CONTACT: Hilari Graff at Strategic Vision Tel: 914-881-9056/9020 hgraff@strategicvision.org IMPERIAL TOURS WELCOMES 42 NEW ‘CHINA EXPERTS’ FOLLOWING LAUNCH OF ITS SPECIALIST TRAINING PROGRAM SAN FRANCISCO, CA (April 10, 2010) – Following the successful debut of its training program earlier in the year, Imperial Tours, the leading luxury tour operator based in China, has welcomed its first ‘China Experts’ – an impressive group of 42 travel agents from around the U.S.,  » Read more »

By James Shillinglaw Shanghai – the very name evokes images of immense modernity, buildings touching the sky, and a center of commerce that is now one of the world’s great cities. Yet, Shanghai also has an ancient and colonial past; it was a city dominated by Western traders for a good part of the 20th century, at least until the Communist revolution swept capitalism aside — until today at least! I finally got a chance to visit this amazing metropolis last month on a 10-day travel agent fam trip organized by Imperial Tours.  » Read more »

After nearly three days in Beijing, my Imperial Tours travel agent fam trip moved to Xian, site of the famous Terracotta warriors and the original seat of the Chinese empire. The Terracotta warriors, of course, are one of China’s most famous attractions, though they were discovered only late in the last century. But I found there is much more to Xian than the clay-figure warriors themselves. We began our journey with a short flight (under two hours) from Beijing to Xian.  » Read more »

By James Shillinglaw After two days visiting some of the iconic sights of Beijing, including the Forbidden City and Great Wall, our Imperial Tours fam trip spent a final half day visiting the famous Summer Palace in the outskirts of the city. Beijing was still cold but the weather had turned clear as we left the Raffles Beijing by bus to drive through the wide boulevards of the city. We passed massive government buildings,  » Read more »

By James Shillinglaw It wasn’t quite the sight I would have expected. Heavy wet snow was falling on Beijing as we walked along Chang’An Avenue, the main boulevard that leads to the famed Tiananmen Square and the entrance gate to the Forbidden City. This ancient complex of palaces, courtyards, gates and gardens, perhaps Beijing’s greatest attraction, was turned into a winter wonderland that seemed to surprise even the city’s residents. After nearly 20 years in travel,  » Read more »