Nicole Yang

Chinese Name: Yang Yi

Nicole in Yuyuan Garden, Shanghai  Go to Nicole's Album

Hello. I’m Nicole, a patient and passionate travel consultant with TravelChinaGuide (TCG). When I was a college student, I dreamed of being a tour guide who could travel to many places, meet people of various cultures and introduce our great land to visitors from all over the world. When I graduated in 2007, I was given a chance to interview with TCG and was attracted to its enterprise culture. I therefore plunged into my beloved tourism industry to work as a travel consultant, which I found is more in my field of interest and training.

During the past years, I have organized tours for around 600 groups with different itineraries catering to the clients’ needs. I have attended staff training in Beijing, Shanghai, Suzhou, Chongqing, Yangtze River Cruise, Yichang, Wuhan, Guilin, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Yan’an and Kaifeng and visited the scenic spots in my home city of Xi'an. There are many unforgettable stories. I have had to become an excellent problem-solver while experiencing all kinds of unexpected problems during the tours. Here is a story that I would like to share with you.

In 2009, human infections caused by the pandemic (H1N1) virus were identified in many countries, including China. At that time, the World Health Organization did not restrict travel to China, and the tours were in good order. That July, we received a small group of travelers from five different countries. The group members met each other happily and started their tour. On the second evening when the visiting was completed, one lady did not feel well and was brought to the hospital accompanied by the tour guide. That night, the lady was identified as a suspected case of pandemic (H1N1) and the case was confirmed the next morning. Thus, unfortunately all members from the group, the guide, driver, and staff at the hotel, and other people who were linked to the patient had to be quarantined for 7 days at a hotel designated by the Beijing Center for Disease Control and Prevention (Beijing CDC).

That was a disaster. Of course the travelers were very worried as they were stranded in a foreign country facing danger to their health, and certainly their holiday might be ruined. I spent the whole morning calling every traveler in the group to express our concern and promise that we would try our best to help them. In the following days, as I got travelers’ ideas about further tour arrangements, I contacted the Beijing CDC to get the certificate of quarantine, which was needed to change flights, hotels and other bookings. And at the same time, I kept in touch with doctors at the hotel to be aware of the travelers’ condition every day. I cannot forget the single lady from the Philippines. When I first called her, she said: Nicole, can you call me every day at 2pm? I was deeply moved by her helpless voice and I did call her every day to let her know she was not alone.

After 7 days passed, fortunately the first patient was cured and the others were confirmed not infected and could leave isolation. We carried out our promise to offer tour service for travelers at the group rate although they were not a small group anymore but private travelers as they got different plans due to the change of international flights. I met some of these travelers in Xi'an, and we were like old friends since we had come through difficulties together. One lady from South Africa gave me a sweet gift of a hand-made necklace, which I love so much. After this experience, I realized that organizing a tour is not only a job, it is a responsibility, and travelers are not only clients, they are our friends.

Most importantly, I must say that my colleagues gave me a great deal of help as I dealt with the problems and I felt very lucky to be with a great team. Our mission is to provide an exceptional experience to every person who travels with us and we continue to do so.

So this is Nicole and my story. I am much honored to work with TravelChinaGuide and I hope there will be a chance for me to show you our fascinating and incredible country and share more travel stories with you.