I actually did a packaged tour with CITS (It is the same thing as CTS but I booked it in America and not from here) in August.
I did one of the longer tours (13 days), but we spent 4 days in Beijing with their local guides.
I don't think that the stopping thing is going to be a problem. We stopped about every 15 or 20 minutes when we went through the Forbidden City and the Summer Palace and such so that our guide could tell us the history. And most of the time, after all of the information was given, we got about 10-15 minutes to go explore and take pictures. So if she wanted to just sit and relax while that time was going on, it would be no problem.
We went to Badaling when we did the Great Wall, and walked the "hard" side of the wall. It took about 2 hours to get up there and another hour to get down because we stopped to take so many pictures and to rest. There is another side of the wall, the "easy" part, but I didn't go up there so I can't tell you much about it except that it is supposed to be easier to climb. There is a cable car that will take you up and down if she would prefer to go that way.
Also, I think that the CTS tours usually tend to have older people on them. I am 20 and was the youngest person on our tour. The next youngest person was in her mid 30s. In Beijing, there were 75 of us all together ( 3 seperate tour guides) and most of the people were in their mid 50s to late 60s. I think that this is mostly because the younger kids usually want to do things on their own and not be tied down to a scheduled tour. I fel that way, but I did a packaged tour because my mother made me
She wouldn't let me go to mainland China and just roam all over the continent by myself - something about being in a Communist Country and me not speaking Chinese...and considering she was paying for it, who was I to argue?
anyways...I think that CTS is going to be a pretty safe choice for your friend. She could always do a private tour - they are a little more expensive and if she is traveling alone, it would probably be pretty lonely, but that is her choice. One other thing to note, CTS is probably going to be one of the cheapest options if that is a concern. I went to 4 different travel agencies before I decided to go with CTS - part of it was because they were leaving when I wanted to, and part of it was becaue they were about $300 cheaper on pretty much the same tour than their competitors.
If your friend does happen to take a tour with CTS, see if she can get Emily as her tour guide. She was mine and out of the 4 tour guides that I had on the trip, was my favorite. The others who were on my tour also said that Snow was a good tour guide.
Good luck with your search,
c
