We used Simon, who was terrific. It’s a bit over an hour away, so it’s nice to have an English speaking driver to go when we wanted and answer all our questions. As for the Wall, it’s mostly a 4 hour hike, I don’t know what a guide would have done that some internet research wouldn’t have covered.

In Beijing we took the metro all over. It’s fast, cheap, easy, safe and clean. No risk of getting caught in traffic!