hard2please

I may be the only one, but we had a lousy experience at Duck de Chine in September when we were there. We felt it was pricey for what you get (and they add a service charge!). The duck was OK, the service was terrible. They mostly ignored us. I would chalk it up to us being an American couple who speak no Mandarin, but I noticed tables of Chinese couples and groups getting the same treatment...

We're going again to Beijing in a couple of weeks. If I can talk my husband into giving Peking Duck another chance, I'll be looking for another place.

hard2please

Summer Palace is a great idea with kids. You can rent a paddle-boat and go out on the lake if the weather is nice. (We didn't do that last time, but might on this trip if there's time!)

KINetics

I'm staying there right now until May 28th. I don't know their extra child policy, but just keep your children on the 1st floor entry lobby while you go up to the 4th floor check-in desk. Get your room card key, then directly take you and your children from the 1st floor to your room.

The front desk is pretty proficient in English, but I think it's irrelevant since everything will be charged to your card in RMB.

You are correct in stating that most taxi's do not know where the hotel is located. The majority of travel here for me has been a mix of subway and taxis and most of the time I have to tell the taxi where to go. They know major bridges and subway stops as navigation points, so I start the conversation with the taxi driver that I'm going to "shuangjing station". Then when close, I point to the hotel. The shuttle is expensive, but that's because they pick you up in an Audi A6 or BMW 5 series. They also wait for you as you come out of customs with a sign with your name on it. The hotel has a van shuttle which could probably fit all your luggage if you're not sure the trunk of an A6 or 5 series could fit all the bags.

Your other option is to take the subway from the airport to the hotel. But with kids and luggage, I'd not recommend it as your 1st foray with the Beijing subway system.

With a 6pm check in time and the show at 7:15, you will be pressed for time. Subway is a much better choice, but again I'd recommend against learning the subway system when you're trying to meet a tight schedule. Taking a taxi at that time would be suicidal since that's peak rush hour time. You'll be stuck in traffic and probably won't make it in time.

I'd recommend doing it a different day than your arrival and take the subway once you know the system. Subway line 10, Hujialou stop, exit C.

Forbidden City is overrated in my book. It's one large courtyard with a large red gate, repeated, ad naseum. But if you do go, do it via subway. From the hotel, line 10 towards bagou, ride for 1 exit to guomao, transfer to line 1, then take the line 1 to pingguoyuan till you get to Tian'anmen East exit. Try to do it on a weekday since there will be less people.

Having access to a subway is VERY convenient, taxis are hit or miss at times. Especially since you're a foreigner and your lack of chinese, with the driver's lack of english will be frustrating at times.

mominthecity

KINetics - Thanks so much for info and suggestions -esp about Cap Ren check in.

Hard2please - It's our first time to Beijing so I have to say I went to the Forbidden City But w/ my own 2 kids (and another family w/ 4 kids) we may be zooming thru it under 1 hour

moondog

Well, that's news to me. Like I said in an earlier post to this thread, I've stopped using cards for the most part in China due to DCC, but particularly at Marriotts in Beijing because, at last check, all of them still used BankComm machines with no opt out feature. That having been said, I had one client stay at the Ren recently who convinced the checkout person to use a different type of POS machine that he had spotted in the Italian restaurant.

sl00001

Agree it is a bit on the pricey side but so is Made in China - you pay more for the location. As for service - in China it is always a hit or miss ...even at the upper end establishments.

To be honest I prefer Cantonese style Duck more ( but I am biased)

lcpteck

Will be traveling to Tianjin/Beijing On Oct 12-15 for a short leisure trip.

Touching down in Tianjin around 7:30am on the 12th, I plan to take the high speed rail to Beijing South Railway station and transfer to subway towards Conrad Beijing for a 1 nighter and then Holiday Inn Downtown Beijing the next night (13th) before returning to Tianjin for my last night on the 14th. At first I was hoping to use the subway for most of my travels, but after reading and watching youtube videos of the subway, I freaked out.

Will weekends on the subway be that bad? Or should I just take a taxi once I reach Beijing South Railway station? I'll only be hauling a hand-carry luggage. I'm assuming I'll reach Beijing by 9-10am or whatever time it takes to reach there.

Is Holiday Inn Downtown Beijing alright? Only reason I'm picking that place is the proximity to the subway. Any other suggestions for IHG properties?

moondog

I usually take taxis to/from Beijing South, but Line 4 to Line 6 is pretty easy, and since both are fairly new, they aren't crazy crowded. I can't recall where the HI downtown is, but I think you'd be better off either sticking with the Conrad, or grabbing another property on Line 6 (it is very useful). The Conrad has the added benefit of also being on Line 10, which is now an enormous circle line.

ETA: I just googled the HI and don't think you want to stay there because Fuchengmen is not a very happening area. If you're going to stay downtown, try to get close to Wangfujing. Otherwise, Chaoyang is the way to go.

lcpteck

Thanks for the info Moondog. I checked and found a Crowne Plaza Beijing Chaoyang U-Town near Chaoyangmen station (Line 6/2). Hmm, it's priced at CNY900 compared to HI Downtown CNY398. Decisions decisions....

Oh there's a Crowne Plaza Wangfujing at CNY675 as well. Not very near to subway but looks doable. Whatcha think?

moondog

Chinatrvl loves the CP at U-Town, but not a huge fan of the area, though Line 6 helps a lot. If you don't mind steering away from flagged properties, you can stay in a nice location for around y500.

R&R

Can anyone recommend a detailed Subway map?

moondog

explore beijing (but, the rest of the top 10 google results are pretty much the same)

drewguy

eBeijing app for iphone is good.

Wikipedia seems to get updated with latest pretty well also:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...ay-Plan_en.png