Hi, I’m Clark Chen — born and raised in Beijing, and the person behind BeijingTravelTutor.
I grew up here. Primary school, high school, university — all in Beijing. I know this city the way you only can when it’s home: which hutong has the best jianbing, why you should hit the Forbidden City at opening, which “famous” restaurants are tourist traps and which hole-in-the-wall is the real thing.
Then, from 2013 to 2020, I left. I spent seven years overseas in Canada — first as a student, then working as a software engineer. For the first time, I was the foreigner: fumbling with a payment app that wouldn’t accept my card, standing at a transit gate not knowing how to pay, ordering food I couldn’t read. I learned exactly how disorienting a new country feels when nobody tells you the small stuff.
Today I’m back in Beijing, working as a software engineer at TikTok. And every single time a friend from abroad came to visit, the same thing happened — they got stuck on the exact same problems:
- “Why won’t my credit card work anywhere?”
- “How do I even pay for the subway?”
- “Where do locals actually eat?”
- “How do I get to the Great Wall without a tour scam?”
I’d answer the same questions over and over. Eventually I thought: I’m a Beijing local who spent years being a confused foreigner, and I build software for a living. I should just build the guide I keep giving my friends — and give it to everyone.
That’s what this is. BeijingTravelTutor is honest, local Beijing knowledge for visitors: how to set up payments before you fly, how to get around, where to eat, and realistic day-by-day itineraries that account for how big this city actually is. No tourist traps, no fluff — just what I’d tell a friend.
The fastest way to use it is my free Telegram assistant, @beijing_travel_tutor_bot — it builds a personalized Beijing plan around your dates, budget and tastes in under a minute. Try it here, or just open Telegram and search for it.
Welcome to Beijing. Let me help you do it right.
— Clark