Trip to Beijing

In September 1998, Northwest Airlines announced some really incredible deals for several Asian cities. One of the cities was Beijing, China. Although I had never really thought much about going to China, the price was irresistible. For $699, you got a package deal which included airfare, hotel transfers, four nights at a four-star hotel, full American breakfast, a tour of the city (including the Forbidden City), and a trip to the Great Wall and the Ming Tombs. I added three nights to the basic package, and even with a single-room supplement, the total cost was just barely over $1,000.

With the trip set for December 2-10, I got busy trying to learn a bit about Beijing before I left. I went to the bookstore and bought two guidebooks: the Lonely Planet 'Beijing' and the Insight Guides 'Beijing,' both of which were fairly up-to-date (that's important!) and had good pictures as well as text. I also bought a map of Beijing which was labeled in both English and Chinese, and the Lonely Planet 'Mandarin Phrasebook,' a small pocket-size book that proved to be very useful.

I also started researching Beijing on the Internet. There are many helpful sights on the Web, and the Usenet group 'rec.travel.asia' is a treasure trove of information. I posted a lot of questions, and invariably, several folks answered with great advice. Some of the most useful information came from Cheryl Probst, who has actually lived and worked in China.