My wife and I had a wonderful custom made trips for us in Beijing. Our guide was very nice, her English was great and her knowledge of the area was fabulous. When she arrived to pick us up at our hotel she did not know what we had planned. I gave her the places we wanted to see and quickly she devised a plan on how we would fit everything in. She was very empathic to our travel needs. It was the end of a 10 day trip for us and our energy level was not as good as at the beginning. She recognized that and made sure we stayed and did as much as we had energy to do. I loved that about the tour. She took us to lunch in a fantastic restaurant she knew and we really really enjoyed it. I would highly recommend this way to see the city. It was the first time we had a private guide and I would definitely do it again. Thanks for providing us with such and excellent day!

On this second day in Beijing, I again used another private tour guide different one form that used on day one in order to visit Tianamen Square, the Forbidden City, Temple of Heaven, Bell Tower, the Hutongs and several other sites. Being just the two of us, we were able to cover a lot of ground in one day and my guide to be especially knowledgeable and congenial. Since we were essentially in the center part of the city the whole time, we relied on taxis rather than a dedicated drive for transportation. Another benefit with using a private tour guide is that you get to practice your Chinese language skills with them and also have interesting discussions about their culture and current events.

Our tour guide took excellent care of us. He made sure each member of our group had seen something they were particularly interested in, so it was a customized tour just for us. He was also extremely helpful, translating for us when we were shopping and ordering food in restaurants. I would book this tour again on a return visit.

This is absolutely the best choice for sightseeing around the central parts of the city - Tiananmen Square, Forbidden City, Temple of Heaven, Lama Temple, Confucius Temple, Imperial College, etc. Taxi rides are cheap or you can take the subway for 2RMB. The guide I had spoke pretty good English. You can also ask the guide to recommend restaurants that are more local and authentic than the ones you would normally get when part of a larger tour group.

Nothing planned specifically. Outstanding, knowledgeable, English-speaking guide suggested traditional teahouse ceremony, silk factory visit and market shopping. Happy with very laid-back experience. No rush, no fuss.