Just returned from my first visit to Beijing. Truly a remarkable destination. Some thoughts.<br><br>Beijing is rapidly becoming "westernized" in the sense that those who speak English can get around with only modest challenge. The hotels cater to the English-speaking community and, while most Chinese speak no English, those that contact the tourist trade have reasonable command.<br><br>Even if Beijing is the only destination in China, there is lots to do to keep one busy for days. We visited Tien'amen Square, the Forbidden City, the Summer Palace and the Great Wall, all accompanied by English-speaking guides. All of these places have "English-narration-on-tape" (for example, Roger Moore does the Forbidden City tape) so that you can visit, walk and listen and get some excellent insight into what you are seeing and why.<br><br><br>Touring is extremely inexpensive, as are the hotel rooms. A very nice room in one of the better (but not best) hotel was $99/night--this included everything you would expect in an upscale Holiday Inn, and a free internet connection if you happen to be travelling with a laptop. This was at the Friendship Hotel just off the 3rd Ring Road in the NW part of the city.<br><br>You can eat well and inexpensively all over Beijing. Chinese restaurants have menus in English/Chinese that allow you to point and have the waitstaff bring you what you ask for. If you tire of Chinese food, Western restaurants are plentiful and chain restauarants --KFC, McDonalds--are ubiquitous. There was a TGIFriday's in my hotel, the menu was exactly like the US, the waitstaff spoke good--if halting--English, and the food tasted identical to what you get here in the states. There is a Hard Rock Cafe in Beijing--I didn't eat there but was commanded by my daughter to make the T-shirt run. <br><br>Transportation means taxis or tour buses, since you must have a valid Chinese driving license to operate a car. But taxis are incredibly cheap--about 15 cents per kilometer for small cabs, and 24 cents per kilometer for the largest. <br><br>It's a shopper's paradise, with local products--silks and jade--priced so low that it borders on unbelievable.If you are fortunate to travel with someone who speaks Chinese and can bargain with/for you, prices are vanishingly low. Example--in a hotel shop (no bargaining required/allowed)--fully-lined men's neckties made of Chinese silk--US $2.75. <br><br>Airfare to get there can be pricey--Coach RT is about $1200 but much better deals can be had shopping around.
