Everything You Need to Know about UTO Vacations’ China Deal

On Cyber Monday in 2018, Hart stumbled upon a Travelzoo deal for 10 days in China with UTO Vacations. We had used Travelzoo in the past for events around Chicago, but we hadn’t used it for traveling yet. So, we were – understandably – a little apprehensive about booking a trip this big with a company we’d never heard of.

The China Price Buster deal included a direct flight from Chicago, all of our hotels, transportation throughout China, and a handful of tickets to main attractions like the Great Wall. It also included tips for our various tour guides. This cost us $1,986 (total) + the cost of a getting a visa. UTO Vacations was offering an INSANE deal and we saw the available dates filling up very quickly. We took the plunge and booked a trip for Thanksgiving 2019. Since then we have recommended it to anyone and everyone since we went.

The below review of our vacation is my own opinion, and I am not receiving compensation for the review or for any traffic to the UTO Vacations deal.

General UTO Vacations Review

PROS:

• Cheaper than you’d pay for a trip on your own
• 4-star and 5-star hotels
• Time to explore on your own and with a guide

CONS:

• Hotels are further from the city centers than we would choose for ourselves
• The highly subsidized rate leads to spending more time with “sale pitch” factories
• You don’t necessarily get to spend the amount of time you want at large attractions like the Great Wall or The Bund.

You can read a more in-depth overview outlining each day of trip below!

Beijing

Day 1 & Day 2: We flew China Eastern, a SkyPartner with Delta. I called China Eastern before we left to give them our Skymiles numbers and they were were able to the link the accounts so we got Skymiles for the trip. We flew direct from Chicago to Shanghai and then took a quick flight from Shanghai to Beijing. Due to varying time zones, we landed in Beijing around 11:50 PM on Day 2 and a UTO Vacations member was there to take us and a handful of others from the airport to our hotel.

You could sign up for optional guided tours for Day 3, but we opted to explore Beijing on our own for the day. If you did opt into the optional tours, you could pay by USD, RMB or credit card. If you opted to pay with a credit card, there was a 4% fee added to the charge even if you use a card without foreign transaction fees.

Day 3: Given that we opted out of the guided tours for the day, we were on our own for getting around Beijing. The hotel they put us in was near a bus station and Apple Maps made it fairly easy to navigate by telling us how much the fare would cost, what stops were along the way and which stop we needed to get off on. You can see my 1 Day in Beijing itinerary here. We asked others in our group what they thought of the guided tour that they day and it seemed hit or miss.

Day 4: We left the hotel at about 7:30 AM and first went from there to a jade factory where we spent about 1.5 hours. They gave an informational session first where we learned about more about jade and then you had time to shop around. The sales pitch was a little over the top for me. There was a lot of pressure to buy something.

The Great Wall

After the factory, we left for the Great Wall. We had 2 hours from when we got into the parking lot to explore. There were two different directions you could go on the wall – a steeper side and a less-steep side. You hike it on your own so you can choose whatever side you want and go as high as you want at your own pace. On the way, our tour guide, Alston, told us more about the history of the Great Wall.

After leaving, we went to the Herbal Institute and a professor presented on methodology for a few minutes followed by a free foot massage. Giving the masseuse a tip of 20 – 30 RMB were expected, but not required. Doctors came to talk to you during the massage if you were interested in a diagnosis. They typically recommended you buy an herbal medicine afterwards. We didn’t opt into the diagnosis or buying any herbs. After the institute, you had an hour for lunch on your own. By this point, lunch was at 3:30 PM. 

We chose to add on the Golden Mask Dynasty show ($45 USD) that night and really loved it. It was a combination of acrobatics, gymnastics, dance, and lighting. For those that didn’t go on the show, they were sent on a separate bus back to the hotel around 4:30 PM. We were back to the hotel around 7:30 PM – 8:00 PM so we enjoyed a nice dip in the hot springs tub in our room.

HOTEL #1 REVIEW: Chun Hui Yuan Resort

The hotel was very nice. It was a resort with restaurants, 2 community hot springs, a wide variety of breakfast buffet as well as well as a hot spring tub in each room. You could also sign up to receive massages for 30 minutes to an hour in you room for around $35 USD. Breakfast in the hotel started at 6:30 AM and went until 9:30 – 10 AM. This hotel had the best breakfast of the entire trip. There was a ton of variety, including more western food.

The hotel was very nice, but it was far from the city center. It took us about an hour and a half to get into the city via public transit. There also weren’t a very many options for restaurants around but the hotel had two of their own.

Suzhou

Day 5: This was a very long day. We left the hotel at 5:00 AM for a flight to Shanghai. Our flights were at 8:30 AM, but some other UTO Vacations tour groups had to leave earlier for earlier flights. We left too early for breakfast, but they provided little baggies with tomatoes, cucumber, a boiled egg, a banana, water, a slice of sweet bread and a carton of milk. Alston, our tour guide, helped us check in at the airport, but didn’t continue with us throughout the rest of the trip 

We landed in Shanghai and had about 45 min to grab lunch in the airport. Our next stop, Suzhou, was about a 2 hour drive away. Our new tour guide through UTO Vacations, Peter Wu, took us the Master of the Nets Garden, explored there for about an hour before heading back to the hotel. If you didn’t eat lunch in the airport, there wasn’t another chance to get lunch.

Hotel #2 Review – Pan Pacific Suzhou:

This hotel was very nice. We had a beautiful garden outside of our room window, but didn’t have much sunlight to enjoy it. Behind the hotel, is the Panmen Gate Park. You get in free through the hotel’s courtyard, but there is a fee for the public. This park was BEAUTIFUL. We loved it more than the garden we walked through the day before. We went before dinner and then again in the morning before we left. Our tour guide didn’t mention it though which was disappointing. A lot of people didn’t know to go back there. 

For dinner, there were a few options across the street as well as dinner in the hotel. We took a cab a little further away to a restaurant inside a shopping mall for Peking duck and it was phenomenal. The breakfast buffet here was good as well. 

Day 6: Our tour group checked out of the hotel and left around 7:45 AM to head to the Lanli Garden where we learned about silk embroidery. Like with the jade factory in Beijing, there were options to purchase items at the end. Unlike the jade factor, there wasn’t any pressure to buy anything from anyone. Afterwards, we went to a silk spinning factory. Here you learned more about silk and all of it’s benefits. As always, there was an opportunity for shopping afterwards. We left the factory and drove to the location for the optional canal ride for $30 USD. We opted out of this and used the time to grab lunch and walk around for about an hour.

Wuxi

From here, we drove to Wuxi and got a new tour guide because Wuxi requires you to use their own local tour guides. Our guide, Peter Wu, was still around but took a backseat for this city. We stopped at Lake Tai for a photo and picked her up from there. Afterwards, we went to Nanchang Street and had about an hour to walk around. Some people were really tired by this point and didn’t want to walk, but we thought it was a great stop – touristy, but cool. 

Hotel #3 Review – Grand Park Wuxi: 

This hotel was the closest to a city center for our trip. We were directly across the street from a huge mall that had bars, restaurants, shops, etc. A lot of people ended up eating at a barbeque buffet in the mall. The breakfast buffet had a large selection like many of the other hotels we stayed it.

Day 7:  We set off and started at a pearl factory in Wuxi. They did a very quick demonstration and then you had time to shop. Afterwards, Emma said goodbye and we headed for Hangzhou. Hangzhou is in another province, so we had to go through a security stop. It was about a 3-hour drive, but we stopped half way at a truck stop for lunch.

Hangzhou

Once we got to Hangzhou, we went to West Lake. Those who signed up for the boat ride for $30 USD, went on the ride and those who didn’t, had about an hour and a half to explore. I’m so glad we opted out of the boat ride because it’s a very beautiful park. I wish we could have spent more time there.

We went to the hotel, and it was the nicest hotel we had been at it. It wasn’t on the itinerary. We were scheduled for Jinma Palace, but we stayed at Quzhou Hotel instead. Our guide nor UTO Vacations never mentioned the discrepancy or the reasoning for it.

Hotel #4 Review – Quzhou Hotel International:

This was the nicest hotel of our entire trip. It used to be used for government officials and now it’s used specifically for tour groups and conferences. The breakfast was okay, but still a large variety of food types. There weren’t any food options near the hotel so we took a cab to grab dinner. The hotel head a dinner buffet that others in our group opted to do.  

Shanghai

Day 8: This was the last day we spent with the tour group before our independent day in Shanghai. We started our day with a stop at Longjing Green Tea village where we learned about and tasted Dragon Well Tea. After the green tea village, we headed into Shanghai where we had an hour or so independently walk along the Bund. We opted into the evening cruise on the Huangpu River for $45 USD before heading back to the hotel for the night. The cruise gave us a great view of the skyline of Shanghai but was very crowded.

Day 9: Similarly, to our day in Beijing, you could opt to do a guided tour or explore on your own. We opted to tour on our own and you can see my other post for my recap for our Day in Shanghai.

Day 10: Our hotel was 2 hours from the airport, so we left at 6:30 AM for an 11:30 AM flight. They arranged different shuttle times for everyone depending on your flight time. One couple wanted to go to Disney for the day since they had a late flight, so they took the bus to the airport at 6:30 AM and cab from there. We were given a breakfast with different types of bread and a boiled egg. 

Hotel #5 Review – Auto City Ruili Hotel

The hotel was modern, clean, and comfortable; but it was inconvenient for getting into Shanghai. We were able to walk to the train station from our hotel, but it was quite far from the city center. It took us around 1.5 hours to get into the city from our hotel. We didn’t spend very much time in this hotel at all.

I hope you enjoyed reading about out trip to China! I’d recommend doing a tour through UTO Vacations because it made visiting China very affordable. Have you done a tour with UTO Vacations before? I’d love to hear about it in the comments!

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