Suzhou by Rickshaw and Boat: Highlights, Local Life & Hidden Gems & Fun

Want to explore Shanghai like a friend, not a tourist? Visit highlights that suit you. Taste various food throughout the day. Enjoy real moments instead of a cliché A-to-B tour. An experienced, licenced guide and fun traveller with a Master's in Psychotherapy from Sydney is what you need. I'm new to this platform, but "old" as a private guide. Since 2016, I've received hundreds of heartfelt reviews across multiple platforms. I design your day the way I'd want my own holiday: authentic, flexible, stress-free, transparent, no regrets. My journey as a "guide" started 14 years ago, when I first showed foreign friends around China for months. Since then, discovering my own country and sharing its culture has become a huge part of who I am. I've pushed a wheelchair for days and still remember her smile with freedom. I've climbed three mountains in a week with a nature lover who wanted to watch every sunrise from the top. I've taken the CEO of a Fortune 500 company to a family-owned restaurant he enjoyed it more than fancy dinner he'd eaten. I've been a big "sister" to little young guests at a ceramics shop, getting dirty together. At university, I was the only one among over 200 students who chose to study Tourism Management (yeah, it surprised me too!). After graduation, I worked at a travel agency for a year — factory-line tours, commission shops, the usual. It taught me exactly what I didn't want to become. So I left and built my own way of guiding, showing clients China through my own eyes. Before COVID, over 70% of my clients came from referrals, even though I never actively marketed myself — and yes, all heartfelt five-star reviews. During COVID, I also did procurement work for former guests' businesses, and enjoyed it. If your needs are business-related, I'm happy to help there too. At the same time, I took a leap and studied a Master of Psychotherapy in Sydney. Over three years, I dove into psychology and the spiritual world as a beginner, lived with a retired Australian couple, experienced multicultural environments, and worked as a children's therapist at a primary school. That experience taught me to be calmer, more present, and more attentive — so when I'm with guests, I'm listening, not running a script. Beyond that, I also love sharing the deeper layers of Chinese society — its mindsets, relationships dynamics, behaviors etc, if my guests are interested in them. Children's therapy was a core part of my master's in psychotherapy, and I also trained in creative play therapy in Sydney. Working in public primary schools there gave me real experience with kids of all backgrounds. I think connecting with children comes naturally to me — and my training has only sharpened that. I do this simply because I love children and want to look after them whenever I can. Afterward, I came back to China to do what I'm truly passionate about: being a full-time private guide. What I learned became a way of being — helping guests feel at ease, adjusting the experience to their interests and personality, and sharing stories as friends, not as a distrust business relationship. Many times, my guests and I deeply connect with each other as safe and trusted friends — any other form of social tags, barriers in social relationships disappear. In my personal life, I'm endlessly curious — about culture, history, food, architecture and design, antiques and fashion, old films and classical rock music, and psychology and philosophy, obviously too. A little bit about everything, you could say. :) Lately, I've been reading about Chinese hidden-gem boutique guesthouses and The New Earth, watching Éric Rohmer movies, listening to Neil Young, Eminem, and Oasis, making videos for my tour guide channel, and laying back on my balcony, etc. Want to see what that looks like? Check out the photos for real moments with past guests. Feel free to reach out anytime about anything related to Shanghai or China. I'm happy to share :). Warm regards, Scarlett Education: Bachelor of Tourism Management, Anqing, China (2012–2015) Master of Psychotherapy, Sydney, Australia (2022–2025) Certifications: China National Tour Guide License Working With Children Check Driving License Trained Person-Centred Therapist (Sydney) First Aid Certificate Creative Play Therapy with Children