I would like to recommend Brian Bay for local guide of Xian. He has a wonderful knowledge of local history, his english is excellent and he loves his job as a tour guide. To Brian Bay being a guide is a liftestyle. He is dedicated, enthusiastic and highly professional. But what makes Brian special is his kindness and helpfulness. He helped us send a parcel from the post office - I doubt we could have done it ourselves, sending a parcel from China to Europe is quite complicated. We had to fill in an address in Xian - and Brian Bay suggested that we used his private address. And so we did - because we knew that we could trust him if anything went wrong.
One more thing that shows Brians helpfullness: We wanted to see the Terracottas and the historic museum on day 1. Day 2 we only needed Brians help to get the tickets to the Tang Show. Or so we thought. Although it was Brians day off, he insisted on guiding us to the show to make sure we were allright. He had ordered the dumbling dinner (very delicious) and made a reservation for good tickets. He also insisted on showing us the muslim mosque and helped us bargain in the bazaar (good for us, not so good for the saleswoman - had we been on our own we would have paid double and believed we did a good bargain...)
At the Terracottas he brought us to a local noodlerestaurant - the meal was delicious. And cheap.
I also want to recommend Brians Bays driver. He is by far the best driver we came across in China. We felt safe every minute. The van/minibus is new and confortable.
We felt sad leaving Xian and Brian Bay - it felt as if we said goodbye to a friend. How many guides do you think of as a friend? Not many.
