My good lady and I are keen to visit Beijing as part of our holiday at the beginning of October. Current thoughts are 5 days there, train to Xi'an then on to ?????. She wants sun/beach and stuff so anybody got any ideas.

Secondly, is Beijing the kind of place where it would be practical/possible/affordable to hire a car and driver for the duration/few days? I'm thinking of a local with a car who has some English - from what I hear most people do not speak English at all. This way may be good for us and it would also put a bit of money back into the local economy instead of the pockets of a multi-national. What kind of costs are we talking about and is it safe?

Finally, hotel recommendations? Neither of us are keen on the big chains and like to meet local people. Within most countries visited we pretty much take a flier and trust our judgement. But I'm not sure about Beijing as it is so very "foreign" to us

Thanks very much for any advice


Any help much appreciated