studenttobe

Hello all, Open-ended question here and looking forward to some input from people in the know about travel in Beijing. I have never been to China. [I have traveled widely to Europe-especially southern Europe, South America, and Mexico (love Mexico City)— both for work and leisure. A lot of my travel is work-related and then I add on vacation time). In Asia, I have been to Bangkok, a few cities in Vietnam, Tokyo (loved Tokyo especially), and southern India (the latter wasn’t a very successful trip for me). Mentioning just to give a sense of my experiences. In my middle-age I’ve become not much of a budget traveler. A hotel with beauty, character, and a feeling of safety are important to me-I’m a woman and frequently travel on my own; very good food—street food often doesn’t sit well with me—it definitely doesn’t have to be Michelin level, but delicious, well prepared, with food with a real sense of the place are important to me; and I love art (especially modern art), architecture, and a lot of walking. I love aimless wandering on my own in beautiful cities. Mentioning to get a sense of me as a traveler.]

With all of this background, I just learned that I might need to attend a work meeting in Beijing during the last week of March. (I will know in a few days.) I would be able to add on 3 or possibly 4 days in the city to do some sightseeing (1 day before my meeting and 3 days after.) If this trip happens I would be able to fly business (which is helpful in re recovery from a long flight from the USA) and would be put up in some sort of upscale int’l business-y hotel (which one I don’t know yet, but it would be comfortable, even though without local character). I’m not generally comfortable with a trip to such a far away place for such a small amount of time (on environmental grounds and recovery time in both directions). But that said, the trip might happen — if it is not moved to zoom.

I would welcome any opinions on whether one can at least see the highlights of Beijing in 3-4 days? I think the dust storms could start as early as last week of March? Does that make the trip potentially challenging and uncomfortable (e.g, would a KN95 or similar be advised for long sightseeing days)? I’m assuming that it would be helpful to hire a private guide (I wouldn’t want to do a group tour) for a few days to ease getting from one place to another. (I would not have much time to organize logistics for this trip. And, if I go, given what work will be like for me leading up to the possible trip, I just won’t have bandwidth to do my usual obsessive research to plan out sightseeing. So, I’m into keeping things easy for this trip. I am assuming (but correct me if I am wrong) that Beijing is not a city for aimless wandering. And (perhaps weirdly stated on my part), but would the surveillance be something that is likely to make me uncomfortable? (I guess I would need a vpn and would need to use electronic payments. I realize that talking with a guide about politics is a definite no.)

I didn’t see a lot of recent threads dealing with Beijing others than one on 3-4 days in the city (which helpfully focused on how to lay out a 3/4 day trip). My questions at this point are a little more impressionistic. Thanks in advance for any open ended reflections as I think about this possible trip and wait to learn if it is happening.

laurie_ann

We spent 3 days Beijing in September 2016 at the beginning of a bigger China trip. I think you can have a wonderful time in the city in that many days. We didn't have a guide except for the day trip out to the Great Wall. https://www.greatwallhiking.com We did one day using a frommers online walking tour map of the ancient hutongs and the Drum Tower and the Houhai Lake near there. https://www.frommers.com/destination...walking-tour-2 We did another day for the Forbidden City. Various combinations of walking, subway and taxis got us everywhere. We don't speak read or write Mandarin. We either had our hotel write our destination on a slip of paper or used a feature we found in tripadvisor.com to do it to show the driver on our phone. We had K95 masks we packed. This was of course way before everyone had them for covid. But we never felt like we needed them. Our other travel before China sounds similar to yours. But we didn't find China especially hard at all.

studenttobe

This is all so helpful, Laurie_ann-thanks for all you shared, including hyperlinks and all of the impressions.

shelemm

I was in Beijing for three nights and had a sublime experience. I was not on a mission to see all the 'highlights', however. In fact, I don't travel that way no matter where I go. Nothing for me is a must-see. It all depends, so don't sweat it.

There is an expat website with lots of info in English. Easy enough to search restaurants. Their choices will be on the safe side in terms of comfort and convenience: https://www.thebeijinger.com/

My top piece of advice is to eat Chinese cuisine you can't get where you live. So.... Xinjiang, Guizhou, Hunan, Dongbei. You can search on that website.

I went to the Simatai section of the Great Wall. Your hotel can find you a driver. Since my visit, there has been a lot of development in this section, so I do not know exactly what the situation is right now, but there were very few people when I went. Very dramatic.

And if you want to read an extraordinary (and VERY short) book about Beijing, then Loving Sabotage by Amelie Nothomb is completely wonderful.

studenttobe

Thanks very much for all of this information shelemm. It's all very helpful. I'll surely use the resources and tips that you and Laurie_ann shared. I, too, don't try to see it all, but was concerned that in a mega city like Beijing just getting one's bearings might make such a short stay undesirable, all things considered. I'm relieved that it's not the case. Love the link to the food site, especially since I don't see much that's recent on my usual hunt, the Hungry Onion.

I'm concerned about the dust storms that start in the early spring, and am going to research them. I was talking with a colleague who lived in Korea today (and traveled a good bit in China previously). She mentioned that a KN95 would likely be necessary given the severity of the dust storms that arrive by early April (I'd be there one week prior--last week of March, so close enough). I'm going to see what I learn about them. Thanks again (and for the invaluable help you've given me in the Spain forum previously)