortable walking shoes, sunblock & hat as there is plenty of walking and climbing. Overall, an interesting and adventurous trip which I would highly recommend.

Another great trip arranged by Wonder Wang of China Discovery. It was an excellent combination of seeing spectacular landscapes (Rainbow mountains at Zhangye, Echoing-Sand Mountains in Dunhuang), beautiful Buddhist art (Bingling Temple, Yulin Grottoes and the famous Mogao Grottoes) and learning about Chinese history. Climbing the Xuanbi Great Wall and the sand dunes at the Echoing-Sand Mountains were well worth the effort for the stunning views..

After a memorable Guizhou tour perfectly organized few years ago for me and my brother, we came back to China Discovery to seek support for our new trip in China.

Vivien Li was amazing in arranging for us a customized tour in Gansu which would allow us to enjoy the artistic treasures of the Mogao Grottoes and breathtaking landscapes as the Crescent Lake near Dunhuang and the Rainbow Mountains of the Zhangye Danxia Geopark.

She was great in understanding and meeting all our wishes, patient in adapting the program to our needs and obliging in coming up with suggestions that allowed us to get the best from our limited time in Gansu.

The arrangement included the flight from Xi’an to Dunhuang and the return to Chengdu with a transfer by train to Xining and a flight to Chengdu from there; Vivien took care to provide us a pickup from the railway station to the airport with a short local sightseeing, so we really did not have to care for anything by ourselves.

Once on place we have been fully happy with the accommodation and with the choice of the restaurants. Helen, our local guide, was well prepared and spoke an excellent English, and our driver was friendly and careful.

We would use China Discovery’s services again without hesitation and we can recommend it to everybody.

The arrangements made for us with China Discovery of Chengdu all went successfully and according to plan with no problems at all which all made for an enjoyable time in China travelling from Beijing to Kashgar via Xi’an,Dunhuang and Turpan.

Everything went extremely well and was handled professionally at all times and the guides and drivers were all very good especially Johnny who looked after us for part of our time in Xian and Aisha in Turpan. The hotels booked for us by our travel coordinator Catherine Liu matched our expectations. We can certainly recommend China Discovery if you are looking for an agent to make travel arrangements for you in China.

It was a trip along the old Silk Road in the foot steps of the 7th century monk Xuanzang. We prepared the itinerary approached the agencies to arrange the transport, hotels and guide for our trip. China Discovery offered us the tour the way we were looking for. Ms Riley Guo of CD was vary helpful in finalization of details. We appreciate the arrangements.

Our group of 8 travel friends was looking for a tour of the Chinese Silk Road. We knew which places we wanted to visit but we could not find any tour offered by a US tour company. After researching on the Internet, we took a chance and chose "China Discovery", based in Chengdu, China. We chose them because they would customize a tour for us and because of their excellent communication via email. I was lucky to have Mr. Wonder Wang respond and that was the beginning of many emails to set up our requested itinerary and work out all the details of which cites would fit into our 20 days schedule. We visited Beijing, Xian, Lanzhou, Jiayuguan,Dunhuang,Turpan, Urumqi, and Kashgar. We traveled by high speed train, by air, and in 35 passenger buses. Our English speaking guides were always waiting for us at each new destination and the bus drivers were great in the crazy Chinese traffic. The tour guides were flexible to make our days more efficient and to meet our needs. The food was very good and the hotels were better than I expected for the Silk Road.

It was a pleasure working with Wonder, it was so easy because he always quickly responded to my emails. He made suggestions on everything such as sleeper trains vs high speed trains, 15 passengers van vs 35 persons bus, hotels, and adjusting the schedule to fit our many requests. My favorite was letting us know that we could upgrade from second class train seats to first class for only $71 per person for all 3 of our high speed train trips.

Rita Jiang with China Discovery arranged my solo tour of this western China portion of the historical Silk Road. Starting from Lanzhou to Zhangye,Jiayuguan, Dunhuang, Turpan, Urumqi, and finally Kashgar. The tour guides and drivers were very good with very comfortable 4 star accomodations. I especially liked being able to experience various modes to transportation from high speed train to overnight train, private driver,and some short flights. The arrangements were seemless. The landscapes were varied from snow covered mountains, sand dunes, rivers and lakes, and some very interesting desert topography. Of course, the highlights are the historical sights such as Mogao Grottoes, Jiaohe Ancient City, Bezeklik Thousand Buddha Caves, and Yardang National Park. I was very surprised how these western outpost cities have been transformed into modern cities. Overall, I really enjoyed this trip.

Rita Jiang with China Discovery arranged my solo tour of this western China portion of the historical Silk Road. Starting from Lanzhou to Zhangye,Jiayuguan, Dunhuang, Turpan, Urumqi, and finally Kashgar. The tour guides and drivers were very good with very comfortable 4 star accomodations. I especially liked being able to experience various modes to transportation from high speed train to overnight train, private driver,and some short flights. The arrangements were seemless. The landscapes were varied from snow covered mountains, sand dunes, rivers and lakes, and some very interesting desert topography. Of course, the highlights are the historical sights such as Mogao Grottoes, Jiaohe Ancient City, Bezeklik Thousand Buddha Caves, and Yardang National Park. I was very surprised how these western outpost cities have been transformed into modern cities. Overall, I really enjoyed this trip.