Annie Like 0

We visited Beijing, China in September 2012 and hired Annie to be our tour guide.  Annie was great in helping us to plan a wonderful itinerary for our visit.   She arranged transportation for us from the airport to our hotel.  Annie speaks excellent English and was very knowledgeable about Chinese history and culture.  She wanted us to see the real Great Wall of China, so instead of taking us to the crowded refurbished section in Badaling, Annie suggested two other places where we could experience the Wall as it exists in most of China.  We hiked into a place where we were able to sit all alone on top of the Wall, just before sunset, watching it stretch for miles into the distance.  It was truly amazing.  Annie suggested wonderful restaurants to experience Peking Duck and other traditional Chinese food.  She took us to Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City where she helped us to understand the city's history.  In the evening, she arranged for us to see an incredible acrobat show.  We walked through the hutong alleys of Old Beijing and visited the Temple of Heaven and Summer Palace.  It was the perfect conclusion to our China vacation and Annie really helped to make it special.  Annie's fees were very reasonable.  She is a very kind person and is very proud of her home city.  We consider Annie our friend and I highly recommend her as a tour guide.

Days of trip in Beijing: February 10,13, and 14, 2012

People in our group: 12 adults (ages ranging from 27-34)

When I was looking for a tour guide in Beijing, I sent out messages to the first few who came up here in Synotrip. Most replied but initially, based on just emails, I chose Annie because:

• I felt her price was reasonable.
• The picture of the transportation for us that she sent me was a 22-seater coaster; perfect for 12 people with huge luggage filled with winter clothes.
• Her replies to my emails were quick and detailed; she was able to easily grasp what I wanted to happen for our tour.
• Her suggestions to save us more time for tour (like bringing along our luggage in the morning instead of going back for them at the hotel before transfer to train station / airport).

I felt a great deal happier by booking Annie when she helped me buy our round-trip train tickets to Harbin and charged us only a very minimal fee to buy them. To be honest, my husband and I felt a bit worried when we sent via Western Union the approximately RMB 7,000 (or US$ 1,100+) for our train tickets so Annie can buy them a week before our arrival; of course, what do we know about Annie except all that we've read on the internet? But we need not have worried.   Annie even sent me international text messages when she had questions and without my asking, sent pictures of the tickets after she bought them, further reassuring us that we can give our total trust to Annie.

Aside from the train tickets, Annie also helped us buy China sim cards which we were able to use immediately.

During our tour, as what Annie mentioned in her description above, she has "practical experience in solving problems", and dealing with 12 people with different personalities and needs, it was not an easy feat but she did it. She helped us shop, showed us where to buy souvenirs, figure out how to make our sim card work better for us, where to eat and many more. She was also very patient especially during a time that our group was undecisive and wanted to deviate from the original tour.

Communicating with her was also very easy; her English was great!

Her driver, Mr. Han, was also very reliable. He picked us up on time upon arrival at the airport; same also at the train station when we arrived from Harbin.

I would definitely recommend Annie as a tour guide in Beijing.  Thanks Annie! 

I'd like to share a video my husband made of our trip to Beijing, and the places we saw with Annie: http://vimeo.com/37092228 

Hi everyone,

We hired Annie from the 12th of January til the 14th January of 2012

Annie & her driver picked me & my family up from the motel at 8:30am. First the driver took us to the Great Wall of China, where we walked a little of the wall, we saw Tower number 14. We also got some amazing photographs up there. Then when we came back down, my family & I had lunch, while Annie & the driver went and had lunch together. Annie came back and got us half an hour later, and we drove to the Ming Tombs, where Annie told us about the Empire's & the Empress. Afterwards we went to see the Stone Sculptures. All the statues were made from Marble.

On our second day, Annie & the driver picked us up from our motel at 9:00am. And I was dying for some coffee, so Annie recommended Refresh. I think the coffee is better than the Starbucks coffee, that's just my opinion. We went to the Summer Palace in the morning. And Annie told us more about the Empire & the Empress. Then afterwards we went for a drive through the older streets of Beijing, and also went to the Bell & Drum Tower, we only went up to the Drum Tower though. We heard the people play the drums at 2:30pm, and that was very very impressive. Then the driver drove us to the Lama Temple, that Temple has the biggest Buddha in it!

On our last day, the driver picked us up at 8:30am and drove us to Refresh, and Annie met up with us there. First off we went to the Temple of Heaven, and in the first part of the Temple is a park, where there was around 1000 people there, doing exercises, dancing, singing, playing some traditional Chinese games. After we had a walk through the park, we went into the Temple of the building. Afterwards the driver drove us to Tiananmen Square, where we saw all the Army men, Police people everywhere, the 2 government buildings on either side of the Square. Then Annie took us to the old commercial streets of Beijing, and had lunch at a little restaurant there which Annie recommend. After lunch we went to the Forbidden City, where Annie told us even more about the Empire's & the Empress. It was late in the afternoon by the time we left the Forbidden City. And as we asked Annie & the driver to take us to the Olympic Park and we saw the Bird's Nest & the Water Cube which glows as it gets darker. As Annie said "its Spectacular". Afterwards the driver took us back to our motel. And we had to say our Goodbyes to Annie & the driver...

I personally would be happy to recommend Annie to anyone if they ever go to Beijing. She speaks very very good English. Annie is one of the nicest people you could ever meet. Annie know's what she's talking about. She can communicate with you easily. I would definitely hire Annie again if I go back to Beijing.

Me and my family had a fantastic time with Annie and also her driver.

We will miss Annie very much.

And thank-you Annie for making our time in Beijing so wonderful !

Everyone,

My wife and I planned a vacation in Beijing and hired Annie to guide us and must say, she was a god send! She met us at our hotel just as planned before arriving in Beijing and she quickly came up with a great plan based on our initial exchange and discussion that morning. What we both really appreciated from Annie over and above her professional and great personality was her continued sharing of historic or new information about Beijing. It was like walking, traveling with someone always sharing tastefully tin bits of information. We also appreciated her taking the time to answer or explain any question/information we were interested in at various time during our guided tour. Her time management, recommendations of restaurants etc. was invaluable to us. Her english is perfect and we had no issue communicating and nor did she with the locals in chinese. We would both strongly recommend her and use her again.

Many thanks Annie,

Paul and Karen

We (family of 2 adults + 3 kids - 23, 17, 13) had a great time with Annie in Beijing. She waited for us in the airport and took us to our hotel and then we toured the area with her for 2 days .Her  English is great and so his her area knowledge. She has a great personality and she was very flexible to change the plan per our wishes. On our 1st day –we went to the Ming tombs, the wall (at the Minituba part ) going up with a cable car, walking on the wall and then sliding down. We ate there in a simple and very good restaurant and then to the Olympic center. On our 2nd day, we went to the summer palace, hutung tour on rikshas, viewed the forbidden city from the garden near by and went to the temple of heaven. We would have never seen so much and enjoyed it so without Annie and her drivers. The 3rd day we toured alone in the markets and 798 artists area. On our last day her driver took us to the airport, again he was on time with a smile. I’ll recommend them to all my friends, they were a great team..

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Hi guys.  Just came back from Beijing,  we had lovely time with Annie, who was our  translator and tour guide for 3 days. She is very knowledgeable, experienced and personable , both me and my parents were totally satisfied, enjoyed our time and had very good impression of Beijing! If you are also looking for a professional tour guide in Beijing, I would highly recommend Annie! I am sure your money and time will not be wasted!