China Travel Forum

[Adrian]

I am wanting to get peoples' opinions on what tourist attractions either in, or close by Beijing are the must sees when travelling to Beijing? I have only got between 4-7 days to spend In Beijing, as this can only be made a short leg on my round the world ticket. So unfortunately on this trip, I won't have much time to spend in China to be able to see as much as I possibly can in the Beijing area and if it is like I hope, I will have to come back some other time to do a far more thorough trip round China. I will basically only be able to see the main things like The Great Wall Of China that are must sees.
Is the 13 Ming Dynasty Tombs a must see tourist attraction or at least one that is high up there on the list, or if I was to miss that wouldn't I be missing much of a memorable thing? I've seen this talked about on a website, and it says that there is a tour bus that goes from Beijing to the Badaling pass part of the Great Wall of China and also goes to the 13 Ming Dynasty Tombs. It says that the buses leave from a Qianmen station from 6.30am - 10.30 am, can someone tell me if the tour buses allow you to stop at the 13 Ming Dynasty Tombs, then hop back on the next one of the tour buses and go to the Great Wall of China, and then catch it from the Great Wall od China back into Beijing? Because if I was to catch the 6.30am bus to the 13 Ming Dynasty Tombs, and assuming I am able to get back on to get the next part to the wall, it doesn't sound like it leaves much time for people to see both these sites and actually take them in and climb part of the Geat Wall.
Is there a day tour that people can go on that takes you to the main points of tourist interest in the area?

Any help you can give me would be greatly appreciated.

[Frederick]

I'd personally miss the Ming Tombs, I think the Qing ones would be more interesting. Never been to any of them though, so don't take my word for gospel! Here's what NOT to miss:

1) The day hike from Jinshanling to Simatai, about 10.5 km, really awesome. You don't want to miss this part of the Wall, if you can only see it once, see it here!!
2) Forbidden Palace, Tiananmen Square, perhaps the current wax exhibition at the National Museum at Tiananmen .
3) Hutongs... take a tour if you like.
4) Peking Duck!!! Look for a great chain of restaurants called Tianwaitian, they have wonderful, delicious duckie at 68 RMB for it and the full set of trimmings, very affordable and tasty.
4) Yonghegong Lamasery
5) Temple of Heaven (Tian Tan)
6) Summer Palace (Yiheyuan) and Old Summer Palace (Yuanmingyuan)
It's not that tough to do it on your own, personally I've never enjoyed the tours... So don't worry, do it yourself and believe me, you won't enjoy yourself any less!
Cheers!