(Private Heritage Travel)

"We would highly recommend Lotus for anyone considering going to China!! We explored many options and liked the flexibility of the Lotus tour options as well as the responsiveness to questions."

The entire trip was truly a highlight. The guides were excellent, the accommodations exceptional, the itinerary was amazing…truly EVERYTHING was perfect! If we had to pick one highlight, it was visiting our children’s birth cities. It was incredible to be able to experience this with them for the first time. We honestly couldn’t have asked for anything more with this trip…from the guides, to the accommodations, to the attractions, to the transportation—everything was perfect! We were definitely not ready to come home…we wanted to stay longer!!

Kristin & Blaine B.
from Michigan

"Thank you doesn't express how grateful we are"

We would like to thank Lotus Travel for arranging the most incredible China trip for us! Our family enjoyed the beauty of China and her people for almost three weeks. Every region we visited was unique; and we had a new adventure to experience each day. We really appreciated Lotus' attention to detail. Everything was planned so well and all we had to do was enjoy ourselves! The tour guides were very knowledgeable and friendly; they really went the extra miles and added their personal touches at each stop along our way. Somehow "Thank You" doesn't express how grateful we are for the wonderful heritage tour you had planned for us. This was truly a trip of a lifetime!

- Jim, Tish and Ana Joros

“Once again Lotus did a fantastic job for us!”

Once again Lotus did a fantastic job for us. Imagine our surprise when I ran into Louie in the lobby of the Peace Hotel in Bejing and he informed me that HE was going to take us to the orphanage in Liuzhou. We had a great day, and with his detective work we actually found the gentleman that found our daughter when she was abandoned...What are the odds of that, 12 years later? Another item of note is that we had the same guide for the 10 days that we were in Guangxi, and this guy was phenomenal. His name is Simon Wern, and he is light years above ANYONE that we have had in our two trips...We had a great time and everything you booked and suggested work like clock work. We are already planning on a return to Guangxi in the summer of 2012 and have several people that will be joining us. Louie has promised to take us to meet his parents, and we will be in

Again thanks for all your help  
John, Julie and McKayla H.

“It was just what we wanted……”

Our trip was really wonderful and there is nothing I would change about it.  It was just what we wanted.  We are not a family that likes large tour travel and this was perfect for us!  We like traveling with just our friends and we liked knowing we had the in-country support of your staff.
I just wanted to be able to let someone else handle the details and be able to concentrate my energies on helping my still young children fall in love with China and embrace every new experience. And that is just what happened.  My girls loved their trip and are already talking about next time!

Kathy S.

"Lotus Travel-- the best choice among travel agencies"

We took a heritage tour with Lotus Travel this summer (2006) with our two daughters who were adopted from the People's Republic of China. While initially coordinating flights and planning our preferable itinerary presented some challenges, Lotus offered suggestions for places and events beyond those listed on the schedule. We felt that they were very accommodating in helping us to formulate a more customized journey suited to our needs. Our trip was wonderful! All our guides were exceptional and their English exemplary; they and their drivers looked after us. They were knowledgeable, informative, humorous, nurturing and they interacted with adults as easily as with children. We saw extraordinary places and museums, learned local customs and history, fell in love with the people and cities, and the highlight of our journey was certainly exceptional: great explorations at the towns and social welfare homes of our daughters. Our meetings were both poignant and gracious. We will never forget this profound experience which brought both laughter and tears. It is our wish to return to China in the not-too-distant future and we would not hesitate to call on Lotus Travel again to help with our arrangements. We have begun to share our experiences with friends and acquaintances and rated Lotus Travel the best choice among travel agencies.

- Robert and Nancy MacLachlan

"We are especially thankful to Lotus"

We just returned from a customized trip to China via Lotus Travel! We were in a group of 24 people (8 families, each with a Chinese child adopted from Kunming). We visited Beijing, Xian, Kunming, Lijiang and Shanghai. The highlight of the trip was the visit to Kunming, which included the orphanage. We had adopted our daughter in 1994 when she was four months old. We were amazed how much the city has changed and grown in 12 years and were fortunate to have Lotus travel pave the way for our orphanage visit since visitations are no longer common practices and contain many barriers.
The orphanage director and two of her staff greeted us at the door. She first checked off our children's names from their name list and then we were brought through the door and photographed one family at a time. Once we were all inside, the director led us on an extensive tour of the building and the grounds. We were told that the orphanage currently serves 600 kids and that 400 of them are special needs children. She also explained that many orphans are now part of the foster care program and we met about 20 kids. We were allowed to take pictures and video as long as there were no orphans in the room. The orphanage was bigger than we had remembered and had been somewhat remodeled. We were eventually taken through the room where our daughter once lived in!
At the end of the tour, we watched a video about the foster care program and had some snacks and tea at the conference room. The deputy director from the BOL/CCAA and a few other adoption officials also joined us at the time. They each gave short speeches and allowed us to speak individually. We commended on the beautiful and well-maintained orphanage and we also thanked them for the good caring they have provided. We also met a doctor and some of the nannies who worked at the orphanage when our kids were there. We asked whether they remember taking care of the children. In each case, two or three of them recognized the child and seemed genuinely happy to be reunited with them again; at the same time, the kids felt great to be remembered by the nannies.
Before we left, we gave the orphanage lots of new baby clothes, shoes (we had learned beforehand that they needed these things) and cash donation from all families, which we were immediately provided with a receipt. Some of us had put together photo albums of our kids and gave to the orphanage director as gifts; she was delightful when receiving them. We stayed at the orphanage for about three hours and really felt that it was an honor and privilege to be so warmly welcomed.
Later that day we went to the Green Lake Park for a walk and recalled that we've done that many times during the adoption process. Lotus Travel organized a banquet dinner and we invited about 12 orphanage staff included the director, the nannies and the officials from Beijing to join us at the Green Lake Hotel. Prior to their arrival, I asked someone which table was the most honored position for our guests to be seated; we wanted to do this right! The banquet was held in a private room and the food was delicious. The orphanage director, nannies and officials each went from table to table to make short speeches. Fortunately, we had an interpreter present to translate word by word. They said that they were so happy that the children are healthy and joyful. We also repeated our thanks for their wonderful care of the children at the beautiful orphanage and allowing us to visit. We told them we are honored to have them join us for the banquet. The orphanage director even brought little gifts for each child. I really felt as though we were not only ambassadors representing adoptive families, but also the representatives of the United States. I hoped we've met and exceeded any expectations they might have had. The entire day was perfect and couldn't have gone better! We are especially thankful to Lotus for this special day because I knew it would not have taken place without their hard work!

- Patricia Lyman, Westminster, CO