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Mark’s Guide & Driver Service

Mark’s Guide & Driver Service

Mark’s Guide & Driver Service
5
City ToursMulti-day ToursHiking & Camping ToursPrivate ToursDay Trips
12:00 AM - 11:59 PM
Monday
12:00 AM - 11:59 PM
Tuesday
12:00 AM - 11:59 PM
Wednesday
12:00 AM - 11:59 PM
Thursday
12:00 AM - 11:59 PM
Friday
12:00 AM - 11:59 PM
Saturday
12:00 AM - 11:59 PM
Sunday
12:00 AM - 11:59 PM
About
Mark's Guide and Driver service has been making it happen since 2004. We rise like a watchtower above the rest because we personalize our service. And we know what we're doing. “Competence personified” wrote one happy customer in a recent review (Hunter of Tacoma Washington). He goes on, “You could go through all the Beijing tours listed and you wouldn't find anyone better than Mark and his excellent staff of drivers.” So relax. Your search has ended. With super-fast response time by phone or email, Mark's simplifies all your planning. With top guides and drivers, we meet and exceed the highest expectations. With care and knowledge, we guide you well on all your Great Wall of China and Beijing journeys. Mark's makes it happen. Why look any farther?
Beijing, China

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Tours and Tickets by Mark’s Guide & Driver Service

Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.

Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as waiting time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.


5.0
5.0 of 5 bubbles1,071 reviews
Excellent
997
Very good
57
Average
10
Poor
4
Terrible
3

Nathaniel R
Stamford, UK11 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Sept 2024 • Couples
We emailed Mark with our own request with only two days notice and he responded quickly. He was the only person emailed who actually gave us a quote for what we asked for. We asked to go to both Mutianyu and Jinshanling from Beijing in one day which is a long day! He arrived at our hotel in a large car with the most comfortable seats that also almost fully recline. He was a nice and safe driver and could speak good English. He provided water bottles for us. We had asked to leave at 7am which meant we were ahead of the tourists but not the Beijing traffic! Mutianyu was nice but it is still hazy there with the pollution. There were plenty of food options available and Mark had some suggestions but there was no pressure to eat anywhere specific. Jinshanling however was absolutely incredible. We would recommend it to anyone willing to travel that far to have perfect scenery, very quiet walls and to have clear visibility across the mountains. We would even say don’t bother with Mutianyu and just enjoy Jinshanling. Thank you Mark for a good day.
Written 29 September 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Thanks for your review. Yes We DID, the popular Mutianyu section Great Wall and the WILD Jinshanling section Great Wall in amazing one day trip. Thank you very much
Written 4 October 2024
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

Henrik S
1 contribution
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Oct 2023 • Family
Mark and Sally were easy to communicate with before the tour. Everything was great, tickets to the forbidden city were already booked and we felt very well taken care of throughout the day. I would recommend this to everyone who wants a tailored tour during the layover in Beijing.
Written 25 October 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Thanks for your review. There are a lot of delicious food in our Capital of Beijing. and this flexible tour Itinerary better for your short beijing layover. Thank you very much
Written 10 January 2024
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

Paul F
10 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Jan 2024 • Family
Just wow! This guy couldn’t have been better. We had some rough plans for a few days stopover in Beijing and after contacting Mark to ask about taking us on a bespoke trip (Mutianyu Great Wall followed by skiing at Huaibei under the Great Wall) he responded promptly with a reasonable price and offered advice and reassurance as per his other reviews. At the last minute (literally as we boarded a flight from Saigon / HCMC) we asked about the possibility of a transfer to our hotel and he had a driver waiting for us just 3.5 hours later after our flight. He asked about us leaving a review but to be honest he deserves so much more and should be anyone’s first choice when visiting Beijing. We’ve literally had the best day we could have wished for! Thank you so much Mark.
Written 12 January 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
The best photos, authentic Beijing food, long history and culture in Beijing
Written 7 February 2024
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

chuezw
31 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Jan 2020 • Couples
We had an excellent day visit to Simatai with our guide, May. Although we weren’t interested in visiting Gubei, it was very pretty to walk through and we enjoyed trying street food on the way back. We took the cable car and then walked to the top point on Simatai. It was absolutely stunning and at one point we had it all to ourselves! May was very helpful and friendly throughout the day, and also gave us a lovely welcome calligraphy as well as taking us to a tea house on the way back. Mark was very responsive when booking by email in advance. We would definitely recommend his driver and driver & guide service, and would use it again if we were to return!
Written 18 January 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Thanks so much! We're glad you enjoyed May. She is our star calligrapher. And thanks for saying you would recommend Mark's and use us again. We appreciate you.
Written 9 February 2020
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

corikra
Townsville, Australia34 contributions
3.0 of 5 bubbles
Aug 2014 • Solo
Unfortunately my experience with Mark's Service was a little disappointing. I had hired an English speaking driver for my hiking trip at the wild wall. The driver picked my up on time to take my to the drop off point for my walk up to Jiankou section of the wall. Once there he accompanied me to the start of the walk (to make sure I don't get lost I suppose) and gave me a local phone on which to call him later. For the pick up at the other end in Mutianyu he said he would wait for me at the ticked office there. However, once I arrived at the bottom of the Mutianyu section and had fond the ticket office, there was nobody there. I waited for a while, then called the driver on the phone and he said that he was at the ticket office. I still couldn't find anyone, so I walked around, went the car parks, to see if the car was there amongst the others. Nothing. Went back to the ticket office and found out that there is another ticket office a couple of km down the valley, so I called the driver again and found out that this is where he was waiting. He told me to take the free shuttle bus to get there. Turns out this shuttle bus is only free if you have a parking ticket. As I had already paid for a driver for the day, I was not happy to pay for another one and so I walked, which added another 45mins to my hiking day. Due to all this we hit the rush hour traffic real bad and arrived back in the city a lot later than planned, which ruined the plans I had for the evening.
The car for the airport pick up I had arranged for 2 days later never turned up and after 20mins waiting I took a taxi. This could be due to the fact that I had asked to change the pick up time to an hour early, which had been confirmed by email, but might have been forgotten.
Written 29 August 2014
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

VacationJL
Shanghai, China14 contributions
1.0 of 5 bubbles
Mar 2016 • Family
I booked Mark from the good reviews on tripadvisor. He was very responsive by email and easy to work with. I had full confidence going into the day. We Were supposed to meet driver Yang in the morning at 7:45 for a day at mutianyu and summer palace as Advertised on Marks website. The driver was on time but then we had to wait for him while he tried to get a map from the hotel. That was the first red flag. For the whole driver up to mutianyu, he kept calling another person and trying to meet up with him on the road. When I asked about it he finally admitted that he was not Yang. His name was Dong and he was helping Yang because Yang had another client and he was not familiar with the road and was helping him out. So when we finally caught up to Yang to follow him to the Great Wall, Yang drove like a crazy person, switching lanes, passing cars on winding 1 lane roads which made me and my kids feel very unsafe. Our driver Dong apologized and said he usually doesn't drive like this but since he doesn't know the way we have to follow him. We arrived at mutianyu about 45 minutes behind schedule. After we parked, our driver had no idea where to go and was calling for Yang who promptly ignored us, we finally found our way to the ticket booth and I told our driver Dong that we wanted to take the cable car up and the toboggan down. He told the ticket lady we didn't need bus tickets or entrance tickets. After we got the tickets he told us to go down the road and he would meet us by the restaurants when we wer done. We had no idea what to do down the road but when we got there and asked around we figured out we see supposed to board a shuttle. When we got to the front, they told us we didn't buy the right tickets and had to go all the way back to the entrance to buy the tickets, I called Dong and he said he had to call Yang to figure out what was going as he never comes here. After about 30 minutes back and forth we finally and the right tickets and went to wait for the shuttle which had a very long line now. Since we were so behind, we had to cut our stay at the wall by an hour.
Our next stop was summer palace and my friend rcommended a restaurant by there for lunch. I gaveDong the name and address but it was clear he had no idea where it was. He kind of said, I can look for it for you but let me recommend a place to eat. I thought he meant he was going to look it up on GPS but he did not, When I realized he was not going the right way to the restaurant, I told him to stop anywhere along the way to the summer palace. He ended up getting off the highway and going 20 minutes out of the way towards the city to his neighborhood and took us to a bun place that only sold 3 things since it was already 2 in the afternoon. We ate for 15 minutes then were on our way. Don't couldn't find the entrance to summer palace and then dropped us off on the south gate which I don't recommend. There are no sites there, only the lake. After walking around the lake for about an hour, we tried calling Dong to pick us up at the esst gate but he didnt answer so we hiked all the way back to the south gate to meet him. We had 2 kids in tow who were very tired at the point and dinner reservations with friends. We saw nothing at summer palace besides the lake. We should have been dropped off at the east gate where all the attractions are. We asked to be dropped off at a restaurant near our hotel where we were meeting friends. Don't did not know where it was and was asking other people . I found it in my GpS and said I could tell him where to go but he said he knew, On my GpS with traffic it estimated about 50 minutes. I asked Dong to take the route recommended by google maps but he insisted he knew the way and drive us right into traffic. The entire route was red on my google maps. We were crawling on the road for almost 2 hours and decided to walk the rest of the way to the restaurant.

Our driver was actually very nice and felt bad. He was just completely clueless and didn't know directions. Please use a GPS!! He was old and drove the only routes he knew which were not Efficient and had tons of traffic.
We were not given any water or a cell phone to use like what was stated in the email, Thank good I had my own phone but our driver didn't pick up 2/3 times.
Mark was informed about what happened in the morning whenI was furious. He did try to give us an extra hour and decrease our rate but to me, that was not the point. I have 2 young kids, they were tired, we had dinner plans that we had to get to and the morning just put the schedule off for the rest of the day. We ate lunch at 2pm!! For a 4 and 7 years old that is really difficult. Also, we had to cut our time short in both places and didn't not get to see what we wanted. Since this is the only time we will ever be in Beijing and that was the only day we had to see the 2 places it was s huge disappointment.

We have hired drivers in many countries including Indonesia, Thailand, Cambodia, etc since I have young kids. Every experience has been great but this is by far the worst I have ever encountered. I ruined our day and ruined our vacation and I would have been better off hiring s taxi driver off the street.
Written 26 March 2016
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
I am so sorry you had such a bad experience. This is my first Terrible review on my 8 years old service experience. As you see from the high level of positive recommendations we get on TripAdvisor this is not the norm and we pride ourselves on the very high levels of satisfaction we deliver. In hindsight you would have been better off with a guide who would have bought tickets, guided you to the most convenient pick up points etc. as part of the service we provide, however you opted for the cheapest level which didn't provide this, only providing a Chinese speaking driver from A to B. You said your Chinese no problem. The substitution of Dong for Yang did not help matters as he obviously had less knowledge of the geography, and isn't as familiar with using GPS as yourself and I will personally ensure every driver has GPS training in future which will ensure we don't meet this situation again. In part mitigation you did have the car and driver from 8.00 am until 20.30pm, a full 12 ½ hours without the additional charges we would normally levy. With regard to Dong's driving ability, the cut and thrust of Beijing driving, which involves frequent lane changing, is usual in this city, particularly when trying to make up for lost time, and can be a little frightening to those not used to local driving techniques, but we pride ourselves in the fact that none of our drivers have had a single conviction in the past 3 years. What can we do? I hope you will come to Beijing again in the future and I offer you my personal service as guide and driver to make your travel experience all it should have been, and as enjoyed by 99% of our customers, Regards Mark
Written 11 May 2016
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

leahmcburney
Templepatrick, UK418 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Jul 2015 • Family
Based on Tripadvisor reviews I booked Mark for an airport collection and an english speaking driver for a trip to the Wall at Mutianyu, Ming Tombs and Sacred Way. Arriving into Beijing at midnight it was such a relief to be met by our driver at arrivals with my name on a card. He took our luggage, took us to his car and safely deposited us at our hotel... fantastic. My Kong was our english speaking driver for our trip to the wall etc. He arrived at our hotel at 7:30 as agreed and as soon as we met him we knew we had made the right choice. He was friendly, knowledgeable and professional and until you have been in a car in Beijing you will never understand how mad the roads are... oh my god it is crazy!! Arriving at the wall he purchased all the relevant tickets for us, even saving us some money by getting our 15 year old son a student rate and explained how things worked re bus transfers and cable cars etc. We agreed what time we should meet at the entrance and we were off!!..
After our wall adventure Mr Kong was ready to take us to the Sacred Way & Ming Tombs, again sorting out ticket purchases and giving us as much time as we wanted to explore before returning us to our hotel. Mr Kong provided an exceptional service and was very professional, knowledgeable and friendly. No unwanted stops at jade or tea factories so we could spend as much time as possible at the sites we wanted to see. tHe tour was totally tailored to our requirements and as Mr Kong said "we were the boss!!"
There were three of us on this private tour and it was 900rmb in total - such good value. If you are looking to spend a day touring outside of Beijing then I have no hesitation in recommending Mark's Tours and you never know you could be lucky and get Mr Kong!!
Written 10 August 2015
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

go_places_12
Sydney, Australia65 contributions
3.0 of 5 bubbles
May 2012 • Family
Mark was excellent at emailing to organise our pickup,...however he wasn't able to take us personally for our day trip to the Wall etc. He wrote that our driver would be an English speaker, but unfortunately this was not the case...so whilst the driver was good at driving and very nice, he couldn't tell us anything during our entire day tour...which was a lost opportunity.
MORAL of the STORY: make sure you get Mark if you want commentary.
Written 2 June 2012
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

ctm7944
Phoenix, AZ19,133 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Oct 2013 • Couples
We had an excellent trip to the Great Wall at Mutianyu on 15 Oct 2013 thanks to Mark.
We paid Y650 total for an english speaking driver, the car seats 4 comfortably. He arrived to our hotel on time at 0730 and we arrived to the wall at 9:05. He spoke good english and was able to answer our questions about where to go in Beijing. He helped purchase wall tickets - Y45 Entry, ski lift up and toboggan down tickets - Y85 and took us to lunch afterwards.
We returned to our hotel (Beijing International Hotel) at 2PM.
It was a very clear day and the wall was spectacular. We took the ski lift up. Then walked to the right, which was uphill & less people, to the end and back to the middle.
Then part of the way to the left, which was downhill. At the end of the left side, we could see there was a ski lift down. But, we walked back to the middle and took the tobogan down, which was fun.
I highly recommend Mark.
Written 23 October 2013
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

liyun86
Singapore, Singapore260 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Apr 2012 • Friends
I am so thankful to Jean for recommending Mark! I engaged his service after reading up TA reviews and we communicated smoothly through email. His rates is very affordable, a flat rate of RMB600 for 8hours of service! We added another 1hr as we felt he was really good!

Mark was already at the hotel lobby at 7.30am and we drove to Mutianyu. Throughout the journey, Mark was very patient to answer my endless questions and he provided much insights into the living conditions of China. After the great wall, he drove us to our new hutong hotel and we set off for lunch. My friend is a muslim and he is a muslim man! So, it was perfect! We learned more about how to identify muslim food in Beijing and places where we can find them. Over lunch, Mark helped us to plan our travel itinerary for the rest of our trip and suggested places for us to visit.

He would notice our little actions (such as sneezing, walking slower) and make adjustments according.

After lunch, he drove us to a wholesale mall and we ended our journey at the Chaoyang aerobatic show. We sat at the VIP row, 5th row from the front, and paid only RMB150 each! That was absolutely a steal! I saw the rates at my hutong and other hostels and the prices were doubled!

His warm service didn't end at the end of our journey. He promptly followed up with an email attachment with the photos he took for us and he mentioned that we can contact him if we run into any problems in Beijing.

Mark is definitely the man. We are absolutely impressed with his sincerity, friendliness and his attention to details. We can't ask for more!

Thank you SO MUCH for making Beijing fun and enjoyable for us!!
Written 5 May 2012
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

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MARK’S GUIDE & DRIVER SERVICE (2024) All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go (with Photos) - Tripadvisor

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