Long post, but I'm trying to work a few things out.

I need to be in China for an International Standards Organization meeting (hosted by the Standardization Administration of China (SAC)) the week of October 27th to the 31st at the Beijing Friendship hotel in Beijing. My wife and I feel that this trip to China is (for us) is a once in a lifetime trip, and we have arranged our time, and flight, to include four extra days on each side of my meetings. (We arrive in Beijing on the 23rd and leave on November 5th).

What we DON'T want to be doing is sitting in a hotel asking each other "what do you want to do today?" with no idea of how to structure our trip.

While we honestly don't feel the need for a completely 'mapped out' timetable, we are looking for assistance in determining just what would be �do-able" with our time limits.

We would love to see the terracotta warriors in Xian, and are wondering just how to plan for this from Beijing? One day? Two day? flight? train? and how easy is something like this to arrange?
Should we utilize a tour company? if so, should we work this out now? or wait till we are in China?

Some have told us to plan on spending a whole day at the Forbidden City, and at least a half day for Tiananmen Square, while others have said that a day for both would suffice. And once again, tour? or self guided trip?

We are both very interested in history, culture, and older architecture ( yes, your country / city / etc. (and mine) are pinnacles of modern industrialism, but show me the ancient ruins and castles any day ) We are both in our early fifties, and our times of extensive walking without the ability to rest is unfortunately in our past. Not to say that we >can't< walk around, but we need the ability to find someplace to sit. (Disneyworld in Orlando is a great example... Great place to visit, and we enjoy it, but after half a day there... we sit more than we walk.)

As to hotels, etc..... Should we stay the full two weeks at the Beijing Friendship? should we travel around? My current research shows the Beijing Friendship at 1380 to 4000 RMB for the dates we need, ( $195 to $562 ??) which seems a little high to me, but one of the people involved in the US delegation 'insists' that with the Chinese government 'hosting' the meetings, we would get a better price. I'm not sure how confident I am with his assessment, and need to figure things out in advance, as I am paying for this trip out of MY pocket, not on company budget as he is.

So long winded as this was....
Does anyone have any suggestions as to how / where I proceed? Like I said earlier.. We don't want to create a strict time schedule, but knowledge as to "this will take a full day.... travel will take such and such... this would be too expensive... and DON'T miss this!!! information would help a lot.

Thanks in advance for any and all suggestions..... And come October / November.... A trip report WILL be posted.

Dennis

For starters, I would recommend getting a good guide book and reviewing it to get a feel for what you might like to see (I happen to like the DK guides). Beijing is a huge city, with lots to see and do. You could easily spend a week or more without running out of activities.

Definitely fly. Flights between Beijing and Xi'an are frequent, inexpensive (if you book in China) and easy to manage. We spent 11 days in Xi'an -- there's really quite a lot to see besides the terracotta warriors. We stayed at the Sheraton, which is outside the old city wall, but convenient, inexpensive and very pleasant. After you book your hotel, email them and ask them to send you a fax or email with the name and address of the hotel written in characters. When you arrive at the airport, just show it to the taxi driver (do this anywhere in China, including Beijing). The hotel can book you a driver (inexpensive) to take you to terracotta warriors. Plan on spending the day, as there are other interesting sites nearby. Since you have a limited time, I'd say 2 days and one night in Xi'an would be enough.

You don't need a tour company to see Xi'an, and definitely don't need one in Beijing.

I hate tours -- anywhere, but your mileage may vary. The Forbidden City is very doable on your own. Again, this is a personal preference only, but a morning and afternoon for Tiananmen, the Forbidden City and Behai Park is enough for me.

As am I.

Taxis are plentiful and cheap. However, don't expect taxi drivers who speak English, and don't necessarily expect taxi drivers who know where they're going. Always get the name of your destination, and the address, written in characters when you leave the hotel. Always carry a hotel card with its name and address written in characters. If you hit a taxi driver who doesn't know where he is going, get out and find another cab.

That seems very high. Our hotels are frequently arranged for us by our Chinese friends, so we get very good rates, but we've never paid anything like $500/night, even at the St. Regis.

Start with the guide book, ask questions here as you're doing, and research hotels on-line.

China is an amazing country and one you shouldn't miss.

Thanks in advance for any and all suggestions..... And come October / November.... A trip report WILL be posted.

Dennis[/QUOTE]

There are a number threads that provide some really good guidance on sights to see, restaurants to eat at, local guides, upscale vss budget hotels, weather, car service, taxi, etc.etc. The search function isn't that great but if you take the time to go back a couple of months, you'll see titles of posts that will correlate to many of the questions you asked.

As a start, a good guide book is the place to start. And get a good map (here is an on-line map
-- http://www.mapmatrix.com/tmhtm/htmtm/02101.html). I would also recommend buying a local sim card(s) as you'll find it useful having a local mobile number.

And weather should be great, and it'll be end of Olympics so hopefully Beijing will settle down.

Between Beijing and Xian, the non-stop overnight "Z" train is a reasonable alternative to flying. This train should have new trainsets, including Deluxe Soft Sleeper, which is 2 person to a cabin. Fares are not cheap compared to flying, but you save a night of hotel.

"The hotel can book you a driver (inexpensive) to take you to terracotta warriors. Plan on spending the day, as there are other interesting sites nearby."

Just as a matter of scale, we stayed at the Hyatt and booked a hotel car to see the warriors. I normally don't do this but we had only one day and wanted to see a much a possible. I believe the cost was about 800 RMB and included stops and tickets at 3-4 other 'attractions' on the way back from the warriors. We were allocated about 3 hours at the warriors and that is generally enough time unless you really want to go into minute details.

As I recall, 800 RMB may be a little high (it's about $100 US). I think we paid 400 RMB, though my wife is Chinese and, of course, was able to negotiate in Mandarin. We hired a taxi driver that we liked, rather than going with a private car.

Prices unfortunately have been going up for car service. OP said various sights plus tickets for several places. I've used one steady driver for several years and his price has gone up in past 16 months (and I speak Chinese). OP also got a taxi and maybe not a 'regular car'. Usual market price for chinese speaking driver around rmb500 in town, rmb600 out of town sights plus OT if you return later in evening.

RMB800 doesn't sound that high. I recall one thread dedicated to drivers/car service - couple of months back.

I would recommend you spend some time on tripadvisor.com Many people think this is only for hotel reviews, but there is an amazing amount of informaton and personal experiences related in their "forum" section. They have separated by country and then again by city. You can see personal guide recommendations, hotel recommendations, restaurants, sights, etc. It is extremely thorough and quite accurate.

Hmmm.... the others have already said a lot of things I would have told you, but that stop me from adding a few more comments:

-those hotel rates are insane (unless you're getting the presidential suite)
-even if you have to stay there for business, I suggest you wait until after the Olympics to book because we're forecasting a large amount of excess capacity in the hotel market through 2010 (i.e. ADRs are likely to fall across the board before slowly creeping back up to current levels)
-while you're up there (in Zhongguancun), I recommend that you hit the Summer Palace (a hands down favorite among almost all of my guests,... and I've had LOTS of guests)
-also in the area, you can check out the university area, which is interesting
-after your business is done, I advise you to move to another hotel that is closer to town
-unlike many people, I think it is a mistake to stay too close to Tiananmen (and I really dislike anything west of there, especially Financial Street) because you'll probably only go to Tiananmen/Wangfujing once or twice and the best restaurants are on the east side of town
-I disagree with the person who told you to budget 1.5 days for Tiananmen and the Forbidden City; Ptravel's advice is better; start in Tiananmen Square, take a few picks, then go enter the Forbidden City at Tiananmen, walk north to the other side
-then you have to choose between Jingshan (just across the street; best views) or Beihai Park (due west of Jingshan)
-you could always do both of these, but since you mentioned you want to keep the walking to a minimum, I think you should pick one
-I prefer Beihai (similar to Summer Palace)
-If complete Beihai from south to north, you'll end up across the street from Qianhai/Houhai and 1km west of Nanluo Hutong (I don't know why the latter is so popular, but admit that it is worth visiting)
-What I've just described entails about 4 km of walking and there's really no getting around that aspect; the good news is that there are plenty of benches and teahouses in the parks (Forbidden City, not so many)
-I've recently scratched the Temple of Heaven from my standard itinerary because it's location is a little inconvenient and my many of my guests have had "ho hum" reactions
-Like Ptravel, I kind of enjoy Xi'an now as well (I didn't before, but I've been going there a lot recently and have warmed up to it); I really dig the Banpo Village archeological site

Yup.. Got it we like the DK guides as well.

Ok, we'll wait till we're in China and then book airfare to Xi'an. Any idea how much I should expect to pay?

Thanks for the map I'll let the wife decide between the train and air. How "not cheap" do you mean here? I'm not trying to "penny pinch" on this trip, but I don't want a second mortgage either

I really appreciate all the assistance Thank you All!! ^

Ok, so I won't worry 'yet' about the hotel rate... it sounds like my 'friend' may have known what he was talking about, and we should get a lower price. I was thinking of staying somewhere else for the time we're not at the meetings. I >do< have enough Hilton points to try one of the two new Hilton properties that are supposed to be opening soon, but I'm not sure where they are located.

Yes we figured on spending time at the Summer Palace. I will enjoy trying to look "professional" with my new camera

Sounds "do-able" our issue is that I'm a bit out of shape (but trying to 'toughen up' in the next 7 months) and the better half has bad knees.. She uses a mobility scooter for the 'longer' travels here in the States, but as we've found that many countries are not as "accessible" as US laws require, we decided to leave the scooter at home. Worst case scenario, how difficult would it be to obtain a wheelchair for use in Beijing??

My wife and I have both been very interested in archaeological sites for a long time. The first thing she asked when she found out that we would be going to Beijing was "how far is that from Xi'an?" I really want her to enjoy this trip, especially because she basically sits and waits while I'm at these meetings.

<wistfully dreaming> Someday we are going to travel the world visiting all the ancient ruins and archaeological digs we can <back to reality>

Thank you ALL for your thoughts, as we have (according to Northwest's web site) 229 days until departure I'm sure I'll have plenty more questions.

Dennis

Regular soft sleeper Beijing to Xian (4 in a cabin) is about 420RMB for lower berth. Deluxe soft sleeper on Z19 usually is about 50% more, so about 630RMB. One way, per person.

Full Y fare PEK-XIY one way is 1050RMB, plus some tax and fees. Depends on date you're flying and when you book, it's common to get 40% off. So, comes out to about the same as the train.

Agreed. You might want to play with some of the online booking tools (I prefer yoee.com (click on English in the upper Right). In looking at prices out on 3/12, back on 3/13 (Typically best prices are about 5-7 days out), I found prices as low as 430 to Xian and 530 back to PEK, although not necessarily good timing. Still, if you play a bit, you can get an idea of what the maximum you should pay. I would think somewhere between 1100 and 1300 RT would be pretty doable, unless you wnat to travel on busy days/times.

I've been doing PEK-XIY monthly for the past 7 months and it's almost always full fare (more miles!).

You've gotten some good advice here. Given your time constraint I wouldn't worry so much about whether you're getting the "best deal", what you really want to be certain of is that you're getting the best service. For example, a cheap taxi might be a good way to get to the warriors outside Xian, but you can be certain there will be an obligatory stop at the "gift shop" that pays the rest of what the taxi driver expects to make.

IME if you don't know the language you are probably best off with a guide and driver to make the most efficient use of your time. There are lots of travel agencies that do that, and I'm sure others on the board know some that are good.

I agree that Tiananmen/Forbidden City doesn't need 1.5 days, especially given the shortage of time. A day, or less, is enough. You certainly COULD spend lots more time there, but the main thing to do in the Forbidden City is walk along the east/west access, which takes a couple of hours, and then spend some time in the Imperial Garden.

The Summer Palace is a must-see, it's really cool and probably worth more time than the Forbidden City. (although choosing one or the other, the latter wins hands down). The Temple of Heaven is not that interesting really, except for the huge gaggle of Chinese tourists who all want their picture taken on a particular spot and jostle each other around all afternoon.

You could get in and out of Xian in a day, fly in the night before and leave the following evening. I would definitely fly there, although you will be amazed how far airport is from the City. In Xian don't miss the Muslim quarter and it's excellent (and clean) restaurants.

Another thing to consider is to stop by Shanghai or Hong Kong on your way out of the country, and leave from there. With a subway connection to the airport, Hong Kong is especially easy to get in and out of. In Shanghai you can take what I think is still the only commercially operating maglev train in the world, and the Bund. Both are worth seeing, if only briefly. There's no way you can get to Tiben, Yunnan, or Xinjiang given your time constraints.

Our observations:

Forbidden City: We spent most of a day there, shot a dozen rolls of film.

Summer Palace: We spent half a day, all we had, we didn't see the whole thing.

Taxi rental: We paid 400 RMB/day, a native speaker doing the negotiation. That was some years ago, though.