Lucy.w Like 0

Days of trip in Harbin: February 11, 2012
People in our group: 12 adults (ages ranging from 27-34)

Our itinerary was simple:

9am - meet with Lucy and pick-up at Harbin Railway Station then breakfast
10am - early check-in / leave luggage at ibis Hotel
11 am - St. Sophia Church and Central Street / lunch
2 pm - Sun Island Snow Sculptures
6 pm - Harbin Ice & Snow Festival
9 pm - back to ibis Hotel

Initially, my friends and I planned to get a tour with a travel agency online, but the quotations that were being given to us were so expensive. Fortunately, I discovered www.synotrip.com from one of the travel forums I frequent; and, luckily found one of the BEST GUIDES ever: Lucy. She was also the one who found a 22-seat coaster for us which was a big help especially since we were a big group and we had a lot of luggage that we brought with us.

Upon arriving in Harbin, within the first hour, Lucy already taught us a lot of interesting facts about Harbin; and, from the way she spoke, you can really feel her love ♥ for her city. Her decision to work part-time as a tour guide is really a blessing for the tourists that book her services because, for me, the best way to see a place is when someone who loves that place (like Lucy!) shows you around.

Even though we were in Harbin just for a day, we felt as if we already know the city. We were able to taste the delicious ice cream of Modern Hotel (we didn't care if the temperature was so cold, the ice cream was absolutely delicious!), taste the yummy chocolates filled with local wine, and eat our dinner at the delicious Chinese restaurant that Lucy recommended. We wish that we could have stayed longer and that we could have spent more time with Lucy.

Aside from her knowledge of Harbin, Lucy was also a big help whenever we encountered slight challenges. One of which was during the evening, the restaurant that we had dinner was almost about to close, but Lucy spoke with the staff and was able to get us in. Also, due to our hectic schedule, we weren't able to buy souvenirs from Harbin on the day of our tour. Fortunately, the next morning, Lucy saw us off at the train station and since we had a few minutes before boarding, she went with us around the station to look for Harbin souvenirs that we could bring home with us. My friends and I bought a lot of the yummy chocolates filled with local wine!

All in all, I would DEFINITELY RECOMMEND Lucy as your tour guide in Harbin. Her friendliness, great knowledge and love for her city, and her English-speaking skills are more than enough reasons to book her services.

Thank you again, Lucy, for the great day we had in Harbin! ♥ We had such an unforgettable and fun time!

We booked Lucy and a driver for the day, since we none of us spoke Mandarin and knew that our hotel (Sofitel) was a little out-of-the-way from the main attractions. Lucy was great, and reallly made everything hassle-free for us.

She knows a lot about the history of Harbin and was able (in very good English) to answer our questions. We visited about 4 or 5 spots during the day (Ice Park, Tiger Safari, Centre Street shopping etc) and everywhere we went she made sure we had enough time to see and experience everything without us every feeling rushed.

Lucy has a great attitude and we're really glad we had her show us around. Thank you so much!!!

Highly recommended.

Lucy is an amazing tour guide. She is really bubbly, chatty and a wealth of knowledge. Lucy organised taxis for us ( we were a group of 4). She made sure that we didn't get ripped off, she made sure that we paid the same and received receipts. We went to Polar Land - clear instructions on what shows were showing and the times. 

Our next visit, was to see the Tigers. Again, Lucy made sure that we got onto the bus, and then joined us. It was an amazing park. It was good to see that the majority of the cats had large enclosures.

On going back to the city, Lucy gave us a run down on the monuments. We had seen them the day before , so it was good to get some background knowledge. We are foodies, so we got Lucy to take sample food. We tried the Harbin icecream - lovely and creamy, even tho it was -2'C! And then we went to one of Lucy's favourite restaurants. We had congee, pancakes with smoked meat, gailan stalks (funny! we usually eat the leaves and not much of the stalk - opposites), sweet and sour pork, mushrooms and beef. It was great having Lucy talk about the food, her family. It felt as though we had known her for ages.

We had a visit to the supermarket and Lucy showed us more Harbin delicacys - fruit , mushrooms, chocolates etc

I would recommend Lucy - she is efficient, easy to get on with, her English is great and she does anything you want her to do.

Thanks for making our visit so memorable!

Vanessa

we love lucy!!!! we booked a tour with her in such a short notice very near the chinese holidays -- yet she delivered flawlessly! she made all the arrangements for us without any fuss at all! she made sure that we were all comfortable and happy during the tour! she loves her city and that love radiates to us as well! during our trip to china last feb 2011, we had 5 different tour guides as we went around the country. none but lucy has shown real love for her work!