Several of my pals in the China forum have suggested that the proposed dates are sub optimal, due the October holiday. While I agree that the October holiday is terrible time to be in China (I'm certainly planning on leaving for at least 5 days), we'd only be catching the tail end of it.

jenbel advised us to plan some "activities" in order to sweeten the deal. We will do so, and edit the OP accordingly. But, I'd like to achieve a consensus on the date first. For the time being, all you guys need to know is that Beijing is an amazing city.