Should I hire a guide to go to the Forbidden City in Beijing?

I am going on sunday and I am not sure if I should hire one. Has anyone had any experiences there? I assume that there are many stories to go with all the buildings and everything. Thanks.Should I hire a guide to go to the Forbidden City in Beijing?
I've done it all ways. I hired a guide once when I was with my sister and she only had an hour. He was great. He got us through in exactly an hour and told us all the interesting little details that are overlooked in the guide books. I did it once by hiring the Roger Moore recorded tour. It was boring and long. The information was very dry and did not include any of the fascinating details. I've done it on my own without a guide. Even though it was my third time there, I didn't really know much of the significance of what I was looking at.





I would suggest you hire a guide, but make sure he/she speaks good English. Tell him/her you want the juicy details or if you like, the long, historical significance. Most Chinese are very knowledgeable, so I think you will have good luck finding a knowledgeable guide. However, you will have to be very clear what you want to hear. I've dealt with dozens of guides in China and some of them just drone on about stuff no one really cares about. I've had to be adamant because I usually have a bunch of 12-year-old students dropping like flies trying to listen to the guide.Should I hire a guide to go to the Forbidden City in Beijing?
Yes - Hire a Guide
Yes, I would
Yes. Hire one who speaks your language well and knows some of the local thing you might not see otherwise it will enrich you expierence.
I've done both and my advice would be to combine so to speak : get a good guide book and learn everything you can and also prepare questions in your mind which the book does not answer. Then hire a guide --they are so cheap that ';cost'; is not even an issue. The guide will not only fill in the missing pieces but I have found guides here and everywhere in Asian are experts in the best angles and best setups for pictures --that alone would be worth twice the price of admission !
You don't need to hire a guide although I would recommend that you do..the forbidden city is a complex place...get a tour guide through any of the major hotel lobbies....if you don't you can rent a walkman type device to explain it to you as you walk around..you can rent them at the forbidden city..but I have no idea how good they are.


If you get a chance..rent and watch the movie ';The Last Emperor'; before you go..it's 5 star and was filmed in the forbidden city and will explain a lot. enoy
if you're staying at a hotel in beijing you can take a tour from the hotel. a guide comes with it, english speaking and all. we stayed at the guangzhou hotel in beijing and went on a few tours. all you have to do is follow the flag that the guide holds up for you to see, you won't get lost then. very interesting and well worth your time. don't forget your camera. have fun....
You can pick up English speaking guides outside the entrance. We got an old architect in January and he was just amazing. You have to pay to get him in and it should cost about 100RMB per hour.
Better go off with a guide that will surely show you the way and the places there. It would be hard to start off a place if you don't have any idea of the place itself.
No, you cannot hire a guide, I FORBID it!
Always visit a new place with without guide bcoz then and then only u can face adventures and enjoy the fun while ur journey and even now a days government of visiting country help a lot to tourist they will provide u some handbooks and map thats all (maximum) u required to make ur trip a memorable one