Every tourist sight you've...
by SBArndt
Every tourist sight you've ever heard about should be seen. The people were charming and friendly. Tiananmen Square was interesting. Filled with flowers left over from celebration. A couple wanted me to hold their toddler while they took my picture, but we compromised and I held the toddler while we both took pictures. Seeing a person sweeping up dirt along the 'freeway', the bicycles and the contrast of bright colors against the gray building.
Acrobatics
by jonkb
Acrobatics have a long tradition in china, and going to see a show can be recommended. I went to a show with a guided tour, witch might not have been the best thing to do if I wanted to see top quality acrobatics, but it was OK. After all: It's a show that you can see several places.
The Central China Television Tower.
by kdoc13
If you are lucky, you can convince the tour guide to stop off at the CCTV tower. We were allowed to go up to the top of it and get a look out over Beijing. Since you can't get to the top of most of the buildings, this is a neat way to get a higher view of the city.
Almost every major city in Asia has some type of tower. Beijing's is pretty nice.
Beijing Department Store
by machomikemd about Wangfujing Street
most prestigious department store in beijing, it is comparable to Bloomingdales. Unlike shanghai, beijing has less luxury department stores and this is the most popular, situated in the hip wang fu jing street, it carries many foreign brands such as Calvin Klein, Nina Ricce, Gucci, Prada, Lanvin etc. The first floor is home to cosmetic brands such as Christian Dior, Elizabeth Arden and Guerlain and boutiques like Mondi, Yves Saint Laurent, Nina Ricci, D'urban and Charles Jourdan. The second floor houses the ladies department, lingerie, accessories and leather bags plus a coffee shop. The third floor has the men's department, and on the fourth floor are children's clothes, toys (plenty of foreign brands) and household items.
Opens 10am-10pm everyday. whatever foreign brand you like is available and slightly cheaper than in other countries. maxx out your credit card
cheap, but it is wasting time
by bebejepang
Bus is very cheap (cost 1 or 2 yuan), but it is really time consuming.
Not only because of the jam, but also because of the bus route.
So the better way to go around beijing is by subway.
Some bus has bilingual destination (chinese and english), but still it is better you ask to the conductor to warn you when you've got the destination.
If you need to use bus, write the destination in chinese caracter and show it to the bus driver or conductor (you can ask to the hotel staff to write it for you).