I had a great time, never felt pressured at stop were they sold merchandise. Everything was taken care of for you.

*** BEWARE *** My elderly parents took a leap of faith and purchased a tour with this travel agency. Unfortunately, their luggage was lost in transit during their outbound flight. As you can imagine, it is a difficult and stressful situation for seniors at the age of 77 that cannot speak English. To make things worse, all the checked luggage were tagged with wrong names, making it impossible to track. The Nexus Holidays tour guide, Anny, explicitly lied to my parents that they have filed a claim with American Airlines (AA) on the day of arrival. I personally called 10 days later to find out that no claim was filed for that flight, or under my parents name. After 4 hours of investigation, AA was able to track down the luggage and ship it back to us. My parents should've requested for a claim number from Nexus Holidays, but they didn't know the process. Secondly, they promised to file a claim for the expense incurred from the delayed luggage via travel insurance and AA. When we reached out to follow up, no one was eager to help. There's absolutely no accountability for their actions. Book at your own risk as you will not receive any support or customer service from this travel agency - you are on your own, as indicated by other yelp members. read more

Ok people, first off, stop reviewing CHINA. This is for Nexus Holidays as a company. You are not reviewing the country of China, the airlines, or anything else that the company doesn't actually run. We (myself and 3 friends) purchased the 10 day China Discovery tour for $499 out of LA. Purchasing the package was easy and they lay out all of the additional costs and itinerary upfront. They are very transparent about how their company operates and how they get such good prices. We ended up paying the "gratuity", visas, and for a couple add ons with the initial purchase, bringing out totals to about $850pp. Still not bad for 10 days in China, all airfare, hotels, transportation, most of our food and tours. Airfare alone can be $500-800. Now don't get me wrong, the trip was great. The staff in China were wonderful and helpful. We loved out tour guides and all the knowledge we received. The hotels they booked were a bit far from anything, but they were nice hotels and the breakfast was always good. The tours were long and sometimes we wished we had more time at the actual attractions/historical sites, but Nexus does make sure you see the big tourist spots. We got to see everything we could have wanted and more. The 2 stars is for the corporate staff (should be 1 but the actual tour grabbed them the second star). They are not very friendly or helpful and they mess up, a lot. We had an issue with one of our people and were basically told sorry, not our problem. It ended up working out after a little bit of threatening on our end. Then they lost our passports. Yes, they lost our passports! I paid for certified mail, they arrived to them just fine, but they did not follow the instructions of the USPS when mailing them back, so they were lost. We ended up having to all take time off work, go to our local office in SF, and apply and pay for expedited passports. And what did Nexus do? They paid for PART, only part, of the process to get new passports. Which as a reminder, was their fault to begin with. We received our new passports, I hand delivered them to their office so they could get the new visas put on, and went back to pick them up once the visas were complete so we didn't have to worry about these getting lost too. 2 days before we were supposed to leave for China, our original passports magically appear. I swear the whole time it was a scam to get more money from us. The tour was great, we had a wonderful time. China is a fabulous Country with friendly people, beautiful scenery, lots of history, and delicious food. But think twice before you book with Nexus Holidays. read more

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I would not go through with Nexus Holidays again, especially for a China tour. They are not professional and courteous as my wife and I thought they were. At the beginning phase of interacting with their agents, they were nice until we paid for our Tour. Afterward, things went downhill, with slow responses, no callbacks, and very little information such as when we were expecting to receive our itinerary. We literally had to beg to get our itinerary about a month before our flight. My wife and I completed the 17 day China tour, plus the Yangtze river cruise in May 2019 and the tour was horrible. The only thing that was pretty much organized were the flights. The hotels were as advertised, which was 4 star, however - they were not centrally located (this was an issue for some on Tour with us). This was an inconvenience for those wanting things in close proximity such as fancy restaurants, and nice stores. As for our Tour guides, some of them barely spoke English - so it was difficult to communicate effectively to them. To make things worse, each day was literally feeling like a shopping tour. I get it, some local residents are sales reps looking to earn a living, however, the sale pitches gets overwhelming and annoying. It's as if you're almost forced to buying things you don't need and it felt as though the guides were encouraging these reps behavior. The optional tours felt extremely short and they were crowded. This felt and was very low value. The shorter the shows, made it difficult for everyone to get engaged when it ended so quick. I don't' recommend Nexus Holidays to anyone. read more

I have read these complaints and I must say that if any of them are true, I feel for you. Our experience was not the same. I must admit, receiving our tickets within the week of departure had us anxious and frustrated. The flight was very long but pleasant enough and we sat in the airport as least an hour after arriving. Our first guide, Leo, was very friendly and open and spoke English very well. He explained things in advance and looked after us 5-6 days. The second guy, Kelvin, wasn't as friendly, but he did his job and he kept us on point. The tour is structured and at some points a little rushed, but if you go with the flow and have a good attitude, you'll be okay. The hotels were all above standard and we had breakfast every morning. Though the food was nothing to write home about, there was plenty of it and staff was constantly refilling and maintaining their stations. Lunch was usually much better. It did get tiring changing rooms for five nights straight, but again the rooms were very nice. You have to prepare to do a lot of walking. They tell you that up front. You probably should take about $800 USD per couple for spending unless you're on a budget. And bring your own toilet paper! Seriously, there will be no paper in the public facilities. Though the tours were very informative (jade, pearls, tea, silk, medicine), expect a sales pitch at every stop. They are smooth and slick at this, very expert at making you feel you need to buy. Though you don't have too. But we did. We meant to. $399 for ten days is hard to top. We're already talking about doing it again. read more

I found this website to travel zoo.com and we just got back from our trip to China and everything went very smooth our tour guide Lily is very knowledgeable, friendly and a lot of fun touring us in Beijing. We stayed in nice hotel, breakfast, lunch and some dinner are provided and when we got to Shanghai Leo was our guide and he really took care of us even with the storm and went out of his way to make sure we are comfortable and the rest of the other tour guide in different cities like Sheila, Christina and Jason are all very professional. everything was smooth with this trip and from the very beginning. Lily and Becky from the home office had been in touch with us letting us know what we need to how to applied to get the Chinese visa and they are with us every step of the way. For the price that we paid this whole package exceed our expectations and definitely we will be using this travel agency for future travel plans and will be recommending it to all our friends. I see that a lot of people are complaining on this travel agency but because they expecting more than what they paid, for $500 including flight dinner hotel and some of the tour is incredible price and of course you can get other optional tours if you want but that's up to you it's not. You also have to be open minded to some site they'll show you. And yes they will take you to the shopping stores and that was disclosed during the time of making your reservation to the website but you're under no obligation to buy anything. read more

Just came back from a 10-day trip to China. NOTE: I'm also factoring in ALL communication I had with the company before the trip. We originally found a deal on Groupon to visit China super cheap. Having never been to the country before and rarely traveling on my own, I was excited to travel the world. Navigating their website to place the order was a little tricky, but I was able to book the nearest date. Since it was half a year away, there was not much email communication. Speaking of communication, the company is not alert and will take at least half a week to receive a "response". You will need to be on your toes about deadlines and other important dates, otherwise it may bite you in the rear later on. For example; I elected not to use their Visa service as it's faster and cheaper for me to do it myself at the local Chinese consulate. But to do so, I needed a flight itinerary and a hotel reservation or travel log. They've already past the deadline their emails said when they would send it, so I a wrote a follow-up to get it faster. Luckily there was no incident and we had plenty of time to grab our visas. Warning: they will pick the cheapest route for you, depending on your location. For us, we flew from LA to Shanghai and then connected to Beijing, with less than four hours to rest. During the trip, we had Andy as the tour guide in the Beijing half of the leg, and Maggie for the Shanghai half. If you follow the group with the bus, you should have no problem. Always have a phone line with the tour guide active, in case of emergencies. The first day, we lost several members of the group because they went on their own w/o informing the the tour guide beforehand. You do not want to get lost in a foreign country and it will piss off both the guide and the other guests. I've noticed the ones who stay in the group have a better time than those who ventured off on their own. Everyday breakfast was offered, and so was lunch on most days. There are stops to factories that sell: jade, silk, pearls, copper/bronze, and longjing green tea. You don't need to buy stuff here, but other than a trip to the bazaar and underground market, you have little chance to buy souvenirs. Also there was a foot massage offered at a school for traditional Chinese medicine, but don't elect to have their doctors check you. Not worth it IMO. Overall, I'm happy I went to experience a new culture in China. But I'm not a fan of guided tours, so it's unlikely I would go again unless I see a good deal. Keep your expectations leveled and you shouldn't encounter too many issues. Oh, and have enough local cash on hand, most places in China do not accept credit card. Use a local ATM for best conversion rates. read more

I KNOW THEY ARE CHEAP BUT DO NOT USE THEM!! My gf and I went on a 10 day China tour with them and sent them a check for the additional optional tours. They lost the check and said we could just pay when we get to China, which is what we did. 1 month after getting back they cashed the check so we called them (everytime you call them you have to do it 3-10 times over the course of several hours to talk to someone). We got forwarded to about 10 different people and finally someone told us they could resolve the fraudulant charge. So we wait and over the course of ANOTHER month we receive no emails, phone calls, or anything to contact us. Now we are forced to go to the bank and claim fraud against this garbage company in order to get our money back. Please for the sake of your sanity USE SOMEONE ELSE!!! read more

Where to start. We booked the 10 day delicious tour for China. We booked in May for a November departure. The only confirmation you will receive is an email. Communicating with the Chicago Office namely Eric is near impossible. The receptionist always states he is on the phone and you are not able to leave a message for call back. The blanket answer is try back in 15 minutes. I had to beg for the itinerary so we could apply for the visas. Now for the horror part of the adventure. My wife had a cold and had a lower back issue when we arrived in Beijing. We were met at the airport and sent to a hotel that was not on our itinerary and was soo far outside of Beijing. All be it all the hotels were 4 star hotel. That was not a lie. My wife chose to rest for the two days we were in Beijing and not go out on the tour that was included in our itinerary. I was informed by the tour guide that if we did not pay $200 that they would cancel the rest of our trip. We would be left stranded. I immediately confirmed this to be true with Eric out of the Chicago office. He stated that if we do not participate we have to pay for every night at the hotel and if we do not he would not book the rest of the trip. They wanted cash but i refused and used a credit card so I could argue this when I returned home. They took what could of been an enjoyable experience and made it an utter nightmare. As for the second half of the trip our guide Maggie was amazing. The trip was enjoyable. However, the itinerary was no where near accurate and the hotels that we were to stay were a complete bait and switch. We were not able to give anyone stateside our hotel info in case of an emergency because Nexus would not tell us where we would be staying day to day. Know what you are getting by booking with this company. Very disappointed in the experience but I did enjoy China. I wish we would of gone with a different company. It is crazy to imagine that a Company can extort more money from you and you have no option but to pay it when you are in a foreign country and are basically held hostage to their requests. ALSO THEY CUT A DAY OFF OUR TRIP AND SENT US HOME EARLY!!! WTF read more

We went on a 10 day guided China tour with Nexus (paid $399 pp all inclusive) and it was great. The tour guides, food, hotel, transportation and overall organization of everything was great. We can definitely recommend them. read more

Early 2020, I made a deposit and payment of $600.00 for a trip to Russia. The trip was canceled due to not enough participants, then, COVID-19. I called and emailed their Chicago and New York offices for refund. Their agents were irresponsible and neglect my request. According to BBB, Nexus Holidays took $69,000 from a Chicago group to Italy and never refund their money. Who own Nexus Holidays? They should refund my money. read more

Nexus Holidays - "Good Value, But With Caveats" My wife and I took a tour in China with Nexus Holidays. We have only done one prior group tour, to Thailand, with Affordable Asia, which was very good, so we gave Nexus a try. The price was really good! The group size was about 30 people, about 10 more than I would hope for, frankly. The pre-trip service was generally good, but there were a few points I did not like at all: 1) We did not get a really detailed itinerary until the week before the trip. 2) We did not get the option to do online airline check-in, or get to choose all the airline seating ahead of time. MY WIFE AND I WERE GIVEN DIFERENT ROWS FOR THE 12 HOUR TRIP HOME!! I had to do some heavy and loud arguing in Beijing to get seats next to one another, although across an aisle. There is no reason Nexus could not use their leverage to make sure online check-in and seating choice can be done by customers. So, to make this review more sensible, I am breaking it into parts. Note that some of my negatives apply to China, and not Nexus, such as the hassles involved in getting workable VPN, adding WeChat, and the often lousy 3G phone service or poor servers around the country. Always beware of the traps and scams around sales in jewelry, jade and silk shops!! Chinese are generally rude and pushy, but we did meet some lovely Chinese, too. No sense of personal space! Airlines/bus/travel: Air China was okay, excepting the issues with online check-in and seating noted above. Tour drivers were okay, especially given notoriously awful traffic in Shanghai and Beijing. However, one of my biggest gripes is how much time was spent on the tour bus, because of hotels we used located far from the city centers. I would gladly pay more, or do so as a "tiered pricing" option, to spend more time touring, and less on the bus. The bus also had only middling air conditioning, and in 100 degree weather, that counts!! Hotels: By and large, the hotels were good, very clean, mainly known brands. My biggest issue here was that the hotels in Beijing and Shanghai were so far from the city center, as noted above. That also meant not being able to walk out the front door and explore the city at all, and feeling rather stranded, for food, bars or activities. The first hotel in Beijing, Chun Hui Yuan, was a "resort", but NO ONE spoke ANY English, not even the little you need to manage wake up calls. Absurd in the service industry! My wife fell on the lobby carpet, scraping her knees and spraining her wrist, and NOT ONE staff person came over to see if she was alright, or needed medical attention. Calling Dr. Sue! Horrible, and you had to walk 5 minutes in the complex to get to breakfast, itself rather poor as banquet style goes. Food: It is a tour, so I did not expect miracles, but my daughter and friends all raved about Chinese food here. It was the same every day, and even worse for vegetarians! How hard to add a scallion pancake or vegetable dumpling? Our best food were a la carte on our own. Also really stingy- if you had a bottle of water at the shared table, you could not have tea, as well. My wife barely ate. Shops/factories/galleries: On a tour like this, always expect to visit shops or factories making, in this case, jade, tea, silk, embroidery and pearls. This could have been a disaster, but in fact, never more than an hour, and each site was generally very professional and good quality. That said, while you learn about silk, jade or pearls, and there are products to buy at all price levels, the "VIP" rooms are very pricey, you always have to be careful to get a certificate of authenticity if possible, and the more you know going in about these things, the better. The Chinese have developed a very nice way to give commissions to tour guides as they sell the wares, and a lot of stolen and fake goods abound in China. I could have lived without the Chinese medicine/acupuncture stop, to give more time to other sites of interest. Do know that many Chinese in these shops pretend to know less English than they do, and to use humor and charm to sell to you. The tea plantation was a nice break from the cities. Site Choices: If I came to China again, I would limit my trip to either northern or southern China, and not both, to skip the flights from Beijing to Shanghai and back. That said, the tour included many sites you expect: the Great Wall, Forbidden City, Temple of Heaven, Summer Palace. Also some nice choices- LuLing Gardens, the Shanghai boat river cruise (amazing at night!), Shanghai's old Chinatown. I could have used less of the "underground" shopping area (souvenirs and a lot of haggling for goods that mixed knock-offs, no label and "fell off the truck"). I would skip the Hutong altogether- smelly, nasty and not a worthwhile stop nowadays. The Forbidden City was VERY rushed, and needed another two hours, easily. My biggest letdown on this trip. Tour Guides: First the good- While we had on read more

Yes, this tour company offers super cheap deals to China and it does include airfare, hotel, transportation and some meals and admissions for an unbelievable price but beware of all the things it does not include. There are many optional tours that they will try to get you to buy. Be prepared to be rushed through all the sights that China has to offer and instead spend a majority of your time visiting factories and showrooms or traveling from one place to the next. Of course it is also interesting to visit the jade, pearl and silk factories if you've never been but we spent 2 hours at the Cloisonne factory one day but only 45 minutes at Lingering Garden in Suzhou. Ironic, right? No lingering allowed at the Garden! Also, many of the cities in China are supersized and even though your hotel is technically located in the city, you can be more than an hour's drive from city center so be prepared to spend lots of your vacation time traveling to and fro! Also, some people in our group mentioned that their hotels were changed at the last minute but still to a location very far away from where you want to be. While some of our meals are included with the tour, we found the food to be extremely repetitive. We were eating the same dishes day after day. With so many choices of food available, I'm not sure why we had the same menu served up to us each day! Your tour guides are a hit or miss...mostly miss for us. Our tour guide in Shanghai, Amy, was especially terrible and gave a number of us in our group bad directions and misinformation repeatedly. The evening we were at the Bund, she told everyone that was not taking an optional cruise the direction to walk which turned out to be into town, rather than towards the water. Some people were quite upset that they never did get to see the Bund that evening. She would also exaggerate the cost of taking a taxi into town and told us it would be very expensive and in the range of $70 USD one way. It cost us about $28 USD in reality which is not too bad since the drive was over an hour. There are other examples too numerous to list but she should probably find another job. Lastly, we originally signed up for an extension to visit additional cities at the end of our tour but came to find out 3 months prior to our travel date that the internal flights were not included in the price that was quoted to us (and which we had already paid for) and we had to pay for the additional flights. They also had us booked on a return flight with a 14 hour layover in Beijing so it was 2 solid days of being in airports. Needless to say, I cancelled the extension and changed the return flight. While we still had a layover instead of a direct flight, it was only 2 hours instead of 14. I was told that they had to mail the refund check to me rather than provide a credit on my charge card. I was also not allowed to use any of my credit while on my trip for the optional excursions and had to pay in cash. We have taken the trip and have been home for nearly a month and are still waiting to receive my refund! So go in with your eyes wide open if you decide to go with this outfit. There is a reason why it is so inexpensive. read more

The one star is for restaurants that was provided by Nexus Holidays. The worst restaurants I have ever been, not only the food quality but also not clean at all. Dirty glasses and oily food. The hotels were not bad but almost an hour drive to get to main attraction and city center which was waste of time to drive more 2 hours from hotel to attractions each day. read more

This company is simply out to nickel and dime you. This agency just cares about collecting their money and not making sure nothing else is taken care of. They lost my passport, I was almost stuck in China, because they entered my passport information incorrectly when they applied for my visa, their guides were not helpful and try to scam you, and they make you pay for the tips up front which do not go to the guides; the company collects it as additional revenue. The people working in this company were not helpful at all and they do not reply to emails or voicemails. If you want to visit China, I would look at the reviews prior to signing up with a travel agency. Purchasing primarily on price is dangerous. I hate writing reviews but with this company it was a must. NOT RECOMMEND THIS COMPANY AT ALL!!! read more

In effort to make this review helpful I will skip details of incidents & issues we encountered. What you will need pre-travel: lots of patience to deal with these people. They have different offices and they all have different information. We traveled with 4 people, dealt with different offices-at the end we got split up, 2 friends left a whole day before us and we did not get to see them during the trip. Follow-ups: make sure to follow up, preferably via email as they tend to deny or conveniently forget what info they give you. If something does not make sense to you, talk to someone else-a supervisor or another office. Don't deal with Lily. Thankfully I did not personally deal with her, but the horror stories I heard from the group-no Bueno!!! There were running jokes about her throughout the trip. Just hang up and try to get someone else. She does not communicate in a timely manner and my friends that  actually dealt with her and at one point thought she just didn't work there anymore. The trip: it is an express tour of China-very structured, fast paced, no sleeping in and they tell you what to do and how to do. It's so structured that they even tell you where to shop (The sponsors). We were able to get away to random shops, maybe twice. Even bathroom breaks are on their time-if you do it on yours, you will lose the group.  A big percentage of the tour is just traveling from 1 place to another, mainly on the bus. The hotels are top of the line: they put you in very nice hotels. Zero complaint there. Food: I'm not a foody, so I'm in-different about that. They feed you and people seemed satisfied- you eat in groups & it's always just Chinese food. Meeting different people in the group was a plus. There is no downtown. Don't think that you will have your own time to do stuff. You will only be on their schedule & there is a fine print that you will be charged $100 should you choose to skip their planned day. There was only once that we were in a nice area where it was easy to just walk around at end of the day, do your own thing & have a nice dinner. Let them take care of your Visa: don't worry, they will make it happen. They want you to go on this trip. We came across 2 girls that didn't even get their Visa & for some reason were not aware you needed one, so they were just pulled aside in China upon arrival & got it at the airport. Don't start freaking out 30 days before you leave. It's like they shut down communication during that time. Wait a little and start harassing them about 2 weeks before. Tour guides: it's by luck. We had one awesome guy named King and then our 2nd one named Justin, seemedjust over his job-very unfriendly and annoyed with people and their questions. But it was very helpful to have the guides and they are on point-timely and have good control of the group (and the groups can get fairly large). Tips: always bring your own toilet/tissue paper for the bathroom, every single day. Getting tissue from your hotel room will do. Bring hand sanitizer with you (soap is just not a popular thing there). Mentally prepare yourself for dirty squatting bathrooms. If you are someone that burns energy quick, take snacks with you. You won't even have time to stop & grab a quick bite, should you get hungry earlier. I just took kind bars with me. Should you split from the group and catch a cab, just know that it takes a while. We waited for over 30 minutes. There are plenty if cabs but they were either occupied and others just did not stop. Seriously: I was with my friend who is a black guy & we were convinced that it was a race thing on why they didn't stop. We also got denied twice when we gave them our hotel info. Overall: for the price, it's worth it. You get what you pay for so for that I would give it a 5 star. For personal preferences I would give it a 2-I was over it very quickly, I would have liked to try other foods, have some down time and have more time during certain activities. They only give you an hour or 2 if you are lucky, for the things you really want to do (such as the wall, forbidden city, etc. Good luck! It's a chance to go to China so take it if your budget is limited. read more

I can't seem to get a hold of anyone in the san fransisco office. I need flight itinerary and hotel information to get my Visa. Anyone have advice on how to contact them. We paid for a trip to China over a year and a half ago and we leave in 30 days. I've tried calling all Nexus Holiday offices to recieve help although I dont get any help. My travel agent Liming Chen does not return my calls, email, voicemails or anything. I literally call 20 times a day for a month and have all records to prove it. I want my money back!!! I can't go to China without my flight itinerary or hotel info and this is causing me anxiety, stress, and chest pain. read more

As a result of the price $899 + $100 compulsory tipping per person, we had a reasonably low expectation of the tour. However, while the actual sightseeing part was amazing and there were some beautiful spots visited, these were rushed so the guide could take us to a supposed cultural experiences. You were forced to listen to a sales pitch extolling the virtues of the product; how their product was superior in quality and cheapest in price. This was not the case and they were way more expensive than elsewhere. While I understand the guides get a large kickback for taking their tours there, the high pressure selling and the amount of time spent at each place was overwhelming, and they added more than was in our original itinerary. It really didn't leave a good impression and we felt like we were being treated like cash cows to be milked. When we booked we looked at the type of accommodation they were offering and were pleasantly surprised. However, just prior to our departure we were given a new itinerary with different hotels. I can assure you they were NOT similar to what we were advised we would be getting and I am seriously thinking of complaining to AFTA or Fair Trading. Our hotel in Wuxi the Wuxi Jinjiang Grand Hotel was disgusting, and came complete with bugs, filth, and the smell of sewerage from our bathroom. I did not expect the best, I did expect clean. Another way of gouging money out of their customers is the hotels are so far out. If you didn't do the optional tours you were stuck in a hotel with nothing near to you. My husband speaks Chinese so we were the lucky ones. We did a couple of the optional tours and were glad we didn't do too many. The shows and cruises were excellent. Luckily we didn't do the Peking duck dinner, as everyone was so disappointed they paid $40 each and got 1 - 2 pancakes. We went our own way and went to an amazing Peking duck restaurant paid $40 for both of us had the whole duck, 8 pancakes each. The skin was crispy, and the whole meal was the best. If you are over 60 you can show your passport and a lot of the entry is free. However, Nexus pockets the money and still charges the same amount. The guides were happy to tell us how wonderful their politicians are, and how stupid ours are, which I found insulting and unnecessary. Each guide sprouts the same propaganda and seem like brainwashed robots. The tour guides changed the itinerary which wasn't too bad, except that left the last day in Shanghai with nothing to do. They advised they would take us into Shanghai if we did an optional tour with them and paid extra, or we could just stay in the hotel. The original itinerary had an outing in the morning into Shanghai, and free time after. We all felt cheated and ripped off. They should have taken us into Shanghai as per our itinerary and not charged extra. Having said the above, I found the history, the people and the actual sights of China beautiful, and I wouldn't hesitate to go again, just NOT with Nexus, even at the low price it does not showcase Beautiful China, and leaves you feeling absolutely disrespected, cheated and ripped off. read more

The key to this company is being educated in advance so you know what you are getting yourself into before you pay the fee. The good: This was a cheap trip but fabulous hotels that we could never have gotten for the same price. It allowed me and my friend to visit China for a fraction of the price. The bad: It is difficult to communicate with the US offices and get clear answers. They were confusing when applying for a Visa through them. I would never use them again to get a Visa, go through an independent source. They booked us our airfare on Air China that left from California, but they don't track flights, in case Air China makes any schedule changes. That happened to us but we didn't find that out until 2 days before our departure. We had to change another flight that cost us a hefty fee, since it was only changed 2 days prior. Nexus did nothing to make that right. Once in China our group was led by an energetic guide, but she struggled with time management issues so there was wasted time and then not enough time at some sites. We never even got to visit the Birds Nest as we ran out of time. On a couple of days we didn't even stop for lunch until 2:00. If we hadn't happened to have granola bars with us, it would have been much worse! We ended up taking extra fruit and bread from the breakfast buffet as we never knew when we would eat again. The tour also promised 16 meals included, not sure if they were counting the food served on our flights, but we didn't get all of those on land. The hotels were top notch, but be aware, if it is before May 1, most of them won't have operating AC units. We learned to start asking for fans when we checked in so we wouldn't roast. I know these great hotels were essentially paid for through our numerous stops to historical places that involved a sales pitch: "hey, learn about Jade and it's importance in Chinese culture, and at the end please shop our giant store." Where you stay much longer than necessary. This was repeated for Chinese medicine, green tea, emeralds, embroidery, silk and pearls. In the end, if you are dying to visit China, virtually for pennies, then take your chances with this company. I would say you are better off spending a bit more to reduce your stress before and during your trip. read more

Worst tour ever. Our tour was suppose to include Nanjing but they canceled that portion last minute. There was zero compensation.

SHOPPER BEWARE!!!!! It is common for cheap or low cost tours in China to be subsidised by shopping stops. You paid a low rate and it includes hotel, transport and meals. They look at it as you are EXPECTED to spend money when you stop at the shops along the tour. The tour company then collects commission for the sales. expect below standard for hotel, Transport and food. You pay for what you get. Also, they said you pay for tips for your guides and bus drive which is not true. The company takes this and at the end of the tour they ask you to tip know Americans have money. Tipping is not a custom anywhere else in the world except the US. This is how the tour company can afford to offer for the tour at a low cost. Beware of this cheap deals. Will not deal with this company ever again. read more

If there is a rating for "0," I'll do it. The company helped us organize a school trip to China for April, 2020, but we informed them of cancellation due to COVID-19 in Jan., 2020. Now five months have passed, they don't respond to our emails, no sign of refund, AND they still have three of our students' passports. I find this company very unprofessional. We are pursuing legal measures. DON'T GO WITH THEM! read more

We just returned from the 10 day China trip. I am still smiling from all of the great experiences that I had on the tour. Nexus doesn't have great communication, but if you call them on a regular basis, they will take good care of you. The motels, though far away from the touring places were excellent, with buffet breakfasts so you could get a good start to your day. You will make many friends as you tour with your group. The tourist stops are major want to see places, but do include tours to the pearl, silk, jade, medicine, tea areas and they do want you to purchase their items. No one made you buy, although we loved everything and recommend that you take a LOT of cash so you can purchase what you want. Most places will not take your credit card, and it was difficult to exchange money except in Shanghai where our Sheridan motel was next to a bank with an atm. Luckily our first tour guide helped by changing dollars into juans at a lower exchange rate, but well worth it. Climbing the great wall of China was a highlight. You will get tired of Chinese food, and I don't recommend the peking duck for the price. I would go again in a minute and maybe will now that I have a 10 year visa. You will walk A Lot so be prepared with good shoes. Another favorite stop was the knock off mall on the last leg of the tour to purchase fake name brand items. Wish we had more time there, although the stores all sell pretty much the same thing. Recommend: Climbing all the way to the top of the Great Wall if you can. Lots of juan for the knockoff mall on the last day of tour before you leave. The bullet train if they give you the option. Most of the extra excursions are worth it. Dinner with the family was excellent. The Golden Mask Dynasty show was amazing. I heard the West Lake Night Show is excellent Don't recommend: The price and purchase of a jade bangle. The peking duck dinner. Having the doctor look at you if you don't plan to buy anything. Highly recommend this tour. You will see amazing things and learn about their culture and beliefs. read more

My wife and I recently returned home from Nexus Holidays' 10-day "China Discovery" tour (May 2018). Q: Did we think Nexus Holidays was a good choice? A: Yes. Overall, I think Nexus did a good job planning and implementing a very enjoyable low-cost tour of China. Prior to the trip we interacted -- mostly by e-mail -- with Nexus employees located in San Francisco & Chicago. They were obviously very busy -- but they were responsive and always did what they said they would do. They told us they'd assign our flights within 30 days of our departure date, they'd assign our hotels within 10 days of departure, return our travel visas in time for our departure, etc. -- and everything happened exactly as promised. But I think the real secret to Nexus Holidays' success is their tour guides: Kelly met us when we arrived at the airport in Shanghai, and Jing took over when we flew to Beijing. Both Kelly & Jing are very experienced guides and speak English perfectly. Both did a wonderful job escorting us, taking care of us, keeping us busy (but not too busy), educating us about life in modern China, and making sure we were having a good time. Q: What was included in the price? A: A lot - see below. Airfare: We flew from Seattle on Hainan Airlines, which was excellent. Our checked luggage, onboard snacks, meals, drinks (including wine), blankets, pillows, video & audio entertainment, earbuds, etc., were all included. Our tour package also included a domestic flight from Shanghai to Beijing. Hotels: All were excellent -- better places than what we normally choose when travelling in the US or Europe. Our only real complaint was that some of the selected hotels were located well outside the city center, far from main tourist sites. Meals: All hotels provided a complete breakfast buffet. They were all different but each one was excellent, with too many American and Chinese food options to list. Our trip also included several lunches and a couple of dinners, as shown on the itinerary from Nexus. Transportation: We rode everywhere door-to-door on comfortable older coach buses. There was plenty of room and the AC worked great -- but because they were older buses, there were no USB ports. The main tourist sites: As promised, visits to the Forbidden City, Tiananmen Square & Summer Palace (in Beijing), Olympic Village (also in Beijing), a walk on the Great Wall (outside Beijing), The Bund & the City God Temple Bazaar (in Shanghai), and other interesting places in the cities of Wuxi, Suzhou, and Hangzhou were all included. Q: How was the "forced shopping"? A: No problem. Note that subsidies from various shopping venues allow Nexus Holidays and its competitors to offer these low-costs tours -- otherwise, they would lose money. So if you want to travel to China at rock-bottom prices, be prepared to go shopping! We had read reviews on each shopping stop ahead of time on TripAdvisor, so we knew what to expect. I encourage you to read the reviews. On our trip, we averaged about 1 shopping excursion per day. Our shopping stops included jade jewelry & carvings, silk clothing & bedding (beautiful & luxurious!), silk embroidery (REALLY beautiful!), cloisonne, herbal medicine (meh!), green tea, pearls, and even latex mattresses (very high quality but also very expensive, even with free shipping to the U.S.). Some shopping stops were definitely better than others -- but it depends on what interests you. We bought items such as silk & tea -- but at other stops, we chose not to buy anything. In most cases, we chose to look at these excursions as a chance to learn more about Chinese traditions & culture. My advice: If you have trouble saying "No thank you", this MAY NOT be a good tour for you. Q: What does this package deal REALLY cost? A: It depends on which options you choose. We originally found this vacation package offered in a weekly "top 20 best travel deals" e-mail from TravelZoo.com, with a lowest advertised base price of $399 (for Spring travel). Then we chose Nexus Holidays to get travel visas for us -- at $190 each. And they also charged us $100 each for "mandatory gratuity". That seems a bit flaky, because that money was not a gratuity and it did not actually go to our guides in China. I think it would have been more honest for Nexus to call it "profit", rather than "gratuity". OK -- so our $399 trip is now $689, and we haven't added any "options" yet. We chose to add several optional excursions ($50 for a night cruise on the river through downtown Shanghai, $30 for a canal boat ride in Suzhou, $79 for an outdoor show on West Lake in Hangzhou, $60 for an acrobatic show at Circus World in Shanghai, and $79 for a rickshaw tour through an old "hutong" neighborhood in Beijing). By the way -- all of our optional excursions were wonderful. Highly recommended! So when you add it all up, that "$399 package deal" really cost about $1000 per person. Do we think it was still a good deal at that price? ABSOLUTELY! read more

1 star is for the last three hotels that we stayed in. The first hotel was horrible and was out of no where. After 13 hour long fight to Beijing, we got to the hotel around 8 PM. Hotel didn't have a restaurant and there were two restaurant available in 10 minutes of walking distance. Who would have any energy to walk 10 minutes after long flight. Breakfast next morning was horrible with never ending line to get food. If you are lucky and got food than there are not tables. They must had at least 4-5 buses come down for breakfast. I expected to pay additional $350-$400 as per their email which was a rip off. What we noticed is that they bumped up the optional tour prices by 60%. At some places, tour guide only bought 30 tickets when we had 45 people in the group. The other 15 people walked inside with their passport as tickets. Amy was our guide in Beijing who was horrible. She made up personnel stories either to sell the the stuff from those shops/factories(pearl, silk, jade, TCM, tea) or for more tips. I know her stories were made up because there was another bus from Nexus Holidays and they were told the same stories. At TCM, they offered free foot massage where they expected 15-20 Yuan. Than the doctors came for free to examine you and sell you their products. Many families ended up spending $300-$400 and regretted later. We would have been fine going to shops/factories if we had more time to spend in sightseeing. We were dying to see Great Wall, when we got there, we only got an hour to walk around. That's ridiculous. We went to Summer Place where we got about 45 minutes. The lunch whenever was provided was a C quality. We had a hard time during the travel for vegetarian food. Some people in the group paid extra to get different food items during lunch because it was repetitive. George and Amy were good tour guides in Shanghai. We spend most of our time on the bus the last two days of the tour. We will never consider going with Nexus EVER AGAIN. read more

Save yourself the time and hassle of not doing business with Nexus Holidays. Yes, the prices you will see on Travelzoo will seem too good to be true and that's because they are. Nexus Holidays will start by taking your money and once your payment clears, they will cancel your trip in attempt to get you to pay more for another booking that you don't even want. When you insist on getting the trip you paid for, they will not budge and they will lie that the airline no longer flies out of Seattle. When you ask for a refund they will tell you the trips are non-refundable, even though THEY cancelled the trip. When you finally threaten legal action, they will offer to send you a check in the mail as a form of a refund. Not until you get Visa involved after you file a fraud claim will Nexus Holidays refund your money back to the credit card you used to pay. Through the entire process, they will lie to you repeatedly and pretend they don't understand English when they want to avoid answering your questions. Don't believe me? Look them up on the Better Business Bureau website. Look at the other bad Yelp reviews. I recorded ALL of the phone calls I had with Nexus Holidays to document their many lies and if you're interested in hearing how they operate, feel free to go to YouTube to search for my recordings. I wish there was a lower rating on Yelp for businesses like Nexus Holidays because dishonest companies like this should not be allowed to operate. read more

We went in April with another couple. First, the price is amazing but understand the Chinese Government and some manufacturers subsidized the trip. You need a visa, at a cost of $140 and the tips of $100 are automatically charged at the time of booking. You will visit 2 places each day where they hope you will purchase something. The factory stores are somewhat interesting to see how the items are made but it is shopping ( no pressure though). Then you will go to all the places they promise and the guides will do their best to make you happy. The hotels are equivalent to a 3 star or better star in the states. The food is edible and for the most part the same thing every day. I went last year with China Tours, the places visited were the same. The tour guides were better and hotels and food slightly better with ChinaTours. Some of the extra tours charges with Nexus were included with China Tours but the starting point was $699CT vs $399Nexus, so the end cost was about $100 more with China tours. If you can afford it, I think China Tours was better. If you take advantage of the Nexus lower price for the tour, I don't think you will be disappointed. Just realize this is not a luxurious trip but for the price, it was a great chance to see China at a very affordable price. read more

I am not sure where to start. Overall shocking but the first part of the Tour for Xian was the best part of the tour. Our Tour guide Laura was amazing. We didn't sit on the bus for hours and the hotel was good, not 4-5 star but ok. The aircon didn't work and it was 26 degrees in our room. The only negative was when we got to the factory where they make the Terracotta Warriors, they were trying to get my sister to buy these pictures which they were trying to sell to her at $200 AUS each that they said were hand stitched. I told her they were too expensive and that they didn't look like they were hand stitched. 2 days later at the Olympic Centre souvenir shop, we found exactly the same ones there for $10 AUS and they said they were machine stitched!! Oh the other thing was we kept asking Nexus to change my sisters surname as it was wrong and they advised Flight Centre who we booked it through that it had been changed only to find out when we got to the airport that it hadn't been changed so the tour guide had to go off and get the name changed. Nexus also charged The Flight Centre $100 to change it and it was still wrong. One of the other guys on our tour also had the wrong name so his had to be changed as well. That's where the good part ends. We fly to Beijing. Arrived late at night at 10.30pm, no food was served on the plane for the 2.5 hour flight even though we were advised there would be food. No one had eaten since lunch at 1pm. There were 23 people on our Xian Tour then when we arrived in Beijing another 24 people joined and even though Nexus post in writing there are a maximum of 40 people on the tour, we had 47 people and it takes forever to get people going. We arrived in Beijing and was greeted by our tour guide named King. As everyone was hungry King advised everyone to leave their bags with him and go upstairs to get some food and that he would look after everyone's bags. We all went upstairs, came back down and my sisters carry-on bag locked with more than $700 worth of gifts in it was stolen. We asked King where is her bag and he said it may have been stolen when he turned the other way. He took us to the police station and we thought great we can see who took it as there were 4 security cameras right where he was standing and where everyone's bags were. The police advised that none of those cameras were working!! They aslo said if we wanted a police report for insurance we would have to go back to Beijing in 2 days time which was not possible as we were on a tour! We said as the bag was stolen whilst in the care of Nexus, they should replace everything, Nexus advised in writing that even though the tour operator says leave your bags here with me or leave your bags in the hotel reception they accept no responsibility even if the tour operator says I will look after them. If he decides to turn away from them or walk away from them and they are stolen, they don't care. Do not under any circumstances leave your bags with the tour guide and when they are putting you bags in the bus or van or taking them out, watch them like a hawk as there were some other people who lost their bag as well and the elderly lady said it had all her husbands medication in it. That was the first thing. We were supposed to be staying at the Wyndham Beijing North Hotel but was switched to Nangong Spring Season Hotel. Our bathroom flooded as the drain was blocked, another 2 people on our tour their toilet overflowed, 6 other people's air conditioning didn't work and it was super hot in the rooms. We were told there were no other rooms to move us to as it was fully booked. The carpet was filthy and dusty as well. One of the tours In Beijing we went to the Chinese Herbal Institute where they are complete rip offs trying to charge people $500 for 1 months' supply of Chinese Herbs which you can't even get back into the country! One family decided to buy some herbs and paid them $500 AUD only to find out when they got back to their hotel that they had charged them $5,000 AUD. They were then told by King the tour guide the next day "Oh yes this is quite common that they do this quite often" If it's common why did you not warn this poor family to be careful!! As a tour guide you are supposed to be looking out for people! The Chinese Herbal Institute told them it would take at least 10 days to get their money back, I am not sure if they did get their money back. All the hotels after Xian were way out of town by at least 1.5 hours so, we spent at least 3 hours per day travelling in the bus to get to the tourist sites. There was no free time and you were going from about 8 am in the morning till 9.30-11 pm every day and did not have time to change or shower before dinner on any day. read more

We have received excellent service so far from Nexis relative to the seven day China tour. Especially pleased with the help we received for our China visas . Our Los Angeles based representative Edward go Linda was very professional and knowledgeable. ......Gordon in Eagle Idaho read more

If you want to plan your trip to China, don't expect any help from Nexus. The trip was great, but getting there was a nightmare. Rescheduling issues, misplacing our Passports, we had several problems, and when asking to speak to someone... well good luck. read more

I took a 12 days China Wonder trip with my family last month. It was amazing and everything went well according to the itinerary. We got a great deal on the tour package so we selected all optional tours since its our first time in China. Even with the final price, it's still a great deal. Not sure why some people are still complaining about the price, maybe they want a total freebie? Anyway, you get what you pay for. The company somehow has to make a profit by providing service. With the price quote they gave me, certainly is not able to cover all expenses. I guess that's why there are some shopping tours within the itinerary. But I don't mind it, it's a good time to get some souvenir and experience the local culture anyway. Overall, it's a pleasant experience and i will be looking forwarding to another trip with them. read more

Nexus Holidays 03/17/2019 17 day Panorama tour to China included the flights, buses, bullet train, Yangtze river cruise, most meals, english speaking guides and 4 and 5 star hotels. Optional tours were entertaining but extra cost. Lots of highlights included in the 7 cities. Our Nexus guide "George" went above and beyond what most of us would expect. George spoke excellent english and was very experienced, organized, cheerful, entertaining, kind and thoughtful to all who were lucky to be aboard. He had a great sense of humour and a great singing voice. He really made our entire trip the best it could be! Thanks George! Nexus Holidays claimed that the advertised price was only for the first 10 but that was not stated anywhere, after arguing they did concede to give us equal optional tours etc. We enjoyed the Cruise on the Yangtze river, the scenery was amazing and the staff are eager to meet our needs. Hotels and the ship have western style breakfasts as well as Chinese food. We did get a bit tired of Chinese food 2 meals a day, and they were always served with Beer or Coke. Our tour had 42 people and 24 of them had diarrhea and vomiting while on the ship, and also many started coughing, our bus was nicknamed the "plague bus"we wore masks on the bus plane and train, I wish the sick people had worn masks! Fortunately we were among the few who didn't catch anything. The chef taught a class how to make dumplings on the cruise. We were taken into the kitchen to wash hands. The same kitchen where the staff always brings out the many trays of food at mealtimes. To our shock there wasn't any hot water or soap or towel. When I mentioned it to the manager she said that they had forgotten to bring it in! The staff all need to pass"Food Safe Course" re: cleanliness! I wonder how much this contributed to sick guests this trip??? Tips: The tour buses have 5 narrow steps up so that guests can have a good view. Some people had problems climbing. The hotels are often over an hour from your tour site and there are no bathrooms on the buses. 5 star hotels give you each a bottle of water per day as water is not potable. Most toilets are a porcelain hole in the floor, some are self flushing, a bucket is provided for paper and other products. There are often the token western style and China will be adding 75,000 western style toilets soon for tourism. Carry T-paper, soap/purel as they are scarce most places accept in hotels and on the cruise ship. Take energy bars in your suitcase, lunch can often be 4-6 hours from breakfast. Our bus gave us a bottle of water a day and sold beer real cheep wifi is very hard to find, even in the 5 star hotels, but they do have iPhone charger jacks in the wall. facebook and messenger are not available! Be prepared to have your photos taken by the locals, some have never seen a foreigner up close or in person. It is ok as they are very friendly. This was a super busy, long days, many cities and sites, you need to be able to keep up physically, this trip is not for the impaired, or infirm! All in all we feel that we certainly got more bang for our buck on this great tour! read more

Wish I could rate zero stars. Nexus holidays is awful. I purchased a trip to China through nexus holidays. I received awful service. I was abandon in a foreign country with my Mom and another family of 6 whom we found out was suppose to be on the tour as well. We were taken to an abandon government hotel where the lights, water, and phone did not work. It was scary picking up the phone and not having a dial tone. A few hours later we were told to get into a van that would be taking us to the airport. We arrived at the airport and flew from Shanghai to Beijing. When we landed again no one was there to pick us up. We found another tour company and showed them our papers. They knew who nexus holidays was and called them for us since they would not answer our phone calls. He called the tour guide from nexus holidays cell phone and told him we were at the airport. He said he could not stop the tour and get us so we had to get into a taxi and meet them. Food was awful, experience was awful. I wish I was on the tour with that other company I found at the airport. They looked so friendly and they were so helpful. read more

My wife and I returned from a ten day China Discovery tour in November. Not a pleasant experience from the get-go. The communication, with the agent assigned to us, was very poor. E-mail messages and phone calls were not responded to. I had to keep e-mailing and calling to eventually speak to a person. I could not set up an account to have access to my reservations and itinerary. It took many phone calls to get the information needed to apply for a visitor visa. Once the tour was underway, we felt pressured to sign up for all excursions that were offered. Otherwise, for those that did not take the excursions, you were left to sit on the bus, or find things to do on your own or make your way to the hotel at your own expense. This could be from 1-4 hours of down time. Hotels were not close to the city centers or nice restaurants. Most excursions were to businesses where certain things were made and after a short presentation there was high pressure sales to purchase their product. The reason that Nexus' tours are low priced is that they are subsided by the Chinese government who in turn get their share of the revenue of sales that are generated from purchases made from all of the tour groups. And all tour groups go tho the same places. Please do your homework before booking with Nexus Holidays. read more

BEWARE, Nexxus changed, canceled, the first China trip I signed up for and paid for. Fortunately, with not too much difficulty in changing dates and having to spend an extra day traveling, I was added to another trip, with Canadians. It was a great group. The problem I had was first off I was told I had to purchase the excursion before I left, at a high price. This turned out to be false. Each day we were given the option to purchase excursions while on the tour. Purchasing the excursions was MUCH cheaper in canadian dollars. I complained, wondering why I as an American had to pay more? The exchange rate is better for the American dollar than the Canadian dollar. That is, you get more Chinese currency, Yuan, when you exchange currency. So, it you compare prices, for ease of explanation, if an excursion is 600 Yuan that would be approximately $114 Canadian. They charged me the same amount in US Dollars, $114. Well, 600 Yuan in US Dollars is about $88. That means for that one excursion I was paying $26 more. When you take excursions almost daily and you multiply that by three travelers, it really adds up. At first when I brought this to their attention I was told they would offer me $100 off my next full priced tour. I complained further and they have done nothing but ignore me. I can no longer trust this company or recommend them. It's too bad. read more

Nexus Holidays tours of China may be one of the best bargains on the planet. Yes, there are several obvious shopping stops on the tour, but they all were interesting and there was no pressure whatsoever to purchase anything. And there is so much included in the super low price. Round trip airfare, most meals, stays in first class hotels -- truly amazing. We saw and experienced so much in our 10 days. Our guides were outstanding as well and went way above and beyond to make this a great trip. If they shopping bothers you, you can spend much more with another tour group. We enjoyed all but one of the shopping stops -- it was a small price to pay for such a great trip. It truly was a one of kind experience. One suggestion -- do as many of the optional activities as you can afford -- many were outstanding. read more

We took the 10 day tour (Beijing 3 days, Shanghai (area 5 nights) (not including the Terracotta Warriors). Frankly, this was a terrific value for $500 each covering round trip airfare from LAX to Beijing, 9 nights in 5 star hotels, meals, tour bus w/ tour leader, and several basic included sights. The basic included elements would have easily cost us $3000 if we did it ourselves. BUT, was not all positive. 1) Beijing (or Bei Jing = Central Capital) has horrible smog and traffic, so anything we did around Beijing came with that aspect. 2) Shanghai is a much nicer city. 3) The tour leaders english language skills was passable one-on-one, but when coupled with bus and crowd noise and terrible tour bus PA system acoustics and group members with english as their second language, communications were constantly a struggle. Frequently not understand what the plan was. 4) Keeping schedules was a constant problem.. The tour leaders where under pressure to get us to all the stops on time and keep track of us all, getting us off the bus, around the tour and back on the bus in scheduled time, when the group consisted of a range of seniors with a broad range physical limitations. Left tour members somewhat unhappy that there being constantly being herded around without much free time do go and do our own thing. During the 9 days, tour leaders probably did a head count 20+ times a day, making sure everyone was there. During each count, frequently there were members who were there, but were bored at another count and failed to respond to their names being called. So the leader did another count. 5) Morning meals were at the hotel dining room. Excellent buffets. All mid day meals were at group restaurants that specialized in tour bus meals.. that included a 10 seat round table with a 4-5' round lazy susan. Nexus Holidays pre-ordered a selection from the menu and restaurant wait staff would come out immediately and put 10 different plates of various menu selections on the lazy susan plus large bowl of soup and rice. 2 large bottles of beer, 1 large bottle of a soda (sprite, coke, etc) and a pitcher of tea. Our tour members would cooperate and move the lazy susan around and we would all take small portions of each menu item. 6) Some extra cost options were, in my opinion, not work it. 1) Peking Duck dinner. That was a joke, It was the same meal we had every afternoon (see #4) , with addition of one plate of luke warm sliced duck. Save your money and say no to this option. 2) The Grand Canal boat ride. The Grand Canal has hundreds of side canals. The boat ride they gave us was on a side canal that showed us nothing but their squalor in a very poor area. The boat ride did get to the main Grand Canal but only to turn around and go back through the squalor. Save your money. The down side to not taking these options is that the tour leader goes with the bulk of the group on the tour and everyone who did not take that tour option, is left to be on their own for 30-50 minutes. 7) Most of the tour leaders would fill in the time on the bus between stops with general information about China and its culture. 8) To 10 day tour spends nights at 5 different 5 star hotels. Means lots of unloading and reloading suit cases for each new hotel. Try packing as lite as possible. 9) Our overall Nexus Holidays tour group was too large for one bus, so we split up into two separate buses with 2 separate leaders. Our group got along great. The other groups reported serious problems with either their members, their leaders and/or their accommodations. Couple points about China. 1) Everywhere we stopped for toilet breaks .. the rooms had mostly squat toilets with maybe 1 or 2 commodes in "Handicap" Stalls. You could not depend on toilet paper being there, so we were advised to travel with our own paper. Occasionally there was toilet paper in with the commode and several times there was toilet paper on the wall of the restroom where you would take some toilet paper before going into the commode. 2) The whole country barely speaks/uses english. If you get away from your tour director, be prepared to use sign language to communicate. I found Google Translate app was handy in translating the Chinese characters to english. 3) Everywhere we went, we were advised not to drink the tap water. We were advised to only brink commercially produced bottled water (provided free of charge by every hotel and each day on the buses). 4) Plan on limited or no access to Google services (search or email) plus other Internet sites. The was free WiFi at every hotel but not on the tour buses. In the end this is a terrific value. I looked like to several of us, Air China provided all plane seats for free and major stop options gave steep discounts. read more

Do not book your trip with Nexus Holidays! They do not provide what they promise! The hotels were 2 star at best and you spend most of your time on a bus. You are not allowed to go back to the hotel if you don't want to do the "Optional" tours (you have to wait on or near the bus until the rest of the group is finished). Most days are 12-14 hours long. Changing hotels almost daily. "Leisure time" is mostly sitting on a bus. Most of the "factory visits" are a money grab; a sales pitch in a conference room then a store for you to shop at. Worst vacation we ever had. Nexus did nothing when we complained about the trip. We did "Best of Asia" trip. read more

I would not trust this company. I bought the 10 days china tour for 10 family members in Nov 2017 for Nov 2018 trip; received email confirmation; sent passport info and credit card charged in Dec, but for no reservation codes. In may 2018 get a email that the staff member who I worked with left company and they are tracking down my reservation. After multiple emails (many with no response), multiple calls I had to initiate with assurances; never get a reservation codes. They ask for me to send in passports and show evidence of payment in July-ish. By this time I am livid. They tell me sorry the dates you booked for are no longer available. I ask for refund they agree but never do! In August I dispute with credit card company. After 60 days they still don't respond and credit card company refunds my approx $7k. This is the absolute worst experience, we don't get the vacation we paid for no information and misinformation, no follow-through and no initiative to fix customer issue. how can you trust them in a different country? read more

Zero star if it is allowed. Went to two trips in China, one is Hunan and Sichuan. The following happened at both tours: 1. We paid for the tips before arriving in China. When we got there, the tour guides told everybody the tips were not for them; it was for other people in their company. 2. The tour guides yelled at us for not buying at the factories. 3. Optional items are not optional at all; the tour guide make it mandatory 4. Optional items are very expenseive, Sichuan $50/item, two items Hunan , $80/item, there were four items 5. Too many shopping, we only spent two days sightseeing for 9 sichuan days ttour and 8 Hunan tour; we practically went to Chinese factories to buy silk, rubber mattress, jade/jewlery, chinese medicine, silver and other things 6. Meals were horrible; every meals were the same. 7. Tour guide lied to use to buy optional items in the Sichuan tour 8. Buyers be aware, this shopping tour purpose lured you in with $300 per tour charge plus airfare and pre-paid tips; they earned money by charging you optional items, extra tips, commissions at factories 9. I met a tourist from Canada, he showed me a NON-SHOPPING tour, it was actually less expensive. I actually took pictures of both NON-SHOPPING tours. I figured Nexus probably earned more money this way but I think it is unethnical to do that 10. On the way back to the airport, the tips were supposed to cover the transportation to the airport but we had to pay for toll. I will never go with Nexus again. I will never do with "SHOPPING" tours again. read more