One company. Our own guides.
Most private tours in China are resold two or three times before a guide is found. We built Locals in China to remove that: every guide on this site is our colleague, every route is ours, and the person who answers your message is the person who meets you.
What we are
A licensed inbound travel company with full-time, licensed guides based in 13 cities: Beijing, Shanghai, Xi'an, Chengdu, Chongqing, Guilin, Hangzhou, Suzhou, Huangshan, Zhangjiajie, Lijiang, Harbin and Guangzhou. We run private tours only, for English-speaking travellers, and we plan multi-city trips that string those days together.
What we are not
We are not a marketplace, and we do not list other people's guides. We do not sell hotel rooms or take hotel or restaurant commission. We do not run group tours. When something is outside what we can do well, we say so instead of subcontracting it.
How we work
- Routes are designed by the guide who leads them and reviewed by the rest of the team.
- Every stop carries its Chinese name, address and a map link that works in China, so you are never dependent on us to move around.
- Every guest is invited to review us on Trustpilot. We invite everyone, we edit nothing.
- Licence and company details are shown on request and will be published here on launch.
Contact
WhatsApp +8613000000000 · hello@localsinchina.com · Contact page.
Thirteen guides, thirteen cities
Wei L.
Beijing born, hutong raised. Fifteen years guiding English speakers through the palaces and out to the Wall. I run early: the Forbidden City at 8:30 and Mutianyu before the coaches is the whole trick. I drive a 7-seat van for Wall days and cycle for hutong days.
Jing Z.
Former architecture-magazine editor, Shanghai native. My tours are about buildings and the people who lived in them: the Bund's bankers, the Concession's writers, the lane houses my grandmother grew up in. Walking and metro by default; car for water towns.
Hao S.
History graduate from Northwest University, licensed guide since 2015. I spend half my days at the Terracotta pits and still find them extraordinary. In the evenings I eat my way through the Muslim Quarter and will happily take you along.
Mei T.
Chengdu local, former tea-house owner. I believe the city is best understood sitting down: in a tea house, at a hotpot table, in a Sichuan opera seat. Pandas and Leshan I do with a private car and an early alarm.
Sean L.
Born and raised in Yuzhong. Ten years guiding English-speaking visitors around the peninsula, Wulong and Dazu. I plan public-transport routes by default (this city is best on foot and by monorail) and bring a car when the day needs it.
Fang H.
Grew up in a village on the Li River near Xingping. I know which raftsman to call, which hour the light is on the peaks, and which back lane gets you from the Yulong River to Yangshuo without traffic. I drive my own car for the terraces.
Say hello
A question is enough to start. We answer personally, in English, usually the same day.
