Beijing Tour Guide Recommendation?

[lori450]

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.

 

Give a quick search on this forum. i know I saw a whole thread on just this question. details and all!

[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

 

Just a follow-up. i emailed Catherine Lu. The response I got was less than satisfying. She asked for more details of my trip instead of answering my questions. When I sent this back to her, I got a standard, "This is our favorite tour plan...." type of answer. It totally disregarded my email's information and listed all the sites I had told her we were already going to see. So, once again I emailed back, reiterating for the third time my itinerary and the things I would like to see. This was totall ignored again and she gave me some other formulaic tour plans that did not address or even acknowledge the list of things I had requested. If I can't get her to actually read or answer my emails, I will not depend upon her to fulfill my requests. i am very disappointed as so many of you recommended her. I am off to try to find someone else. Suggestions would be great!

[ell52]

Just a follow-up. i emailed Catherine Lu. The response I got was less than satisfying. She asked for more details of my trip instead of answering my questions. When I sent this back to her, I got a standard, "This is our favorite tour plan...." type of answer. It totally disregarded my email's information and listed all the sites I had told her we were already going to see. So, once again I emailed back, reiterating for the third time my itinerary and the things I would like to see. This was totall ignored again and she gave me some other formulaic tour plans that did not address or even acknowledge the list of things I had requested. If I can't get her to actually read or answer my emails, I will not depend upon her to fulfill my requests. i am very disappointed as so many of you recommended her. I am off to try to find someone else. Suggestions would be great!

 

As I mentioned in an earlier response in this thread (post #37), we used Beijing Discovery Tours. You deal directly with one of the owners, Jeff, who is based in the U.S. His partner in China is Andy. Their site isn't the fanciest or slickest around, but they really deliver on service.

 

They have standard set tours, but they are also more than willing to customize a tour for you. Jeff is very quick to respond to questions and will email back and forth with you until you get exactly what you want. They only use licensed guides and drivers (drivers and guides are separate).

[General Max]

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

 

Check out http://www.thechinaguide.com for Beijing overnite tour. Ask for Yan Ban. This is an American owned company which does not include shopping stops to get ripped off..

[lori450]

As I mentioned in an earlier response in this thread (post #37), we used Beijing Discovery Tours. You deal directly with one of the owners, Jeff, who is based in the U.S. His partner in China is Andy. Their site isn't the fanciest or slickest around, but they really deliver on service.

 

They have standard set tours, but they are also more than willing to customize a tour for you. Jeff is very quick to respond to questions and will email back and forth with you until you get exactly what you want. They only use licensed guides and drivers (drivers and guides are separate).

 

thank you! I will check it out.

[Nonna and Papa]

Just a follow-up. i emailed Catherine Lu. The response I got was less than satisfying. She asked for more details of my trip instead of answering my questions. When I sent this back to her, I got a standard, "This is our favorite tour plan...." type of answer. It totally disregarded my email's information and listed all the sites I had told her we were already going to see. So, once again I emailed back, reiterating for the third time my itinerary and the things I would like to see. This was totall ignored again and she gave me some other formulaic tour plans that did not address or even acknowledge the list of things I had requested. If I can't get her to actually read or answer my emails, I will not depend upon her to fulfill my requests. i am very disappointed as so many of you recommended her. I am off to try to find someone else. Suggestions would be great!

 

This is so different from the experience we've had in communicating with Catherine over the past year. We'll be using her when we're in Beijing for 5 days in late February/early March. When we first contacted her, I told her that we would set our itinerary at a later time, after I had done my research as to what we wanted to do and when. We emailed a few times, and when I asked, she provided her fees, and we sent a her a deposit of a day's fee. Within the past few months, I've narrowed down our daily itinerary, and sent it to her. She made one suggestion, but our schedule was completely customized to our specifications.

 

I'm sorry you've had such an experience with her. I hope she's not getting "too busy" with her tour company that she's changing the way she offers tours. She is so highly recommended that any big box changes would be a shame, and a disappointment. Good Luck with your searching.

 

Mary

[weezil]

Based on various recommendations here and on Trip Advisor, we have just booked a 3 day tour, airport pick-up and port drop-off with Catherine Lu. We have emailed her twice in the last 2 days and had a response within 3 hours each time! She has also been very helpful with ideas and arranging our own wish list of things to see. I am sorry to hear that not everyone has had this experience but we have been very impressed so far and I felt it important to pass this info on as recent 'bookers'.

[jcerst]

thank you! I will check it out.

 

http://www.chinatraveldepot.com/ChinaTours/

 

Lori,

Our friends and neighbors law firm use this company.

 

Joe

[beadshopper]

Hi

 

I haven't read all this thread, but would like to share a great driver we hired whilst in Beijing: mark520bj@hotmail.com

 

We were not required to pay upfront, his car was large, fitted our family of four and he supplied cold drinks!!!

 

We did not book him as a tour guide, but a driver (with car) to take us to the Great Wall - I believe he may offer other services as well.