Originally Posted by johnkennett
Just touring, it will be my first time back in PEK in 10 years, and my fiancee's first time there- we did Shanghai last year and stayed at the Grand Hyatt, Club Floor Bund view room on the 85th floor- WOW.
In PEK though, we have the following plan;
Sat morning arrival July 30- to hotel, then Tiananmen Sq, Forbidden City and Temple of Heaven. Peking Duck for dinner.
my favorite way to do the forbidden city is to start at tiananmen at around 4:30p (3:30p if you want to take your time) then walk north. then i cross the street to beihai park (adjacent jingshan park is also an option and offers better views, but doesn't have the lake; you really need to pick one or the other or your legs will hate you), rent a row boat for 30 minutes or so, and then climb to the top of the monument. then i keep going north to houhai park and eat dinner by the lake while the sun sets. the restaurants aren't all that special up there, but the ambience is great.
you could do temple of heaven prior to all of that and maybe have peking duck for lunch at the qianmen quanjude, but your fiance might kill you afterwards.
Sunday July 31-nothing planned- might fly down to Shanghai to M on the Bund for brunch- Great restaurant.
imo beijing has too much to offer to justify such a side trip. the st. regis brunch isn't quite up to the portman (shanghai) standards, but gets the job done. alternatively, if you want something more m-like, you could check out handle lee's courtyard, which overlooks the forbidden city.
Monday Aug 1- Great Wall- which section would you recommend? Acrobatics or Opera for night
huanghua ( 黄花城 ) is my favorite beijing wall site by far (check the beijing lonely planet), but going there necessitates an extremely strenuous hike. otherwise, simatai offers the same sort of untouched wall without the danger factor. in either case, i'd be willing to organize a small group if i'm in town at the time.
edited to add: i shouldn't dismiss badaling and mutianyu out of hand. although not as pristine as the afforementioned sites, these are still impressive and take less time (2-4 hours v. 5-7)
i can't really comment on acrobatics/opera (have done both; not my cup of tea; admit that they are part of the beijing experience).
Tuesday Aug 2- Mao Mausoleum/Summer Palace/ market of some kind/museums...
the summer palace can be a challenge to access during the summer (it's that last mile that's a killer) and is big so i wouldn't plan too much else for that day.
Wed Aug 3- head back to Korea lunchtime flight.
It seems that we have a lot of wasted time...anyhelp with the plan would be great
you should try to set aside some time to simply explore the city and eat at some local restaurants. i recommend renting bikes and cruising the hutongs (if you stay at the marco polo, you'll find lots to the south). one of my profs at school --michael oksenberg-- used to advise his students that doing so was the single best way to learn about beijing.
my final piece of advice would be not to worry about packing your schedule too tightly because beijing can be a great place to relax in the summer and your proposed itinerary calls for an awful lot of walking as it is.
ps - you might as well try to hit sanlitun on sat night if you feel so motivated. while i think it's lost a bit of its allure in recent years, summer nights can be quite eventful.