Beijing Travel Forum

Hi,

I'm travelling to Beijing on August 20-24, 2009 and I would like to get your recommendations for budget hotel which is preferably close to the must-see sights. I am not very meticulous on the "ambiance" as long as it's clean and the location is safe for women and non-chinese speaking like me.

Would also greatly appreciate any recommendation for the "must-see". My trip is relatively short and I wouldn't want to run from one site to another so I was thinking of just going to top 5 destinations in Beijing which include Great Wall and Forbidden City.

If anyone is interested in meeting up, would also be great :)

Cheers,

Nalie

Here's some other key Beijing locations you can review based on your itinerary- http://www.dc2go.net/beijing/Go_Explore/What_to_see_and_do/
Hope that helps...

Hi Natalie,

We loved the Lishi Hotel, primarily because of its wonderful location in a hutong near most of the tourist attractions. It's like staying at a tourist attraction because of where it is.

Selecting five, I'd go for:
The Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square
The Great Wall (we went to the Mutianyu section)
Jingshan and Beihai Parks (they are next to each other behind the Forbidden City)
Summer Palace
Either the Temple of Heaven or Yonghegong Lamasery

Don't forget to wander Wangfujing Street at night, maybe on the way back from the Forbidden City.

Hi Nalie,
I was in Beijing in October 2008 and we stayed at Citytel Inn. This hotel is clean, cheap and very close to the famed WangFuJing Mall, in fact, a short walk from the back of the hotel. The hotel lobby faces one of the walls of the Forbidden City. Contact them at www.donjonhotels.com or call 010-85116665 or Fax 010-65228128. For local tours, ask the hotel/travel agencies for their daily tours. They are many to choose from.
Hope you'll have a great time at Beijing.
Tien from S'pore.

My top 3 picks for your budget hotel would be CityCourt Hotel, CityTel Inn and Tang Yue Hotel. Both are very centrally-located and accessible via metro.
My top 5 sights would be Yonghegong Lamasery, Great Wall (either Mutianyu, or Jinshanling-Simatai), Temple of Heaven, Forbidden City and Summer Palace.

Your time is short and the Beijing area large with many "must see" sights so a city tour and/or great wall tour are to be considered. The Forbidden City and the great wall take will take up much of two days. The problem with tours and a focus on "must-sees" can be how they can limit your "must experience" time. Two of my best memories of Beijing were of wondering through yutongs and relaxing and observing the life in Chinese parks.