Wow, That is really great info Fred. Thank's so much for the time and thought that you have put in to it.
Less than 10 minutes to a metro station? This is ideal. I have studied the metro network and it would seem that there will be little point taking taxi's to most of the sites that I want to go to.

Can you recommend a local mid priced restaraunt near my hotel where I can get some great Beijing Duck and Suckling Pig. A good family placed with plastic tables and a noisy bustling enviroment suits me fine as long as the food is good I dont like paying for expensive hotel food and prefer to experience where the locals go. Are there any other great regional dishes that I should try that I wouldn't normally see at a suburban Chinese Restaraunt in Australia?

For my day trip to Simatai, should I just get a local taxi driver or organise a guide. We want to hike for 5 hours and then get a driver to collect us at the bottom of the zipline. Are they happy to depart Beijing at 6am so we can get plenty of time there and still get back for dinner?

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Simatai is a great section I was there last november and the views are amazing, my legs were exhuasted after because this section is pretty steep so the zip line is definately a good choice, it's fun and provides some nice views :) I don't think you will need a guide, but getting the hotel to organize the transportation is probably easier than finding the taxi yourself. we left at 6am so it shouldn't be a problem. also you might want to try hot pot, it's delicious. as for the olympic site, the subway is the easiest way to get there. also ask your hotel if they have a map of the subway system, we found that some of the maps, especially the ones in guide books, were outdated. Enjoy your trip Beijing is fantastic :)

I am leaving for Beijing today. Very excited and looking forward to some amazing experiences. Thanks for all your help and input.

shanek, see you there. We're leaving in 2 hours from Xi'an or Beijing.

We have had amazing experiences so far in China and wish you the same!

Ditto on Simatai section of the Great Wall. We had a guide from Beijing and did not do the hiking that you are seeking, but souds great. Simatai is much better than Badaling. Mutianyu a nice alternative.


And ditto the comments re TEmple of Heaven park. It's great.

We visited Simatai yesterday (Monday). EXCELLENT views. Worth the extra time to get there. Very few people. The most we passed at one time were 6. Otherwise, we had many photo moments without another soul in the picture.

We did not have a guide nor was one needed. We hired a driver to take us only and we had zero issues without having an English-speaking guide.

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