Beijing Travel Forum

I will be in Beijing for two weeks starting on the 17th of this month. My boyfriend is in Beijing working over the summer. I will have my days free and I am wondering what are the top things not to be missed in Beijing? I would love any advice. I love to cook so I am looking into taking some cooking classes.
Thank You

In my book, visiting the Forbidden City is the primary destination in Beijing. We explored the 'city within a city' for two days and have still not seen it all. From the formal gardens with flowering peonies to imposing statues and exquisite museum pieces, the Forbidden City is a world treasure.
The Mutianyu section of the Great Wall is second on my list. It is much less touristy than other sections, which only adds to the mystique of this historic masterpiece.
Tiananmen Square, surrounded by the Great Hall of the People, the Forbidden City, Mao's tomb and the museum is another wortwhile trip. It is the largest public space in the world and a gathering point for Chinese pilgrims from all over the vast country.
The Summer Palace is another day-trip. I particularly enjoyed Imperial Suzhou Street, which was purposely built so the Emperor could also go shopping!
Wangfujing Street, closed to vehicular traffic, is the great shopping street and has fantastic restaurants where you can sample local cuisine. I fell in love with Beijing duck and sichuan dishes. For more exotic fare, visit the Donghua Yeshi night market.

Johan gives very good and accurate advice.

Make sure to try a "jian bing", which is a Chinese ommelette. You see them being made through the city, especially in alleys. The tell tale sign is a circular stove (like a smooth hot plate). The jian bing is made by first covering the stove with batter (like pancake mix), then an egg or two is added, then hot sauce, duck sauce, and a fried fritter, some onion leaves, and then it's wrapped up and put into a think plastic bag for consumption. And it costs RMB2.5. Not very healthy, but sooo delicious. I live in Shanghai and my mouth is watering just thinking of jian bing. Beijing has the best ones in the whole country, except for maybe Tianjin.

mmmm, Jian Bing...

Well i would say 2 weeks is quite a lot for Beijing.

In Beijing i recommend to go to the temple of heaven:
http://www.travel-picture-blog.com/china/the-temple-of-heaven-travel-beijing/

Every moring you can see thousands of people dancing, joggin and making Tai Chi.

Regards,
Todd

Chinese Culture Centre has cookery (as well as other) classes: http://www.chinaculturecenter.org/events/list.php?gid=10300

We agree with the previous suggestions: Great Wall, Tiananmen Square, Forbidden City, Temple of Heaven, and the Summer Palace. Also, take some time and walk through the hutongs, which are the neighborhoods of single-floor homes and shops that are rapidly being replaces by high-rise buildings. This will give you a better understanding of how the locals have lived for centuries. Another sight which we ran out of time to see, but was recommended to us by others was the Lama Temple.

If you are in Beijing for two weeks, try to do a 2-day side trip to Xi'an, which was China's capital from 200BC to 1000AD. The Terra Cotta Warriors in Xi'an are one of the greatest sights in China. Xi'an was one of the highlights of our China trip.

Feel free to visit our Beijing and Xi'an pages for more information.