Hi Baz, you can start by treading my trip report of our 3 week trip here - http://www.holidaytruths.co.uk/viewtopic.php?t=85325

As far as hints and tips goes -
Carry some loo paper with you, sometimes public loos run out.
Hygiene - carry some of that handwash liquid that doesn't require water to use or some moist tissues, they'll come in handy.
If you're going to Xian, make sure you use plenty of insect repellant. I didn't think I'd need it in a city but I got bitten to death there. Also we found Xian to have some good deals on electrical goods if you're interested. Cheaper than Shanghai
By law guides are obliged to take you 1 government shop (silk, paintings etc) - beware - our guide in Beijing tried to get us to more but BY LAW they only have to take you to one and that's no matter how many days you spend with them (it's not 1 per day as he tried to tell us). This is because they have to get stamps from the shop or factory to prove they took you there. Be polite but firm.
If you are going out on your own in cab, make sure you have the name of your destination and your hotel written down in Chinese.
The summer palace in Beijing is a great place - make sure you leave plenty of time as there is a lot to see.
A word of warning incase you don't already know, the Chinese think nothing of spitting in the street - it was awful in Beijing and I really didn't like it but you just have to get used to it but I can't say I really noticed it anywhere else.
If you change money or withdraw cash from ATMs keep your receipts - you'll need them to change any money back before you come home. We didn't know and so they wouldn't change ours at the airport before we left for HK

hope that helps, please feel free to ask any questions.

Beware of major scams in and around the Beijing area. Two of our group (seperate occasions) were convinced by English speaking students to attend a tea ceremony with them (not unheard of in China) and afterwards were charged an extortionate amount for this. As neither had that sort of money on them they had to pay with credit card, and were not allowed to leave until it had been processed (bouncers suddenly appeared from nowhere). I think one guy was charged over £200.

Fortunately as both paid on CC they managed to put a stop on the transaction after speaking to our guide.

This also happened to us in Shanghai but as we had already heard the story from our fellow travellers we soon put the students in their place.

My one major beef with the Chinese was that they were continually trying to exploit the tourists for money. I touched an already broken air con vent in one of the tour buses and it came out of the socket, 10mins after checking into our hotel our guide was at my door with the driver demanding money to replace it. I refused. Also one of our group borrowed umbrellas for our party from reception at our hotel in Beijing and left a deposit. On return the staff made out that two were damaged (they were not even used) and refused to give the deposit back until our guide intervened.

As for China the country, loved Shanghai & Hong Kong. Xian was nice enough although I thought the Warriors were overrated, but Beijing was truly awful. A horrid place.

Train journeys through the country were an experience as well. Great fun.

thank you again for all your hints and tips they are going to be a great help