Beijing

Only have 3 days in Beijing. I have 3 questions:

1) Flying in at 11:30 p.m. Should I arrange for a pick up service from airport to hotel? Or should there be taxi service at that time of night that would be reliable? TourChina.comstates on their web site that it is $37 US dollars from Capital airport to downtown.

2) Can you recommend a reliable tour company that are best tour guides who can get my friend and I through the masses, knows English and has a great command of the history? Would like two days of touring with a guide and 3rd day on our own.

3) The following is the list of sites we%26#39;d like to see:

Tiananmen Square; Forbidden City; Hutong (Old part of city); Temple of Heaven; Summer Palace; Lama Temple -Tibetan Buddist Temple and Great Wall (prefer Mutianyu section). Anything we are missing that should be added to our list or taken off?

Thanks!

SanDiegoAmi

Beijing

1) I would just take a taxi, which should cost around $15 US depending on the location of your hotel, traffic, etc. Take a cab from the official queue, and avoid people who approach you in the airport offering a taxi. There is a chance of being ripped off but it will probably still be less than a pick-up service.

Make sure to have the name of your destination in Chinese characters before you arrive so you can show it to the taxi driver.

2) I can%26#39;t recommend a specific tour, but you can usually arrange tours through hotels.

3) These are the main sights, and about as much as you will be able to see in 3 days.

Beijing

1) Yes, there definitely would be taxis at the airport, quite a lot of those too. Go for the official taxi queue, not just any ole touts. I%26#39;ve previously taken a taxi to near Forbidden City (east gate) for 110 RMB, at that time of night.

3)

Day 1: Tiananmen Square, Forbidden City, Temple of Heaven

Day 2: Mutianyu Great Wall, Yonghegong Lamasery, hutong area (Qianhai/Houhai)

Day 3: Summer Palace

I would also recommend Panjiayuan market in the early morning of any of the days (preferably day 3) if you have a weekend day. Would also recommend a Chinese acrobat performance and a Peking duck dinner sometime.