Hi All,
I am planning a trip to China this July and am looking for advise. I have 3days in shanghai and 5days in Beijing with a stop over in Shandong/Qufu in between.
I would like to see the main sights in Shanghai and the following in Beijing (people square, great wall, forbidden city, hutongs, summer palace)

Should I pre book tour packages on line before I arrive ? If so can anybody recommend a tour company ?
I travelled Vietnam last summer and booked all trips while there. I am wondering if it is as easy to do in China. Any suggestions would be great.
Thanks.

You will be much better off visiting sights on your own with a good guidebook.

Great I have been using lonely planet to plan my trip. Could you recommend any hotel in Beijing ? 3-4star in a good location ?

Can't help with hotels.

LP is good for logistics, not so good for info on sights. You might see if you can find a copy of Cadogan's guidebook - it's out of print and a bit dated, but still good for background info.

I thought the Eyewitness Guides and Rough Guide very useful for the parts of China I visited. And I agree with thursdaysd -- you can visit these places on your own.