Published on Dec, 2023

Tom is a great guide. He was showing us around with his brand-new car, was very friendly, and he knew anything and everything about Shanghai and the Chinese culture. he was very flexible with his tour, and we could tell him our wishes for the tour. His English is fluent and he is very cooperative.

Published on Nov, 2019

Our group of 4 included one person with mobility issues, so we decided to do two private tours prior to boarding the cruise ship, Westerdam in Shanghai plus utilizing the same company for the airport transfer to our Bund hotel in downtown Shanghai. I was delighted that Tom Zhang agreed to take on all three of our requests, so we just enjoyed his services and just one company for all our needs, while in Shanghai. We were picked up at the Shanghai airport by a delightful young man who was prompt ,had easy to find signage, informative and delivered us to our hotel. Exactly what we wanted to start our late night arrival to Shanghai. The next day was spent with Tom Zhang (the owner) and our all day tour of Shanghai was done in a comfortable vehicle with a tailor made itinerary, keeping in mind mobility issues. Tom speaks very understandable English, is very kind, and a patience gentleman. The tour was well paced, interesting sights and included a delightful lunch where we could relax and learn about Shanghai in depth. We were also taken to a tea house, learned all about the ceremony which was fun. A small annoyance was the pressure by the tea shop personal to purchase items after the enjoyable presentation, but nothing to do with Tom. We enjoyed the tour immensely and all this pampering was less expensive than taking the cruise ship's tour. On day three in Shanghai we visited Zhujianial Watertown with Tom on a half day tour. This was a difficult destination for a person with mobility challenges and to compound the problem it was the weekend and very crowded! Lots of uneven steps, bridges to go up and down plus many temples require stepping over an high entry way. We spent most of our time visiting the private home and gardens which was easier. The tour included a leisurely boat ride of the delightful water town and this was the best way to get around for our group, so we paid for the second leg of the boat tour to avoid the crowded areas. We did enjoy the trip and Tom pointed out some bazaar stores, services and goods for sale as we exited the crowded town for our pick-up. Be sure to see all the roasted insects in sticks! OMG! We were due onboard the ship, so Tom agreed to transfer us from Zhujianiao Watertown to our cruise ship which was a considerable distance out of Shanghai. This was a perfect solution to departing our Bund hotel, touring for the half day and ending up onboard the cruise ship by 5pm. Excellent services at a very reasonable price and a definite savings over HAL's very expensive shore excursions! If you are planning on visiting Shanghai or some of the other destinations that Tom Zhang services, I can recommend his services without hesitation! He was the best private guide we had throughout our time in Asia. Many thanks TOM!

Published on Nov, 2018

To be honest I was very apprehensive about our visit to Shanghai at the start. Didn’t know where to start or what to do there because of the language barrier. We were sitting in our hotel and sulking because we couldn’t talk to anyone in English in the hotel! Everything was dispelled when Tom picked us up from our hotel. What a marvellous guy! Fluent in English with a very good knowledge of the city and China in general. He made our day. He was kind, gentle and very helpful. My wife had problem walking with a stick due to a recent leg injury but Tom was so attentive and kind and made sure she was ok. He took us around the city and explained everything. We felt we had seen the entire China! Brilliant. Please everyone, if you are in Shanghai try out Tom and you will at once notice the pleasant difference. Thank you Tom.

Published on Nov, 2018

We felt overwhelmed travelling in China as few people speak English and the only maps we had are of huge areas and hard to make out, (there is no Google or Facebook access). So, we booked two days of touring with Tom and were delighted. He picked us up at the Port as we came of a cruise ship, so a seamless transition for us. He showed us old and new Shanghai, he has a huge knowledge of history and culture and was happy to share his knowledge. Water town was fascinating, the gardens stunning and the boat night tour amazing. We enjoyed every part of it and it was great to be able to start and finish at the times we wished. Tom was also fantastic at helping us work out how to get to the airport - I highly recommend the maglev, we took a taxi to the main station and then the maglev. The taxi was about 50 CNY and the maglev 50 CNY each, quicker and also heaps cheaper than the 500 our hotel charges for a taxi to the airport. Be aware though, that we had to pay cash as neither accepted a mastercard credit card. You can get to the station via the subway but there are no down escalators or lifts and lots of stairs and I was concerned about managing luggage. The main station (I've forgotten the name) does have escalators and it was easy to find the maglev.