We have just returned from 2 nights in Beijing on a stopover coming back to NZ from Europe. We are 2 couples in our 60's and after nearly 3 weeks on the go we were not sure what to expect or how we would handle the heat and the rush and bustle of Beijing.
After doing a lot of reading on Fodor I have to say we had a great time and it all went very smoothly. This is all down to the contact made on Fodor. It is a guide named Kong Lin.
From meeting us at the airport, to taking us every where we wanted, to arranging tickets to a show, recomenations where to eat, and for his lovely wife Violet join us on the trip to the Great Wall and guiding the girls on a shopping trip through the markets, with guidance on pricing. And then to taking us right up to the check in on our flight out. It was fantastic and a very easy way to take all the stress out of a short stop over. The cost split between 2 couples was very reasonable and we would highly recomend using Kong Lin. We will almost certainly come back through Beijing again and will use Kong Lin.
His contact details are email [email protected] or [email protected]

Good to know you all had a memorable short visit to China. Can you share some of the highlights of your trips.

How was the shopping? Did you purchase some unique items at a very affordable price? And did you enjoy a Peking Duck dinner?

Good old Kong Lin, still doing his good things! He made our 2007 visit memorable and wrinkle proof. I think we were among his first Fodor clients. If I recall properly EKCRUNCHY hired them the next week, and she met with us when we reached Shanghai. I had been to China back in 1984, when a tour was necessary...but Kong Lin and some other guides we had in the Xian and Guilin regions made it very comfortable for us in '07.
Stu Tower

EKSCRUNCHY!

bookmarking!

dgunbug: How ya been?
stu

ileen
Only a short stopover but we managed to squeeze in Tiananmen Square, Forbidden City, Accorbatic Show, The Wall at Mutianyu, lots of shopping at Pearl Market and also at Wangfujing area. Girls were too tired at night to go out for dinner so just eat in Hotel (Park Plaza on Jinbao St) which was very good.

Tower
Kong Lin said he will do tour guides in other parts of China, we will use him to do some other cities next time.

excuse the mild hijack, NZ'ers.