What our customers say: 

We had just 48 hours in Beijing so we needed to make the most of our brief time there. Without Skye, we would not have managed to cover what we did. Our day started with Skye and her excellent driver meeting us at our hotel and heading out of Beijing straight to see the Great Wall of China. Not a walk for the faint hearted! And throughout the drive, Skye engaged with us to discuss China, it's place in the world and how it works. From there, it was back to Beijing for a delicious lunch of local dumplings before being dropped at Tiananmen Square to experience this amazing space before walking through to the Forbidden City. Skye's informed, respectful and clear explanations of "old" and "new" China were outstanding. My wife and I have used private guides all around the world and Skye is up there with the best. Her English is outstanding and organising arrangements in advance very easy. Enjoy!!! - Michael and Beth 
Visited June 2013

Skye is absolutely unique. My wife and I are normally loners, never involving anyone else in our rare moments together ( I work in China, she works in UK ). Skye did not get in the way at any time in our day with her and her well-chosen driver for our trip to the Great Wall and the Bird's Nest.Her sense of humour, ability to read situations and knowledge of the area were a real trip-enhancer for my wife and I.I could go on, but won't! If you need a guide in Beijing, contact this one! - Derek
Visited June 2013

I chose Skye to escort my friend and I around the city of Beijing based on her recommendations here. I was not at all disappointed! She is extremely friendly, flexible, and has a great personality. We opted to have her walk around the city with us and use public transportation to see all the sights, but she can also hire you a driver for the day if needed. Because it was just me and one other person, it was a very personal experience that far exceeded any "tour" I've ever signed up for. We simply told her what we wanted to see, and off we went! She was very knowledgeable about everything we saw and it was a pleasure to hear her talk about China from her point of view. She is a remarkable woman! I highly recommend choosing Skye to show you around. You will not regret it!-Scott
Visited June 2013

Skye was incredibly helpful from the first email. She helped with getting in touch with our hotel and the visa process. I was travelling with my grandmother, mother and sister and we all loved our three day tour in Beijing with Skye.If you are looking for a tour guide, look no further, Skye is friendly, funny, knowledgeable, and always ready to take a photo of the group!  -Karoline Family
Visited June 2013

Our family of 5, including 3 young kids, spent a couple of days with Skye and it was great.We really enjoyed her balance of professionalism and a very relaxed demeanor and our kids still talk about here many weeks later.Our first day with Skye was a "greatest hits" tour of Beijing. She was at the hotel right on time (maybe even early) and full of energy. We enjoyed the sights, her selection of local restaurants, and of course her knowledge.Our second day was the Great Wall and then the Summer Palace. It was cold and rainy and the Summer Palace was EXTREMELY crowded on a local holiday. Skye was awesome in reading our kids, knowing that a speed tour was in order. Everyone was happy. Unfortunately our van got into a little accident later that night. It was most definitely not his fault, but he had to stick around for the police. Skye handled the situation incredibly well, whisking us off to another taxi van and onto our destination (the Kung Fu show). Skye made our kids feel at ease and just handled the whole thing perfectly. We can't recommend Skye enough!  -Steve Family
Visited May 2013

My niece and her BF came to China for the 1st time and as I live in shanghai, I thought I would take them to Beijing to see some sights. I chose skye to show us around BJ for 3 days from the tripadvisor recommendations and what a great choice!
Skye was fantastic - funny, knowledgeable, flexible and very friendly. The 3 of us loved our tour of Beijing and even though I had been to many of the sites before, Skye breathed new life into them through her wonderful knowledge of the sites and their history. We felt a bit sad to say goodbye to her on the last day, but we will treasure those memories for many years to come. –Sentosa
Visited May 2013

I had toured many of the sites in Beijing before with a guide/company that had been recommended on Trip Advisor and Skye was SO MUCH better!! I was traveling with my sister and daughter this time and wanted them to really enjoy and appreciate the important landmarks in and around Beijing. Skye was everything you would want in a guide. She was totally responsive in setting up the trip (and made adjustments, even last minute ones, based on our mistakes and our preferences). Skye was totally personable (other travelers have said that they felt like Skye was a member of the family or a personal friend and I can see why). We asked Skye all kinds of personal and potentially intrusive questions and she was completely gracious and open. And Skye was very attentive to our needs. When we seemed to be getting tired she automatically started guiding us toward the exit.We whole-heartedly recommend Skye as a guide. You will not be disappointed. 

As my daughter was still working, I had Skye take my friend and I around the city by subway, bus, taxi - we wanted to learn how to use the city transportation system and she was a great teacher. Her English is excellent and she knows the history of the area well. She was flexible. We decided we would rather go to either the Silk Market or the Pearl Market for some bargain shopping than to the acrobat show and she had no problems making that change. She also gave a quick lesson in the haggling process. It was fun and so is she. She met us at the hostel, made sure we knew how to get to both of the subway stations by our hostel and what to use each one for. We felt confident buying our own tickets after she showed us how. I loved the park she took us to outside the Temple of Heaven. We spent a lot of time watching and joining everyone doing their morning exercise routine and she did not make us feel rushed at all. Even though my daughter knows the city, Skye was a much better tour guide..... Thanks! Her charge was about 250RMB per person for an 8 hour day and we paid our own subway, taxi, etc fees along with the fees to get into the Temple of Heaven and the Forbidden City. She asked what we wanted for lunch and we didn't care. Since it was raining at that time and it was close she decided we'd just eat at McDonald's at the Pearl Market so now I have a Chinese McDonald's placemat for my collection. She is primo.
Visited May 2013

Skye was an awesome guide and I would highly recommend her to anyone visiting Beijing. She was at our hotel in good time and her English is of a very high standard. She was full of interesting facts about the city and the Hutongs and was really personable and helpful. On our request she took us to the Summer Palace instead of the Forbidden City where she told us all about Cixi, the Dragon Lady and scourge of her son the emperor.
After this she took us to the Lama and Confucius temples and it was wonderful to be able to relax and enjoy the day rather than having to worry about navigating the public transport system. The transport system is really efficient and cheap and I would recommend people to use it rather than paying for the more expensive and often more dangerous taxis, but you do need your brain cells working overtime to fathom the changes and stops that you need to take.We enjoyed Skye's company so much that we bought her a coffee and chatted for a further hour or so with her and it was very interesting to hear about China from her perspective. She also gave us some great tips for visiting the Great Wall and even took the trouble to organise an excellent driver for us for the next day. Skye also does trips to the wall and will cater them to your wishes whether you are after more sightseeing or trekking. She has been to all parts of the wall accessible from Beijing and really knows her stuff.So, if you want a personalised trip of the city or the surroundings with a friendly, open, easily-understandable guide who will go the extra-mile, Skye is the one to go for! It's like being shown around the city by an old friend. We were very happy with our choice, you will be too!

I recently travelled to Beijing and hired Skye to be my private guide. She was a terrific resource from the first email. She met me at my hotel the morning of. During the tour I was particularly impressed by: 
- Her knowledge of the history of the sites -- very in depth and able to answer lots of my esoteric questions 
- Her friendliness and charm 
- Awesome photo taking abilities! 
- English fluency
I highly recommend Skye as a guide! Thank you for a wonderful tour, Skye! :)   -Ben
Visited May 2013

It's difficult to write anything better than has already been written. My wife and I have been with Skye for the last two days and as a guide she is the best and as a person she is wonderful. Great English, very knowledgable and a fabulous personality with a terrific sense of humour and fun. The first day we did a tour of Beijing city and the Forbidden City and on day two we went to a quieter part of the Great Wall and then to the Emperors Summer Palace. As we were here during a public holiday it was very busy and despite this she got us through the crowds without much hassle. If the other guides on the rest of our trip are half as good as Skye we will have a terrific time.
Visited May 2013

If you want a private guide in Beijing you should definitely choose Skye. She knows very interesting places and stories, not only the most touristic ones. She is very friendly and helpfull as well. Walking in Beijing with her is a real pleasure and from first day you feel like she is a part of your friends.
Visited March 2013

My wife and I had a short time to see the sights in Beijing -- and to do some shopping. Skye helped us put an itinerary together, arranged the driver, stayed with us throughout the day, provided advice when appropriate and made sure we saw what we wanted. Perfectly customized. She even helped us sample some of the different food treats of Beijing. Sky is very personable, helpful and knowledgable -- and responds quickly to e-mail. Couldn't have been happier.
Visited April 2013

We had Skye as our private guide on a one Day trip to The Great Wall and the Summer Palace. Skye is great! My husband and I are travelling with our two kids (2 and 5 years old) and that means that everything takes a little bit ekstra time. Skye paid a lot off attention to our kids needs e.g. eating times and toilet visits. The information given by Skye was very helpful for us as we were travelling by ourselves (no arranged tours) in Beijing. Apart from the above mentioned Skye even arranged a driver for us from the hotel to the airport for departure at a good price. We would highly recommend Skye as a English speaking tour guide when visiting Beijing!
Visited April 2013

I had the opportunity to spend a couple of days in Beijing and decided to see what sites I could. Skye communicated quickly and efficiently via email. She accommodated my request to use public transportation (subway, bus, and taxi) while seeing the sites in Beijing and avoided all the shopping stuff (this alone was worth the private guide). Using public transportation ended up being much cheaper than hiring a driver and it took very little time away from seeing the local sites. 
The second day was spent on the Great Wall at Huanghuacheng and Skye did a good job keeping up on the way up to the top. This is a place to go to avoid most of the crowds, but you do need to be in decent physical shape. Even though this was the only thing I had planned for the day, Skye recommended stopping at a few places on the way back to Beijing since we had time.
As others have stated in their review, Skye acts as a personal friend would. For example, I had my camera drop out of my jacket either getting into a taxi or in the taxi itself. Skye called the cab company to get the cab driver's phone number and then spoke to the cab driver. She had him stop his cab where he was and look in the backseat for my camera. Don't know what was said since it was in Chinese, but Skye showed she could be a spitfire when needed, just like you would expect a friend to do.
Skye continues to try and improve what she is doing and I really appreciated that aspect of her personality. Remember Skye - pictures "at the top".
I do recommend her if you want to see the sites in and around Beijing.
Visited March 2013

We recently used Skye's services to guide us around Beijing for a free day prior to a Viking River Cruise trip around China. We chose places that we wouldn't see on our tour. Skye was prompt, reasonable, had a great driver to transport us around Beijing (and we only realized how good after having been subjected to many bad drivers in other areas of China), and everything was included in her quoted price except for lunch. Her English is perfect and her knowledge of the sites of Beijing, their history, and Chinese history and culture are encyclopedic. We learned so much basic information from her that helped us as we traveled around China with our incredible Viking River guide--associations with colors, numbers, things that indicate luck/bad luck, what various parts of the temples meant--you name it, she knew it. Her personality is sparkling and her enthusiasm is contagious. She helped us to engage with the retired people practicing tai chi and airing their birds in the park--my husband even got to try tai chi "ball." She willingly shared information about her own life and how the changes in China have affected her and her family (who live in a rural area of China). If you want to enjoy a wonderful day in Beijing (or more), don't hesitate to book Skye's services. You won't be sorry you did.
Visited March 2013

It was back in September 2012 that we (a group of 4 friends) decided to organize a trip to Beijing and Shanghai in the beginning of March 2013. We communicated with quite a few guides for our stay in Beijing, but quite fast settled down to Mrs. Skye Gao. It turned out that our inner feelings were not blended and our choice was an excellent one! Once we knew what we wanted to see, Skye helped us prepare a detailed 3-day schedule, which we followed in Beijing. During the preparation, she always provided us with helpful tips with regards to the time needed for a specific location. In addition, Skye was flexible about whether we should use a van for all our days or public transportation, and so allowed our costs to be low. Overall, I can say that compared to the fees other tour guides expected, the value for money you potentially would get with Skye is very good. When we, just a few days ago, visited sights as the Great Wall, Temple of Heaven, Forbidden City, Summer Palace, Tianenmen Square, the Hutongs, the Lama Temple, and many more, Skye was able to answer our questions from many perspectives and provide us with both historical and cultural insights. Not only because we were of similar age, Skye became a part of our team and we enjoyed every minute with her. If I finish this review here, it may look like one very normal review. One of many. But the relationship Skye seems to develop to the people she guides, became obvious to us and a story from our last day would easily convey this. As we were mislead by the staff of our hotel that they could call a taxi for us just before we had to go to the Beijing South Railway Station (and actually no taxi came to pick us up) our trip to Shanghai was in danger. Though according to our arrangement Skye just had to drop us off at the hotel, she not only stayed with us, but in fact did the impossible in finding 2 taxis for the Friday 5 pm rush hour in Beijing, which agreed to drive us to the train station. This actually saved our train trip to Shanghai after we desperately (together with Skye) tried to stop many taxies on the streets around the Forbidden City and Jingshan Park.This should show all of you that with Skye you would find in a terribly large city as Beijing someone like your best friend. Unlike some people in China (and all around the world) she does not look for the money, but passionately helps all people around her and you would be in very safe hands!Thank you for everything, Skye! It was a pleasure!
Visited March 2013

I emailed Skye a few days before arriving in Beijing and arranged for her to give me a tour of the city. What Skye showed me on 2 days would have taken me weeks to figure out on my own. She will take you exactly where you want to go. She is honest, friendly and highly knowledgable. I unreservedly reccomen... We were recently traveling in the Beijing area and used Skye as our guide. What a gem this little lady turned out to be! We will remember her forever for her brightness, fun, knowledge and whit!
We have travelled extensively over the years, but SKYE is the best guide we have ever had.
Hope we meet again one day Skye.
Jan and John Rudd
New Zealand
Visited November 2012

After trolling through Tripadvisor, we decided on Skye as she came highly recommended and is Bilingual.
We travelled to Beijing in December 2012 for our honeymoon and it was during one of the coldest winter in recent years. Days before our arrival, Skye was very kind to caution us to bring adequate clothing for our trip due to extreme cold weather. That is a definite positive trait of a guide who cares! As a matter of fact, Skye corresponded with me weeks before we even confirmed her services!!! Skye is one of the more genuine private tour guides out there who take real interests in her visitors. She structured the sightseeing according to our pace, did research on where to bring us to eateries for food we wish to try and even found out the time for Christmas Mass for us! Her good command of English, historical knowledge and lively explanations enable us to gain a more indepth understanding of the sites such as the Great Wall, Summer Palace etc. Bidding goodbye to Skye on our last day of engagement was hard as it feels like we are saying goodbye to a friend known for quite some time. If anyone is after a great time in Beijing, a private tour guide is the way to go. And based on our time with Skye, we reckon that she will be one of the best guides anyone could get in Beijing. Honest, easy to get along, genuinely care for her visitors, BILINGUAL (very important if anyone who cannot speak Mandarin; her English is very good)… we could go on singing praises… But one has to experience time with Skye to know why she has so many excellent reviews on Tripadvisor.
Visited December 2012

"Fantastic" is how we describe Skye to family and friends when telling stories of our time in Beijing. Our travel party was two adults and two children 8 and 11, Skye arranged a fantastic itinerary for our two days where we were able to see so much yet not feel rushed. Her English is superb, her knowledge is fantastic and she has the natural ability to relay informative, engaging and exciting history to both kids and adults. Skye made our introduction to China as warm, easy and comfortable as it could be - she was always early and incredibly helpful, even going well outside of her responsibilities to help me at the bank and on the phone to travel agents.
My only regret is that I could not talk Skye into being our guide for the rest of China !
Visited January 2013

Very happy that we went with Skye as our private tour guide... felt like we were roaming the city with a very knowledgeable friend during the whole trip. She is very accommodating, knowledgeable, honest, personable, friendly and even has magical powers (more on this later). My wife only had two free days in Beijing so I booked Skye for those two days and she was able to help us squeeze in a little bit of everything from the history, culture & culinary aspects of the great city during that time. She was even kind enough to have her driver drop by a Walmart type of shop so we could find a cheap suitcase for our trip home. And about her magical powers... During my week stay in Beijing, as commonly reported over the news... visibility and pollution were significant issues during the 5 of the 7 days that I went sightseeing on my own . HOWEVER, during our two days with SKYE.. she worked her magic to make 1) the pollution disappear and 2) the sky crystal clear. Now I know where she got her name from! =) We had a wonderful time exploring Beijing, thanks to the assistance of a private guide, Skye. She is a cheerful and considerate guide and ensured that we experienced the city in many different ways and focussed on aspects that we enjoyed. She communicates well and is willing to accommodate our personal wishes and likes. We had a range of discussions about the social and economic condition of China. We were impressed to learn it first hand from the personal perspective of a local on the ground.We recommend Skye as a private guide. We really enjoyed the sights of Beijing with Skye.
Visited August 2012

Skye was an excellent guide that got along with my 2 girls extremely well. Not only she was accommodating, she was very helpful on the days that we did not use her services. Not only she was very informative historically, my girls enjoyed all her stories very much both in mandarin and English. She's a great guide on where to go, what to do & what to eat as well.
Visited December 2012

We were a party of six Kiwis and organised to have Skye look after us when we were in Beijing.We arrived on a cruise ship, and she organised for us to be picked up and transported the 2 plus hrs from port to our Hotel in Beijing, where she met us. We all immediately warmed to her. She has great English , with an excellent sense of humour and understood our very quickly spoken NZ accented English. She has a great knowledge of Beijing and was able to advise on all sorts of issues, other than just sightseeing.
The whole itinerary was organised by email, responses were always prompt and everything turned out as she/we planned. 
We have all used guides before and without exception she is the best we have been with.
Hopefully she will visit NZ and we can repay her great hospitality.
Visited December 2012

We used Skye for three days in Beijing. She took use to all the sights we wanted to see. We went to local restaurants with no english menus as we desired. She was on time every day and if needed arranged car transport. We also used the bus and subway to get a local feel. We give Skye our highest recommendation.
Visited December 2012

My husband & I visited Beijing for 5 days in October & managed to book Skye for 3 of those. It was one of the best things we did, she was so helpful before, during & after the trip. If you are looking for a guide, it certainly pays to go for a private guide, we got so much more information than we would have done if we were in a group. Skye was a delight to spend time with. Her English is excellent, is so knowledgeable & is full of enthusiasm & stories about the attractions. She also gave us plenty of tips for when we were on our own. I couldn't recommend Skye enough. She was great. We miss her.
Visited October 2012

I begun corresponding with skye some months before we arrived in Beijing. She was very prompt in replying to my emails and between us she sorted an itinery exactly to our needs. She had a driver meet us at the airport - he was also our driver for the next 2 days, and was very pleasant. Skye is an amazing young lady - so very knowledgable about her country, and speaks impectable english. We had alot of fun together - she has a great sense of humour,she is organised and extremely punctual. I cannot praise Skye enough,she made our trip to Beijing very memorable and we have made a great friend for life. You will not be dissapointed if you book Skye as your guide in Beijing.
Visited October 2012

My wife and I visited Beijing for 4 days on October 2012. We hired Skye as our private guide for all the 4 days. She showed us all the most important things in the Beijing area and explained in detail in excellent english all the places we visited and history about them. She has great knowledge and isvery well organized. She hired a car with a driver that made things much easier, better and more comfortable. We greatly recommend her.
Visited October 2012

We visited Beijing in October 2012 and hired Skye as our private tour Guide. Since I’ve been in Beijing before I planned my own itinerary which was properly followed by Skye. She arranged a drive to pick up and return us to the airport. She speaks Excellent English and she has a full knowledge about the history of all places that we had visited. We’ve been at Great Wall, Tianamen square, forbidden city, temple of Haven and summer Place. We did a lot in two days, starting at 8:30 am and getting back at the end of the day. Skye has a very good sense of humor, very kind and patriot(very proud of her Country and work) and always was looking after us. We had a very good time and she helped in all possible ways make our journey comfortable and enjoyable. I highly recommend Skye Gao as a tour guide.
Visited October 2012

Skye is a great guide , with excellent English , a lot of knowledge , enthusiastic and eager to help and make your stay anjouable We traveled with our kids she was very interesting and shared a lot of insights with us We loved our day together
Visited October 2012

During planning a family trip to China we received warm recommendations on Skye on many sites including this site., therefore we chose Skye for a one day tour. Skye guided us throughout a whole day along beautiful areas of the wall and the summer palace.
Skye showed great knowledge of the history of the period and knew how to entertain us the time during the trip and give us a lot of useful tips on Beijing .Skye is an excellent tour guide speaks fluent English and a lovely girl.Thank you and good luck
Visited September 2012

We contacted Skye based on all excellent reviews on Tripadvisor. She exceeded our expectations by far.Before we arrived to Beijing, Skye promptly replied all our emails, wrote the itinerary depending on our interests and gave us suggestions for accommodation.  Skye – the best guide. She is very knowledgeable and experienced guide. We could have never learned so much from our travel books about the history, culture and life in Beijing and China in such an interesting and ‘catchy’ way. She replied all questions we had and provided more information whenever she had the feeling we want to know more – so insightful. She was very flexible. We could really enjoy having a guide, who considered our wishes and did not mind to change the itinerary, in order to allow us to stay longer at places we liked. Her intention was not to tick the major sights off the MUST-SEE list but to help us explore the city in our own pace and to have an unforgettable experience. We would have never seen the amazing acrobatics show as we thought this is not of interest of us. But after knowing her for a day, we followed her advice and did not regret it (she arranged for us some of the best seats in the theater). Moreover, she helped us to arrange our spare time in the evening and booked a restaurant for us (which was not very easy) and suggested places we might want to visit. Skye knew our flight schedule better than us and even called the information desk at the airport. She looked after us all the time and always drew our attention to nice spots for symmetric :) pictures. We are really thankful to Skye for helping us to get to know Beijing and China off the beaten path too and to find out more about the everyday life of Chinese – not written in any LP. She gave us a lot of insights into her own life which leads me to
Skye – the person. She has a lovely personality, great attitude to people and great sense of humor. She is an expert on knowing people. She is an open-minded and ever smiling, very insightful person. We are so happy we got to know her. We enjoyed every minute we spend with her. It was really fun! On the day of departure we felt like leaving a friend in Beijing.To sum up, we had unforgettable 4 days and a lot of fun in Beijing with the best guide - Skye. We highly recommend Skye. We hope to see her any time soon.
Visited October 2012

My boyfriend and I traveled to Beijing for three days in early September. Skye was an excellent tour guide! Most importantly, her English is impeccable. Not only does she have a command for English words, but more rare was her contextual understanding of English. It being my first time China, it wasn’t until later that I realized how lucky we were to have a guide that could translate cultural things as well as just the language. Skye was also very flexible. She helped us arrange an itinerary in advance, but when we needed to make last minute changes, she was able to do so. For example, we decided at the last minute (as in, five minutes after meeting Skye at our hotel on day one) not to use a private car to go around the city, Skye easily changed the itinerary so we would go to the wall that first day (as the drive was already committed) and then move our city tour to day two, without a car. No problem at all. We also really wanted to try real Chinese food. If you haven’t been to China, know in advance that the Chinese will do just about anything in their power to feed you what they think you will like -- that is, western “Chinese” food or Kung Pao Chicken. Fight for the local foods – it’s an uphill battle with most of them. But it wasn't really with Skye. She was happy (albeit skeptical) to take us to places where she eats. When we wanted to try Chinese breakfast, she even brought us pancakes from her favorite cart. Skye is also incredibly knowledgeable about all the sites. Her encyclopedic brain retains facts in ways I didn’t know possible. Finally, Skye is friendly, cool and fun to hang out with. We had a good time with her, not only because she knew all the sites and facts about Beijing, but because she made touring fun, was easy going and funny, and was overall a pleasure to be around. We both highly recommend her for your visit to China and hope to visit her again in Beijing soon!
Visited September 2012

We scheduled Skye based on all of the positive reviews I read on tripadvisor.com Trust in what you read; she is everything everyone says and more!! She is a licensed, professional, extremely knowledgeable English speaking guide. From my first contact, she was prompt in responding, flexible in arranging our itinerary, sensitive to our needs and interests. While in Beijing, Skye was on time each day she and driver met us at our hotel, she handled ticket purchases for us, restaurant reservations, walked with us while shopping to translate and advise on prices, menu choices....she was so protective, thoughtful, patient and kind. We truly could not have asked for more! Learning it was our anniversary, she arrived at our hotel the next day with a small, symbolic gift...so sweet and thoughtful. You will not be disappointed if you choose Skye for your guide in Beijing!
Visited September 2012

If you need a great tour guide who make your experience one of a lifetime, contact Skye Gao! By it being my first time in China, I was alone, and I didn't speak the language, I was going to get a tour guide. You can't get better than Skye! When I contacted her, she always responded very quickly and professionally. I had a great two days of tours with her and the drivers. I saw the Great Wall, Summer Palace, Tienanmen Square, Pearl Market, Silk Market, and Antique Market. During that time, not only was she fun and extremely knowledgeable, but she was flexible and helped me build my schedule around exactly what I wanted to do. She was also very thoughtful and helpful, funny and encouraging. Her English was excellent, and she helped me learn some very useful phrases. Her very personable character made it seem as if we were best friends rather than new acquaintances. You could tell that she truly loves China and the history. In such a short time, she was able to show me the true heart and culture of the people. I honestly learned so much from her. Also, she took some truly gorgeous photos of me at all the places we visited. You can't go wrong with Skye as your tour guide!!
Visited September 2012

If you want to spend a day (or days) in the company of a fun, knowledgeable guide, make arrangements to see Beijing with Skye. My friend and I emailed her with details about we were interested in seeing, she responded, and a few weeks later we had our best day with her. We saw the Summer Palace, Drum Tower, went shopping at the Hutong, ate a delicious lunch, and checked out the Pearl Market where she helped us translate our way to great deals! We asked her to take us around on public transport, and she showed us how to navigate it. Most importantly, Skye's English is excellent. We had other days with guides who were difficult to understand. Beijing is a BIG city. Skye will help you get the most out of seeing it.
Visited June 2012

After being in Dalian for a month for an internship I was offered the opportunity to go to Beijing however I would be on my own. It was frustrating trying to get around Dalian alone so I figured getting a tour guide for Beijing would be the best bet. I contacted Skye and she replied very promptly and I decided to have her as my tour guide. She was at my hotel earlier than me, and usually I arrive 15 minutes early. Never was she late. She was a blast to be with and was very knowledgable on the history of the sites. We saw a whole lot in a matter of 2 days, definitely not something I could have done by myself. She was not only a great tour guide but she was also just a great overall friend to be with. Always happy, always insightful. I definitely recommend her.
Visited August 2012

We had a fabulous vacation in Beijing thanks to Skye! I knew from Skye's profile that she was the perfect guide for our family with 3 teenagers. From the very first email, I could tell that her English was perfect, which it was. She was very agreeable to giving suggestions and planning just the activities our family desired. Thanks to her, each day was planned logistically smart with her knowledge of where each destination is located. She met us the first day right on time with a beautiful smile and an extremely pleasant attitude the whole 3 days we were with her. She is incredibly patient and keenly aware that China is a once in a lifetime vacation for many. Skye became our friend. We loved her so much that we did not want to leave her and wish she could have traveled all over China with us. I highly recommend Skye as a guide for anyone traveling in Beijing. She is amazing and a great photographer. We also thought highly of her van driver, Mr. Sun, who we hired for our trip. Book a trip with Skye! You will have a terrific trip with her!
Visited June 2012

In July, 2012, my wife and I visited China for the first time. We wanted to have a guide for our trip to the Great Wall and other sites in Beijing. We were lucky to find Skye and recommend her to any visitor of China. Besides having a great personality, she was very knowledgeable and informative. Her english was excellent and she was able to be our translator when we went to restaurants and other locations. She arrived at our hotel on time and was able to help us plan our day. When we realized we needed a car and driver, she was able to arrange that for us (much less expensive than the travel agencies or hotel). We thank Skye for showing us a great time.
Visited July 2012

I kept thinking how much our experience of Beijing would have been different had it not been for our good fortune to have found Skye. She absolutely is the reason we enjoyed our visit so much. This was my first time in China and I cannot imagine trying to tour the city as a foreigner without a guide. Beijing is not very easy for a foreigner to get around and not so many people speak English. I'm not much for groups so I spent a lot of time researching a private guide option.As soon as I found Skye on Tripadvisor, I sent her an email about her availability for my dates of travel and she responded quickly and thoroughly. We continued to communicate during the month before my trip to plan for three days together. After learning a little about what I was interested in doing, Skye prepared some suggested itineraries with prices and options, including transportation, historical site fees and other incidentals. She always responded to all my questions right away and was super flexible to any changes. Also her prices were quite reasonable in comparison to other providers.Skye speaks perfect English, is very kind, energetic and fun. She is also extremely knowledgeable about China and genuinely protective of her clients to make sure they are well taken care of. Skye went above and beyond her responsibilities by helping us plan out our evenings when we were not with her. She helped us make dinner reservations, obtain show tickets and ensured we had directions in Chinese for our taxis. It should be specially noted, that Skye gave us THE BEST peking duck recommendation and when our hotel could not get us a reservation there, she did. If you like Peking Duck, you must go to Dadong!! Just ask her about it. Skye also made arrangements at our request for airport transfers (at a much better rate than the hotel) and checked to make sure we arrived safely both ways.Skye basically cared for us the entire time we were in Beijing. We had her cell phone number and she was available by phone or email to help us with translating, suggestions or any other need at anytime. Highlights for us included a wonderful day at the Great Wall. Skye took us to a less crowded section of the wall called Mutianyu. This is better option than where the group tours take you since it has a chair lift up and an alpine sled down. It is not as crowded as the other spots I'm told and was really beautiful. We enjoyed a local authentic Chinese meal afterward, close to the site at our request. We visited the Hutongs and had a nice Western meal at the Vineyard Restaurant at Skye's suggestion. Another day we saw Tinanamen Square and the Forbidden City. Too many people for my taste but you have to do it once. There had to be thousands of people going through. We also visited the Temple of Heaven and Summer Palace. It is definitely fine to skip the former. Summer Palace is very pretty and gives you a great impression of how the Chinese people enjoy their leisure time. I recommend going here.It was fun shopping the famous Silk market with Skye and negotiating for goods. Skye didn't like it when one of the vendors acted poorly with us and she let her know it. It was sweet. She was genuinely looking out for my husband and I. I told Skye I liked art and we had a fun afternoon at the 798 Art District. We loved the acrobat show she recommended and had a very cool experience walking through the Donghuamen Night Food Market. We enjoyed taking lots of pictures of the weird and exotic food offerings: snake, spider, beetles, ect...and watching people eat this food. Not withstanding all the great sites we visited, the best part of our trip was getting to know Skye and the culture of the Chinese and Beijingers through her. I have an immense appreciation and understanding for China that I really could not have learned in books. We talked about everything East vs West and she was candid to answer any question we had. Skye is very proud of China and I am thrilled to have met her. I really hope one day we will see each other again. We Loved her!
Visited July 2012

This was our first visit to China, we started our China holiday in Beijing at the end of May 2012, and Skye was our private guide for 3 days. Skye has excellent written and spoken English, is very knowledgable about all the attractions we visited, was very careful to keep us safe and close by when crossing busy roads or in the busy metro, and we highly recommend her as a guide.Skye has a bubbly personality with a sense of humour and is full of energy. She is punctual, appreciative, and her interest in sharing history and culture of Beijing and China is infectious. Skye always happily answered all our questions, and showed a genuine interest in learning about our life and culture in Australia, which we were glad to share. We contacted Skye after reading great reviews on TripAdvisor, and she promply answered all our questions, and listened to what we wanted to see, to come up with an itinerary that could be flexible dependent on weather or how we felt. Skye's suggestion to stay in the Wangfujing area put us in a very central area that was ideal for the extra two days we spent on our own at shopping. We love photography and wanted to visit some of the main tourist destinations but at best times of day for photographs, avoid the crowds where possible, and do a little souvenir shopping. Skye was able to suggest which order to see the sights, and to arrange a private car for the day not only for our visit to the Great Wall at the lovely and quieter Mutianyu section but also for another day of sightseeing where we would otherwise have had a fair bit of walking, to accommodate our knee problems.With Skye on day one we visited Tiananmen Square, Forbidden City, Yingshan Park, the Old Hutongs, Nanluoguxiang area, the Drum Tower, saw the Acrobatic show at Chaoyang Theater, and Olympic Sports Complex. On day two we visited the Great Wall at Mutianyu with ski lift up, a nice walk along the tower with lots of photos, and luge down, souvenir shopping at the markets near the parking lot, Lama Temple, and had dinner at an authentic hot pot restaurant. On day three we visited Summer Palace, Temple of Heaven, a quick look through Pearl Market, and saw the Red Theatre Legends of Kung Fu Show.We had a great time and learned so much about Beijing. At each tourist location requiring an entry fee (Skye told us all the prices when we were arranging our itinerary), we would give Skye the money and she would purchase our tickets, take us through the special gate bypassing any long lines, give us the tickets to keep as mementos, and show us around. Skye arranged for a collegue to purchase our Acrobatic show tickets to allow us to spend more time in the Old Hutongs and not miss the show. At the shows, Skye would escort us to our seat and ensure we were comfortable, then return after the show to collect us. At the tourist destinations, Skye took photos of us with our cameras whenever there was a nice background, would steer us away from the crowds, and pointed out any cultural expectations. She was always very respectful of the local customs and stopped us from making any accidental blunders that other unescorted tourists were making. Skye also routinely checked if we needed to use toilets when we were near well maintained toilets, and whether we needed to buy extra water if we were near a drink seller and wouldn't be near another for awhile. We were very well looked after. During our walk through the Old Hutongs, my hiking boots started splitting at the side, and Skye found a little shoe repair stall in a side street where they used amazing glue water to stick the loose bits back together. This was one of the many things that we couldn't have managed without a guide, and it was such a weight off our minds going to China knowing we had nothing to worry about or do apart from enjoying ourselves during the three days of our guided tour.The two private cars that Skye arranged were high quality, clean, with good drivers. When we travelled without the private car, Skye would check whether we preferred metro, walking or taxi, between each location, to allow us to choose based on knee pain or how tired we felt. Many times we chose to go by taxi instead of subway, as it was quicker and we got to see different parts of Beijing from the taxi window. If Skye needed to take an important phone call, she would be discrete and excuse herself, when we were engrossed in photographing something and it wouldn't have any impact on us.Having Skye as our private guide was a wonderful experience. We could go at whatever pace suited us, spend more or less time anywhere depending on whether it was of interest to us, and didn't have to worry about anything. We are very glad to have Skye as our guide and as a new friend.
Visited May 2012

i don't think it would be possible to find a guide for the Beijing area better than Skye! She has now had 20 perfect 5 star reviews at this website and this is an easy twenty first 5 star review. To have 21 perfect reviews and nothing lower must indicate Skye is a good guide! Skye seems to like people and enjoy being a guide around Beijing. She has a very good knowledge of everything you will see and encounter and I doubt that there are too many questions you might have that she doesn't know the answer or have the ability place them into some kind of context to satisfy your curiosity. I only wished I had known more about Chinese history and culture to more fully connect with with Skye and China. She does have her "certified guide" license form the government so she gets into common tourist sites for free.Because of Skye's enjoyment of meeting other people and love of China (and outstanding reviews here) I'm sure she provides an awesome guide for all those lucky enough to have them be their guide. However, I suggest if you visit China (or anywhere) that you try to learn a little bit extra about China, its history, its people, culture, or anything that interests you and it will make your trip more fun and enjoyable. Skye even mentioned that is just extra special when she meets people that really want to see China and are also truly interested in a learning a bit more.A weeks or so before our visit I mentioned in an email that I had just started to read the book "1421 The Year the Chinese Discovered America" and because it focused on a period of the Ming emperors I wondered how interesting the Ming Tombs might be to our family. Skye was not familiar with that book but to my surprise Skye seemed to have done a little investigation about that book before we arrived in China. We hope to keep in contact with Skye and if we ever return to China we hope to visit and/or have Skye as our guide and friend again.Other info/thoughts:It was Our 9 year old son, my wife and my first trip to Beijing, China and I'm very happy we found Skye and that she was free the two days we planned to visit the major tourist sights around Beijing. As previously mentioned on Sky's other views, her driver and car were very good the first day for seeing the great wall and Summer Palace. Taxis and the subway were fine for seeing major attraction with Beijing the second day. Skye is very good with children. I remember after the Great Wall visit at Mutianyu the adults, my wife and I were not hungry as it was very hot and I was just planning on beginning the one hour drive to the Summer Palace. However, Skye very nicely suggested that children should stop have something to eat before continuing. So my son and I ordered Subway sandwiches and I proceeded to watch him eat the entire sandwich. Thanks for suggesting that Skye! She will adjust your schedule as needed throughout your day and no she does not bring you to any unrequested shops that some tour agencies might do.If you have any other questions ask them here and I can try to respond.Skye's email is: skyegao2008@gmail.com
Visited June 2012

We just got back from spending the afternoon with Skye...what a great person! We wanted to visit the Lama Temple and silk market. She met us at our hotel and took a taxi with us. She kept us well informed. We felt like we had an old friend with us showing us around. What a fantastic way to start our visit to Beijing. Thank you, Skye!!!
Visited June 2012

Skye is an excelent tour guide. She answered every email i sent and she knows very well about beijing. During my visit in beijing with my daughter she is very accomoadating and flexible with the tour. First day we had tour around beijing town and we used public transportation and this can saved a lot of cost and teach us about how to used public transportation in beijing. We visit Temple of Heaven, Tiannamen square, and Forbidden palace. She knows very well all history about all the place we visit so is quite interesting to hear her story. In the afternoon she help me to shopping around some shopping mall in beijing area. Second day we visit Great wall and Summer palace. She prepared decent car and good driver for this trip. We had a lovely lunch in rural area near great wall. Is the best food i had in china, thanks to Skye who knows such a lovely place to eat.
Overall experience is excellent and highly recommend her for anyone who wants to do private tour in beijing
Visited June 2012

We travelled to Beijing as a family in April 2012 and used Skye as our guide for three days. Skye was absolutely fantastic. She promptly answered all our email questions before we travelled and had arranged for a driver to collect us at the airport. Skye's English was excellent and she related very well to our children (aged 9 and 11). The think Skye is wonderful and still mention her. We managed to pack far more sight seeing into our three days than we ever would have managed without Skye, and she made everything so interesting and fun. We highly recommend Skye to anyone looking for a tour guide in and around Beijing, particularly those travelling with children.
Visited April 2012

 was recently in Beijing for a business trip and thought I would spend a few extra days there for vacation. I decided I would book a tour guide since I hadn't been to China before. I read all the reviews about Skye and have to say that I agree completely with them. Her English is very good, she is very personable and her knowledge of the Beijing area and its history are excellent. We had already planned an initial 3 day itinerary but after day 1, I wanted to make some changes to the next 2 days which presented no problem at all. She always arrived before our scheduled departure time and always returned my emails promptly. I would not hesitate to recommend her services to anyone.
Visited May 2012

Skye made our time in Beijing so efficient. In addition, she treats her clients as if they were her family. She protects and fights for her clients during the tour. We would highly recommend her to anyone who want to visit Beijing. She is also prompt in answering emails and trustworthy.
Visited April 2012

When I found out I would be in Beijing, I went on TripAdvisor and emailed the top 10-15 tour guides. Skye got back to me promptly and spend a lot of time working with me to plan an ideal itinerary. She was extremely knowledgeable about the area, and her English was excellent. She was happy to invest as much time and necessary to make sure I was comfortable with the plan we had worked out. Once I arrived, she picked me us as scheduled, and was excellent on the street. She was very flexible in making to changes to our plan as she learned my interested first-hand. For example, she saw that I was not as interested in history as I had expected, so she changed from covering things in depth, to pursuing more breadth. I wanted to cut costs, so we traveled exclusively by public transportation, which was very cheap and an experience in itself. She taught me a lot about life in China, the culture, the politics, etc. She was very generous with her time. We made plans for each day, but some days went much longer than others. I had booked her for two days, but she gladly helped me plan an itinerary that I could cover alone on my third day in the city. There was never a request for more money, nor a feeling that I was being hurried. Skye loves her job, and that truly came across in everything she did for me.
Visited May 2012

We were very fortunate to have Skye as our guide. She has a great personality, a nice sense of humour and most importantly, she knows Beijing. Take my advice, having a guide in Beijing if you are there for a few days will help you avoid a lot of guessing and wondering, along with saving you a lot of time and money. And Skye is great. I will mention that the thing that stands out most is her integrity and honesty. At the end of our 2 days with Skye, we intended to give her a little extra money as a tip for her good service.We accidentally gave her a huge amount by mistake. She did not immediately count the money we gave her, but when she did count the money, she was already on the bus on her way home. She called us to tell us that she was certain we made a mistake with the amount. She actually took the bus back to meet us and gave us back the money.When we return to Beijing in the future, we will call on her again.Thanks for everything, Skye.
Visited April 2012

Sometimes when you travel you're fortunate to meet a gem like Skye. We contacted Skye through Trip Advisor and onto her web site - listed what we would like to see over 3 days ; Skye replied very promptly with all the information we needed.We engaged Skye for three of our days in Beijing and we felt this 30 year old young lady made our visit.Skye was punctual each day and with her engaging manner we formed an instant rapport. She was so informative, ready to answer our many questions without being a "know all". She was aware of our needs and very flexible to fit in with our suggestions and at the same time was so interested to learn from us. We saw so much of Beijing, and not a mention of a shop. We climbed The Great Wall with a guide who proved to be as enthusiastic from our first minutes to our sad goodbyes. Skye, your guide for Beijing, comes with our highest recommendation.
Visited March 2012

I hired Skye for 3 days in April 2012, and was extremely pleased with her work. She was always on time, always helpful, and always prepared. Her normal work is leading tours of the historic & cultural sights around Beijing, but for 2-1/2 days I needed her to interpret at a trade show I was attending. Although it was outside her area of expertise, she was fantastic. She had studied and learned about my company and the industry before we met the first day. She was very helpful in the convention, as many of the smaller companies from the smaller cities in China often had few or no people with English skills. Skye helped make my meetings successful. She was also very helpful in travel arrangements around Beijing. It was impossible to get a taxi at the convention hall, so she went with me on the subway to get back to my hotel. Beijing subway is actually a great, inexpensive way to get around the city, but I would not have been able to navigate it without Skye.On the last day of the convention, we left the convention around noon to go sightseeing. I had seen the Forbidden City, Tianemen and the Great Wall on previous trip. This time I asked her to take me to the Summer Palace, Beijing Zoo and the Hutongs. Skye is the ideal tour guide. She explained the history of the summer palace, and pointed out a lot of details I would have missed on my own. She is extremely knowledgeable about the "tourist spots" around Beijing, and she really enhanced my enjoyment and appreciation of these locations. I would definitely hire Skye again, either to interpret business meetings or for tourism. One piece of advice for tourists: I enjoyed the Summer Palace more than the Forbidden City, so if you only have time for one, I think you will have a more interesting, relaxing time at the Summer Palace. Great Wall is a MUST SEE, and Skye knows the best locations to visit it. Enjoy Beijing, it is my favorite city in China.
Visited April 2012

We were in Beijing for 5 days and Skye was our guide for 2 days. Our only regret is that we didnt use her for at least another day. Now you can probably navigate some things without a guide, but when we think of trying to do Summer Palace, Temple of Heaven, Forbidden City or Great Wall without a guide, it would have been far less informative, much less efficient and frankly walking around aimlessly taking photos. Having a helpful guide like Skye really gives you an idea of the history and details of these places. She is also always polite asking if we needed to get water, use toilets, etc. (and pointing out western toilets!) and offers to take your photos at every turn. I had also caught a cold on my way to China and she was helpul finding a pharmacy with western medicine (Tylenol Cold), a life saver! Skye is a sweet young lady who speaks excellent English and is very knowledgable. We did a City Tour the first day and chose to take taxis. Catching taxis isnt always easy in Beijing but Skye was always able to catch one without too much wait. She took us to Tiananmen Square, Temple of Heaven, Forbidden City, followed by a late lunch near the Bell and Drum Towers. After that we went back to the hotel for a quick break and to get refreshed. We finished with an acrobatic show that was awesome. She is very informative, open to questions and has a good sense of humor. We learned a lot and it was also very interesting. On day two, we did the Mutianyu Great Wall and had a blast. She had a competent safe driver. It was about 90 minutes each way and she will talk as much or little as you prefer. We had a great time chatting about schools, card games, movies, as well as things we passed along the way. We chose the chairlift up to the Wall and tobboggan down. She provided great information about the Wall, the soldiers who stationed it (and sometimes lived on it) and we had a blast on the tobboggan. We could even hear her giggling behind us on the way down, so she must have had fun too! On the way back, we went to the Summer Palace and walked The Long Corridor. It was getting late but we got to swing by Olympic Center for photos of Water Cube and Birds Nest and then she recommended a place for hotpot that night in our neighborhood. We could not recommend Skye enough. She was so nice, polite, friendly and sweet. If we go back to Beijing, we would definitely contact Skye to be our guide again.
Visited April 2012

I got invited to do an AP Physics teacher workshop in China. This was a once in a lifetime opportunity and I wanted to make the most out of it. Having Skye as my private guide in Beijing was the best decision I made.Traveling solo in a foreign country is not easy and I have to confess that it made me a little nervous but from the moment I e-mailed Skye for information I knew she was a professional! Skye not only arranged for a driver to pick me up at the airport but took me to visit the top attractions in Beijing while having fun and learning a lot along the way!She is not only incredibly knowledgeable in Chinese history and culture but a fun and caring companion. She responded to all my questions with a smile and was patient with my trying to find the best angle to take my hundreds of pictures. She even helped me haggling for souvenirs at the Pearl Market. Our driver was courteous and his car was impeccable. They were always early for our meetings in the lobby of the hotel.My tour ended on Wednesday and I really appreciated Skye's e-mails asking me about my trip to Chongqing and my teacher workshop.If you want to have the best China experience in Beijing, you can't go wrong with Skye as your private guide. I enthusiastically recommend her!
Visited March 2012

Me and my Husband went to Beijing in February and the first thing we realized as soon as we stepped out of the Airport was that we need a Translator. We stayed at the Inter Continental and for the first day hired a tour guide arranged by the Hotel. We were not very satisfied and decided to speak to Skye if she could be our guide. We got lucky and she was more than happy to accommodate us in her schedule. She is the best you can get in Beijing hands down. Very cheerful, extremely friendly and knows her profession too well. She is a registered tour guide and takes her customers needs and wishes into consideration than imposing the normal site seeing timings and schedules unlike other tour guides who will guide you only because it's their job. She asked our preferences and accordingly made arrangements. We are vegetarians and she had researched about all veg restaurants in Beijing before hand. Apart from educating about the sites, she also gives other local information which no other tour guide will give you. She was enthusiastic through out and was more than willing to click pictures for us. She is trust worthy and one need not worry about buying tickets because she does everything for you. Tour guides, obviously, are available for a number of hours but Skye was willing to take us to local streets even after the decided period of 8 hours because she thought we will have difficulty in talking to people. 
We will definitely hire her again next time in Beijing.
Visited February 2012

Choosing Skye as your private tour guide will be the best choice you'll ever make in your trip to Beijing. Skye is very nice and kind to us. She is also very knowledgeable about the history and culture of China in which she explained it to us all very well (even if you're not interested to the history, the view of scenic spots is enough to satisfy you :). Skye is also very approachable and offers us a very flexible time based on our own request. She really giver her best effort for us to have a great experience here in Beijing. She help us in anyway she could possibly give to us. Skye also offer the best rate as a tour guide, if the ranking on tripadvisor would be based on it. Skye will be definitely the No. 1.Even if not, she would be definitely the No. 1 for us in terms of being a tour guide with a delightful heart. Skye definitely deserves it! We really recommend her to be your own private tour guide on your future trip to Beijing! We contacted her using E-mail. I wanted to post it here but it is prohibited by TripAdvisor but you can find it easily below the "Beijing Private Guide--Skye" in which you can see a phone number, a website and an email. Just click the email to contact her. If that doesn't work for you you can visit her website http://beijingtourguide-skyegao.weebly.com/ Good Luck and as much as I wanted, I hope you'll all have a wonderful experience on your trip to Beijing and having Skye with it is definitely the best choice you'll ever do! Thanks :)
Additional Info:Skye helped us very much throughout our trip to Beijing. This was our first trip to Beijing, we don't know any Chinese languages and we really don't have any detailed plan on our trip here. Originally we plan to visit the scenic spots of Beijing by ourselves using public transportation but after having Skye as our tour guide. We realized that we will be in terrible mess and confusion if she is not around! Most of the taxi drivers here are local peoples which know very few English and its counterparts like subways and buses, we really don't have any idea how to use them and the histories of the scenic spots we barely knew it. That's why we are really thankful to Skye for helping us throughout our trip to Beijing. She saves us a lot of time and give us also a fun and memorable trip here in China.Thanks Skye.
Visited February 2012

We are a family of three with a boy of 12 years old from Russia. We spent two days with Skye in late December 2011. We did the tour of Beijing and went to the Great Chinese Wall. My wife and I were for the second time in Bejing, nevertheless Skye managed to show us the city that we had not seen before. My son asked a lot of questions and always got all the answers. Skye is definitely not only one of the most professional guides I have ever met, but also a very pleasant person with a good sense of humour. She was very efficient from the first contact via Internet and till the very end of the program. She reserved tickets to the shows, booked a table for us in a Peking Duck restaurant, provided a car with a professional driver, etc, etc. In a word, highly recommended!
Visited December 2011

Skye was our personal guide during my family’s visit to Beijing during the summer of 2011. Skye was an absolute joy. We had such a good time with her. She fun to talk with, knew all the best places to visit and shop, and most of all looked after us on the crazy Beijing subways. The fees we paid for her service were definitely worth the money and reasonably priced considering the quality of her services. She took all of the headaches out of planning our time in China. All we had to do was enjoy the beautiful sites of the Beijing area. We loved her as our guide. She made our trip one that we will remember for a lifetime. We would highly recommend her to anyone thinking about visiting the Beijing area.
Visited July 2011

I was in Beijing for business with a few free days. The guide I had originally booked had another engagement one day and Skye took her place on short notice. Skye took me to a more strenuous part of the Great Wall, handling all the transportation and other logistics. We had a taxing but very enjoyable walk to the highest accessible point of the Great Wall. It was the first time Skye had gone all the way to the top and she was very excited about it - it ws wonderful seeing her excitement and sharing it with her. Afterward, Skye took me to lunch at a local restaurant and made sure I got a true Chinese experience rather than just where all the tourists go. Skye was unfailingly friendly, charming, caring, and helpful. I look forward to seeing her again the next time I'm in Beijing.
Visited August 2011

On my own, I had 4 full days free in Beijing this September and wanted to make the best use of my time. I couldn’t have made a better choice with Skye! Being a very experienced, official guide with excellent English, I left the itinerary to her. From meeting me at the airport, waiting for me each morning at my hotel, we used public transport wherever possible (my choice), Skye was both attentive & knowledgeable. I like to take in what I see at a leisurely pace - without information overload. Skye patiently imparted just enough information for me to do this. Even though she has seen the sights many many times, she was always enthusiastic about her adopted city. Putting up with my basic Chinese, again at my request, she regularly spoke Mandarin (slowly & clearly) helping me GREATLY with my pronunciation & grammar. She also helped me with my China Mobile SIM I needed for my few weeks stay in the country. I ticked all the boxes at my own pace whilst having a VERY enjoyable time. Do yourself a favour & seek out Skye’s services for your time in Beijing. You won’t be disappointed.
Visited September 2011

I engaged Skye for our 2 days tour in Beijing this summer, mostly for my 2 children (7 & 9) since they don't speak any Chinese. The service we received from Skye was nothing short of excellent. Planning the itinerary with Skye via email was easy as she's very prompt, accommodate, and respectful for our preferences. Over the 2 days with Skye, we learned so much about the history behind the sites we visited. Most details I would otherwise never noticed without our knowledgeable guide Skye and we were so glad we took a close look!!! My children loved her as well, as she was very friendly, patient, and speaks good English! To date I only have good memories of our experience with Skye in Beijing and highly recommend her!
Visited August 2011

My trip was in May 2011. It was my first time in China and in Beijing traveling alone and not knowing a word of Chinese. I stayed a week and I hired Skye for several days. It was the best decision I could have made. Skye saved me from spending half my trip getting lost fumbling around Beijing so that I could spend my time on the important things.Skye was prompt and always arrived ahead schedule, many times sitting patiently in the lobby waiting for me as I was running a late. She never complained and stuck with me even if we went later than her normal work schedule. She was very flexible and her primary goal was to make sure my trip went as smooth as possible. Skye is available for other things too not just tours. She took me shopping, we hung out at the famous 798 Art district, we went to local farmers market to buy delicious fruits. I had to meet my sister in law's mother one day to bring some things to her and Skye happily came along with me to act as my translator. We went to The Great Wall, and a few Temples as well as other sites in Beijing. She arranged an Acrobat show for me one night and then hung around until the end of the show to make sure I got back to my hotel by ok. I was definitely in good hands. Skye's English is superb and she had great knowledge of all the sites we went to, often quoting historical dates and facts about each one. I can tell she really does her homework. The best part about Skye is she is a very happy person to be around. She's very energetic, enthusiastic, outgoing, and a fun person which made my trip much more fun and pleasant. For example, she's probably seen the Great Wall 20-30 times already but I sensed she was genuinely enthusiastic and happy to see it again as if it was the first time. I'm going to use Skye again on my next visit and would recommend her to all my friends. Thanks Skye!!
Visited May 2011

We are a family of four from the UK, with two boys aged 11and 12. We spent a day with Skye, taking a taxi to visit a beautiful, empty stretch of the Great Wall - entirely tourist-free - and then going on to the Ming Tombs. Skye was a pleasure to spend time with, and we would all recommend her very highly. She is delightful, friendly and well-informed, and her English is very good. She made the day interesting for all of us - she got on well with the boys, and was relaxed and informative company on a long day out. She negotiated any issues - for example around what we were happy to eat - with cheerfulness and energy. We remember our day with her as a really special one, and cannot recommend her highly enough.
 Visited August 2011

Skye was our tour guide on a day tour of the Drum Tour and Hutongs of Beijing.  She was the best tour guide that we had in Beijing and one of the best anywhere in the world.  Skye made the effort to take us to places of interest that were not on the tour schedule.  She is knowledgeable and informative.  When next we are able to get to Beijing Skye will be our first choice as a tour guide.  She would have our complete confidence.  Ed Young
Visited October 2008
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