An amazing tour. I will say, it was a tough hike. Be sure that you are in shape and are in for an adventure. There were many areas with rough terrain. I've hiked 2 other sections of the Great Wall and Jinshanling is definitely the toughest. Lunch afterwards was delicious.

Had the most surreal, ethereal sunset experience in Jinshangling. So much quieter than Mutianyu & less touristy but also much harder as most of the steps are very steep. Not for the faint of heart but I’m definitely coming back again.

Jenna from Catherine Lu Tours did a good job in bringing us around the Forbidden City, even went to great lenghts to help me find the particular ice cream stick that went viral on the Internet that I wanted. It was my 2nd time to Mutianyu so it was alright but Jenna helped us take great pictures in beautiful spots. We were majorly delighted when Jenna took us to Tiananmen during the evening light-up — super beautiful & great experience!

We customized the trip according to our preferences and timings. Our guide Justin and driver David were very cooperative. It was a lifetime memory for us and I recommend Catherine Lu Tours for all.

I stumbled upon Catherine Lu tours via google, and decided to reach out to her to plan a 2 day itinerary to hit all the key spots in Beijing. Catherine was very helpful from the start, suggesting a lot of options for our consideration yet taking into account our many requests, including dining at specific restaurants of our choice. She even helped us very kindly to make dinner reservations which we are thankful for. The first day took us to Tiananmen Square, Forbidden city and the Temple of heaven , our amazing guide Peter ( a History graduate ), both knowledgeable and eloquent, led us through expertly in both English and Mandarin, explaining whatever we wanted to know and providing us interesting nuggets of information which left us in awe of the engineering prowess of the ancient Chinese. The kids (14 & 10) were also entertained and needless to say we had a wonderful time there. The timing was also perfect as we reached the Temple of Heaven right before closing time, so we managed to capture the sunset against that beautiful structure and savour the benefit of not having hordes of people in every photograph. The second day took us to the Great Wall and again, we had a wonderful time there taking the cable car up and the toboggan down. After which, Peter brought us to the nearby township for a wonderful meal of "Donkey Meat" which was the local specialty, definitely not everyones cup of tea for sure but there are lots of other non Donkey items on the menu. All in all we were impressed by the quality & cleanliness of the restaurant he suggested! To sum it all up, even though we could read and speak the Chinese language, we definitely benefitted tremendously from signing up for this tour. The tour guides there know all the procedures like the back of their hand, be it where to line up ( the other queue was INSANE! Especially in -2 degree temperatures! ) or what to bring ( all our passports for checking - we saw some people who forgot their ID get turned away ). Everything was a breeze and Peter even knew where most of the best toilets were to be found :) Always an added bonus! It was our first trip to Beijing and it definitely left an indelible mark on us, we will be back again soon for sure~

Justin was absolutely amazing. Great depth of knowledge and conversation about the food, China's geography and cultural history. He is consistently introducing you to different food types and providing insight about areas you're walking through. Highly recommend booking this.

Catherine is great, uncomplicated. gave us a nice tour through a hutong. We had a excellence dinner at a family´s place. Very delicious, nice service and a great unforgettable evening. Cathrine made all happen what we wanted - great job. See you the next time in November 2024 - will book it again!!!!

We had a wonderful time with our private guide, Justin, in Beijing. He was very knowledgeable about the places we visited, and went out of his way to accommodate our requests. He spoke English exceptionally well, which made it easy for us to understand and appreciate the information that he shared with us.

I also highly recommend this tour organized by Catherine. Catherine ensures you an optimized exploration of Beijing and its surrounding area. Her prompt responsiveness allows for a personalized service that truly enhances the experience. For this attraction, I benefit from a French speaking guide who help me to really enhance my knowledge of the Chinese civilization.

I highly recommend this tour organized by Catherine. Catherine ensures you an optimized exploration of Beijing and its surrounding area. Her prompt responsiveness allows for a personalized service that truly enhances the experience.

...another trip arranged by Catherine and performed by Sonnia => mastered to perfection. All arrangements done professionally, transfer to and from the site, the excellent historical details you get with Sonnia makes it simply unique. No hidden interest to bring you to stores or restaurants where they would take some percentage on your expenditures. We enjoyed everything so much - We felt really so well with her that it felt almost like sightseeing afternoons with a family member. Sonnia thank you so much for the time with you in Beijing and surrounding, including the Mutianyu Great Wall, which is simply GREAT. Beautiful place, great piece of history with a lot of details provided by Sonnia. We will remember ;-)

This was just an amazing experience - our tour guide Sonnia is simply the true hidden gem you are searching for. Excellent in english - and believe me, this is not obvious in Beijing, she transformed our sightseeing into an one in a lifetime experience you want to remember. Simply excellent, great knowledge, perfect organisation, no waiting, no lines, simply enjoying the best out of the Forbidden city with all the information and knowledge from her, you just can not find in a tourguide booklet. Even the quality of pictures Sonnia did for us was just excellent. Thank you for making our trip in Beijing so special.

We did have an amazing time with our guide Sonnia, who showed us the hidden gems of local cuisine. The highlight was the donkey burger, delicious. The sweets were amazing as well. Thank you again to Sonnia and Catherine who took care of us for the whole trip and were of great help in arranging all to our preference and expectations...

We had an excellent tour with Sonnie to the Forbidden City and really appreciated everything about the day. They actually met us at our hotel and took us on the subways, an adventure in itself, then took us on an amazing tour. So knowledgeable and a ton of fun - highly recommend!

Excellent Beijing & Great Wall tour! Peter is a fantastic great guide, knowledgeable and courteous, explains all the interesting details in very good English. Lunch at a local restaurant was very good. Great day, highly recommended.