Getting basics planned for 3 days in Beijing...
 

So many great comments on the forum, I hope it's ok to post something like this and try to tap those again.

So I have been reading up to try and make the most of my 3 days in Beijing (actually 4 but leaving at 4pm on the last day kinda kills it as a day) will be arriving Aug 9 and departing the 13th after spending a week and a half visiting family in Dalian.

I have been many times, and probably scene all the tourist attractions at one point or another. But the girlfriend hasn't and wants to do the tourist thing so we would like to get as much of that in as possible...

I was originally going to book the day tours via chinatripadvisor.com as $20-30 gets you a ride and entrance and they claim to include lunch although I am thinking they drop you at a restaraunt, not buy you lunch...

But our time is very limited there and from what I read it seems that these tour trips force you to spend a lot of time in trap shopping destinations... I would rather not waste my time in overpriced shops and clinics.

Also I would like to see the Beijing acrobats (not at all interested in opera) and of course eat a lot of good food...

So I have a few ideas what I would like to do and a few hiccps that I hope running by you all will give me an idea of if I am on a solid track or not...

So far I am thinking:

First off lodging - I am trying to keep a pretty good budget so hoping to get hotels for under $70 anight. Warwick apts and Grand View Gardens both seem fitting but I have no attachments to any particular places if anyone has recommendations. Also I would consider staying in a hostel (I am not above that kind of thing at all) considering I am hoping to spend most of my time not in my room, worries there are security and reliability (I really don't trust pictures in China so I don't want to find out my room is a total dump and the bathrooms don't work etc). At the price some of the hostels go for I am considering getting a room in one near the attractions just to have a stopping off point for $8 a day or so. We are both near 30 though so I am also afraid age limits or extra charges may kick in. Any experience or advice?

Next up travel - Train into Beijing arrive in the morning (here is the first hiccup, what to do with luggage since check in time is 3pm for most hotels) and probably just hire taxis or walk to nearby sites. The $20 -$50pp tour packages seem like a good deal to take care of transit but not if they screw you into wasting time... I figure taxis from any of the major sites shouldn't run too high correct? Moondog mentioned he knew some drivers worth their salt... also if you are in town Moondog... feel free to collect on previously offered free drinks!

Leaving on the airplane at 4pm and I figure it should be pretty straightforward getting a taxi to the airport...

Siteseeing - Sites of interest are Tiananmen,Great Wall, Forbidden City, Summer Palace, Temple of Heaven, Beijing Acrobats - please feel free to suggest anything!

I am thinking

Day 1: Arrive, get situated, walk around Tienanmen a bit, maybe some shopping and eating etc. If I arrive early enough and feel like it maybe spend an afternoon at the summer palace, get it out of the way.

Day 2: Great Wall - suggestions welcome on the best sections to visit, when and where to head once you get there. I think I read that if you go straight up the north tower and keep going there is a back section that is not very populated and peaceful away from the crowds. Hope to get this done early in the day while it's still coolish and maybe go to the temple of heaven in the afternoon, finish with acrobat show and duck dinner (I notice that's often offered as a tour package however I prefer to go to restaurants recommended by others, I see moondog has a thread recommending a duck place).

Day 3: Forbidden City first thing, again while it's cool. I hear most people go in from Tiananmen, however if you enter from the other end you can get a good view and catch old people doing TaiChi (which I like to watch). Sadly it seems all audio tours are set up for the other direction. See anything else I haven't yet maybe try and check out the old stuff and Hutongs; spend the evening shopping and eating and walking around.

Day 4: Early breakfast and last minute shopping, off to the airport.

Dining I LOVE eating ethnic... for me traveling is first about the food and people, second about the sites. You can see pictures of places anytime, but eating and meeting are things you can't get anyway besides first person.

I want to expose my GF to as many food experiences as possible... not necessarily gross or shocking, just the things you might not be able to get stateside so easily. I personally will eat almost anything and have a pension for things like fried scorpions, chicken foot soop etc (no blood anything, very bad experience with blood sausage once).

I definitely want to hit up some jiaodze places as who doesn't love those but as for the rest of it, I am would love any recommendations... I don't care particularly for fancy, I do like authentic and preferably inexpensive.

I hope that wasn't asking too much but we lead such busy schedules I don't know if or when I will get another opportunity to do this with my GF so I am hoping to get it right. I have been to Beijing over a dozen times, but every time had family or friends showing me around. This time I won't have the luxury so much.

I have seen a few tour books mentioned specifically, but if anyone has any they want to recommend I would be greatful!

Oh and I know to watch out for tea services and art galleries... :)

Off topic but make sure your GF gets her Hep A and B shots....I assume you've got yours already.

Oooh yeah... I had read no special shots were needed for travel in China but I will check with my doc to make sure. Both have hep B, pretty sure we are hep A also but will make sure... Thanks for the heads up!

1. It had been so long, I got tetanus and polio booster shots for my first visit.
2. Taxis are just as cheap as a group tour with none of the aggravation. I really do not think you need a guide anywhere, but if you feel you need something for her, buy her the new all-color DK Eyewitness Travel Guide for Beijing & Shanghai. Most extensive coverage of sites in Beijing, cutaways, illustrations, maps and photos. Just as authoritative as their European guides. On two days, we used http://www.personalchinahelper.com/index.html to show us the lay of the land. You probably do not need that assistance, what with your experiences already.
3. You will see hundreds of posts on the GW at Lonely Planet, TripAdvisor, Fodors and Frommers. Like here, use search feature, and you will find more info that you ever wanted to know.

Thanks, I will definitely cosider the giude book as I consider those to be a good investment most of the time anyway.

Will check the other forums and travel guides appreciate the pointers!

Although some of the content is ~15 years old, I personally think Lonely Planet is the most useful guidebook on the market (FWIW, this is an opinion that raised the blood pressure of a former FTer that edited a competing book) because it explains things in a practical manner, yet isn't quite as backpacker oriented as Let's Go. Plus, unlike the BJ&SH book referenced by rploehn, it will help you out in Dalian as well (I gather you are from Dalian so you must know the lay of the land pretty well, but things change quickly in China and guidebooks often draw attention to places that are unfamiliar to locals).

In looking over your OP, one thought comes to mind is that you should group Tiananmen, the Forbidden City, Beihai, and Houhai together since they are all in a straight line (more or less) and easily walkable. And, if you have enough energy, I believe it's possible to take a boat from Houhai to the Summer Palace, though I'm not sure about the schedule/frequency. Once you're at the Summer Palace --which you can also tack on after your Great Wall trip, if Plan A sounds too crazy-- you might want to check out Wudaokou and the universities as well (I like playing basketball there, myself).

I went to both the Forbidden City (plus Beihai and Houhai) and the Summer Palace this week. While your GF certainly should see the former based on principle alone, I have to warn you that it is undergoing a facelift of massive proportions right now and borders on uninteresting (we sped through there in under 20 minutes; Beihai was cool though). The Summer Palace, by contrast, is now completely (as far as I can tell) renovated and more impressive than I've ever witnessed. We caught it on a good weather day and it was, hands down, the highlight of my visitors' trip.

Before you purchase tickets for Forbidden City, consider getting a personal tour guide. There are many Chinese language students who moonlight as tour guides. They speak all the western/romance languages as well as offer Chinese language tour for a very reasonable fee....you can't miss them. They hang out right by the purchase ticket window area.

Thanks both for the input...

Moondog thanks for the suggestions. I know we will want to group some things together due to location however I am never quite sure how long to allocate for a particular area or whether they just look close but aren't really. I will probably go with your suggestion as it sounds spot on.

I am sorry to hear the forbidden city is not doing well right now... that was one that I always found interesting before, but I guess we will just tip the time balance a little more towards the summer palace.

The boat trip sounds excellent and I will make sure to look into that.

I will check out your recommendations on guidebooks also, my family has lived in Dalian for over 2 decades so they are pretty up to date on what's going on and I try to make it back every 2 years so the stunning rate of change is a little less crazy for me... however more info is always good and the major sites in Beijing I think haven't moved in the last 15 years so... I will probably hit up a bookstore to glance at all the recommendations and probably end up bringing a few.

As for the personal guide, we have decided that we are definitely getting a personal guide for the first day at least all around... that personalchinahelper page looks promising as it seems $50-70 a day is the going rate for that sort of thing from the places I have researched. Both for the help with the actual sites as well as things like shopping, eating and learning about bussses/taxis etc.

I assume the ones who hang out at the gate to tienanmen are not the kind who do all this but rather just that part? Any recommendations on booking a personal guide early or just winging it (as seems is so often the better way in China)?

Thanks again for all your input, it really helps as this is the kind of thing were one wrong decision could easily cascade.

BTW one more issue that came up, the GF wants to see Xian (teracotta soldiers) and Chengde... I think packing those in is just asking for trouble with both travel and timing and it's better to save those for a future trip when we can really make a tour of it... any input on how reasonable it is to fit Beijing and those sites in (including travel) into a 3-4 day block?

Thanks again!

Do it if it makes you happy, but I strongly advise against. While I won't dismiss the fact that many are more knowledgable than you or me: 1) the people who wrote your guide book are on even footing with them; 2) 故宫 is so lame right now that you really won't to be held back by the details of the buildings that you can't see (i.e. most of the important ones); and 3) you'll value the extra time that you earn from glossing over that place.

Also, chances are, I'll be around during your trip (we're pretty much locked in BJ for the next two months) so I might be able to do some of the drill with you. Even though I'm not a Chinese historian, I've crossed paths with those folks enough to know what's up and what's down.

I can also help you on the housing front... to the tune of ZERO, but this is by no means a lock (borrowing from FT lingo, you're basically a 2P trying to UG on a 319, but I will put you at the front of the list).

Well the personal guide idea is a little less to get the actual tourist/info part (although I certainly think it's a value add) but more to have a local help us not get fleeced/lost during our settling in period. The biggest things for us are going to be locating correct bus/subway stops and routes so we don't just get lost or stress too much and learning how not to get ripped of with taxis and shopping (despite being Chinese the sellers often spot me as a sucker quickly and then it's all downhill as I have very little Chinese to work with).

If you think it's not worth it for those reasons I will take your advice (heck I am flying into beijing with no exit plan in hand on your advice!) but I am just trying to hedge against unnecessary stress and angst getting the details down...

If you are available and have time I would be very appreciative of any help you can provide and happy to compensate you for your time; rather spend $50 taking someone new to lunch than paying a company (who will probably only give half to the guide anyway - besudes you already earned a few drinks with your fast and friendly advice).

As for the housing thing... I am an obvious newb to flyertalk but I am guessing what you were getting at is something along the lines of "you got a processor that doesn't have very good stepping and your trying to squeeze an extra 400mhz by bumping the front side bus in a micro ATX case with bad cooling, but I'll try and give ya .3 more volts to the core and if you cross your fingers we might just get you to POST"? :)

Anything you can offer is greatly appreciated by both of us... I don't know what I could offer in return for your graciousness but if you have a broken computer or something you want looked at maybe I can replace a power supply or clean your registry over some peking duck (thats not as dirty as it sounds!) :D

While I never would want to get into an argument with our expert Moondog about China, here are a few thoughts:

1. The "personal helper" was valuable to us just because I knew we would be tired from travel, nervous about new territory to explore, and eager to learn the layout of the city. So maybe it was a cop-out on do-it-yourself adventure, but it was a comfort factor which turned out to be real...however we really needed only one day with our personal helper. Also, the personal helper goes exactly where you tell her/him, not where they want to take you (like to factory tours and shopping stops).

2. I suggested the Beijing and Shanghai DK Guide as it is brand new, it has the most detail on Beijing sites, and it is a site-oriented guide with the color diagrams, cutaways, maps and so forth. It is not much of a process guide, to help you with hotels, travel, restaurants and minutiae. I always have Lonely Planet with me at the hotel, but for carrying around in your camera bag or back pack, the DK guide is tops for explaining sites. You have to see it to believe it; you rarely need a guide with that book.

3. In case you have not seen my previous posts on sore throats, coughs and pollution, always carry with you a small bottle of water just for the two of you to take small sips every 15 or 30 minutes, as soon as your throat seems dry or irritated. Take a large bottle of water for your thirst, but keep a convenient side bottle to make sure you always have some in taxis, on subways, at sites, etc. If you keep your throat soothed, you will avoid the membrane irritation which results the next day in a cough and/or sore throat.

4. If you like tea, the largest gathering of tea stores in the world is in Beijing, all on one street. Like wine tasting in the Napa Valley, this can turn into an all-afternoon affair for tea fanatics or a one-hour shopping trip.

Many tours can be booked at the hotels for good prices ( often much less than what you see on the Web ) and include full bus tour, full lunch or dinner ( in some cases an overwelming amount of absolutely delicious taste treats ), English language guide ( quality is mixed )... and of course the obligatory shopping stop.

I found the 30-45 minute shopping stop just part of the experience of China.. in the case of some shops it was fun to just browse and see the show pieces ( Jade Shop, for example ).

And if you are social, it's a great way to meet other travellers and get real world, current tips.

I've found that even though I might shy away with such things if travelling alone, when travelling with someone who's never been to the location, the dynamics change dramatically and group tours/NICE ( and you can get some really nice digs in Beijing if you up the ante a bit ) digs become part of the shared experience that you and your travelling partner will remember for life. Cut corners and the experience may not be as an enjoyable memory :D

have a blast!

rploehn - I bought both guide books as they don't cost that much and more is better :) I appreciate all advice. I also haven't blocked out the personal helper option either and appreciate your input on the subject. It seems they accept bookings pretty close to the the day you want the helper (hopefully it's not horribly busy this aug) so I am keeping it as an option.

I have a camel back and so does the GF (although I think I will be the one muling the load during this trip) so I think we should always be with water and I thank you for the guide. Getting sick is not something I fancy on vacation (and especially not during an international flight) so I will be weary to keep an eye on my health, appreciate the tip on the throat thing, I know Beijing air (heck most of China's air) can be a big harsh.

kkirksea - yes I like the socializing part of traveling very much also and will keep that in mind when in Beijing. I am not afraid of spending an hour or so shopping, but rather the stories I have heard of cheaper tours taking you places you didn't want to go and forcing you (ie the bus won't leave) to spend more time shopping than you would like... I am still working out details of how we will do things (I think we will probably be working out details until the very last minute :P ) but I will keep your advice in mind also.

Any other advice is still and always appreciated!

Friendly arguments are a-ok by me and well within the spirit of FT imo -- plus, I readily admit that my opinions are nothing more than opinions.

My thinking on guidebooks is that it's best to carry as few as possible because they are heavy.

For many, if not most FTers, the extra 3 pounds is meaningless. Moreover, since lots of people only do Beijing, Shanghai, and HK/Xi'an, the idea of a combined BJ and SH book makes a lot of sense.

However, when I travel around this country --whether on business or pleasure-- I always manage to get by with an 18" rollaway for the former and a computer (i.e. it has a compartment for my laptop) backpack for the latter because situations often seem to arise that involve me toting my belongings myself along city streets, through train stations, and some really nasty places.

In spite of the fact that I know China well and the LP frequently comprises a solid 20% of my bag's weight, I almost always bring one with me (though I sometimes only take relevant chapters, which entails destroying a book, but makes my life easier). To this day, I still find its content infinitely valuable.

This is much less the case with Frommer's and Fodor's because those books cater to people that are unlikely to find themselves in Shijiazhuang, Jiayuguan, or Kashgar. Meanwhile, as I mentioned upthread, Let's Go misses out on some places that many travelers over 25 could enjoy if they knew about them (i.e. lots of second-tier locales have stakehouses).

I agree opinions are opinions and always should be seen as such... I give moondog some weight with his suggestions because after searching back I find a his posts all the way back to 2000 seem to be knowledgeable and helpful, but I hope I don't offend anyone else as I am not dismissing anyones point of view. There is room for more than one opinion to be "right" at the same time, which is why I appreciate input from everyone. At worst an opinion will be a point of view I don't agree with, but even that is better than never having considered it.

As for both books I am sure I will want to keep weight to a minimum, however with each one costing less than $20 I figured why not get both and read them before I go or while I Dalian... then I can choose how to proceed... options, more is better :)