Getting to know Beijing without spending the time

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

"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 where 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 that are equipped with WiFi and 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 the hutongs 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, 31, 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, which has a hill offering stupendous views of Beijing.

She says: "If you go on a Sunday morning, everyone is friendly and in a good mood and from the top you have a view in all directions. It is just lovely, so nice.

"I also like to go into the hutongs. If you are a visitor and you don't go there you really miss what life is like on a daily basis. People are surprisingly uninhibited, they don't mind dancing in the public parks or belting out a song on their bicycles. There is not that concern about looking silly they are just being themselves.

"I also like the 798 art zone. It is not just for art lovers, it was a model factory, visited by leaders again and again. It is fascinating. You can still see the Mao Zedong slogans on the walls."

Bespoke Beijing has plans to start a similar operation in the port city of Shanghai and, down the road, in other world cities. The basic package will aim to remove the frustration Keenlyside experienced at being a newcomer in an unfamiliar place.

She adds: "I was fresh off the boat, didn't speak Chinese and didn't know what I was doing and found it just as difficult as someone else plopped into a new city. Bespoke Beijing was founded so people do 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."