maybe we might be crazy to visit Beijing just after the New Year, where weather is known to be cold and windy. well, the tickets were bought, hotel was booked, might as well make full use of the 7 days there.... I would start of with some most ridiculous question, anyone go to the great wall during these time? errr..would the forbidden city be open for visits? is it really really that cold and windy? mind that we come from Europe, so its winter too there... would be great if someone, somewhere can shed some lights on the above questions. By the way, we choose Holiday Inn Deshengmen, hope its a convenient located place.

> anyone go to the great wall during these time?

Yes. Many people do.

> errr..would the forbidden city be open for visits?

Yes. Any guide book, many on-line sources, and indeed its own website, found through Google well tell you that it is open year-round, and give you more details.

> is it really really that cold and windy?

Yes, it's very cold. And tends to be windy on the exposed sections (this is to be hoped for in Beijing as it will blow away some of the vile pollution). Again, you can find data on weather on-line, e.g. at www.weatherbase.com.

my immediate impression is that you should buy a guidebook and most all questions of this sort would be answered....

surfice it to say that beijing is a world class place and does not close down for anything, just like paris or rome or helsinki

i am planning to go on January too.. but the is weather too cold for me as i hardly can stand weather below 10 degree, let alone below 0! guess shanghai is better choice at this time.

Winter in Northern China is unpleasant. You cannot just look at the temperature when comparing to Europe or N. America, because not every place is heated adequately. In Europe or N. America, you are exposed to the elements really when you're actually outdoors; not so in China.

I'm leaving for China next Saturday morning. I think I just decided to add an extra pair of Cuddl Duds for normal days and a really thick pair of long underwear for the day I'm out on the Wall. I often forget that other places aren't heated as well as they are here.

Thanks all!

Dress in layers (especially at the Wall) or you'll freeze your ass off. We were there in Nov..