[Makarov]

Try to pick up a tiny bit of Mandarin before you go (just enough to order a bottle of beer, etc.) English will not be spoken anywhere but maybe your hotel.

If you had another week or two, I would definitely encourage you to take the train out to Jiayuguan and Kashgar. Yangshuo is also a must visit. Impossible with only two weeks though (you should really try to make it longer though; two weeks is only enough time to barely scratch the surface.) Yunnan, Sichuan, and Tibet is a whole other three or week trip on its own.

I lived in Beijing for several years so I will focus my recommendations there.

Autumn is definitely the best time of year to visit Beijing. Winters are cool (with poorly heated buildings for the most part.) Summers are hot, humid, and smoggy. Spring is nice but plagued by dust storms that blow in from the Gobi desert.

Visit the Forbidden City, Beihai Park, the Drum and Bell (Clock) Towers (and the surrounding hutongs/bar district of Gu Lou/Houhai/Dianmen St.

Visit Tiananmen Square and the National Museum of China.

Visit the Ancient Observatory.

Visit the Temple of Heaven and the nearby Hongqiao (Pearl) market to shop for counterfeit goods.

Visit Sanlitun embassy district and bar street and nearby Yashou clothing market for more counterfeit goods shopping.

Visit the Niujie mosque.

Visit Wudaokou (my old stomping grounds) to get a taste of Beijing's student nightlife.

Get out into some of the areas outside the third ring road to see how the average Beijinger lives.

Eat, eat, eat. You can explore all of the riches of Chinese cuisine from palatial imperial restaurants to neighbourhood Uighur restaurants.

Visit Chaoyang park, and the charming bars and neighbourhoods around it.

Visit Dashanzi Art District, the cutting edge of the Chinese (indeed, even the world) art scene.

My favourite place to see the Great Wall near Beijing is Junshanling, but there are several other good, less touristy places as well. Just, whatever you do, don't go to Badaling.