Originally Posted by jtkauai
i would say definitely go. beijing is unbelievable and not to be missed under any circumstances. however its character is changing and i'd say visit sooner than later.
I'd totally second that...Beijing is changing very rapidly, and won't be the same city even 6 moths from now. BTW, at the Forbidden City, try to spend some time in the NW part. It is a little hard to find at first, but there are many fewer foreign tourists there. Also, if you have some extra time on your visit to the Summer Palace, you might want to stop by the campus of Peking University nearby.