Has anyone traveled to Beijing, China?

Question

I will be there for 9 days in winter 2007 (December 25-Jan 3). What MUST I see and do? (I'm from Los Angeles California and have traveled in Europe and in US but never Asia)

Answer 1

For the average tourist these are the things that you should do:
Must see:
Tiananmen (including Mao's mausoleum)
Forbidden City
Lama Temple
Temple of Heaven (one of my favourites)
Summer palace
Great Wall (I prefer the Tian mu section rather then Badalin)

Things to do:
See a Chinese opera or acrobatic show
Take a rickshaw hutong tour - parts of old Beijing that are narrow lanes
Pearl market
Silk Market

Must Eats:
-Roast Duck!
-Lamb Kebabs (Chuar)
(most of the food is good, don't be afraid to try any of it!)

Things that one should see that are off the 'normal' track:
-see the Olympic sites
-take a train to Tianjin for a day
-YuanmingYuan garden
-ride a subway (just for the experience!)
-go skating at the world trade centre
-visit the art gallery district on the fourth ring road (can remember what it is called right now)
-There are many great museums in Beijing as well.
-the CCTV tower along the west part of the Third ring road
-The parks to the east and west of the forbidden city


These are the things that I can think of right now. If I think of other things, I will tell you. Beijing is a city where you can easily spend a month and not do everything

Answer 2

I lived there for three years and now I live in Shanghai

Must see
- Great Wall at Si Ma Tai, the rest of the places are tourist traps and DO NOT take a tour bus, you will spend the day seeing stores where the tour guide gets kick backs, hire a car to take you there and ONLY there
- Temple of Heaven and then across the street the pearl market (wonderful shopping, also behind the pearl market is the toy market, if you need anything for little ones), there is also a GREAT noodle place over by the people crossbridge that is a must
So so places
- Summer Palace is nice, Old Summer Palace is better
- Tian An Men and Forbidden City (warning, Forbidden City can be a bit boring) you may just wnat to hit T-square just to say you were there
- Wang Fu Jing shopping street

Answer 3

You're so lucky that you're going to Beijing. There's not many places that people from Los Angeles can go and complain about how dirty and polluted it is.

But, to answer your question, you should see
-The Temple of Heaven
- The Forbidden City
- Tiananmen square (while you're there, ask the security guards why they all have fire extinguishers)
- The Great Wall (not really in Beijing, but close enough. Beijing used to have its own wall. You should ask the locals what happened to it)
- The Summer Palace (The last Empress of China had this rebuilt instead of building a navy. In hindsite, a really stupid idea, but it's nice)

- Beijing University (famous but not really worth the trip)

More important, learn how much stuff SHOULD cost. Enough tourists go to Beijing that the locals can pick out a tourist a mile a way. They will overcharge you by as much as 1000%. Oh, and if you see little kids following you, it's not because they're curious, they're trying to steal something out of your bag.

Answer 4

I love it and just got back.
In order of importance:
1. Great Wall. Go to the section farthest away. It is worth it by all accounts. Contact me and I will send you pictures.
2. The Hutongs west of the Back Lakes. Go for dinner. Have drinks on the lake at the Jaz Bars. You will want a second day there if you have a romantic interest.
3. Shop at the Silk Store that is Government owned.
4. Tennamen but I was disappointed. It is a must, however.
5. Shop. Get a guide to help you so they will negotiate for you. If not, offer a third of any prices offered and you should be ok.
6. See the Olympic site. There are two stadiums and you cannot leave without seeing them.

I kept my list short but you have to see all of them. Then, fill your time in however you like. One last thing. Get a massage at the end of a day...do it early because you will surely want to do it again, eat at only good restaurants, have a hot pot dinner and the Peking Duck. Enjoy!!!

Answer 5

Please check out this link. http://www.chinesecultureclub.org/ We were in Beijing 2 weeks ago and used them a number of times. The tour guides are great! The price was very reasonable. Also check out in Beijing, Cycle China and ask for Leo. He took us on a guided 3 hour tour of Beijing that was awesome! That is something I never would heve done on my own. I am so glad I took it. Check out belly dancing at the Red Rose Restaurant along with really good ethnic Uighur food and music. For really good German food try Schindlers, best pork and spaetzle I ever had and my Gram was German.
Schindlers Tankstelle
Average cost per person: CNY100
Location: No. Jia 15, Guanghua Lu, Chaoyang District
Tel: [phone]

Answer 6

The others have already given a good list of to dos and must sees. I myself would like to contribute that you should prepare for very cold weather. Temperatures will be around 10-15 degrees Celcius below zero (about 5-15 degrees Fahrenheit) and it's gonna be quite windy and unpleasant. Bring warm clothes, very important.

Answer 7

I have been to China, yes.

I just wanted to suggest a site to you

http://www.travade.com

I think you will find this site incredibly helpful. I found a trip the other day for $300 cheaper to Beijing than another "major" website. Not all will be this good, but to China, and Asia overall, this is an amazing site.

Answer 8

NO, but I can't wait to go next year. I'm studying abroad in Beijing in May or June of 2008. I don't know about you but I'm going to check out the Forbidden City, (you should too), Tiananmen Square, some temples.

Answer 9

I saw many good suggestions for your visit to Beijing; I am a frequent traveler to China for business purposes.

The most important thing I would do two weeks before going there go to a Travel Clinic or ask your G.P to give you

Hepatitis A and Tetanus Shots.

Enjoy China it is beautiful.

Answer 10

here is a especially economic 7 days Capital Beijing and Modern Shanghai tour .Only cost $430 / person,which other price always over $1000!.