We really want to go to China in the next year or so and hopefully teach some English over that way. So when we were given the opportunity to review the http://www.chinatours.com website we thought it would be a good opportunity to do a little bit of background research into where we might want to go.
There are just a few things that you want from a good travel booking website:
- Great looking and fast loading
- Easy navigation
- Specific and detailed information
- Low costs
- Simple booking process
First Impressions
Landing on the home page you get the immediate feeling that this site has been translated from Chinese into English rather than created in English to begin with. The first words you see are “we serve you like families” but at least we are greeted warmly.
And to be fair we have heard the English language butchered all around the world from “native” English speaking countries!
The site is quite minimal with loads of white space and not a lot of text. We like this style as it means you won’t get too confused by what is on offer. However we felt that there could have been a few more high quality pictures near the top perhaps on a slider window to really grab the viewers attention.
Navigation
Jumping right in we navigated our way initially to the “Join-in Tours” which we took to mean that they were group tours. Every tour seems to depart from Beijing which is probably a good thing considering it is the easiest place to fly in to China from pretty much everywhere.
There are a few things on our Bucket List that we want to tick off in China including the Great Wall and Tibet. The perfect tour for us then would definitely be “Images of China and Tibet”. Leaving from Beijing on a 12 day tour you take in both the Great Wall and Tibet, not to mention the Terracotta Warriors in Xian before finishing in Shanghai.
Getting around the site is definitely easy and while there are a few translation “oddities” there is nothing that you cannot understand.
Information
Once you have selected a tour there is some really detailed information outlining exactly when and where you will go on your tour. Even going as far as letting you know where you will be eating your dinner each evening.
We cannot wait to try some delicious Peking Duck in China!
The embedded maps even though you might know what the place is called where you are headed. You might not actually know geographically where in China you are.
Costs and Booking Process
Considering that the trips are quite expensive (for our usual backpacker standards) we would expect the best service during the trip. Fortunately it looks like the tours do deliver with 4 and 5 star accommodations. Not to mention all of your meals arranged at various delicious looking restaurants.
As with most tours there are only set days for departures. The interesting thing is though that you cannot actually book any tours directly on the site.
Once you click the “Book” button you are in fact taken to a general Enquiry form. If we were actually considering the trip then this kind of annoys me as we were ready to hand over our money. That is the point of booking isn’t it? Shouldn’t it be in the best interest of the tour company to want to take your money?
They do state that they will get back to you within 24 hours and once they reply you do have a range of options to pay up including PayPal, Bank Transfers and the usual Credit Cards.
Overall
The site is well designed but could definitely use just a tiny bit of work to fix up some of the Chinese to English translations. And by adding a few “wow” factor photos as well then I think it would help draw you in to click on each tour.
Would we use them to book with? Considering we want to head to China in a few years time, definitely. But we would be doing a lot more research prior to then anyway.
If you want to visit Xian, then I also highly recommend you check out this this tour company, www.chinaxiantour.com, who will show you the authentic side of China.