If you’re looking to hire a Chinese tour guide, there are a few simple things you should know ahead of time. Clarify a few simple points with your guide and your tour is bound to go quite a bit a smoother.

One of the first things that both the tourist and the tour guide would be thinking about – in China or elsewhere – is money.

• Who will pay for entrance tickets, meals and transportation?
• Will there be any hidden fees?
• Does your tour guide accept tips? In China, tipping is not customary. However, many Chinese tour guides have learned to accept, or even expect tips from foreign tourists. Some even charge a set fee of 10% or 15% on top of their posted rate.
• When do they expect to be paid?
• Do they accept your currency, or will you need to pay in Chinese Yuan?

After money is out of the way, it’s time to talk about the itinerary.

• How many hours will they work? Most Chinese tour guides will agree to work a certain amount of hours in a day and have an additional overtime rate.
• Make certain that you will travel to the listed destinations. If you are trying to visit several attractions in one day, you may end up having to skip one or two due to poor traffic or other members of the tour group persuading the tour guide to stay longer at a certain place.
• Ask about shopping. Bringing tourists to stores, “art galleries” or “factories” is often a large portion of a Chinese tour guides income. They often expect you to spend time at these places, hoping you will buy – usually at inflated prices. If you don’t want to do any shopping, make that 100% clear.
• Ask about how much walking is involved. Chinese people in general are used to walking a lot.
• Ask where you will be eating, and check if they can meet any special requirements you may have when it comes to food. For foreigners, it can be tough to find food that is vegetarian, or sometimes even tough to find food that doesn’t include pork.

It’s best to go over every possible point of contention with your Chinese tour guide. As you’ll be touring a foreign country, do not take anything for granted. Cover the above points, cover any other points you can think of, and you and your tour guide will be on the same page, making your tour one that you’ll treasure.