My boyfriend and I just returned from Beijing and enjoyed it very much.Now sharing my experience with you. if you have a day to burn in Beijing- Rai Tan Park. It is the most beautiful little piece of haven. We booked the Jianguo Hotel from http://www.86hotel.com, it’s in walking distance to the park. We literally spent almost a whole day there. This was a Beijing by storm rapid 5 day tour. We had a tour guide and driver that took us to all the top spots (I highly recommend this method if you only have a few days but want to see all the essentials). It was 4 days of tours and then the last day we took to do what we wanted. We "rented" two bikes and took to the city like locals. It was so fun. We stopped at Rai Tan Park, in the embassy area, at the beginning, and spent the whole day there. Next we stopped by and practiced the bargaining technique, which has yielded me a wonderful collection of scarves I seldom get to wear.
So I highly recommend procuring a couple of bikes and taking to the streets.

welcome to FT, iriver, and thanks for making your first post a report!