Trip to China - Private/small group. Want recommendation on agent in China

My wife and I are planning to visit China as one of our next major
trips. We hate large tour groups and the 20 minute tour of the Louvre,
Ufizzi, etc....the forced shopping stops and such; what we do like is
excellent food (regional chinese), good or especially charming hotels
and a knowledgeable guide that we can understand. We probably aren't
much different than most other tourists...

Based on my internet reading, I think we'll skip the Yangzee cruise.
We certainly want to see Beijing and the surrounding "must see" tourist
spots; we also want to see the terra cotta soldiers....We have little
interest in industrial or new cities (Shanghai) except to exit China
thru their airport. We would love to go to Sichuan which we consider a
culinary mecca (although it's hard to sample all of the cuisines of
China sitting in the US.

We'll either do the trip alone with a private driver/guide or we'll do
a small group 6-8 people if we can find a good itinerary. As with all
travel, the key is finding the right person to set up the trip. My
guess is that the right person/company is in China where they know the
drivers/guides personally. I will not work with a US agency that just
books thru Pacific Delights, etc....I want someone who knows the area
and hotels/restaurants first hand.

I'd like recommendations by those who have travelled thru China this
way....who did your arrangements? Did you have an exceptionally good
guide/driver that I could request? What agencies/operators should I
avoid?

I am not looking for responses from travel agencies or tour operators...