TripAdvisor Reviews

We emphatically recommend Travel China Guide service and our guide Tina. Like the title says, they are the best way to tour Beijing. They were the perfect balance of organization + flexibility + personalized service + value.



To start, they don't have a one-size-fits-all itinerary. You send them a message with your arrivial and departure dates, group size, and interests. Based on your input, they propose a plan and a price. The price was VERY reasonable for what we got - airport transfers in a private car, a great hotel in central Beijing with breakfast buffet, and touring with your guide and a private car.



We were not enthusiastic about joining a tour group, but decided to investigate this company. After I sent in our request, "Emily" replied the next day with their proposal. Emily was our consistent person for organizing the trip. Her proposal was for just the two of us with a private guide Tina. We had four full days available, but she recommended that we could hit all the main highlights in three days, and the fourth day would be a free day on our own. That sounds great, so we booked it. Payment is via domestic wire transfer to a bank in New York.



We arrived at 5pm local time into PKX Beijing Daxing airport which is about an hour's drive to central Beijing. Tina welcomed us as we exited immigration & customs and led us to the car at the curb. After traveling for so long, it was a great relief to turn over navigation to Tina and our driver. During the drive, Tina reviewed the schedule for the next few days. They got us to the hotel and made sure our check-in was uneventful and then let us go.



Over the next three days, we saw so much! I won't go into details because you can get that information in many places. This is a review of the company, not of Beijing as a place.



Having a private guide was so valuable! She had everything arranged well, with the right tickets at the right time. She took us to lightly-populated entrances and got us right in, while we saw throngs of people at other entrances. Other large groups were walking around and listening to their guide on a squawk box or headphones. We walked with Tina as she explained the history and cultural perspective of what we were experiencing. Not just the top level highlight, but she gave us really in-depth history and competing perspectives, and the evolvution of those perspectives over time. And not just the sights, but everything we saw. Do all couples take wedding photos in traditional costumes, or only the wealthy? What do her friends think about getting married and having children? How is the economy? What do people think about the USA? How did the city transition to all electric vehicles so rapidly? Since it was just us three, if we wanted to take more pictures here or spend more time there, or detour over to see that thing, or have lunch there, that all just flowed naturally. "Please show us how to use the subway." OK, we'll do that. We loved getting to know her story, the history of her family and extended family, and her views on current culture. She is now a friend and we look forward to welcoming her if she comes to our city.



Having a private car was also really valuable. We are supporters and users of public transportation, but the car really made the most of our precious time in Beijing. Tina and our driver would pick us up at the hotel in the morning and whisk us to our stops. The Beijing Zoo, Summer Palace, and Bird's Nest Stadium are all a ways away from other things, so we were very efficient in seeing those. Like having Tina as our private guide, the private car allowed us to tour at our own pace. It was also a nice little break in the action - sit down, water, air-conditioning, quiet. Ok, here we are at the next stop - Go Time!



When we return to China, we will re-connect with Tina and Travel China Guide. Less

11 day tour - Beijing, Xi'an, Guilin, Yangzhou, Guilin, Shanghai,

This is a wonderful trip packed with things to see and experience. If you are looking for a slow trip to shop, rest and relax this is NOT a trip for you. If you want to learn as much as you can about China culture and history in a short time this is the tour. Each of the Cities offer a different experience. Bottom Line this was a very nice tour and the Tour company was responsive to all needs and desires. The group started as 12. Some had shorter tours and left at day 8. As I prepared for the tour Travel Guild China was available to give advice. Ashley responded quickly and with detail on any questions I had. I will give some hints learned at the end of this review.



When I landed at the airport A tour guild was waiting for me with a sign as I exited the airport. She met up with a driver and gave me a brief history on the drive to the hotel. Jenny was very accommodating. At my request the driver stopped at an ATM before going to the hotel. In Beijing we Started the day at The Great Wall. I traveled in Mid November. After the peak season. I had expected cold windy weather but was pleasantly surprised. I was a lovely day and we had about an hour to hike along the wall and see the ramparts and other features. This has always been on my bucket list so I had much of the history of this site and the other sites we visited in Beijing. We also visited Other sites in Beijing included Forbidden City, and a n Acrobat show.
the Panda Kitty our tour guild was tried hard but was lacking in her knowledge at several of the sites. I informed Ashley with the travel China Guild the tour company and she provided a cash refund to the entire group for the inconvenience. Other sites in Beijing included Forbidden City, and an Acrobat show.



In Xi'an We were met by Lilly at the airport. Lilly was a knowledgeable and organized tour guild. Xian is the City with the long history of China. Starting back at the 1st emperor who built the famous terracotta warriors. My trip was in mid November after the peak season and before it gets too cold. The crowds at the terracotta soldiers were small and allowed us to spend some time and really see them. We then walked over to the house of the farmer who discovered the terracotta warriors. He is getting very old but took some time to sign a book about the soldiers. We then went to a shop to learn how the soldiers were made. We each made our own terra cotta solider. We visited a nice Buddhist temple and made an offering of incense. We ended the day with a dumpling dinner and show that was fabulous. The next morning we got up early to do Tai Chi in the park next to the City wall. Some touring at the museum and pagoda filled the rest of the day. The group then met up for drinks on the 51st floor of our lovely hotel to admire views of the City.



Samantha was the Guild in Guilin. Samantha was also an excellent guild who clearly spoke about the sites in her City. Guilin is a City of natural beauty. It is the background used in most Chinees art. Guilin is also the location for the 4 minorities in China. The Meow people were lovely in their silver outfits. We spent a day on a river cruise to Yangzhou admiring the lovely sites. The lovely weather seemed to follow us. I was told it had rained before we arrived but our weather was sunny and nice. We visited a small local farm. We stayed late in Yangzhou to see a show directed by the same man who directed the Olympic opening ceremonies. The show featured about 7000 performers over water with the mountains as he scenery. Then a bus ride back. The next morning we has a City tour of Guilin and some free time to explore on our own. The people were super friendly and you certainly felt safe everywhere.



The next and last stop was Shanghai. A really modern big City with the worlds second tallest building and a very European feeling. Expensive shops like Cartier everywhere. Ran our guild spoke perfect English and shared all about his City. It was interesting to see hundreds of years of history in the middle of a vibrant City. He as able to adjust the tour based on what the group wanted.



Some Tips:

China Censors everything on the internet. Wifi exists everywhere but unless you use the government apps in Madeiran it is useless. I was able to access all the installed apps (including Google). I use mint mobile and paid $20 for a 10 day international data plan. Install google translate and download simplified Chinese to your phone. The Great Fire Wall is one of the most difficult things in traveling to China. Some in the group had multiple VPN's and could not access email, or social medias. WhatsApp and similar things do not work. The guilds use WeChat to communicate. you can install it while you are in the country. WeChat and Alipay are used by most for payment. Locals do not use cash. even beggars asked for money with Alipay. ATM's are available at the banks for cash. Visa is accepted at most of the tourist places but not the street vendors. Less

I was warmly greeted by Rocky, my tour guide, at the hotel. Being the last one to be picked up, we headed straight to Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. It was bitter cold, but that didn’t stop Rocky one bit, he was very informative, had a good sense of humor and equipped with his camera, shooting pictures of the sights and of the people in the group, it was like bringing along your own photographer! Next stop was the highlight of the trip, the Great Wall. On the way to the Great Wall, Rocky arranged lunch at the restaurant, and we arrived with all the food ready to go, perfectly planned. The Great Wall was amazing, not crowded at all, we had plenty of time to explore and take pictures. On the way back to the hotel, Rocky shared his photos with us! I can’t wait to get back hotel to see them! I highly recommend this trip and Rocky. Less