Getting savvy for a capital time in historic city

"Bespoke Beijing was founded so people did not have to waste the time that I spent trying to know the city," Keenlyside says. "It is tough if you don't speak Chinese. It is a huge city and you are worried about the food. As I discovered later, the best thing about Beijing is the food - one of the great pleasures is showing people how good the food is. If we can send people away raving about the food in China we have done our job."

Staff members pride themselves on being able to respond to offbeat, sometimes bizarre, requests. One client wanted an igloo effect for an event in one of Beijing's hutong (alleyways), which was fulfilled by creating ice sculptures. Another visitor, a beekeeper, wanted to meet a counterpart in Beijing. A request for Japanese sumo wrestlers was met by providing models in sumo-wrestler suits.

There are plenty of less zany requests from mainstream corporate clients who have heard about Bespoke Beijing's ability to come up with interesting options. Beijing staff also try to approach familiar topics in a different way - a recent team-building event for embassy staff took the form of a treasure hunt around the alleyways and galleries of the 798 art district.

Increasingly, Bespoke Beijing is being called upon to organize large-scale events for companies such as the Royal Bank of Scotland, involving hundreds of people. But creating individual travel programs remains a major part of the business. The capital is such a fast-changing city that it is impossible for guidebooks - and even websites - to be bang up-to-date, a fact that the company emphasizes.

"People don't want to waste time, and with our Savvy City Guide you have flexibility," says Keenlyside, 31. "Part of our unique selling point is that we are nimble. Every week we can come up with something different, put a new restaurant in if we think it is good.

"We want to make sure that people visit really unique Beijing spaces, not just going to the obvious, which is what people automatically do. We have even organized events in private courtyard homes to give people the local experience.

"When we do events we try to include entertainment or something that showcases Chinese culture without it being too cheesy. We did a themed dinner for which we invited our Chinese traditional medicine expert to co-create a menu with the chefs."

For trips to the Great Wall, the company books cars equipped with WiFi, insists that drivers wear smart suits and selects knowledgeable guides with outgoing personalities who can bring the ancient structure to life.

Likewise, a tour of hutong can be much more informative in the company of a Beijing-born guide who can chat easily to locals who live in the courtyard dwellings.

After seven years in the city, Essex-born Keenlyside, who first came to Beijing with her partner, has a firm list of personal favorites. Top of them is Jingshan Park, just behind the Forbidden City.