An English-speaking buddy in Beijing who picks you up at the airport, shows you the city like a friend would, and sorts out the apps, tickets and payments that trip everyone else up. No shopping stops. Ever.
Prices are per group, not per person — the way a friend would charge. Final quote confirmed by a human within 12 hours, before you pay anything.
Services & honest prices
Not a catalogue of 300 tours. Just the four jobs that make or break a first trip to China — done properly, at a fixed price agreed before you land.
Your driver is waiting at arrivals with your name on a board — even if your flight is delayed. Straight to your hotel, with the first essentials sorted on the way.
A licensed, English-speaking Beijing local for the day — half or full day. History when you want it, street food when you're hungry, and none of the scripted tour-bus patter.
The full day, handled: private car, English-speaking guide, tickets and lunch. Mutianyu Great Wall without the 6am group bus and without a single shopping stop.
China runs on apps that baffle first-timers. In your first 48 hours, a buddy on WhatsApp / WeChat gets you fully set up — payments, rides, trains, food — so the rest of your trip just works.
Signature day trips · Beijing
Every trip is private — just your group, your guide, your car. Start times flex around your jet lag, not a bus schedule.
The most beautiful, least crowded restored section — cable car up, optional toboggan down, and a village lunch after. We leave early enough to beat the crowds, late enough for breakfast.
The palace in the morning with tickets secured in your names, then the real city: hutong lanes, a courtyard home visit, and roast duck where Beijingers actually eat it.
Morning tai chi watchers and kite flyers at the Temple of Heaven, then the emperors' lakeside retreat. Two UNESCO sites, one unhurried day, zero souvenir warehouses.
*Forbidden City entry is included when tickets are secured in your names — passport details needed at booking, as the palace requires real-name reservation for everyone.
The part big platforms can't do
Cash is rare, cards are hit-and-miss, and Google Maps won't save you. Most “China travel problems” are really first-48-hour setup problems. We fix them with you, step by step, on chat — before they can ruin a day.
Flying in independently? Buy the Kit on its own. Already booking a pickup or day trip? Add it for less.
Works before you land: we start the setup on chat as soon as you book, so arrival day is just… arriving.
How it works
No instant-confirmation roulette. A real person in Beijing checks your guide, car and tickets first — then you pay.
Pick a service, date and group size below. Two minutes, no account, no payment yet.
We check guide and vehicle availability and — for the Forbidden City — secure tickets in your names. You get a fixed final price.
Pay by card or PayPal through our US company. Free cancellation up to 48 hours before your service.
You get your guide's name, photo and chat contact the day before. They meet you — board with your name, coffee tolerance high.
| MyChinaBuddy | Big booking platforms | |
|---|---|---|
| Where your money goes | Mostly to your guide, driver and tickets | Platforms typically keep 25–35% in commission — guides get squeezed, quality follows |
| Shopping stops | None. Contractually. Your guide earns nothing from shops | “No shopping” often costs extra — or quietly isn't |
| Who you talk to | Your actual buddy, on chat, before and during | A call centre and a voucher PDF |
| Flexibility | Change the plan on the day — it's a private trip | Fixed itinerary, fixed group, fixed times |
| First-48-hour help | Survival Kit: payments, rides, trains, food | Not their product. You're on your own at the ticket gate |
Good questions
Citizens of many countries can now enter China visa-free for short stays, and Beijing is also a 240-hour visa-free transit hub if you're travelling onward to a third country or region. Rules differ by passport and change over time — tell us your nationality and route in your booking request and we'll point you to the current official rule for your case before you pay anything.
MyChinaBuddy is the booking and service brand. All tours, guiding and transport in China are fulfilled through a licensed Beijing travel-agency partner: guides hold official guide credentials and are assigned by the agency, and every vehicle is a licensed, insured operating vehicle with a professional driver — never a private car moonlighting as a taxi. Your written confirmation — issued before you pay anything — names the fulfilling agency and confirms your guide and vehicle, so you can check the arrangement before committing. Payment is collected securely in USD by our US company.
The palace sells a limited number of real-name tickets, released days ahead, and they sell out — especially in peak season. When you book, we collect each visitor's passport name and number (exactly as on the passport) and reserve in your names as soon as tickets release. If tickets genuinely can't be secured, you choose: a different date, a different itinerary, or a full refund. Book as early as you can — a week ahead is comfortable, a month is better in summer.
Airport pickups include flight tracking and 60 minutes of free waiting after landing — delays are expected, not penalised. For all services, cancellation is free up to 48 hours before the scheduled start for a full refund; inside 48 hours we refund everything except any non-recoverable ticket costs already paid in your name.
Yes. You pay us in USD by card or PayPal before your trip — no need to wrestle with Chinese payment apps for the booking itself. Once you're here, the Survival Kit gets Alipay / WeChat Pay working with that same card for day-to-day spending.
Both work. Capital Airport (PEK) is closer to the north and east of the city; Daxing (PKX) is the newer airport in the south. We pick you up at either — just give us your flight number and we'll be at the right arrivals hall, tracking the flight.
Beijing is our launch city and where our guides and drivers are based — we'd rather be excellent in one city than average in ten. Shanghai is next. If your trip continues beyond Beijing (Xi'an, Chengdu, Shanghai…), ask in your booking request: through our partner network we can often arrange the same buddy-style service there too.
Every tour is fulfilled through a licensed Beijing travel agency — credentialed guides, licensed operating vehicles, professional drivers. The fulfilling agency is named in your written confirmation before you pay.
Our guides are paid properly by us — not by jade shops. If a guide ever steers you into a commission shop, tell us and that day is on us.
Questions before you book? Write in the booking form's notes or email us — a person in Beijing replies, usually within a few hours.
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