Jimmy Zhang picked us up from our hotel and drove us 2 and a half hours north of Beijing to Jinshanling. Jimmy is very amiable and fluent in English, he explained the history of the building and upkeep of the Wall throughout history. Thanks to him this day trip was the highlight of our three days stay in Beijing. I would recommend wearing comfortable trainers, some people might like to have hiking walking sticks. Jimmy provided us with some water. I would recommend you bring food and extra water. The wall itself is fairly hard work due to some very high steps so although we saw young children there I don't think it is very suitable for children under 8 years or anyone with knee problems. Lastly I am glad we chose to hire Jimmy and I would really recommend him for this or other sites to the Great Wall.

Jimmy came recommended by a friend of ours, so we found him by word of mouth. However, he's so good we wanted to strongly recommend him to anybody in the Beijing area who has ideas about day trips they want to do. We were in Beijing for the Golden Week holiday, and we knew how busy The Wall could get, so we asked Jimmy if we could go to Jinshanling early to avoid the crowds. He met us at 6am near our hotel, and we were there by 8am, with no crowds at all. He was really nice and friendly and took us up to the top, explaining key sites along the way and giving us advice. He stayed with us a little bit, then told us where to go to get the cable car to get back down, then left us to our own devices which was exactly what we wanted. In the car on the way back we asked him a few questions about how to get the most out of the remainder of our holiday, how to negotiate the crowds, and the road closures, and he gave some really helpful and useful suggestions without pushing us to do anything. We've travelled a lot in many different countries, but Jimmy is easily among the best drivers/guides we've ever had. If you have ideas about what you want to do just contact him and ask, and he'll give you honest straight-up advice.

Thank Jimmy for suggesting we leave early and beat the crowds. Visiting and walking the wall without the crowds made it so special. Jimmy is a great driver and informative. Highly recommend

we took 2 day trips with him and everything went smoothly. he is very punctual and communications are great. he also has great knowledge of the places and thier history. highly recommended

I booked Jimmy many months ago to take 4 of us to The Great Wall, Olympic Park and an acrobatic show. His communication via email was excellent. He was enthusiastic, knowledgeable and keen to answer our many questions. Highly recommended.

Had a message off jimmy to ask if we could set off earlier in the morning so that we could beat the Beijing traffic . A fantastic idea , make sure you do it . Was really looking forward to ticking this off the bucket list and booked jimmy because of the fab reviews. Bit different to the other reviews because I found him to be very quiet with not much to say on our journey to the wall. He took us up by cable car and then said to us after 5 minutes inside that he was heading back to a restaurant at the beginning and we could find him there . Maybe I presumed he would be with us all of the time on the wall (other guides were) Although it didn’t spoil our experience , felt a little short-changed if I am being honest . The Great Wall is a fantastic experience , I found the guide a bit lethargic, he looked tired maybe needs a holiday or a break .

I cannot recommend Jimmy enough. He was happy to pick us up at 0615 when we wanted to head to Mutianyu early, his driving was smooth and safe (compared to some of the regular Beijing taxis!) and he was knowledgeable about the Wall, offered fantastic conversation about Chinese culture and history. As far as we are aware, you can trek up to the wall but it’s far quicker to grab the cable car. There is an open, ski-lift style cable car (for 2) which offers incredible views as you head up to Tower 6, which also has the toboggan ride down. It’s a cost of 120RMB (~£13) per person to go up and down again, and well worth it. If we ever head back to the wall I’ll definitely use Jimmy’s service again! Maybe next time he’ll beat me at pool..!

I am not sure if Jimmy actually was the driver we got when I read the reviews below. He was not that fluent in English, and most definately did not show any sense of humor. Apart from that we had a great day with a careful driver.

We visited the Mutianyu section of the Great Wall with Jimmy. He was very reliable picking us up at our hotel as arranged at 8am and very knowledgeable, explaining about the history of the wall and local area on the journey. We wanted to try the toboggan in our way down so Jimmy took us the the cable car section we needed to go to and arranged to meet us in a local restaurant when we were ready, we were able to do as much of the wall as we wanted without feeling under pressure to be back at a certain time. Would definitely recommend to anyone wanting to visit the Great Wall on a visit to Beijing

Jimmy was so patient with us while waiting for flights to arrive and was incredibly accommodating. It was so lovely to chat and travel with Jimmy who had excellent English and was so friendly! Thanks so much Jimmy for making our time in China so wonderful!

Jimmy picked us up at the airport and drove us to Mutianyu section of the Great Wall. It was a wonderful day that we thoroughly enjoyed. His English is excellent and he is very knowlegeable. His vehicle is so comfortable, and his driving was excellent. He is very nice, kind, and helpful. He provided us with valuable information for the rest of our trip and drove us to our Chinese hotel and helped us check in. Would recommend Jimmy anyday.

It was all in all a great tour. Our guide was really nice and a good english speaker. Due to his knowledge we got many interesting information about the wall and the city beijing. I can really recommend this tour.

We have a really great time with our Guide Mr.Jimmy.He was very helpfull & carring.His van was really comfortable.I highly recommended of Jimmy for beijing tour.

My family and I were already in Beijing when, luckily, we came in touch with Jimmy. That changed the whole tenor of our trip and made it more Fun than it ever could be. He took us around not only the great sites of Beijing-Great Wall, Forbidden City, Temple of Heaven etc.-would also find for us great places to eat, a tough thing in Beijing for non-Chinese speaking people. In difficult moments, if any, Jimmy's sense of humor can come as a relief too.

We contacted Jimmy for a tour to Mutianyu, the day we decided to go it was raining too much, we met Jimmy in our hotel and he recommend us to switch the tour day, cause with that weather, even the Wall would be close for visitors. He checked the weather and we decided another day to do the tour. For that raining day, he told us really good plans to do on an rainy day in Beijing. The day we did the tour, everything was really cool. Jimmy is always on time, he drove us until the Wall and then he helped us to buy all the tickets, all we had to do was enjoy the views! His car is really comfortable and big. He drives very good even in the chaotic traffic of Beijing. If we return to Beijing we will contact Jimmy again! Many thanks Jimmy!