Originally Posted by moondog

If you can't change your tickets to return to Chicago from some place other than Beijing, then IMO, you should just stick it out in Beijing... though I must admit that I'm no fan of National Day in the Capital.

-Beijing warrants 9 days
-traveling around China requires a lot more effort than you might expect
-overnights at the Great Wall, Summer Palace, Chengde, and/or Qinhuangdao are worthy of consideration
-a little bit further away, you have Qingdao, Dalian, and perhaps even Shenyang (not many tourist sites in Shenyang, but I kind of like it, and the botanical gardens in Qipanshan are nice)