2-3 years ago I spent a few days in Beijing and used this website exclusively:http://www.bestourchina.com/china-travel/index-en.htm. The rates were very reasonable. I had a private English-speaking tour guide and a private car and driver every day. It was a Chinese made car but very new and air-conditioned. I believe they contract out to different companies, depending on where you want to go. It was approximately US $100 for a city tour (Forbidden City, Tiananmen Square, etc.) and $140 to the Great Wall at Mutianyu. It's probably a little more expensive now but nowhere near the prices they quoted you at the Peninsula.