Beijing Tour Guide Recommendation?

[aussiecruzer]

We have just returned from a 3 week trip which included 8 days in China, covering Shanghai, Xian and Beijing. We booked through China Highlights and were extremely happy with their services. In each city we had a friendly local guide and driver and car to show us around. Each of our guides spoke excellent English. All in all, a hassle free trip. Would certainly recommend China Highlights.

[sondi 14]

Bowie MeMe

 

We used Lily when we were in Beijing last February. We loved her and really saw a lot of Beijing in the 2 days we toured with her. She spoke excellent English and was very knowledgeable. I have 2 email addresses for her. They are lilyfuwa@gmail.com and lily_fuwa@yahoo.com. Enjoy Beijing - we loved it.

 

I think we were on the same Canada/New England cruise last year.

[Bowie MeMe]

Thanks for the recommendation. We were on the Crown for New England/Canada last year. Sept. 27 2010 I think was the date. That was an easy cruise and we really enjoyed it though the weather (especially in Boston ) was not that great.

[sondi 14]

That was the cruise we were on as well. It was a good cruise, but as you said, the weather wasn't great. I'd love to return in better weather.

 

Good luck with a guide in Beijing. We found the city really interesting. The whole trip was great - part cruise and a land trip to Beijing for 3 days.

[moondance75]

I am getting quotes of about $200 to take the 5 of us from Beijing to the cruise terminal. I just started looking- but three places came back consistent.

[Bowie MeMe]

See if you can get a quote for a van for the day. Ask for maybe a 1/2 day tour and then the transfer. For 3 people I have been getting quotes of $200 to $300 a day for guide van and driver. Princess transfer is $29 pp but that is with the post cruise 5 day package. (which we are not taking now)

[brucert]

Earlier this year we had 3 days in Beijing, booked a recommended guide and she was fine on the first day. The second day she didn't turn up at the hotel, only to have arranged a replacement guide for us. This was a man, who had his mate driving and his sister learning the ropes. The car was a beat up full of impregnated smoke.

A pretty unpleasant day was made worse by the guide wanting to take us places we had been the day before and to places we didn't want to go where he got a commission.

He did tell us that if the guides don't check in at a given number of these commission houses they lose their government accreditation. Don't know how true this is, but needless to say we did our own thing on day 3 and they didn't get the tip they sought.

 

2kiwis

 

we are in the process of arranging a private tour guide in beijing and your post above worries me. please tell us who you used that you were so unhappy with. if doing this publicly breaks any forum rules, then please email me privately at brtuffli@sbcglobal.net with the information.

 

thanks

 

bruce

[geeandme]

we was in beijing last year and used lily her e-mail is lily_fuwa@yahoo.com lily_fuwa@ yahoo.com

 

she was a terrific guide and you only pay her when you arrive

 

she can also arrange a driver (her father-in-law ex police ins)

 

would highly recommend

 

Also used the bullet train down to the port

for any more info glenisevans@hotmail.com

[smudge58]

When we booked our cruise we decided to spend a couple of days in Beijing before we joined the ship. We would have liked to spend longer but couldn’t afford more time off work. Luckily friends of ours who had been to Beijing in the Spring recommended Violet as a tour guide. With limited time it was great to have our own tour guide and we feel we got to see more and learn more about the Country than we would have if we had been on a coach with 40 other tourists.

Violet proved the transport, a comfortable saloon car with driver and suggested an itinerary. We went to the Great Wall but not the section most tourist go to. Violet was fantastic, very informative and made the trip fun. She suggested that we took the toboggan down from the Great Wall which was enjoyable and different. In the afternoon we went to see the Summer Palace which was again extremely interesting and very enjoyable having Violet as a private tour guide.

Before going to the Summer Palace they took us to a local restaurant where normally only local people go. It was great to try the Chinese Hotpot, a dish that you cook yourselves on a heater in the middle of the table. Violet recommended and ordered the dishes for us and told us how to cook them. It was lovely.

That day we also went to the Birdcage. It was a great day and we fitted lots in. The next day we visited Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City before joining the ship.

On the whole we loved our time in Beijing, we would have liked longer but our experience in the short time we had was enhanced by Violet. She is extremely helpful and friendly and went out of her way to ensure we had a fantastic time. She also helped us after our cruise when we realized we had left some kit in Beijing.

Her English is excellent, she is a lovely, helpful, friendly lady and I would not hesitate to recommend Violet as your guide in Beijing

Violet's e-mail is lnghulyn@hotmail.com and she responds straight away.

Thank you Violet, you made our stay in Beijing so much more memorable!

[lostatsea200]

We are looking for a guide to pick us up airport? late night. And take us around. My partner has not been to China before, so will want to see the great wall, imperial palace, temple of heaven. It will be late March, so alot of sightseeing will be in the cold. We are looking for a guide that can do this, without requiring a deposit. We also will need a transfer to the port in catch the ship. Sofar the couple that we contacted wanted 300usd per day. Does anyone know if this is the going rate? Please assist.

[ell52]

We are looking for a guide to pick us up airport? late night. And take us around. My partner has not been to China before, so will want to see the great wall, imperial palace, temple of heaven. It will be late March, so alot of sightseeing will be in the cold. We are looking for a guide that can do this, without requiring a deposit. We also will need a transfer to the port in catch the ship. Sofar the couple that we contacted wanted 300usd per day. Does anyone know if this is the going rate? Please assist.

 

We recently used Beijing Discovery Tours. They do require a 30% deposit (which I think is quite reasonable), but you deal directly with one of the owners (Jeff) who is very responsive. The website isn't the slickest out there, but he delivers on service. You can choose one of the tours on their website or he can help you customize what you want. They use only licensed guides and drivers. The guide we had (Cassie) was also excellent.

.

[Ole Faithful]

I have used The China Guide twice this year. It is operated by an American who lives in Beijing.

 

They have a great web site, are on Facebook and highly rated in Trip Advisor. There was no deposit required. They met us at the Cruise ship in Tanjin and delivered us to the airport. The tours were GREAT and my favorite was the Great Wall at Mutianyu and thesled ride (luge run) down to the parking lot!

[iherb]

We stayed 3 nights pre-cruise in Beijing and used Catherine Lu as our tour guide. We didn't have to pay Catherine up front; in fact, we paid her the last day of our tour. She was great to work with; answering all my emails within a day; in fact, some within a few hours. Knowing that this would probably be our one and only visit to China, we wanted to see as many historical sights as possible. Catherine is very knowledgeable of Chinese history; so much in fact, that I believe I know more about China's history than the United States history! After picking our family up at the airport, we spent the afternoon at Tiannanmen Square and the Forbidden City, then attended a Chinese acrobat performance. She even made reservations that evening for Peking duck at Da Dong's. The next day we toured the Temple of Heaven, took a pedicab tour of the hutongs, and then toured the Summer Palace. Our final day was spent at the Great Wall at Mutianyu and the Ming Tombs. She even arranged for transportation to the cruise ship terminal in Tianjin the following day! She can be reached at catherine_1130@hotmail.com.

 

We used Catherine Lu's services a few years ago. Everything was done perfectly - car van to the Great Wall, dinner at peking duck restaurant, walk around Tianamen Square, pedicab through Hutong. She even waited at the train station with us for the train back to the port. Well recommended:)

[PYC]

Lady Maven,

 

I was wondering if you had taken the trip to Beijing with this tour company. My wife and I were planning to book with this particular company, but are worried about the legitimacy of the company. Any help or information would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance. PYC

[PYC]

I have been in touch with and booked a tour with BEIJINGTOURSGUIDE. this will involve a pickup at tianjin port, driving to beijing, visit tiananmen sq, forbidden city, summer palace and an overnite at a hotel, 2nd day after a visit to the mutianyu great wall and the sacred way a transfer back to the port. my contact there is danielyan@beijingtoursguide.com. I found him to be very responsive and i think quite reasonable ; the company required 50% deposit (paypal) ......this is for our trip in march.

 

 

Lady Maven,

 

I was wondering if you had taken the trip to Beijing with this tour company. My wife and I were planning to book with this particular company, but are worried about the legitimacy of the company. Any help or information would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance. PYC

[suzyluvs2cruise]

2kiwis

 

we are in the process of arranging a private tour guide in beijing and your post above worries me. please tell us who you used that you were so unhappy with. if doing this publicly breaks any forum rules, then please email me privately at brtuffli@sbcglobal.net with the information.

 

thanks

 

bruce

 

Bruce...if you got an answer about the tour guide they were unhappy with could you please share it with me. suek46 at hotmail dot com

 

Thanks...

[Grannycb]

Were your guides booked months in advance or within a few weeks of travel? Were any of these guides/companies available in different cities? Please keep the recommendations coming.

[celem]

Why would a tour company be a bad idea?

 

Whatever you do, do not pay upfront unless you are going with a tour company (which most experts in China do not recommend).

[Roses2]

At the end of our Asian cruise we spent 3 full days touring Beijing. Our research on Trip Advisor and Cruise Critic led us to contacting Catherine Lu and what a perfect choice she is. Our experience could not have been better.

We began our email conversation with Catherine several months before we arrived in Beijing. Her responses were quick and always very helpful as we developed our tour itinerary for the three days and she was very flexible in adjusting our schedule.

Although Catherine was engaged during our time in Beijing she assigned her colleague, Maggie to us. Maggie could not have been more helpful, flexible, charming, or responsive. Both Catherine and Maggie are Chinese Government licensed tour guides and this is very important. They have passed rigid examinations and they absolutely know their stuff. They also get free admission to all the tour sites so they can accompany you through each site. (There are many tour guides you may find through the Internet that our not licensed. Beware of using un-licensed guides in China).

We also would like to especially commend Catherine’s assignment of a great safe driver, Mr. Liu who was a terrific assistance to us. He was safe and extraordinarily pleasant to be with during our time in Beijing.

We unhesitatingly recommend Catherine Lu to anyone visiting Beijing and if she assigns Maggie and Mr. Liu be prepared to have a wonderful visit from pick up at the cruise port to drop off at the airport. Maggie excels at assisting with haggling with vendors and be sure you eat at Maggie’s favorite restaurant and savor the best Chinese meal you have ever had and where you will be the only non Chinese in the place. We advise you avoid the “famous” duck restaurants and stick with Maggie’s choices.

We travel the world often and seldom have we had a private tour experience as good as we had with Catherine Lu.

[XFed2001]

I have been in touch with and booked a tour with BEIJINGTOURSGUIDE. this will involve a pickup at tianjin port, driving to beijing, visit tiananmen sq, forbidden city, summer palace and an overnite at a hotel, 2nd day after a visit to the mutianyu great wall and the sacred way a transfer back to the port. my contact there is danielyan@beijingtoursguide.com. I found him to be very responsive and i think quite reasonable ; the company required 50% deposit (paypal) ......this is for our trip in march.

 

lady maven: how did your experience with BEIJINGTOURSGUIDE go? We're going in Feb but only spending 2 nights; we already have a hotel but possibly interested in what this company offers..... Thanks

[XFed2001]

In reading the posts, I couldn't discern whether payments made to the guides were in $USD or Chinese Yuans. I presume that one could charge the costs (admissions, car, guide, tips) to a credit card if there is a tour company involved ... yes? Thanks for any clarifications

[lithlith]

We were in Beijing in March 2012 following a cruise on the Diamond Princess.

 

I used a combination of looking on TripAdvisor.com and CruiseCritic to determine with whom I wanted to book tours. Since it was our first time to China and I was unsure as to what type of service to expect, I booked our two days of sightseeing with different companies as I didn't want to be stuck with someone for two day if they weren't any good.

 

We used the services of Catherine Lu (highly recommended on TripAdvisor.com) to arrange our pick up at the Tianjin port, transfer us to Beijing and give us a tour. I contacted Catherine in January, but I'm sure you could contact her a few weeks out and she would arrange something. She was not available and we had her colleague Maggie as our guide. We had to send $100USD by PayPal as a reservation and the rest was paid in USD on the day of the tour. We had arranged that all entrance fees and lunch be included in our price ahead of time. We visited the Forbidden City, Tienanmen Square, Temple of Heaven, and the Pearl Market. Our guide and driver were good and I would recommend them.

 

We used The China Guide http://www.thechinaguide.com (recommended by someone on Cruise Critic) for attaining discount tickets to the Chaoyang Acrobat show and for our second day of touring Beijing. I contacted The China Guide in January to arrange our March visit. Again, I'm sure you could contact them a few weeks out and they would accommodate you. This company is owned/operated by an American living in China, which appealed to me. They offer unlimited bottled water all day and lunch and entrance fees were included the price. We did not have to put a deposit down and paid in Chinese Yuan the day of the tour and night of the acrobat show. (On a complete side note - the acrobat show is a MUST see while in Beijing!) On our full day tour we saw the Beijing Zoo, Summer Palace, Great Wall at Mutianyu, and Olympic Venues. We had a great guide and driver. If I were going to Beijing again today, I would book with The China Guide.

[davwen81]

We have just returned from China and in Beijing used Jessie Di. She was excellent and we got her name and contact details from trip advisor under Beijing tour guides. She can organise a driver, has excellent English and is a delight to tour with. We went to the Hutongs, Drum and Bell Towers, Dragon Lake and then a local restaurant for lunch which cost $13 for the three of us and was delicious. We would highly recommend Jessie and we did not pay her till the end of her tour. Hope that helps and you enjoy Beijing!

[lori450]

Thank you all so much for your feedback. I have contacted Catherine Lu about our June 2013 trip and eagerly await her response. i would love to know of any sites or restaurants you may have visited in Beijing that you loved. (other than the traditional Forbidden City, Summer Palace, Olympic site, etc.). Thanks

[C-breeze]

Does anyone know if it is possible to see the Terra Cotta Warriors in Xian for a day trip? We would like to tour Beijing the first day of our 3 days there and then go to Xian for the day. We would come back in the evening and the last day see more of Beijing. We do have to travel back to our ship in Tianjin which departs at 6 p.m. Is this doable or would we miss too much of the Beijing sights?

 

My husband really wants to see the warriors, but I am not sure this will be doable.