Tracy
How long will you be staying in China?

China is not an easy country to travel around on your own. Although more and more Chinese are now speaking English it's still not spoken overall and signs apart from at major airports and perhaps train stations aren't always in English.
I don't believe the trains go to Tianjin airport (though I'm not sure) I think you will have to go into Tianjin by taxi or possibly shuttle and get the fast train to Beijing, which takes about about an hour.
The first time I went to China I stayed near the forbidden city/ Tiananmen Square area where there were lots of hotels. The second time I stayed further out though there is now an underground system so it's easy to get around.
The great wall is about 45 miles outside Beijing and depending on the traffic can be quite a long journey, I've been to the wall twice and both times it was a full days outing. I'm not sure how easy it would be to travel by public transport, I expect your hotel could book you a tour.
If I was planning another visit to China I would be tempted to put the arrangements in the hands of a tour guide or specialist tour company.

thanks judith!
we have booked a flight to kuala lumpa,then we are flying to china,for about 4 days i think,as my sister,is arranging it.we are doing it d.i.y.we then fly to penang,to the beach.
maybe we will do an organised tour,to the great wall,as i am not too sure,i will have to check,with my sister.
do you think,the tianamen square area,is a good place to stay? is the forbidden city,easy to visit from here?
what other places,would you recommend,us to visit,around the beijing area?
any help you can give us,will be appreciated,
thanks
tracy

Hi Tracy

Tiananmen Square is pretty central to everything. It's really huge and I believe the entrance to the Forbidden City is from the square or near the Square. Mao's Mausoleum is on one side of the square. A couple of other places to visit are the Temple of Heaven and the Summer Palace where you can go out on a boat on the Kunming Lake. The second time I visited Beijing I took a rickshaw ride through the Hutongs, these are the ancient alleys and lanes and we were invited into one of the homes to meet the occupants, I found this very interesting, at one time this area was due for demolitian but I believe it's been saved. It was almost 10 years between my two trips and Beijing had changed tremendously by the second visit with lots of modern buildings and wide roads so it was nice to see a side of the city that hadn't changed too much.
Some of the tours that go out to the Great Wall also visit the Ming Graves which I think is worth a visit.
Don't miss having a Peking Duck meal, I went to a famous restaurant situated on Tiananmen Square, unfortunately I can't remember it's name it had many floors and could seat hundreds of guests and though it was a bit touristy I nevertheless enjoyed the experience.
Whatever day of the week you are visiting sites be prepared for crowds, you will see lots of school trips with the children all dressed in colourful outfits. I'll be interested to hear about the trip on your return.

thanks judith!
i like the sound of the rickshaw ride.some great information there,
thanks for replying
tracy