I'm thinking of spending weekends making short Fri-Sun trips to other towns in China (along with a few classmates). Any thoughts on inexpensive train/plane rides to other locations? This is for 4-6 people. Thanks, Ken.

Chengde, Datong, Shanhaiguan, Qufu. Perhaps Shijiazhuang (for Zhengding, Zhaozhou Qiao). All in a reasonable train or express bus ride of Beijing. If you include flying then most of Eastern China is opened up, and there are innumerable possibilities.

Have you thought of buying a guide book?

Some foreign editions can be found in the Foreign Languages Bookstore on Wangfujing, in the bookshop on the top floor of the Yansha/Lufthansa Centre, and possibly in the large bookshop next to the Oriental Plaza on Wangfujing, or the Beijing Books City in Xi Dan although I haven't looked there.

Peter N-H

for starters, i suggest you look into this weekend's "naughty by nature" event at the goose & duck ranch. although the chances of me attending are close to zero --in the unlikely event i don't bust out of town on friday, the fact that my boss is going to the party severely limits my interest-- everyone i've talked to thinks it's going to be pretty good.

building on the g&d ranch theme, there's a lot to see and do within 2-3 hours north (east/west) of the city. the air is better out there, plus they have things like lakes and mountains.... and, of course, spas.

as for plans that involve taking to the air/rails, qingdao and dalian are the most obvious, but i would also encourage you to check out the northeast. if you do it right, you can even catch a glimpse of north korea in action.

before closing, keep in mind, that 90% of the country is within a stone's throw of beijing insofar as air travel is concerned so you needn't limit yourself to points that are geographically close.

If you use yoee.com or elong.net you can find good cheap deal fares to other cities. I think it would be nice too to spend some time visiting some of the less visited portions of the great wall in the more rural areas.