3 1/2 Day trip to Beijing china - what to do/ where to stay?

You can't go wrong with one of the bus tours of the Great Wall and Ming Tombs, In fact the bus tours are most likely the least expensive way to get a good guide... There are also several one day bus tours of the area that include the Forbidden City and the major attractions. You must have allergy meds, of what ever brand works for you, and be careful about eating, the tourist hot spots will have expensive food of mediocre taste and quality. Try the basement food court of the Oriental Plaza. Do not go into the areas the hotel staff tells you to stay out of and don't misbehave or drink too much. Find out exactly what the charges are in the hotel for the phone and or internet - it will get you in the pocket book. Use a real bank or the hotel to exchange money. Buy "trip insurance" for health and hospital expenses, often less than 200 bucks (in advance) and will cover anything, check your insurance to see if you need this, often they will not cover outside of your home country. They seem to have a problem with domestic animals and rabies, when you get back if you feel ill, go to the doctor immediately. All that sounds bad, don't worry too much, thousands of travelers visit with no problems at all, my partner is forced to go every two months for business, and has only had a problem when he got a meal from the Donghuamen night market (after some adult drinks) and, well you can guess... Don't buy DVDs, watches or electronic games unless you can check them out on the spot, if anything avoid the street hawkers altogether. Try to arrange travel to and from the airport in advance with shuttle, be wary of cab offers, at the airport only take a cab from the official outside station. I hate cabs (anywhere in the world) take the bus or a hotel shuttle if available.

You can enjoy some small eatings on some street, buy some clothes if you feel suitable for your needs, but don't buy too many, i think three ones is ok. But you do not buy bags, etc, because they are fake things, u must be very careful. Travel by cabs is ok, although expensive but safe time. You go alone or with a friend.

I have been to Beijing last month. There is no need to worry about the crowd situation in Great wall. There are many sections of Great Wall. You can choose Badaling or Mutianyu Great wall. It will be easy to get a perfect view from the great wall. http://www.chinatravel.com/focus/great-wall-of-china/

We just got back this week from staying in Beijing for 3 nights. We stayed at the Park Plaza Wangfujing, which we booked through expedia. I think the 3 nights cost us about $500 AUD. The location was great and all the staff spoke English. I would recommend it as a great place to stay in Beijing. Apart from the sights you have mentioned, I would recommend that you go to some of the markets, such as the Silk Markets. Its very intense, but a very interesting experience! We did a day tour to the Wall, and went to the Mutianyu section of the wall. It was quite steep in places but very well maintained. There were not a lot of tourists there during our visit. It does take slightly longer to get to than Badaling, but well worth it. Cabs are reasonably cheap. It cost us about 80 Yuan to travel from the airport to our hotel. I agree with the previous answer - only use authorised cabs from the main taxi rank or those ordered by your hotel. Also be aware that the public toilets there are very different to western toilets. Any females are likely to want to hold on rather than go in a public toilet. Most are drop toilets with no capacity to take toilet paper or sanitary products so those items are deposited in a bin beside the toilet. Enjoy your stay and have fun! Its very cold there right now, so pack warm!

Stay: Travellers Inn US $80 per nite include breakfast, comfortable and nice, near mrt:beixinqiao. 20min walk to yonghegong - lama temple, temple without using nail, biggest sleeping buddha inside. If you want to see the oldest mosques, can go to nuijie, can see rich muslin culture. It is best to travel by bus and train for train. Most of the tourist spots are along the train line and no matter how far you go its only RMB$2. Personality, I prefer the Jurongguan, less people, nice view, a little more challenging. Travellers inn is also near to Beijing Railway whereby you can take tourist bus to Jurongguan. If you wish to spend a day at the out island of Beijing, I would recommend Qinghuangdao where by it is has very beautiful beach and it is the start of the great wall of china. Cab price starts at $11RMB. You should also visit the common tourist spot but bring along a tour guide or else it will be meaningless and boring and you would not know what those artifacts means.