Perfect! It could have been a terrible day due to constant rain, threat of rain, and cool temperatures. BUT our guide, Berlin simply refused to allow any of the three of us to have a less than fun and informative day. One day prior to the tour we were contacted by Viator’s supervisor, Alana to confirm our pickup, told about our guide, given the weather forecast, and asked for any special needs, etc. Also one day before the tour our guide, Berlin also checked in with us. On the morning of the tour, Berlin checked in again to make everything was set correctly.
We started out promptly on time at 8:30 am in a spotlessly clean Mercedes van with comfortable, roomy, individual leather seats. We ended promptly at 7:30 pm despite some of the worst traffic I have ever seen. On time performance seems to be a Viator characteristic. Berlin accurately helped connect 6,000 years of Chinese history to the complicated contemporary China of today. She was bright, articulate, thoughtful, positive, and willing to share her own point of view when asked. We learned a lot, had a great local lunch and dinner, and a nice coffee break in between meals for more relaxed conversation. Nothing was rushed and the whole day was set at our pace and not a pre-determined timetable. There was no “canned” scripts but rather open, two-way conversations. Wuzhen was slightly less “touristy” than Xitang, but both water towns were charming in their own way. I cannot recommenced Berlin and Viator highly enough. We felt we received far more than we paid for. This was our third Viator and we plan on using them again.
