How to Survive a Beijing Business Trip

Though it's home to several large international corporations and every western fastfood chain you can imagine, a visit to Beijing can still be an exercise in culture clash for foreigner business travelers. The language is indecipherable to most English speakers, the air is remarkably smoggy, and western-style toilets are the exception, not the norm. But to cash in on the booming business opportunities the city has to offer, you'll have to learn to love the rich (if unfamiliar) culture Beijing has to offer. Here's how.


How to Survive a Business Trip in Beijing: Kick the Jetlag

Beijing can be between 12 and 15 hours ahead of the United States, depending on where your plane takes off. To get adjusted, Lonely Planet travel guide author David Eimer says, "Set your watch to Beijing time when you board the plane." In flight, it's a mistake to drink alcohol. Instead Eimer says, hydrate thoroughly with water.

Some frequent fliers rely on melatonin to put them to sleep in the air. Once you get to Beijing, though, especially if it's during the day, keep yourself awake with some exercise. "Take a short walk after you arrive," Eimer says. "Don't sleep until the evening."

Still, it's likely you'll wake up early the next morning, so Natalie Behring, a photographer who spent 12 years living and working in Beijing, says there are ways to use the early hours to your advantage. “Go early to Jing Shan Park, behind the Forbidden City," she suggests. “In the morning, all the geriatrics get up and do their dancing and get their exercise. It's lovely to watch.' This goes without mentioning the Park's birds' eye view of the city.


How to Survive a Business Trip in Beijing: Where to Stay

It's easy to find a hotel with all the comforts of home (standing toilets included). Beijing is full of well-known hotel chains and upscale boutique hotels that offer travelers the best of both worlds.

• Starwood Hotels. The chain boasts several outposts around the city. If you plan on spending a lot of time in the financial district, consider the Westin on Financial Street or, if you'll be doing most of your business on the east side of town, there's also a Westin Chaoyang location. Another attractive option is the St. Regis located in the city center. All of the hotels have private meeting rooms you can book, if necessary, and bedrooms start at about $200 a night.

• Shangi La Hotels. In a similar price range as the Starwood hotels, the Shangri-La locations are also spread out around town. China World Hotel is located in the central business district, not far from the St. Regis. Its bar, Aria, is a “sedate post-work getaway with a good happy hour,' according to Jim Boyce, who writes the nightlife blog BeijingBoyce. In August, the China World Summit Wing will open, along with the city's highest restaurant, Grill 79, which derives its name from its location on the hotel's 79th floor. The Kerry Centre Hotel is where you need to be if you're working in the financial district.

• Hotel Cote Cour. Located on a historic hutong (meaning narrow alley), Hotel Cote Cour is "the cutest hotel in the city," according to Behring. This boutique hotel has only 14 rooms and it surrounds a charming garden that's best viewed in the summer. Its traditional architecture will give you the feeling that you're far from home, despite all the familiar amenities. A standard room is slightly cheaper, at about $157 a night.

• Red Capital Club Residence. Behring says the Residence has the type of “Mao [Zedong] communist nostalgia only a foreigner could pull off.' It's fitting, then, that the Residence is owned and operated by American ex-pat Lawrence Brahm. Complete with Mao soap dishes, a cigar lounge, vintage furniture and a pervading color scheme of red, red red, Behring says, “It might not be luxury comfort, but it's definitely luxury nostalgia.' Rates begin at about $200 a night, with breakfast included.

• The Peninsula Beijing. If you want to get a little sightseeing in, the Peninsula really couldn't be closer to Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. But the view comes at a hefty price, with rooms starting at $450 a night. Tempting though it may be, do you really need a plasma TV in the bathroom and a Cartier store in the lobby?