Beijing - first visit -

Hi, I%26#39;m posting this for a close friend who is off to Beijing as a first time visitor on May 1st 2008 for a period of ten days, travelling with her dad as a special gift to him. Please could anyone give her some do%26#39;s and dont%26#39;s , places to go, see, eat etc etc etc.

Thanks for your help

Beijing - first visit -

Hi there

I would recommend getting a guide for a day or two.

We came back from Beijing earlier this week and I booked Jon (who I found through this website).

Jon had a car, with decent seatbelts, and spoke pretty good English. He used to be a taxi driver in the city and can take you wherever you want. We asked him to take us to the Dirt Market (it was Sunday) and then on to the Wall at Mutianyu. On the way back he took us to an excellent local restaurant that we would never have visited had we been on our own.

Apart from that, there are all the usual sites such as Temple of Heaven, Forbidden City etc.

We didn%26#39;t have problem with the haze that seems to hang over the city but did have to watch where we were walking at times as the pavement is often used for general coughing, spitting, nose blowing and worse!

Beijing - first visit -

I just visited Beijing for the first time in late January,I was there 10 days. I am certain May will be quite beautiful and much warmer than when I was there.

My trip came up fast, so I picked up a ';Lonely Planet'; Beijing book, was I ever glad I did! It was very helpful, best of all all the places were written in English and Chinese. You could show a taxi driver (taxi%26#39;s are inexpensive)as most drivers seem not to speak English. Otherwise, you need your hotel desk write out in Chinese where you want to go. It allowed me to change my mind or add another sight in when there was time. You can visit the Great Wall at Badaling (about 40 minutes outside of Beijing) where you ride a ski lift up to the top.

Go really early in the morning.

learn to say hello Ni hao (nehow)and thank you Xiexie (shayshay) I found people to be polite, cheerful and helpful. I would check online for the lonely planet book. It has all the places you would want to see in Beijing.