Beijing-Private Guide

I am looking to hire a private guide while in Beijing Oct 29 to Nov 6/07. My girlfriend and I will be seeing Grat Wall of China/Summer Place/fForbidden City/Tieq Sqauare.

Shopping Shopping Lots.

Would also like to see some kind of show(Not Opera).

Looking for good food.

So we would like to hire a driver and guide for about five days while we are there.

Thanks Leslie

Beijing-Private Guide

I just got back today from an incredible trip to Beijing....my guide was John and he was excellent (johnyellowcar@hotmail.com)....I had read his reviews on TripAdvisor and was so happy I found this website. On my first day John took me to the Great Wall at Mutianyu in the morning and then over to Hongluo Temple for the afternoon...both amazing places....second day we went to the Summer Palace, Old Beijing, and the Temple of Heaven....another incredible day....Forbidden City and T Square cane be done alone without a guide or taxi if your hotel is anywhere close to Wangfujing shopping area. I would recommend hiring only two or three days with a guide, and the other days you walk on your own.

The Chinese Acrobats at the Chaoyang Theatre were amazing....cost 35 Yuan from Wangfujing in a taxi going there in traffic....coming back it was only 17 Yuan with no traffic. The show starts every night at 7:15pm and costs from 180 to 500 depending on where you want to sit. We paid 280 and had excellent center seats in the 9th row.

You should email John ASAP to make sure you can reserve some time. He also helped us bargain and save around 300 Yuan on just a few items in the shopping area and brought us to a wonderful duck dinner. You can tell him that Michael was a very satisfied customer and says hello from San Francisco.

Beijing-Private Guide

I just returned from beijing and used Sophia. She was absolutely wonderful and sounds like she would be perfect for you and your girlfriend.

She took us to all of the sites you mentioned, plus took us to a great show! The Chinese Acrobats. It was a small theater with mostly locals. I was sincerely impressed!

She also bargained for us while shopping at the markets.

I know you%26#39;d enjoy her. Message me if you need her email address.

Dear Leslie -

I%26#39;m planning to take my daughter to Beijing as a college graduation present in February. Would appreciate any recommendations for driver/guide, places to stay near forbidden city and any other tips.

Thanks so much.

glenn.frankel@hartzmountain.com

secaucus, new jersey

I would like to know how to reach John and Sophia by email.

Thank you.

I am going to Beijing Nov 8-15.

Save your money on a ';tour guide'; to the Great Wall. Totally unnecessary. If your driver is your guide, fine. Otherwise you do not need an English-speaking tour guide. Pretty intuitive. Read your DK Eyewitness Guide to Beijing %26amp; Shanghai if you need more historial background.

When in the Forbidden City, do not go straight through, but wander to your right, east, and visit the many more rooms than many tours take you on. (You can also rent the English audio tour.) The Summer Palace is also pretty self-explanatory, and most of these sites are bilingual with fairly good English translations. Up to you, of course, and you might enjoy the patter of a tour guide.

Anyone can recommend a driver who can meet us at the airport, take to the great wall and back? Looking for someone who can communicate in English and has a reliable car.

Sincerely,

Leo

We visited Beijing for the first time in September and hired Qing Ye as our guide, she,s great, very knowledgable and good company, I would highly recommend

chineseqing_2008hotmail.com

bebo