Tadaaaa! A big *muaks* to the Monkee for inviting me to contribute here. I simply love traveling too and last year was THE highlight of my traveling adventures.
I'll start with Beijing, my most recent trip early this year. But please never ever visit China during the winter season. If it wasn't a free trip there (the few perks I get from being a corporate slave), I would prefer to avoid sub-zero weather.
Language...My first tip for those who would like to visit Beijing. If you can't speak Mandarin, either join a tour group or go with people who knows enough Mandarin to save your live. Do not believe what CCTV tells you about the English proficiency level there.
All major signboards are in Mandarin. All taxi drivers cannot speak any English. Even 5-star hotel staff can speak only very very little England. I spent one day walking around alone in Beijing and I had problems ordering a McD. The attendant was asking me something in lightning fast Mandarin and it was gibberish to me.
Food...I always make it a point to eat the local food when I'm in a foreign country. Staple food here is flour based like Man Tous or Paos which are steaming hot white buns with meat or vege filling. I find Beijing food very different from our typical Chinese food back home. It's either tasteless or very salty and usually dripping with oil. Pork is not very common here too as it's very expensive. They prefer beef and lamb.
You've not been to Beijing unless you have their Peking Duck or Bei Ya. Every local will tell you different places for the best duck in town. But most M'sians might tell you that our local PJ Sunrise roasted duck tasted better. However the thin crispy skin is very yummy (and sinful) and I prefer to eat it alone without the flour skin and cucumber strips.
Shopping...Beijing is shopping haven for imitation goods. Silk Street or Xiu Shui Market is a 5 storey building filled with stores selling fake LV, Prada, Gucci and whatever nonsense you can imagine. You can get there via subway. Bargaining is a must as the prices quoted can be 10 times more than the actual price. The strategy is to quote a ridiculously low price. If they refuse, you just walk off. If they call you back, it means they're actually willing to sell you at that price.
But of course they'll try to coax you to increase it. Refuse strongly and threaten to walk off without showing any hesitation. Most of the time they'll give in. Similar to Bangkok, Beijing is a good place to shop for handcrafted knick knacks. Definitely no problem in getting those local souvenirs for your uncles, aunties, girlfriends, boyfriends, girlfriend's mother etc etc... Just remember to bargain! And always give small change to avoid being cheated.
Great Wall...It's the only man made structure that can be seen from space. Hence it should be in your must-see list. There are 3 sections opened to public, Ba Da Ling , Mu Tian Yu and Si Ma Tai. Ba Da Ling is too touristy (I heard it has Starbucks!) while Si Ma Tai (being the least commercialised of the 3) is very far from Beijing. Hence I would recommend Mu Tian Yu. If you have a group of people, rent a taxi to bring you there and go early in the morning. Take a cable car up and walk along the wall. The wall stretches for miles. It's amazing how it was built up in the hills in an era without cranes and tractors. We were even panting like crazy after overcoming some of the steep sections of the wall. Spend at most half the day (morning) up there.
Summer Palace...After the Great Wall, drop by the Summer Palace or Yi He Yuan for the 2nd half of your day. It's the Emperor's largest royal park with a huge lake. And during winter, the whole lake is frozen! Hence you get to slide on ice or just fall flat on your bum! (which luckily I didn't). Everything built for the Emperor is extravagant. Massive temple structures. Massive gardens. Massive everything. And it requires a lot of leg power walking from one end to the other.
An annoying thing is that besides paying an entrance fee to the Palace, you would need to buy another ticket to enter the main Pagoda. But we ran out of time and closing time was approaching so we didn't bother. There are a lot of shops selling souvenirs and this time no bargaining is required as the goods are priced reasonably. It'll match the price you bargained in street markets.
Forbidden City...Another must-see location in Beijing. Similarly to Summer Palace, it's another massive area to cover. Since it's winter, walking with frozen thighs is difficult. Unfortunately, when I was there, the main throne room was undergoing major renovations in preparation for the Beijing Olympics. That was suppose to be the highlight of the area. Darn! It's easy to get lost in there as you navigate between the many small rooms. Surrounded by massive tall walls, it felt more like a prison than an Emperor's dwelling and you'll feel a hint of loneliness while walking along its long corridors. 
The buildings are all beautifully crafted and decorated with intricate carvings of dragons and phoenixes. Small rooms around the city are now mini museums displaying royal pottery and jewelery. Despite the bright sunny weather, it was freezing. Luckily these rooms had heaters for us to recover from the -4 temperature! It's impossible to cover every inch of the palace. Would recommend spending half a day to cover the main attractions.
Just opposite the Forbidden City would be the Tiananmen Square together with the Chairman Mao memorial. Tourists would be queuing up in the morning to enter the memorial to view his embalmed body. The National Museum is next door too but it's closed till 2010 for major renovations. All these places easily accessible via subway.
One might notice the lack of information in museums regarding its communist policies. There's no mention of the Tiananmen Square Massacre anywhere. Even popular blog sites like Blogspot and Wordpress are filtered out by their local ISPs. However, putting political views aside, Beijing is a good place to visit just for its long history as a once powerful empire of the past. Just be prepared to do PLENTY of walking!
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