I love Beijing! The air quality is terrible, the traffic is a nightmare, and all of the tourist sights are crowded, but I still love Beijing because there is so much to see and do. Locals are very friendly, but make sure you bring a Mandarin phrase book. I easily spent six days here.
Beijing and the Great Wall of China are two places all first-time visitors should put on their itinerary. To avoid tourist scams (and in Beijing there are many) read about it in your travel guidebook before you go to Beijing.
Beijing … Don't stay near the Tian'anmen Square area. It's full of tourists traps and pickpockets. Everybody tries to rip you off. Noisy everywhere. But Tian'anmen Square and Forbidden City are great!
Beijing … Great city, loads to see, forget about Mao's tomb, 3 odd hours to queue and no backpacks / water bottles allowed. The Wall is amazing, but Ming tomb's a waste of time. Tianeman Square, the Forbidden City, the Buddist temples, and the parks are great and the locals are very friendly. A major problem is language, you must have English - Mandarin cards or else... A funny story is an American tourist who used the box of matches from the hotel. The taxi took him to the match factory! Otherwise great. Train travel is very easy - use SEAT61.com, a great website about train travel.
Beijing City Central Youth Hostel in Beijing … Excellent hostel. One of the best. I was in a private twin room. Everything very clean, bed linen, towels, bathroom. Very well located, near train station, bus stop, and subway station. Acceptable breakfast. Excellent english spoken reception desk. Cheap internet. I went booked the Samai Great Wall tour, it was fantastic. But once in the city the wanted us to take the subway back to the hostel, we refused. They did that with other customers. They made us pay money to come back through the express way. We wasted time waiting for some people of the tour who had booked for lunch, we could have been more time in Great Wall. I also booked acrobatic show. Fantastic show, but the gave us money to take a taxi back to hostel. That's not what we arranged. Not very good tour guides.
Shanglin Hostel - Leo Hostel 2 in Beijing … We got a king-size bed for 160 kuai, great compared to the normal hotels around 500 for that type of room. It's a beautiful place, the inner decor is in itself worth looking at. And they provide free hot water. Only issue was cold water showers, during my stay they repaired it, but the water never quite reached what I'm used to, but it was bearable. It's about a ten-minute walk from the Hepingmen subway, which in early January is a fairly painful walk. I would suggest the place for a summer visit, unless you are particularly accustomed to living in cold climates. It's hard to find so should let the taxi driver call the hotel and find out where it is.
Flowering House Hostel in Beijing … My sister and my nieces and I stayed at Flowering House Hostel for three nights. The access to Beijing was wonderful and very easy. I loved being in a hutong and finding an oasis in the middle of a very crowded neighborhood. The manager Daniel spoke great English and was uncannily perceptive about our needs. For example, it was very hot and my sister and I shared a king bed room that had no air conditioner the first night. When we returned from our day out and about, Daniel had installed an air conditioner which was so appreciated. He led us to a restaurant in the neighborhood the first day so that we wouldn't get lost. He got us two cabs to take us to the train station because we had so much luggage. Very accommodating. Sitting in the courtyard at night was my favorite thing. Quiet -- soft voices of others in the courtyard, beer available -- very restful and peaceful after a day on the concrete streets and great heat of Beijing. My niece Gudrun booked us here and she chose well. We…
Templeside Courtyard Hutong House in Beijing … This is a great hostel, very picturesque and in a quiet setting amidst the nonstop noise and bustle of Beijing. The owner Bobby and his staff (especially the very sweet and charming Sharon) are very hard working and do their utmost to make their guests stay as pleasant as possible. They will order food for delivery for you from a local restaurant -- it's very tasty and very cheap. There's also cheap internet, 2 yuan for half an hour. The only annoying thing about this place was that it's quite hard to find, in a hutong (old fashioned alleyway). They really need to make some good maps available. Bobby is also a good source of local information and will organise tours such as day-trips to the great wall for you with people who won't rip you off -- a godsend in Beijing.
HI - Beijing - Far East International Youth Hostel in Beijing … this hostel is absolutely awesome! it has western standard. there is nothing bad you can say. the location is great -- you can walk to the most important sights like the forbidden city and tian'man square. so if you're trying to find a more than decent hostel, you should book this one and you won't be disappointed!
Qiao Yuan International Youth Hostel in Beijing … I stayed at the Qiao Yuan dormitory in 1984. It is an easy walk from the south train station which is also a city bus transit center. I usually stopped for a bowl of the best tea I ever had on the walk to the dorm. It is named for nearby Qiao Park which has large ponds that are very very beautiful when the lotus flowers are in bloom. My favorite remembrance is of waking up to the sound of horse hooves on the pavement outside, but that may be gone now. Its location is great. You may want to take a local train from the south station instead of an express from the main Beijing station.
Beijing Downtown Backpackers in Beijing … Excellent hostel in an ideal location for all of Beijing's attractions. Clean and friendly. The air conditioning worked well and the showers were hot. Helpful staff but not obtrusive.
Flowering House Hostel in Beijing … a bit tricky to find the way there, but should be fine with map and directions given by the Hostel. The price is really good and the hostel is much more nicer than me and my friend expected! I think it's quite ok to not to have a kitchen in Beijing. Really cheap to dine out and not easy to get ingredients. I really love this hostel and enjoyed my time staying there.
Beijing City Central Youth Hostel in Beijing … We arrived very late (midnight) and our reservation was canceled but they got us a double. The store was still open and we bought some snacks. The bar was still open so we got a few drinks. The room was so clean, and the floor was very quiet. At the price it was excellent. My wife and daughter had no problem with the bathrooms, neither did I. They were tidy. I recommend this for everyone, including families.
Beijing Lotus Hostel in Beijing … With no exaggeration, this was probably one of the nicest places I've stayed. The staff were so friendly, very helpful finding our way around Beijing, and booking a Great Wall Tour. Highly recommended!
HI - Beijing Jade Youth Hostel in Beijing … Very good place to go. Staff friendly and available, rooms clean, spacious and nice, hostel cheap, not noisy, and well located. Definitely a good hostel.
Saga Youth Hostel in Beijing … Lovely hostel, the reception is welcoming and turns into a great evening meeting and drinking area...beer is available at the reception and is very cheap (2yuan($0.25) a bottle as of 10/2002). the rooms are clean and the bathroom facilities are good. the staff are friendly and tollerant (we had some good parties :-))
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