Hi, we are travelling to China (beijing & shanghai) for 4 nights. There will be about 6-8 adults (all family) on this trip.

Accomodation:
Can someone recommend a good hotel to stay at within 100USD per night? Are there any hotels that have 2-bed suites where 4 adults could stay in? We are looking into the Ascott residences, however it is in the Chaoyang district, which we've heard is not very central. Is that correct?
We are open to staying in regular hotels and are considering the Prime Beijing as well.

Restaurants:
Can anyone recommend good, mid-range restaurants that have options for vegetarians?

Tours:
Any recommendations for a private tour guide (english speaking)? We do not want a group bus tour, and want to stay away from the tours that go to specific stores and restaurants.

Thanks in advance.

I spent a week in Beijing in fall, 2004. I strongly recommend the Haoyuan Hotel, a bed and breakfast located in a historic hutong district. It is 2 blocks west of the main, center street in beijing, Wangfujing Dajie. The location was fantastic. The hotel was authenic chinese, which added to our experience. Tours to the great wall and other areas of interest can be arranged at the reception area of the hotel. Breakfast is included. Full suites are under $100. The website is:
www.haoyuanhotel.com.

went to china in april w/tour group from hawaii. our guide in beijing was awesome - he lives in beijing. he works for air & sea travel. not sure if he does private tours, but it's definitely worth asking. try calling air & sea trvl in hawaii 808.951.9800. the beijing guide's name is scott jiang - he's fabulous!!!

The Ascott is very nice and could work well for your large party. Chaoyang district is huge and while parts of it are in the burbs, much of it is considered central. It is true that the Ascott is not within walking distance of the Forbidden City or Tian'anmen, but it is still in town and a 15-20 minute cab ride from most tourist destinations. Keep in mind that Beijing is NOT a walkable city and taking taxis is a way of life.

That being said, dperry's suggestion does sound more central to prime tourist spots like Wangfujing and is worth checking out.

There are a few lovely vegetarian Buddhist restaurants in Beijing. Pure Lotus is very stylish and expensive - I call it Disney Buddhist (two locations: one near the east 3rd ring road 6592 3627 OR one in the Holiday Inn Lido 6437 6688 x3812) I also like Still Thoughts Vegetarian Restaurant, located near the art museum (6400 8941)

We found central Beijing quite walkable, but of course if you want to travel any distance you take cabs, which are plentiful, cheap, honest and efficient (as long as you have your destination written in Chinese to show the driver). The area between the Forbidden City and the Bell and Drum Towers, alongside the Back Lakes, is particularly good for walking. You're missing a great deal of what makes any Chinese city interesting if you only see it from the inside of a car.

Having said that, if you only have two nights in each city, which is not nearly enough to do them justice, and deduct half a day's travelling time, you won't have much time for walking or indeed anything else.

Thank you very much for all the suggestions! Will check out Haoyuan Hotel as a place to stay. Appreciate all your thoughts!

We just got back from Beijing and we stayed at the Lee Service Apartments - right off Wangfujing. Great location, walkable, central - right next door to the Peninsula (swanky, across from the Novotel).

What was great about Lee is that they have 2 and 3 bedroom apartments. The bathrooms are very modern and very nice.

One more thing.. a couple of good mid-priced restaurants are Din Tai Feng and Yi Ca Yi Wei (One tea, One Seat)... These are both very affordable, modern, really clean, nice restaurants (38Y for one person - $5). They are Taiwanese chains that have great food. Yi Ca Yi Wei is located in Oriental Plaza off Wanfujing.

Hi junioryin- do you remember what rates you got at the Lee service apartments? The rates we are getting is on the higher side, even compared to some of the 4-5 star hotels. Just wondering how negotiable they are. Thanks!

Hi. We just left the Lee Garden Serviced Apartments in Beijing. We paid about $240 per night, I think. (Not sure if that included taxes and fees. I can check, if you like.) It was a 2 bedroom and 2 bathroom, comfortable for 4 people.

Thanks travelgirl2- that sounds about right. I think thats the range we are getting as well. Did you find the hotel pretty centrally located? And the people there spoke some english?
Thanks!

Beijing was very big, so we took taxis everywhere. We walked to the Forbidden City one day and it seemed to take us 30-40 minutes, although we may have been walking in circles a bit. At Lee Garden, they spoke some English. But, we found they often had a difficult time understanding us, so we kept our communications simple. We could not call down on the phone for anything, because understanding each other was impossible. Some people working there spoke better English than others. Everyone tried to be helpful, but I think the language was a little bit of a barrier.

Last time I used www.tour-beijing.com to arrange our tour in Beijing. its trip adviosrs offered us very professinal tour package including sightseeing,restaurants, tour guide and benz 100 van with very nice driver. You may try it. Good luck!

In several visits to Beijing I have used Jane Yeo as a private guide. She has a masterful knowledge of Beijing, its history and sights. Her English is excellent. She can accommodate single travelers as well as groups and will customize a tour to exactly what you would like to see. She also knows wonderful restaurants and places to shop. Her fees are most reasonable. My expectations are always exceeded, and my traveling companions have also been pleased with her services.

Her website is http://www.janeyeotours.com/

And please feel free to email me for more details: [email protected]

Jane Yeo also showed us around for a day. We were very happy.

travelgirl2,
I just read about your wonderful round-the-world trip with your family. I'd love someday to take my son and his four sons to China.

Glad you enjoyed Jane Yeo too. I think she is a terrific resource in Beijing.

Thanks everyone for posting your comments. We are going with Jane to show us around Beijing. How long does the Great Wall take to see? We will go to the Mutianyu section of the GW from Beijing. Is it possible to also cover the Summer Palace and GW on the same day?

We're really looking forward to this trip!

It should be quite doable to see the Summer Palace and the Mutianyu section of the Great Wall in the same day. The Badaling section is perhaps more convenient to the Summer Palace, though. (Despite all the Badaling bashing, it's still a thrill to see the Wall there AND all the crowds, mostly Chinese when I've been there, enjoying it too. Just don't engage the vendors unless you're really tempted to buy their wares. If you want a lovely and more solitary experience on the Wall, I recommend Jinshanling, but that's a longer trip.

Jane Yeo could advise you better on how long it would take between Mutianyu and the Summer Palace. Send her an email with your particular questions. She totally eliminates the hassle factor in seeing all there is to see in the area.

Most restaurants have many vegetarian options, by the way.

Thanks, eastwest. And I am so jealous that you've made several trips to Beijing. We found such an exciting place. I would love to go back.

We took a Gray Line tour out to the wall.

We had Jane show us around in the city (Summer Palace, Forbidden City). It was quite a lot (too much really) to see those two on the same day, plus the zoo and coin museum and lunch. But, we only had one day so we packed as much in as possible.