SShprints

Hello.
In Beijing for work and have 2-3 spare days. Trying to plan a whole day activity outside Beijing. Thinking half day at the Great Wall. Probably Mutianyu..and then where? I was thinking Mings Tombs but it has horrible reviews and everyone says stay away. What about the Summer Palace? Is that doable in the same day as the Great Wall?
The other 2 days I plan to spend at the Forbidden City +Tiananmen Sq, markets. Any other suggestions?

Thanks so much!

kja

As you realize, with only 2 or 3 days you will need to be very selective. You might consider visiting the Great Wall at Badaling rather than Mutianyu, as it is closer to Beijing. The Summer Palace is worth seeing IMO, but I think it would be difficult to do on the same day as any stretch of the Great Wall; YMMV. LOTS of other worthy sites. I found Frommer's guide book especially useful for Beijing.

BTW, be sure to think about Beijing's pollution, how it might affect you, and what measures (if any) to take to protect yourself.

SShprints

we will be there in late October. I was told that weather is the "best" as "best as Beijing can actually be

The hotel recommends we do an 8hr private guide/van to Mutianyu followed by the Forbidden City & Tiananmen Sq. Seems like a lot in one day if you ask me but this is a suggestion. If we get these out of the way..that should leave us enough time to visit the Summer Palace, markets, etc..and even more time at the Forbidden City

thoughts?

kja

A private guide will cost FAR more than you need to pay, will limit your control over timing, and will not provide you with any reliable information that you could not obtain from a guidebook. Private guides in China are generally a VERY poor investment. There are LOTS of threads about that on this board. I strongly encourage you to go on your own, particularly as it is extremely easy to do so.

And FWIW, I think you would end up seriously shortchanging the Forbidden City by trying to combine it with a trip to the Great Wall on the same day.

Shanghainese

The Great Wall and the Summer Palace is quite doable in one day, that leaves you enough time for The Forbidden City and other sights/sites which you can easily get to within the city depending on which hotel you are staying at.

SShprints

interesting. this is what the hotel recommended. How would we do the Great Wall and Summer Palace in one day? How do we travel there and back?

kja

I thought the transportation options were well covered by Frommer's (and several other guidebooks), which you can probably get very quickly through amazon -- instantaneously if you have an e-reader.

SShprints

I ask because when I asked the hotel concierge about going to the GW and to the Summer Palace..he said there is not enough time to do that and instead suggested GW+Forbidden City/TS..which sounds fishy to me.

kja

I guess it depends on your pacing preferences. For my purposes, I would not have been able to combine the Great Wall with either the Summer Palace or the Forbidden City, but I trust Shanghainese's statement that the Great Wall can be combined with the Summer Palace -- at least assuming that you pay attention to the time.

There is a very real chance that your hotel concierge is getting a kick-back from whatever guides s/he recommends. I would be reluctant to rely too much on what s/he says.

I'm afraid that my transit information is too old to be of use, but you can get to all of these places by public transportation. Beijing's subway system is very easy to use, and I found buses easy to use, too.

kawilliams

We was in Beijing 3 weeks ago. We went to the GW at Mutianyu as the crowds are much less. It would be possible to do GW & Summer Palace in one day ... Albeit a long, but doable day. I would then do Tian Sq. & FC the next day which will give you additional time for other sights. We used a guide and found her very informative including sharing she never knew about the uprising when it happened. You learned more then just history with a guide...including things about everyday culture. We loved it and it maximized our 3 days in Beijing. A wonderful trip!

kawilliams

BTW - The Night Matket is definitely an experience not to be missed!

kja

"We used a guide and found her very informative including sharing she never knew about the uprising when it happened. You learned more then just history with a guide...including things about everyday culture."

Chinese residents are often only familiar with the "history" that is part of the official storyline. My understanding is that one will generally get better information about history by reading a western guidebook than working with a guide.

JPDeM

The Temple of Heaven in early morning i a must in my opinion.
You could always start there early, have a driver pick you up and go to the Wall. you'll still be back mid-afternoon to do something like the Lama Temple.

I am not a big fan of the Summer Palace and it is at the opposite end of town. Use a full day for Tian'anmen, Forbidden city and everything north of it.
By the way, a driver to the Wall (no guide required) should not cost more than 800RMB.

kja

But, of course, 800 RMB is much more than one needs to spend to get to the Great Wall.
Some relevant threads:
http://www.fodors.com/community/asia...uld-you-do.cfm
http://www.fodors.com/community/asia...in-beijing.cfm
http://www.fodors.com/community/asia...in-beijing.cfm

dgunbug

We loved the temple of heaven and spent many hours there. We also enjoyed the summer palace. If you combine the summer palace with the wall, I would suggest hiring a taxi. You do not need a guide.

SShprints

this is starting to make sense. There are 7 of us and the hotel booked us for a minivan transport and guide for 3k Yuan…sounds like a rip-off. If we get 2 taxi's, it will likely be 500-600 Yuan each.

kja

If you use a taxi in the city, insist on a meter. If you use one to go outside the city, settle on a price before you get in. Either way, don't tip. Have the name of the place you want to go written in Chinese.

Also, be sure you each have a card from the hotel with its name and address in Chinese, along with a phone number, so you can get back to the hotel should you become separated.

temppeternh

It's not looking so good today. From Global Times:

>Beijing issued a yellow alert for air pollution on Wednesday with smog forecast to continue for the next three days.

>Due to the weather, pollution was predicted to remain heavy in Beijing until Saturday, said the Beijing heavy air pollution response office.

>Citizens, especially elders and children, were advised to take protective measures. Schools were asked to avoid outdoor activities and reduce physical exercise classes.

>Air quality index (AQI) in downtown Beijing exceeded 200 for the past 24 hours, according to data updated at 8 p.m. by the Beijing Municipal Environmental Monitoring Center. An AQI of over 300 is defined as "serious pollution" and an AQI between 201 and 300 is considered "heavy", according to China's standard.

>Downtown density of PM2.5, particles under 2.5 microns in diameter, at 8 p.m. was more than 300 micrograms per cubic meter.

Of course, a Chinese 'yellow' alert is a red alert in real life. Here's the latest tweet from the monitoring device on top of the US Embassy (twitter.com/beijingair).

> 10-10-2014 02:00; PM2.5; 386.0; 424; Hazardous (at 24-hour exposure at this level)

In short, take masks.

kawilliams

You do not need a guide for the GW. Our guide was great for Temple of Heaven and Forvidden City...much more then I would have ever read. We were there in early Sept. It was hot, but the smog wasn't bad until the third day. Drinks on top of the Peninsula hotel at night provides a beautiful view!

SShprints

argh temppeternh is right..the pollution index is insane. 380-420 between today and yesterday. Would it even be possible to do anyt sightseeing in this condition?
Hopefully it will be better a week after. what is the typical index for beijing?