Hello Gina,

First I must apologise for a late thank you for everything that you have done for us and our tour of China.  I have sent a picture of my wife Diane and myself (I'm the good looking one on the left) on the Great Wall of China which was one of the things in life that we wanted to achieve. I am not too good at sending many pictures at the one time but I will certainly tidy up my untidy habits and get some more pictures through to you to see how much we enjoyed ourselves. They may come through to you one at a time with a short "hello".

What can I say about our fabulous time? Overall the China time was only a short part of our total holiday but the remainder such as the cruise from Beijing does not really compare. Both of our guides and drivers were wonderful to us and very patient. Both Diane and myself have bad knees and we are not in a great hurry as we walk slowly to enjoy the scenery and take in many memories. Chrissie was a great person to start our holiday as she thoroughly showed us the places to see and educated us with the history of Xian, the terracotta warriors and the wall. Our accommodation was wonderful and we both slept well at night after our wonderful days. Diane always wanted to see the warriors so we can both tick that box now. It was interesting to observe the cultures in China and our visit to the Mosque highlighted this. We think that one of our best experiences and memories was when we had a hot pot lunch.To be honest we have not had a hot pot before but we have enjoyed a fondue at home in winter so this new meal was delightful and one that we will cook at home. At the conclusion of our Xian visit Chrissie took us to the airport and checked us in and even walked us to the departure gate. We thank her for all that she showed us and we wish her and her family all the best for the future.

When we arrived in Beijing we were met by Tom a young and very enthusiastic person who loved his history. Everything went so well for us as I said we are not quick walkers but we went so well for the whole tour. Tiananmen Square was a place that I need to revisit and spend many more hours just walking around. As I said earlier our visit to the wall cannot be explained.
We were fascinated with the experience although it was still a long walk up to the cable car and a climb to the top my wife showed how we felt by just standing there and crying in happiness that she had achieved this great time in her life. It was funny in some ways that she had to phone her children back in Australia to let them know what she had done. I think that I have told you that she had a bad fall two years ago when she broke both of her femurs in her legs and spent three months in hospital so this was a highlight of her life to climb and walk on the wall. We loved Beijing very much and we will have to return as long as our health holds up.

Gina, I could go on for a long time talking about the great times that we had and I once again thank you for your competency and great advice. We did survive the crowds and it did not ever concern us except for the delays getting into a location. I must also say that I enjoyed reading your emails and the information that you gave us. What did we get from our tour of China?  Wonderful memories and a new way to enjoy Chinese food boyh of which we will peruse over the next few months and plan our next visit to China.

Thank you ever so much and look after yourself and have a great life.

All our best wishes,

Diane and Jim Doig