Renting a minivan with a driver for a day

[大肚男]

Anyone ever rented a minivan with a driver in Beijing and/or Xian.

I will be in these citis with family, 5 or 6 people total.

I've been to these cities, and I'm familiar with their public transportation. Also, my girlfriend is chinese, so language is not the issue.

However, we have very limited time, and there are 6 of us, so taking taxis or cars would be a hassle, as we need to split into 2 groups.

Our plan for Beijing is to start early in the morning, go to the greatwall, come back around noonish, then hit the forbidden city. I have done it already with My gf, so I know time would not be an issue if transportation is arranged.

Our plan for xian, is to start early, go to the terracotta warriors, then hit the city wall in the afternoon. Again, I went to the terracotta warriors, and other than the time spent waiting for and on the bus, it can be easily done in 2 hours.

So, we're planning to rent a van with a driver for theseveral 2 days. We looked online and found a company called catherine lu tours that offer that service, and was wondering if anyone here used them or anything similar.

I read horror stories about companies that threaten to leave clients stranded, unless they are paid more, or that completely rewrite the agreement once you are there.

Any advice is appreciated. Thank you

[gato]

You should try using the 滴滴出行 app (Chinese version of Uber, except with more car selections). You could download the app before your trip, select the city where you are headed on the app and try it out first.

On the app, you can select 商务车, which in Shanghai at least is typically a 7-seat Buick mini-van. This is the easiest way to order a car within a city now.

But since you also want to go outside the city, you could also order a mini-bus for part of a day using the app. It's called 包车. Even buses are available on the app.

You could also try to negotiate a private deal with a 滴滴 driver when you initially order a mini-van.

See here about the bus service:

http://hebei.news.163.com/15/1210/13/BAFQT1AB02790N9P.html

在计费方面，巴士包车业务主要根据用户的不同需求和使用场景因素，以及车型的不同，进行设定的计费方式，具体价格用户可以在滴滴出行APP中进行查看。其中以单程使用场景为例，从北京中关村到八达岭，7-15座车型的价格为370元起/辆，21-29座车型的价格为550元起/辆，37-39座车型的价格为760元起/辆，45-55座车型的价格为800元起/辆。

[ChTTay]

Good suggestions there.

I used a service targeted at foreign tourists when my brother came to visit. I didn't go on the trip so was a bit worried at first but it all worked well. The guy who owns the company gave a great impression both in English to me and to my gf in Chinese. My brother said the driver was nice enough but just knew a few words in English like "water" or "wait". The car was comfortable and roomy. I imagine originally it was just this guy (Miles Meng) but now he is in Lonely Planet and stuff he has other drivers.

They seem to have a range of different sized vehicles. I have friends who booked a mini-van to the Great Wall with them too.

http://beijingenglishdriver.com

[大肚男]

Thank you Gato and chttay, I'll give Chinese Uber a shot

[gato]

The company ChTTay linked to above also sounds like a good affordable solution for Beijing.