Forbidden City, known as 故宫 (Gu Gong) to locals, opens at 8:30am. Wear comfortable shoes, a hat, keep yourself hydrated, don't rush it.

Get yourself at the west gate of Jin Shan park (景山) around 9am. This is a small hill at the north end of Forbidden City. Climb up the a high point to take a look of the palace. Exit at the south gate of the park, walk west-ward and cross the street at the intersection toward the palace. If you are hungry, lunch at DaShanYuan (大三元).

Proceed to the north gate. Find yourself a guide. Ask how much she charges. Tell her you will give her more if she does it slowly. Expect to pay for RMB200, or just a bit more.

Forbidden city is an architecture monument. You will start at 御花园 (Yu Huan Yuan: the royal garden) and walk southward toward 天安门 (Tian An Men). Take your time in the garden, the best part, and explore. Afterward, casually walk south to appreciate those royal offices. Navigate your way on the east side (left if you face TianAnMen). Pay extra to get into 珍宝馆 (ZenBaoGuan: the treasure house) and appreciate some of the artifacts.

After exiting from TianAnMen, walk underneath the tunnel and onto 天安门广场 (TianAnMen square). Notice two buildings on the side. The one on the east side is the National Museum. If you are in the mood, go for it and prepare to spend maybe a couple of hours. If you are hungry, find a taxi in front of the People's Hall and go for 天津百饺园 (TianJinBaiJiaoYuan: TianJin's Restaurant of 100 kinds of dumplings). Call to get a table in the taxi. It can be crowded.

After meal, get a taxi to the south gate of 天壇 (TianTan: Temple of Heaven). Buy tickets that works for all tourist's points. Walk north-ward until you have seen the big temple. Head east, explore the corridors, and exit from the east gate.

You should be tired by now. Taxi to 后海 (HouHai: the back sea, a big pond used to be exclusive for the royalties) and take your time to find the most interesting bar or restaurant. Try the Lotus market (荷花市场) area first and be adventurous. You can get a table on one of those boats. They will deliver the food to you while you enjoy the view. Sometime, a singer can perform just for your boat.

Chairman Mao said, "不到長城非好漢, 不吃烤鴨真遺憾" (Real man would have climbed Great Wall. Real regret not tasting Peking duck.) Today, you will do both.

Preworks:

• Call 全聚德 清华园店(QuanJuDe at TsingHua Park) and reserve a room. QuanJuDe is the must-eat for first time Beijing visitors. This location is the latest addition to the chain and, in my opinion, the best. If the driver does not know where it is. Tell him it is outside of TsingHua University's east gate.

  If you are just not in the mood for Peking duck, try the imperial style food at 白家大宅门食府 (Bai's Estate Restaurant). Also call ahead to make an appointment.

• Secondly, you need a car for the day. Reserve a taxi, negotiate for about 500 RMB for the whole day, everything included.
• Lastly, pack a light lunch and few bottles water.

Great Wall is thousands of miles long and you can choose any spot to visit. I recommend 慕田裕 (MuTianYu). The drive takes about 90 minutes. Discuss among yourselves the plan of attack. There are 3 choices: You can do it the “real man’s way” by climbing up on-foot and coming down the same way. This will take about 3 to 4 hours and you will be quite exhausted even you are a fit person.

You can take the ski lift up, climb uphill, and take the cable car down. This is still a good exercise and most people will be glad when it is over. This is a popular choice, but it can still be too vigorous for few.

Lastly, you can take the cable car up, climb downhill, and take the toboggan down. This is light and fun and least physically demanding. This choice takes about 90 minutes.

On your way back, stop by one of those fruit stands. It is unlikely that you can find a tourist-grade restaurant or bar around there. Most people simply sleep their way back to the city.

If you have a hour or so to kill. Tour the famous Peking University campus or drop by 中关村 (ZhongGuanCun) downtown, particularly the electronic shopping centers. Watch your time for the reservation.

It may not be a bad idea to squeeze in a foot massage. Try 北京大班 (Beijing Hostess). Call to reserve a room after dinner. A session takes about 90 minutes and you won't regret it.

Reserve theater tickets for tonight.

Enough history and culture. Go shopping today. Beijing, like many metropolitans around the world, offers world-class shopping experience. Two malls rival whatever highend (pricing too) shopping centers where you come from. They are the Oriental Plaza and the China World underground.

Bargain hunters go to the famous Silk Street (秀水街). Those vendors used to gather on the street to sell surplus productions. Few years ago, government moved them into a building and named the building with the street name. Shopping at Silk Street is a sport. The vendors understand that bargaining is part of the experience and will give you the run for it. If you are not sure about your negotiating skill, go to the slightly less competitive 雅秀 (YaXiu). Mandarin fluent people should go 西单 (XiDan) where locals shop.

For souvenirs, go to 潘家園 (PanJiaYuan). It is a huge antique and craft flea market. Try to arrive as early as you can (sunrise time is the best). Be prepared to spend few hours lost in the aisles. You can also try 紅橋市場 (HongQiao market) that features locally manufactured products. The vendors here are really doing wholesale deals but will gladly entertain retail customers. Pearls are of great value here.

At 7:30pm, you need to make the acrobatic show at 朝陽劇場 (CaoYang theater). Dress casually and try to arrive around 7:15pm. Call ahead for reservation and pick up the tickets at the will-call counter.

Try hot-pot, a Beijing famous, at 鼎鼎香 (DingDingXiang)， 满福楼涮羊肉 (ManFuLou), or 福华肥牛 (FuHua) tonight. Just budget time sufficiently so that you will not miss the show.

In 1888, Empress 慈禧 (CiXi) diverted 500 million ounces of silver, the navy budget, for a fallen dynasty and a great garden. 頤和園 (YiHeYuan: Summer Palace) occupies about 290 acres so you won't see every corners. Start from the east gate and steer right. Try reach a high point to get a panoramic view. 玉泉垂虹 (Jade spring showing off rainbow), on the west side of the hill, is one of Beijing's 8 famous “Kodak points.” Come down the hill and walk along the pond back to where you started.

雍和宮 (YongHeGong: The Lama Temple) is a large and active Tibet Buddhism temple. It was protected during the Cultural Revolution. Tibet Buddhism is one of the 4 major Buddhism branch. Getting a bit Buddhism knowledge will greatly enhance your experience here. Stroll through the stores nearby. They sell to the worshipers, not the tourists. Very Chinese scents and Buddhism artifacts are abundant.

This is the day most people feel overdosed with Chinese food. Yes, we understand the need for good old home comfort food. Go for Outback or Hardrock Café tonight. Very Siam is a wonderful Thai restaurant.

This is the ultimate place for souvenirs and, possibly, antiques. You will save so much money, compared to the friendship stores, and you will have so much more fun.

PanJiaYuan (潘家園舊貨市場) is a huge antique market at the south-eastern corner of Beijing's 2nd ring. The whole place is a big courtyard the size of few football fields. The courtyard resembles a cloister at the center.

The whole place is carpeted with thousands of vendors, each one occupying a 1 to 3 square meters booth.

I found few rubbings from the famous stelae in Xi'an. For thousands of years, Chinese erected these stelae everywhere. I don't know when, but one of the government collected them all into this place in Xi'an. That makes rubbing operations much more convenient. People put a piece of cotton paper on top of the stelae and rub ink over the paper. The result is a perfect replica of whatever inscribed.