My mum (52) went to china on a tour with shearings. As she was travelling alone she was quite nervous but she found them to be excellent and she said there was a real mixture of people, couples, singles,young and old. She visited most of the usual toursit places and wants to go again soon.

Try Travelsphere.

Davey, so Travelsphere do tailor-made? It does look it on their website, unless I'm blind!

Hi,
I work for My Travel in retail and a few weeks ago there was an announcment in work that Cosmos would be doing packages to China, flying from Manchester (not sure about other airports). Not sure when prices go on genereal sale tho. Other than that i would say Tradewinds may be another good option. Hope this helps.
Simon

I would not recommend DIY for a first visit. Taxi drivers, staff at tourist sites do not speak English. Even if you book a tour guide when you get there or before you go, they will take you where they want to take you and not necessarily where you want to go.

You will be taken to endless jade factories and tea ceremonies. You will be encouraged to attend acrobat shows etc. The guides gain "points" which they can use for travel within China for taking people to these things. In the end we told our guide that we wanted to go where we wanted to go and not where she wanted to take us and if she did so the tip she would get would be of far more value than any "points" she earned. She got the message in the end.

Beijing is such a huge city and it is very difficult to navigate as you cannot understand the signs. (Unless of course you can read Mandarin!) You can waste hours trying to get from one side to the other then realise the next place you want to go is back where you started!!!

If the package tours don't fit in with your schedule I would definitely go for a tailor made tour - include meals if you can because, unless you go to McDonalds and point at the signs, it is very difficult to get what you want to eat ( and believe me there are things you would not want to eat!!).

I have been to China on a number of occassions whilst working and have managed to fit in the tourist bit at the same time so if you have any specific questions I will do my best to help.

Also try Cox & Kings and Bales

Hayes & Jarvis also do tours of China

Dear Dawn,

We had tailor made holiday in China last summer, unforgetable experience! The people there are so friendly, we were amazed about the culture, landscape, the food, and so many things... we were so happy to had the holiday which was arranged by a Chinese company (my Chinese friend introduced) which was so good. here is the details for you: Ms Ning Brown 07708832532

Annie

Thanks Annie - we are all booked up now. Have arranged a tailor made holiday via China Holidays in London.

Dawn