Qster

I have been to China on business but never for pleasure. Will be taking the family for an sightseeing visit. Looking into various organized tours but found information on the hiring of private guides in various cities. The private guide option seems extremely reasonable cost wise ($100US a day for a family of 4) and provide great flexibilities. I have zero experience with private guides anywhere in the world and am curious, are their services widely used? are they reliable?

I assume you have to hire a different one for every city you visit and supply the rental car if necessary. Any information is greatly appreciated, especially information on how to find reliable ones. Safety and reliability for my family is my #1 concern.

747FC

I've hired guides in Israel, Greece and Indonesia. Searched around for references that appeared authentic. Check Trip Advisor and other forums. Beware of scammers. Check on licensing requirements. For high end, Conde Naste Traveler has list of location-specific travel agent expertsthat can do all-inclusive planning, along with guides.

Ocn Vw 1K

As the OP is focused on guide services for a trip to China, I'll move this to the dedicated travel forum on China. Ocn Vw 1K, Moderator, TravelBuzz.

Tennis69

You do not want to be driving in China nor do you want to be on a bus type tour. A private guide is the best way to go. You can book on line or the hotel can arrange for you. Please make sure you tip (in cash) both the guide and the driver. And wear your seatbelts.

trueblu

Not sure if this post is in jest or not.

One can't easily drive in China without a driver's license (except for airport rentals) -- and not sure OP mentioned doing so.

Agree that bus tours can be very 'shopping' orientated -- although I've never been on a guided tour in China from personal experience.

And tipping is NOT the norm in China: please don't import other cultures' (imo bad) habits here.

OP: few on this board would recommend a guide -- the main sights are easy enough to navigate as a visitor unless time is very tight indeed, which it won't be. However, if you insist on a guide, I think there are a few threads on the subject from previous visitors, do look them up. A 'cheap' guide will just arrange for a taxi at a pre-negotiated rate, a more pricey one, a driver of a private car. From what has been reported, many guides will be less informed than the average keen traveller. The reason that the price is 'cheap' is that your 'guide' will be just an average Joe/Jane who has rehearsed a script, and $100 is about a week's wages for many workers in China.

I can certainly confirm that most of the Chinese friends we have (who are in the very top echelons of educated Chinese society) merely repeat and regurgitate stories that they have been told, with little independent research. My reading of Wikipedia often makes me better informed about certain aspects of Chinese culture. There are, of course, exceptions.

Either way, enjoy your holiday! If you decide down the independent route, regulars on this board who have a wealth of experience will no doubt help plan a suitable itinerary.

tb

moondog

We agree that bus tours are the pits, but I fail to see how you arrived at your "private guide is the best way to go" advice... unless you are joking. Maybe guides are useful if traveling around mine fields, but Beijing and Shanghai aren't exactly war zones.

jiejie

Have to agree with trueblu and moondog with their observations. That said, we haven't had one of these China private guide threads in a spell, so let's take the opportunity to visit/revisit some fundamentals rather than search for past threads, not just for OP's benefit but for other readers wrestling with the same question:

Off the top of my head, I can think of these general reasons to hire a private guide:
1) Provision of knowledge, insight, and history of the major city sights;
2) Provision of insight and commentary on modern local life;
3) Provision of recommendations for restaurants and shops;
4) Expediting local logistics especially transport and daily sequencing;
5) Ease language barrier and/or assist with interaction with locals.

With respect to China in particular:
1) Very very few Chinese guides can do justice to this dimension since most of them are devoted to "the script" which may have tangential relationship to the historical truth. There's institutionalized blame for that. Most visitors would do just as well to just advance-read a good guidebook and make some internet printouts for the sights they want to see, and take their materials along for consultation. That's the content part of the equation. On the delivery part, many guides are either too short- or too long-winded. The extremes of just pointing out something superficially without explanation of relevance....or on the other end....droning on and on endlessly about boring minutiae. IMO, it's hard to find one that hits the right balance and especially with an adults + kids group. Therefore, not the best reason to hire a guide in China unless on a specialty tour with a Chinese expert along....which doesn't describe the OP's situation.

2) Some Chinese guides can do a good job at this but generally only in response to the visitor's questions. Most guides wouldn't automatically assume a visitor would be interested in modern life, but get a guide with the right personality and one can learn a lot about modern China and have some fun in the process. Finding a guide with the right personality is the key, though. A tangential reason to hire a guide but not primary.

3) Chinese guides tend to do better at restaurant recommendations for local food, not surprisingly, due to pride factor rather than likelihood of getting a kickback. But recommendations for shops must always be taken with a grain of salt, especially for any guide that comes through an agency, since they will have financial motivations for steering you to certain places. When you don't know the lay of the land and proper prices, best to not ask for shopping recommendations from guides. Again, tangential reason to hire a guide since alternative recommendation sources are available via the internet.

4) Guide definitely can be helpful on this, since they know the eccentricities of local systems. But most useful in places not well served by public transport and not walkable, such as rural or small town areas where distances require a vehicle. Little value-added in big cities such as Beijing and Shanghai with extensive subway systems, also in cities with decent taxi availability and if needing only a couple of rides.

5) Ditto with item 4. In major cities with an established foreign tourist presence, a dual-language guide can be useful but not essential. Mostly an "enhancement" if one wants to interact with locals in parks, etc. In lesser cities and smaller and/or less-touristed places, a guide can be invaluable for the non-Mandarin speaker. However, where only language/translation for logistical matters is needed (not true "guiding") the option of cheaply hiring a local university student to accompany you for a small fee, lunch, and English language practice along with their translation services, exists most everywhere.

In summary, maybe the OP would benefit by a private guide in some places, maybe not. It depends on itinerary. I'm not clear if the OP already has one in mind or is looking for suggestions to fill X amount of time. OP, if you come back to this thread, tell us what you have in mind and we might be able to be more definitive on what we think you can do comfortably and independently, where a guide might be helpful, and where a guide + vehicle/driver would be adviseable. Also mention ages of kids. (moving 2 toddlers is a different equation than moving 2 teens!).

The following, though, I think most of us can agree on:
--Definitely discard the join-in group bus tour idea.
--Safety is not going to be an issue whether you are with a guide or without.
--Reliability--in the sense of guides meeting obligations to show up and do what they promised--is variable but generally favorable. Positive recommendations and referrals for private guides, whether independent or agency-provided, are important.
--Tipping in China is usually uncool and guide agreements should be structured to avoid this need (and expectation).

Jamoldo

Can't add much more to what jie jie and moondog have said (as usual). If you do need a guide, look up Wild China. I can't speak for their individual guides, but they put on some very reputable corporate programs and do some exotic programs in remote China. That being said, Wild China costs $$$$$$.

Otherwise, getting around in larger cities (Beijing, Shanghai etc) is not tough. Subways are well marked with signs in English and are clean and convenient. If you are staying at a half decent hotel or even a hostel, you can get directions to most places written in Chinese and take the hotel business card with you to get you back. There is so much information on China nowadays that one can easily read at least as much if not more than what you will be told by most "guides."

Now if you happen to have a distant connection or friend who is a local, that's a different story (mostly for modern life, food/shopping experiences), but that's no different from any other place and is not exclusive to China.

Please do give us more details so that we can opine/help! People here know their stuff and are ethusiastic. Chances are, a lot of the information you may be looking for is already on this forum already.

Loren Pechtel

Exactly. If I were going it alone over there this is what I would be looking for--someone of reasonable intelligence and able to communicate well (even if their grammar etc left a lot to be desired) in English. There's little need for a guide unless you're getting *FAR* off the beaten track.

747FC

Thanks to all the China experts for their advice on the pros and cons of hiring a guide in China.

Regarding the "Wild China" recommendation by Jamoldo, would you have a similar recommendation in Hong Kong?

MSPeconomist

IMO there's even less reason to hire a guide in Hong Kong. Subways and taxis work very well, everything seems to be signposted in English, and many people speak English (although this seems to be less true than before than handover). Museums seem to all have English labels for the details of exhibits as well as general information.

rory522

don't think a private tour guide is that needed. many travel books can tell you some history, culture, cuisine, etc. of China.don't worry about that. still many guys prefer a tour guide to get to know China better and it's true. To hire or not to hire all depends on you. actually it's not about pros and cons, just find out what kind of travel ways do you prefer

MSPeconomist

If someone can afford a private guide (and car with driver?) and hasn't traveled much internationally, I can see an argument for preferring the private guide. This can also save some time versus figuring out subways and museum locations/hours on your own, although some travelers prefer the challenge of doing it independently. In big cities and major tourist areas, language doesn't seem to be a problem but I could see the need for a guide/translator in the more rural areas. For example, I don't think I'd want to try to go to the remote panda place that isn't near Chengdu on my own.

747FC

^

Mrs and I have travelled about the world quite a bit. When we were younger, we never used a guide, and drove ourselves all around Europe (before GPS). We experienced the fun of not having a set schedule, but also the occasional frustration of not finding good accommodations, getting lost, and our limited language skills trying to negotiate with others who only spoke their native tounges.

Now, we fly or cruise into a city, and when the mood strikes, we hire a private guide. Most recent examples were Istanbul for three days and Israel for two. While with some effort we could have navigated ourselves, it was much more efficient to have a local lead us around. For one, trying to think clearly right after traversing 12-13 time zones can challenge. Additionally, we were concerned about safety, as both of these places have had periods of instability. In the event of an emergency, a guidebook is not really going to be of much help in quickly avoiding trouble.

We are looking forward to our first Beijing adventure, and despite sage advice that Beijing is easy to get around without a guide, we will (hopefully) enjoy the efficiency of having one, and the security that comes knowing we have a local to help if something goes wrong. Everyone's MMV.

DaileyB

My deceased wife was Chinese, and my children were visiting her family for 2 months in Wuhan last summer. Hired a wonderful 23 year-old philosophy student to show my 12 year-old son around. (Her boyfriend was an American. Wuhan family didn't speak English). She was very generous (for instance, loaned an expensive camera to my son) and very responsible. I paid her $30 a day. Placed an ad on an expat site to find her. She did a great job, and my son learned a lot on the excursions that he took with her.

There is some risk in finding a guide the way I did. However, there is also a big upside because there are a lot of Chinese that want to practice their English and have more exposure to Americans. My children's Chinese family doesn't have any concept of the immense benefit that it is to learn Chinese culture and to explore cities with a Chinese person conversant in English. So, all of my future trips to China will include a guide that I will find in the same manner that I found the first one. Just my experience and thoughts.