Thanks for the replies. It's reassuring to get replies from the local experts.

Moondog, I did purposely choose to land in PEK as I've never been there and always wanted to be there, and so I'll spend the weekends, after two weeks of crazy schedule, in Beijing on my return trip. Not nearly enough time for Beijing but still. And TG schedule works for me.

Jiejie, didn't know Wangfujing is on the west side (didn't bother to check) would surely stay there even if it's just a night before heading to Shijiazhuang.

On another note, I know I can enlist the help of hotel concierge, but just to be on the safe side, how far in advance do we need to purchase the fast train？