Getting to know Beijing without spending the time

Itineraries by Bespoke Beijing may include visits to modern venues such as the 798 art district, which features art exhibits in an industrial setting, or traditional attractions such as the Great Wall. Provided to China Daily

She says: "Bespoke Beijing was founded so people did not have to waste the time that I spent trying to know the city. 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 and sometimes bizarre requests. One client wanted an igloo effect for an event in one of Beijing's hutongs, or 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. Bespoke Beijing employees also try and 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 guide books and even web sites 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.