We'll have a 12-hour layover. Any advice would be great.

Arriving at 5am from Europe and departure at 6pm to Osaka.

Of course a lot will depend on how we feel after 9hrs of economy flying.

Priority Pass lounge is an option. We are on Hainan but I see PP has access to the Air China Business Class lounge.

Another idea is a Crowne or Holiday or Courtyard. Not sure how we book for 6am to 4pm though. Guess I should do some searching.

If we go downtown, it sounds like we should allow for an hour to get the transit visa (Japanese and American passports).

Then train or taxi downtown for 7-8 hours, planning to return to the airport by 4pm. Sound feasible are are we pushing it?

We haven't been to Beijing for 30 years and are interested to see how it has changed.