“Excellent custom bilingual tour of Beijing”

Highly recommend Joanne for your guided tour needs in Beijing! I’ve done a lot of tours in a lot of countries and this one stands out in several ways. First, she is truly bilingual, speaks fully idiomatic English and is able to explain historical and cultural concepts in both languages. I was able to practice my intermediate level Mandarin and improved a lot after our many hours of conversation and her patient suggestions for how I can sound more fluent. It is hard to overstate how helpful it is for language learning to have someone in the moment explain what locals are saying or what the signs mean or how to respond in certain situations or explain the nuance between two similar phrases. We also spoke about life topics unrelated to Beijing and that made the experience more personal and fulfilling as well. Second, her knowledge of the city is impressive in both breadth and depth. We had a wide range of experiences across the 2 day tour from big must see attractions such as Forbidden City, Tiananmen, and Summer Palace to more local streets, temples and shops and many modes of transportation to get an authentic feel for the city. At every stop she was able to point out both the big picture and minute details, describe how everything fits in China’s history and the cultural significance. I liked how it wasn’t just canned speeches about each place; it was more of a discussion and she was able to answer all of my follow up questions too. Lastly, her customer service is top tier. I booked very last minute but she responded quickly and planned two full days of custom itinerary after discussing my interests. She made all of the reservations for busy attractions, timed everything so we didn’t have to wait in line anywhere, booked restaurants, and was responsive on WeChat. One of the two days happened to be my birthday and she even brought me a small gift which was quite touching. Overall it was a memorable and unique experience and I’d definitely tour with her again!

Joanne T.

(1 reviews)

Hi Hanna, Thank you so much for such a lovely, detailed review — it made my day! I thoroughly enjoyed our two days wandering around Beijing and all our wide‑ranging chats about history, culture and little language subtleties. It was so rewarding to witness how quickly your Mandarin improved during our time together. You are making fantastic progress and I’m sure you will be speaking very fluent Chinese before long. Hope your rest of trip goes smoothly and safely. Would be lovely to cross paths again sometime. All the best, Joanne