Hi, I am new to this site and I am reading some of the posts and saw yours.

I loved the Kempinski hotel in Beijing. It is also pretty close, maybe 15-20 minute to the famous market to shop. They leave cute little "masks" on your pillow at night instead of a mint. I think they are made out of paper mache.

Yes, you need a visa. You may want to use ZFS or one of the other Visa services.

Teri