Andy and Mia Beales of GPT were truly amazing guides! Being talented photographers themselves, they understand the light and locations us photogs covet. They understand that it often takes getting up at 3:30am and staying out late into the night in order to get into position for that perfect sunrise/sunset/blue hour shot, and they were never hesitant to make it happen, in fact their excitement to share their local stomping grounds with us was evident!
They are also fluent in a handful of languages, including Mandarin, which has allowed them to develop unique relationships with the many of the locals, gaining access to places and experiences that would otherwise be unavailable to us. It also allows them to be flexible If the weather doesn’t cooperate, or problems arise (it IS China after all) and of course they are an immense help with the language barrier
Also, they had a fantastic set of hotels in the various locations we visited that cleverly bridge the gap between authentically Chinese (not international box hotels), and yet with western amenities that we really take for granted (trust me, you do not want a hotel with a Chinese style “squatty potty” toilet) and all the hotels had wifi access to interwebz if that’s important to you
All in all, you can’t ask for better guides, they really made our visit to the Guilin area spectacular. The whole experience was 1st rate, and would still be an absolutely fantastic trip of a lifetime even if the epic photography isn’t your thing
Reviewed 28 April 2015
