Advantages: Frenzied energy of chaotic city, many worldclass tourist attractions, delicious food, incredibly safe & ridiculously cheap.
Disadvantages: Gruesome pollution, occasional racism targeting foreigners & lack of freedom for those who take an organised tour (not recommmended).

...What is Beijing’s appeal? After 5 visits I still do not know. The air is choked with poison, the rivers swim with sewage and yet the city burns with a terrific energy that both excites and intrigues. At first I intended to label Beijing as a love-hate city, but it is not. Impossible to love, yet difficult to hate, Beijing is rather a city that fascinates and overpowers, inspiring in the visitor a unique sense of repulsed wonder and disbelief. Beijing is the only place I have ever seen a dead body. Standing arms spread like Jesus on a motorway intersection, a man calmly tossed himself off the overpass and fell unseen about thirty feet to the tarmac below. Staring down in morbid horror I watched as a growing crowd chattered excitedly. After five minutes a police car cruised up and came to a halt a foot and a half from the body... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful

Advantages: Lots to see and do, the great wall, Forbidden City
Disadvantages: Pollution, not the best weather in March, people spitting everywhere

...A short summary This is a travelogue about the trip that my wife, Nikki, and I took to China (Beijing, Xi’an and Hong Kong) in the period from March 15th to March 29th 2003. We first spent 7 days in Beijing and we got to see the Great Wall, the Forbidden City, Temple of Heaven, the Summer Palace and so on. From Beijing we took an overnight train to Xi’an and our main goal there was to see the Terra-Cotta Warriors but we also got to see a few other things. And from Xi’an we flew to the city of Shenzhen and from there we took the boat to Hong Kong (HK), where we stayed for about 5 days. In HK we visited Ocean Park, Victoria Peak, the Space Museum and so on. Prelude A couple of years back we thought about going to China and as luck would have it we ended up in Florida instead :-). Well, this time around we were more determined... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful

Advantages: Great people, fabulous food
Disadvantages: Pollution levels high, extremes of temperature

...Introduction I've read through most of the reviews on Beijing, but having lived in Beijing for ten years, first as a student, then working, I wanted to give a more personal and in-depth view. I hope that this will help to guide anyone that is planning to visit Beijing in the near future. If you are planning to go, then the first thing that you should do is buy a copy of the Lonely Planet Guide to China - I think there is even one that concentrates on Beijing - this provides invaluable information on places to viist, how to get around the city and has a language guide for emergencies. Getting there A number of airlines fly to Beijing. I recommend Air China, which is cheap, clean and direct. BA is frankly over-priced and Virgin Atlantic flies only to Shanghai. Shop around, prices can vary enormously from travel agent to travel agent... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful

Advantages: Nice rooms, squash courts,friendly and helpful staff
Disadvantages: Not the best location

...We stayed at the Radisson SAS Hotel Beijing for 6 nights on our travel to Beijing in March 2003. We stayed there from march 15th. The hotel itself doesn’t have a great location. It is located next to ring 3 on the northeast of Beijing. But this was not really a big issue because there were always taxis outside the hotel and it was easy to get into the center of town. It cost about 20-30 RMB to take the taxi into Tiananmen square. It is also possible to take the subway to get around. First you have to walk for about 15 minutes to get to Liufang station. From here you can get to the loop line and then switch to Line 1. The lobby of the hotel is standard. On the second floor you will find the breakfast restaurant but there is also another restaurant called ”the grill” if I’m not mistaken. We only tried out the breakfast place... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: It's a great insight to the living and breathing history of life in Beijing from the local perspective
Disadvantages: If you go indepently you may get lost.

...The Hutongs are a large expanse of "ancient alleyways" (semi- literal translation) which house a large number of Bejing's families right in the heart of the city. It is really worth visiting, as it gives a more grassroots perspective on living and breathing in Beijing as opposed to the vast imperial palaces like the Forbidden City. What is so great about the Hutongs is that despite all the upheaval that this great city and China has witnessed, they are still very much a functioning part of the city- with hundreds of families still resident. The organic nature of the Hutongs means that they have sprawled across a large area of central Beijing- easily accessibly from the Tiananmen Square, the shopping district of Wangfujin (if you walk behind the main street), and HouHai (which is a wonderful bar and restaurant district spanning... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Friendliness, Cleanliness, Location
Disadvantages: Restaurant a bit too costly

...About 2 weeks ago I returned from a trip to China with my family. We stayed at the 5* Shangri La hotel in Beijing, and it was absolutely incredible. Upon arrival (to a large glass fronting with revolving doors and more than 5 doormen), car doors were opened, bags were taken from us, and we were given a slip that would enable our luggage to be taken up once we had checked in. The staff were SO polite and friendly, giving their best at english (which made me feel rather ashamed and ignorant i had not bothered to learn chinese). Upon checkin, the staff (2 young girls and a man), were curteous and polite, and even went to the point of joking when a family member said he wouldnt take the lift because he had a phobia. All good humoured and friendly people. Once checked in, the ever helping staff actually escorted that family member... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Raffles! Friendly staff, immaculate rooms
Disadvantages: Expensive bowling alley

...Wow, what an amazing hotel - and a true bargain at that. It is actually now owned by Raffles with one part of the hotel being Raffles and the other Beijing Hotel. We visited Beijing in January this year staying for six nights in the Raffles section of the hotel. You know that you are arriving somewhere nice when your taxi door is opened as soon as you get there and friendly men smile at you and welcome you to the hotel. They grabbed our cases and brought them inside for us. The reception is clean and warm (a must as it was minus five outside!!!). The staff welcomed us to the hotel and could not have been more friendly and helpful. An added bonus was that we had booked through Expedia (therefore only paying £60 per night) and been told that we were not getting breakfast included. The reception staff said that as it was low... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Great Graphics, Intuitive Gameplay
Disadvantages: Some Events Are Bad, Aching Hands

...The game beijing 2008 is not exactly what i expected... The graphics are superb and the way the game is designed is fantastic however, there are a few aspects which do let the game down terribly... The events are plentiful but, unfortunatly, repetitive... Track 100m 200m 400m 800m 1500m 100m hurdles 110m hurdles Field Hammer Discus Javelin Shotput Long Jump High Jump Triple Jump Pole Vault Aquatics 50m Freestyle 100m Breaststroke 100m Backstroke 100m Butterfly 10m Platform Diving 3m Springboard Shooting Skeet 10m Air Pistol 25m Rapid Fire Pistol Gymnastics Parallel Bars Uneven Bars Vault Floor Exercise Balance Beam Rings Other Team Pursuit Kayaking Judo Table Tennis Archery Weightlifting Decathlon and Heptathlon are also playable in competition So, as you can see, the large... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: amazing, huge, cultural experience, sit and relax, not formal as some say
Disadvantages: gray, can be bleak

...I would like to state before you get to the meat of the opinion that just because there has been an incident at one place it doesn't mean that incident needs to stay in one's mind at all times. Why is it that we remember the negative things that happened at this place but fail to notice all the magestic celebrations that have gone on? Tiananmen is China's most important square and the main square of Bijing, the country's capital. This square is situated in the very center of the city and it sits oposite to the Forbidden City which must also be visited if one ever goes through Beijing. The words Tian An Men literally mean west gate to the sky (not in that order). This place is not only a touristic site for foreigners but it is constantly visited by the Chinese as well. Tiananmen is one square that will never be empty. Every... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: clean, lots of space, convenient, easy, quick
Disadvantages: airport tax for some

...The Beijing airport is probably just as good as many new airports in developed countries. I have lived in Beijing for three and a half years and this new airport is a great improvement to the old one. This airport has a very big feel to it. The ceilings are very high making it feel less crowded than it may be and its extremely clean. The light colours are probably what make it look so clean. There are escalators for those who can't be bothered with stairs and there are conveyor belts on the straight walkways for those who are to lazy or tired to walk. It is a very convenient airport as there are lots of signs around to help direct you in the right direction. What is so great about it being so spacey is that on arrival or when departing you don't have to creep through narrow halls packed with people that you bump into or who bump... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful