I just did a hike with Beijing Hikers today. I was specifically looking for something that was more a hiking trip in the hills that happened to go along the Great Wall rather than heading with the crowds to the Wall.

I had a great time. The weather was good, the fall colours were great and I thought that service from start to end, from asking for info to the bus, the guides and the hike destination were (as moondog says) top notch.

To be fair, I don't have too much to compare with in terms of guided trips. In terms of 'value' I don't know if the prices are sky high. Using Google I didn't find many similar alternatives. As a benchmark, the prices mentioned in this forum for a private guide to go to the standard Wall sites was 2+ times as much (I paid 400 RMB today). Now I had to get to the bus myself (3 subway stops) and couldn't add the Summer Palace (for example) if I wanted. I thought that I got good value, but as with any of these reviews, YMMV .

Dr. PITUK.