Am looking to go to Beijing next spring or fall. Am curious as to whether anyone knows whether the city will be in full Olympics construction mode by then or are most of the event venues already in place? I know that the games won't be until 2008 but sometimes it can take years of seemingless neverending construction to get prepared.

Beijing has been in full construction mode for at least the last 10 years. So, construction of Olympic venues will not be something that would spoil ones trip there.

I'd definitely recommend getting to Beijing as soon as possible so that you can see it before it becomes anymore westernized. It's a great city to visit. Just be prepared to see a pretty modern city. I was a little surprised to find Starbucks (even Hong Kong is Starbuck-free), Baskin Robbins and Pizza Hut.

FYI, Hong Kong is no longer Starbuck's free. There is now one just off the escalator in mid-levels, and once there's one, they seem to spread like wildfire.

Beijing also has; Popeye's Chicken and Biscuits, Subway Sandwiches, Chilis, TGI Friday's and A&W. A couple of years ago Taco Bell was introduced to the market a few year ago, but bombed. What a shame. <BR> <BR>To answer your question though, Beijing should be fine to visit. Like a previous reply mentioned, the city has been under mass construction for a while. There won't be any construction at two of my favourite sites in Beijing, the Summer Palace and Simatai (Great Wall). So enjoy!

In Beijing, there is also Hard Rock Café - and that was end of 1996 when we visited!

Hehe...add Outback Steakhouse to the list of western restaurants as well. I just returned from a Pacific Delights tour (in April) that took me to Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong and I had a wonderful time and was totally incapable of sticking to my budget (ended up maxing out many credit cards!). Just one word of advice, do not buy anything during the tourist trap tours that they take you on. Pacific Delight earns a staggering 40% commission off all sales whenever they bring a group (this according to one of the merchants while my wife and I were shopping solo). Also, everything is much cheaper in Shanghai and Hong Kong than in Beijing. Everything that they have in Beijing can also be found in Shanghai and Hong Kong as well. Best thing to buy there in my opinion is a silk rug. Wish I would've spent less on Jade (really heavy to carry also) and more on a silk rug. If you pay more than 40% of the original asking price, you are probably paying too much...the Chinese merchants will try to get you for whatever they can so be careful. If in Shanghai, there is a wonderful Italian restaurant called "Fat Angelos" that looks like it is right out of a mob movie with excellent food to match! Don't worry about construction in Beijing as it will have no impact on the many wondrous sights that you will see.

There was a Hard Rock Cafe as far back as '94. I think it was very new at that time. There were also KFCs and other American places. Beijing and other major China cities have been booming for a while now, but I would expect the Olympics to accelerate the pace quite a bit.

True Dan, the Hard Rock opened in April 1994. I attended the opening there as well as Shanghai in August 1996. Just missed the opening of the one in Guangzhou by a couple of weeks. KFC, I believe, has been in China much longer than the other fast food places.