If you are searching for a Wendy Wu Tours review, chances are you have already seen their advertising and browsed an itinerary or two. With China tours starting from around $7,680 per person, knowing what to expect before handing over a serious amount of money is important.
In November 2025 we travelled to Chongqing, China as guests of Wendy Wu Tours. Our visit covered the same ground as the Chongqing leg of their New Horizons of China itinerary, with the same style of guiding, transport, meals and pacing that paying guests receive. This Wendy Wu Tours review is based on that first-hand experience.
Disclosure up front: we were hosted by Wendy Wu Tours on this trip and we are affiliates, which means we may earn a commission if you book through links on this page, at no extra cost to you. Neither of those things changes what we write. Everything below is our honest assessment, including the parts that will not suit everyone.
- Who Are Wendy Wu Tours?
- Our Experience Touring Chongqing with Wendy Wu
- What the Days Are Really Like
- What Is Included (and What Is Not)
- Is a Guided Tour of China Worth It?
- New Horizons of China: The Tour That Includes Our Chongqing Experience
- Solo Travellers and Over 50s
- Anything We Would Change?
- Our Verdict on Wendy Wu Tours
- Wendy Wu Tours Review: FAQs
- Last Words on Wendy Wu Tours Review
Who Are Wendy Wu Tours?
Wendy Wu Tours is an Australian owned tour operator that has been running escorted tours for over 25 years, and they are best known as Asia specialists, particularly for China. They are fully ATAS and IATA accredited, and they design their itineraries specifically for the Australian market, with departures from Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth.
That Australian focus matters more than it might sound. Flights from Australia are bundled into the price, the pacing assumes you have flown a long way and want to make the trip count, and your fellow travellers are overwhelmingly Australians and New Zealanders of a similar mindset.
Our Experience Touring Chongqing with Wendy Wu
Chongqing is not an easy city to explain. It is a vast, vertical, neon-soaked metropolis of over 30 million people spread across mountains and two rivers. Here the famous Liziba monorail zips straight through a residential building, and which floor counts as the ground floor depends on which side of a building you enter.
Chongqing, in our view, is one of the most exciting places we have ever visited in Asia. It is exactly the kind of destination where the Wendy Wu approach shows its value. Over our days in Chongqing the tour covered:
- The giant pandas at Chongqing Zoo
- A traditional hot springs resort experience
- The UNESCO World Heritage Dazu Rock Carvings, about two hours outside the city
- Ciqikou Ancient Town, the preserved old quarter of teahouses and snack stalls
- The famous drone light show, where over 5,000 drones perform above the skyline
- A night cruise on the Yangtze and Jialing Rivers past the illuminated Hongya Cave.
With every turn Chongqing treated us to an assortment of mind-blowing experiences. One of the most memorable was the drone light show. The night sky was ablaze with light and colour as the drones entertained us with a dazzling display of iconic Chongqing images.
What impressed us most was not any single attraction but the logistics behind them. Chongqing’s traffic and geography are genuinely challenging, timing matters for things like the drone show and the pandas, and our guides handled route planning, tickets, crowds and timing invisibly.
We simply arrived at the right places at the right times, with each attraction explained along the way. Having travelled extensively through Asia independently, it was refreshing to have someone else do the hard work of planning. We just sat back and enjoyed being escorted from attraction to attraction, so much less stressful than our usual mode of travel.
The meals deserve a mention. Chongqing is the home of Sichuan-style hot pot and some of the boldest food in China. The included meals gave us a proper introduction to the flavours and history of the dishes. The restaurants we visited were not the watered-down tourist version but authentic local culinary experiences. If you are a hesitant eater, the guides are used to steering Australians through a menu.
What the Days Are Really Like
Here is the part many reviews gloss over: these are not relaxing holidays in the lie-by-the-pool sense.
Expect early starts and long days. Itineraries are full, and that is deliberate. Most people visit China once, the distances are vast, and Wendy Wu packs the days so you see as much as possible. We found the pacing well managed, with sensible sequencing rather than rushing, but you are on your feet a lot.
Wendy Wu rates the New Horizons of China tour as a physical level 2, which in practice means extended time walking, plenty of steps, and climbing on and off coaches and boats. You do not need to be an athlete, and the demographic on these tours leans towards 50 plus. If walking a few kilometres in a day with stairs sounds like a struggle, talk to Wendy Wu about tour grading before booking.
To be honest, if you want slow mornings and free-form days, a fully escorted China tour may not be the right choice for you. If you want to see a lot of China properly in a limited window, the pace is a feature, not a hindrance.
What Is Included (and What Is Not)
Wendy Wu’s classic China tours are fully inclusive, which is a genuine point of difference from many operators. On the New Horizons of China tour the price includes:
- Return international flights from Australia and current taxes
- 15 nights in 4 star accommodation plus the cruise
- All domestic transport within China, including bullet trains and internal flights
- All touring with national and local guides
- Entrance fees to every included attraction
- All meals: 15 breakfasts, 14 lunches and 15 dinners
What is not included, and worth budgeting for:
- Tipping. Wendy Wu operates a customary tipping kitty of approximately RMB 860 for 2026 departures (roughly $185 AUD), paid locally in China. It is standard practice on escorted tours in Asia but it surprises some travellers, so know about it up front.
- Drinks with meals, personal spending and optional extras
- Travel insurance, which you should never skip for China
The fully inclusive structure is a big part of why these tours suit first-time China visitors. Once you step off the plane, there is almost nothing left to pay for or organise. Another important feature is that Wendy Wu Tours often have heavily discounted early bird savings.
Is a Guided Tour of China Worth It?
We have travelled independently across Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia and South Korea, and we would happily do all of them again without a tour. China is the one destination in Asia where we think guided travel earns its keep, especially for a first visit.
Outside major hotels, English is limited. Attractions increasingly require advance ticketing through Chinese apps. Transport is world-class but takes local knowledge to use confidently. And China’s history and symbolism are not self-explanatory, so visiting the big sites without context can feel superficial.
Here is how the two approaches compare:
| Aspect | Independent Travel | Guided China Tour |
|---|---|---|
| Itinerary planning | Significant advance planning and research | Fully organised |
| Language barriers | Frequent outside major hotels | Managed by local guides |
| Transport | Complex to coordinate yourself | Seamless transfers included |
| Attraction access | Ticketing and timing can be challenging | Pre-arranged with expert scheduling |
| Cultural understanding | Self-guided interpretation | In-depth context from guides |
| Time efficiency | Easy to lose time on logistics | Optimised days |
| First visit experience | Can feel overwhelming | Structured and confident |
Independent travel in China can absolutely be done, and confident travellers with time and patience will enjoy it. But for most Australians making a once-in-a-lifetime trip, a tour comes out on top, trading flexibility for certainty that you will actually see everything you flew there for.
New Horizons of China: The Tour That Includes Our Chongqing Experience
The bookable tour that covers everything we experienced in Chongqing is New Horizons of China, a 17 day fully inclusive itinerary priced from $7,680 per person including flights.
The route: Beijing (3 nights), Xian (2 nights), Zhangjiajie (3 nights), a 4 night Yangtze River cruise, then Chongqing (3 nights) before flying home.
This well-designed route covers the icons, the Great Wall, the Forbidden City and the Terracotta Warriors, then adds the places that make China unforgettable: the sandstone pillar mountains of Zhangjiajie that inspired the Avatar scenery, the Three Gorges by river, and Chongqing’s futuristic skyline as a finale. Ending in Chongqing rather than starting there is smart sequencing, as the drone show and night river cruise make a spectacular last impression.
Group sizes are capped at 28, accommodation is 4 star throughout (we can vouch for the Jiefangbei location in Chongqing, which puts you in the heart of the action). Australians currently enjoy visa-free entry to China, which removes what used to be the most tedious part of planning a China trip.
One more thing worth knowing about timing: Wendy Wu also runs special Christmas and New Year departures, including a Christmas on the Yangtze itinerary that covers much of the same route. If spending Christmas Day somewhere unforgettable appeals, we have covered the options in our guide to guided Christmas tours for Australians.
View New Horizons of China dates and pricing
Solo Travellers and Over 50s
Wendy Wu runs dedicated solo departures on selected tours with a maximum group size of 18, a single room included with no supplement, and a few extras thrown in. On regular departures, solo travellers can pay a single supplement or use the Happy to Share option, which pairs you with another solo traveller of the same gender and refunds the supplement if a match is found.
For over 50s travellers, and that is the heart of Wendy Wu’s market, this is one of the most comfortable ways to see China. The logistics are handled, the pace is busy but managed, the group is of a similar age and outlook, and there is no expectation that you can navigate a Chinese ticketing app at a train station.
Anything We Would Change?
A few honest observations rather than complaints.
The days are long, and by the end of a full touring day you will be ready for bed rather than exploring on your own. Build in the energy for that.
Like most escorted tours in China, itineraries include the occasional factory or workshop stop, such as a jade workshop in Beijing. There is no pressure to buy, and some people enjoy them, but know they exist.
And a group of up to 28 is a real group. Wendy Wu manages it well, but if you strongly prefer small-group travel, look at their solo departures capped at 18 or their private and tailormade options instead.
Our Verdict on Wendy Wu Tours
So, to sum up this Wendy Wu Tours review: based on our experience in Chongqing, we would genuinely recommend Wendy Wu Tours to Australians considering China, and we do not say that lightly given how much of Asia we have travelled independently.
The guiding was excellent, the logistics were invisible in the best way, the included meals were a real introduction to regional food rather than a safe compromise, and the itinerary design shows decades of understanding of what Australian travellers want from China. The fully inclusive pricing means the number on the brochure is close to the number you actually spend.
The honest caveats: the pace is full-on, the tipping kitty is an extra to budget for, and this style of travel suits people who want their trip organised, not those who want to wander.
If China is on your list and the idea of tackling it alone has been holding you back, this is the operator we would point you to first.
Browse all Wendy Wu China tours
Wendy Wu Tours Review: FAQs
Are Wendy Wu Tours worth the money?
For first-time visitors to China, we believe so. The fully inclusive pricing covers flights, 4 star accommodation, all meals, transport, guides and entrance fees, so there is very little extra spending once you depart. The value lies in seeing far more of China in a limited time than most travellers could manage independently.
What is not included in a Wendy Wu tour?
The main extras are the customary tipping kitty of approximately RMB 860 (around $185 AUD) paid locally, drinks with meals, personal spending and travel insurance.
How big are Wendy Wu tour groups?
Classic group tours are capped at 28 travellers. Dedicated solo departures are capped at 18, and private tailormade touring is also available.
Do Australians need a visa for China?
At the time of writing, Australians can enter China visa-free for short stays, which Wendy Wu tours are designed around. Always check current entry requirements on Smartraveller before you travel.
How fit do I need to be for a Wendy Wu China tour?
The New Horizons of China tour is rated physical level 2, meaning extended time on your feet, a reasonable amount of walking and some steps. Most reasonably active over 50s travellers manage comfortably but check the tour grading against your own mobility before booking.
Are Wendy Wu tours suitable for solo travellers?
Yes. Dedicated solo departures include a single room with no supplement, and regular departures offer a Happy to Share option that removes the single supplement if a room partner is matched.
Last Words on Wendy Wu Tours Review
We went to Chongqing knowing Wendy Wu’s reputation and came home understanding it. China is a destination that rewards good organisation more than almost anywhere we have travelled and seeing how much of the hard work was happening behind the scenes made the case better than any brochure could.
If you are weighing up a China trip, have a look at the New Horizons of China itinerary and the current early bird offers. And if you have travelled with Wendy Wu yourself, we would love to hear how you found it, so leave a comment below.
