China Specialist Opens North America Office
Wendy Wu Tours, which has established itself as the UK and Australia’s largest tour operator to China in 12 years, this week opens a New York City office. The company’s fully-inclusive tours start at $140 per day and offer entry to areas not accessible to other operators. A new 68-page full-color brochure, “Wendy Wu’s China,” is available, and a new North American website has been unveiled to serve the consumers and travel agents.
Offering group and private tours with upfront pricing, Wendy Wu tours includes all international flights (from NYC and LAX), fuel surcharges, taxes, accommodations in centrally-located superior three- and four-star hotels, three meals a day, intra-China transportation, daily tours and entrance fees, evening entertainment, English-speaking guides, a tour escort and the $190 visa fee and processing. The only additional charge is the gratuity.
Under the leadership of Tibetan-born, China-raised Wendy Wu, the company has a track record of introducing guests to places long before they become mainstream or the focus of other tour operators. Wu has cultivated important travel relationships in China for years and is able to offer insider access to some of China’s lesser known treasures. Examples include Mt. Everest Base Camp on the Tibet side, where guests must pass through a special army reserve station and stay in army barracks (“Epic Adventure”); and Zhangjiajie, where the variety of different terrains (mountainous regions, upland areas, plains, and Karst rock areas) gained fame as the site for scenic landscapes in the recent mega-hit movie Avatar.
Wendy Wu’s 14 Group Tours range from 10 to 29 days. Names of the tours conjure up the Far East mystique: “Dreams of Nature,” “Himalayan Express” and “Silk Road Explorer,” among others. The 27-day “China Highlights” ($3,790 per person, double) includes in-depth exploration of Beijing, Shanghai, Xian, Chengdu, Suzhou, Hangzhou, Guilin and a Li River cruise. The 10-day “China Experience,” with visits to Shanghai, Wuzhen, Xian and Beijing, is $2,490. Evening entertainment runs the gamut – from the Beijing Duck Banquet to the Tang Dynasty Dance and the Shanghai Huangpu River sailing. Group tours have a maximum of 28 persons in 49-passenger coaches for most tours.
The eight Private Tours are also fully-inclusive but offer more flexibility and are excellent for small groups, reunions, family groups, alumni groups or just friends looking to vacation together in a mystical land. All are customizable and upgradeable – or a tour can be planned with multiple preferred components mixed together. Suggested offerings include an 11-day “Tibetan Trails,” taking in Chengdu with visits to the Panda Reserve, Lhasa, Gyantse and Shigatse ($3,790) and the 14-day “Majestic Yangtze,” with Shanghai and Beijing bookending stays in Chongqing, Chengdu and Xian, and a four-day exploration of the Yangtze River ($4,090).
Short-stays and extensions vary from the mainstream offerings, such as Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong, to the very remote – Nine Villages Valley, site for the “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” movie; the Bifengxia Panda Reserve, home to 16 giant pandas; and the stone forest of Kunming.
(877-993-6399, www.wendywuschina.com)
