I am currently reading Marissa Meyer’s The Lunar Chronicles. I am at the beginning
with Cinder which takes place in New Beijing, a sci-fi updated world full of
fantasy elements.
The current Beijing is fascinating to me. A culture extremely different from my
own. I would feel like an alien if I were dropped in the middle of Beijing. A
culture with tradition at its center, Beijing is a location needing to be
explored. History is something I revel in so Beijing, rich in history, would be a
perfect location for me to add to my travel bucket list.
daily dose of reality 
I hated Beijing when I visited. The people were rude and many of them made racist comments to my face and openly questioned my nationality because many people around the world believe if your not white your not an original American. It was also really hard to get a taxi in Beijing and the pollution was terrible. I prefer Shanghai but I stayed in Shanghai for 4 months and Beijing only a few days so I’m biased. Xi’an the old capital is a lot of fun, you can ride your bike around the city wall. If you have seen Avatar the Last Air Bender, Xi’an is what Ba Sing Se is based off of. Huangshan is great hiking if your up for eight hours of stone stairs and then running down it in two to catch your bus. Huangshan also had awesome hot springs resorts that were pretty cheap. Also Qinghai the province near Tibet which also has a lot of history and monasteries is beautiful.
Thanks for the tips. I hope to one day explore the East.