China Guide
Beijing
Tours
1 CITS 103 Fuxingmennei Dajie 
010/66011122 At the Beijing Hotel, 33 Dongchang'an Jie 010/65120507 At the New Century Hotel, opposite the zoo 010/68491426 Offer a variety of one- and two-day tour packages, on "Dragon Buses". Beijing By Night, a trip to the opera and a meal at a duck restaurant, costs ¥330; a trip to the Summer Palace, Yonghe Gong and Beijing Zoo is ¥260. They can also arrange a tour guide and interpreter service, and do advance ticket booking for trains, planes and ferries (from Tianjin), with a commission of around ¥20 added.
2 China Swan International Tours 4th floor of the Longhui Building, 1 Nanguang Nanli, Dongsanhuan Lu 010/67316393 
www.china-swan.com Good private travel and tour agency.
3 BTG International 206 Beijing Tourism Building 010/96906798 www.btgtravel.cn Good private travel and tour agency.
4 Wildchina Room 801, Oriental Place, 9 Dongfang Dong Lu, Dongsanhuan Bei Lu 010/64656602 www.wildchina.com The place to arrange adventure travel tours within China.
5 Koryo Tours Room 43, Red House Hotel, 10 Taiping Zhuang 010/64167544 www.koryogroup.com Beijing's most unusual tour agency arrange visits (heavily controlled, of course) to the paranoid hermit kingdom of North Korea. Expect to pay at least US$2000 for the privilege.
6 International Train Booking Office Opening time: Mon– Fri 8.30am– noon & 1.30–5pm International Hotel, 9 Jianguomenwai Dajie 010/65120507 www.cits.net/travel/reservation/train.jsp Here you can buy tickets to Moscowand Ulaan Baatur on the Trans-Siberian and Trans-Mongolian Express with the minimum of fuss. Chinese train #3, which follows the Trans-Mongolian route, leaves every Wednesday from Beijing Zhan and takes five and a half days. A bunk in a second-class cabin costs around US$387. The Russian train #19, which follows the Trans-Siberian route, leaves on Saturdays from Beijing Zhan and takes six days. The cheapest bunk here is around US$457. A Mongolian train leaves for Ulaan Baatur every Tuesday and costs around US$108 for one bed in a four-bed berth. Allow yourself an additional week or two for dealing with embassy bureaucracy and applying for visas.
7 Monkey Business Room 35, Red House Hotel, 10 Chunxiu Jie; head down Dongzhimenwai Dajie, take the turning opposite Pizza Hut and look for the big red-brick building Tour company that's useful for organizing trips on the Trans-Siberian and Trans-Mongolian trains to Moscow and Ulaan Baatur. You will, however, pay a lot more than the ticket price. A second-class ticket costs almost US$700 (including visas), for which you also get an info pack and a ride to the station. Their other packages include stopovers in Ulaan Baatur, Lake Baikal and Irkutsk.