Travel Beijing, See It On Your Terms

Since starting our website, we have been pleased and surprised to see that our travelers are finding us from all corners of the globe. Although we have been in travel business for many years, we did not know what to expect when we decided to build and publish a website. It has turned out to be a wonderful decision, and a learning experience for us also. Travel should be about real exposure to the culture and thoughts of others. It should not be about just checking off your list the sights seen. You will soon forget the statistics and facts from guide books, but you will always remember the feelings you will get from taking the time to enjoy the places you have been. That is the advantage of a private tour, customized to what you want to do. It is also the advantage of independent travel.

We believe in serendipity. It is really some of travel's most memorable moments. We would like to provide you with the opportunity to experience serendipity.

We have been building some new web pages for walking tours, and soon will be adding more. The hutongs and the Great Wall are two of the best places in or near Beijing to take a walking tour. If that isn't your style, but you still want to experience Beijing more at your own pace, consider customizing your tour. Whether you call it custom travel or tailor-made tour in your part of the world, it is a great way to explore Beijing your way. A lot of people think if they see a city using a private tour, it will be expensive. That is far from the truth.

One of our services that has been under-utilized has been our cell-mobile phone rental with support service. This is a great option for those travelers who want to be totally independent and see Beijing on their own. It is also great for those travelers who do want to take some tours, but also want some free time to explore some other places they have heard about. This takes the uncertainty out of exploring. Call us whenever you need some help getting around the city. We can help you organize your day, tell taxi drivers where to go, suggest restaurants in the area you find yourself in; and if you think you are lost, we can help you get back to where you want to be. Besides that, you can call your home country at an extremely reasonable rate.

We are glad that we have joined the travel industry on the Internet. The people we are meeting have broadened our world also. Serendipity goes both ways.

Beijing-Tibet Tour, Visit the Roof of the World

We have sent some of our travelers to Tibet after their Beijing tour, or as part of their China tour. However, we have not as yet put it on our website.
We are now working on adding several different tours. Beijing is the main entrance and exit for many of the travelers who visit China every year. Because we have seen more of our clients who visit Beijing wanting to visit Tibet, we are adding several combination Beijing-Tibet tours. We are going to combine our Classic 3 Day Beijing Tour, our Classic Beijing 2 Day Tour, or our 1 Day Beijing Tour with three different choices of Tibet tours. Since more and more travelers to China are considering visiting the major cities, like Beijing, as independent travelers, we are also recommending our cell-mobile phone service. It provides human travel support service. Just rent a cell phone from us, and call us for help with any questions you might have while in Beijing. Then we will send you to Tibet and help you plan your Tibet tour. We have been told that Beijing and Tibet are the two favorite places that our clients have visited. More about Tibet in a later blog post.

Travel to Beijing For Spring Festival

Spring Festival is the perfect time to see Beijing at its best. Not only that, you can see Beijing when it is the least crowded. Many of the workers who live in Beijing have gone home to visit their families, roads are not crowded and the city is full of life. Fireworks boom, temple fairs can be found all over the city, great food is everywhere, and all the traditional sights visitors wish to see are open. Now is the time to experience Beijing like a local, and not a tourist.

Starting well before the actual first day of Spring Festival, the city starts to add more and more lanterns and traditional decorations. Fireworks begin to be heard each night. A not to be missed, and actually an impossible to be missed event are the fireworks. They are at their noisiest and best Spring Festival Eve. The best display is exactly at midnight. Spring Festival lasts for 15 days. If you should miss the first day, you will have plenty of other opportunities to see and hear them. Day 5 of Spring Festival, and Lantern Festival on Day 15 are great also.

Chengde, Imperial Summer Retreat of the Emperors

We have been finding that more and more of our travelers have been to China and Beijing before. Some travelers also have a specific interest in the Manchu Emperors of the Qing Dynasty. For both groups Chengde is an ideal city to visit. Only a few hours by train or car, Chengde is an easy side-trip from Beijing.


It had been a few years since I had been there. A group visiting from the Philippines had shown interest in going, so I accompanied them. I was interesting in seeing if Chengde should be considered as a tour offering for other travelers. After viewing it through the eyes of the group, I would say definitely that Chengde is well worth a visit.

Chengde is an UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Manchu Emperors, beginning with Emperor Kangxi came here to escape the summer heat of Beijing. Set in a mountain valley. Chengde is still a great place to enjoy the mountains and the countryside, while visiting a wonderful historical site.

The imperial retreat of the emperors, Bishu Shanzhuang, is set in a beautiful pine woods. Twice the size of the Summer Palace in Beijing, the simple elegance of the architecture, the quiet walking paths, tree-shaded lakes, and gorgeous gardens will definitely make Bishu Shanzhuang a place to remember. The emperors originally used the grounds for hunting, so do not be surprised when you turn a corner and see a deer looking at you.

Besides the Bishu Shanzhuang, the Emperors built several outstanding temples. Eight of them remain. We visited four of them. Putuozongcheng Zhi Miao is the largest, and often called the Little Potala Palace because of its resemblance to the Potala Palace in Lhasa, Tibet. We also visited Puning Si, the highlight of which is an absolutely magnificent, 75 foot tall, statue of Guanyin.

We have just added two more web pages to our website. Both are about Chengde. We decided to add a five day tour that includes three days in Beijing and two days in Chengde, but for those people only interested in Chengde, we can easily offer them a two or three day trip to Chengde. It is also possible to visit Chengde in one long day, but we believe that travelers would really prefer to experience all that Chengde has to offer with a longer tour.

We have also added an additional information page with more photographs. My tour group's suggestion to visit Chengde has proved to be an excellent one. I loved their enthusiasm for what we saw, and I must say, I felt the same way they did. I do hope other travelers will take the opportunity to see a place near Beijing, but off-the beaten path.