Hello everyone – long time FlyerTalker but first time poster. Reading through the China forum has provided invaluable tips and I’d like to thank all those who contributed and provided such great information. My girlfriend and I will be traveling to China this October for our first time and I had a couple specific questions as it relates to transportation. I’ve reviewed the master transportation and other threads but am still at a loss as to our best options. Also, it would be helpful if you could provide a quick critique of my itinerary (below). My first question is how best to hire a private driver in Beijing to tour the Great Wall (right now I’m considering Mutianyu). We’re staying at the Westin Chaoyang and know they could provide a car but was wondering if anyone had any recommended drivers they could PM me that would be less expensive than a hotel car?

Second question relates to domestic Chinese airfare, which I’m finding to be quite expensive considering what I’ve heard (maybe assumed) about domestic flights in China. As I mention below, we’ll be traveling from Beijing to Guilin (Yangshuo is the destination) and from Guilin to Hong Kong. Currently, ctrip is showing PEK-KWL is 1430rmb and KWL-HKG is 1329rmb. So total 2759/person total…as I plan to buy this week (before I can get my visa) I just wanted to verify this pricing is as expected and I’m not missing out on any discounts or anything.

Itinerary:
10/19 – 10/24, Beijing
10/24 – 10/27, Yangshuo (staying at Lee River Retreat – does anyone have any thoughts on this place?)
10/27 – 10/30, Hong Kong

Any thoughts or suggestions would be very helpful and much appreciated!