If your visions of Beijing are centred around pods of Maoist revolutionaries in buttoned-down tunics performing exercise in Tiananmen Square, put them to rest: this city has embarked on a new millennium rollercoaster and it's taking the rest of China with it.

Today's youth are more interested in MTV than Mao, rhetorical slogans from the Cultural Revolution have given way to butchered English splashed across designer-copy T-shirts, and expats, tourists, foreign investors and a mobile phone-toting hip-oisie are mixing it up with the bureaucrats.

When To Go

Of the shoulder seasons, autumn is optimal - the weather is gorgeous and fewer tourists are in town. Locals describe this short season as tiangao qishuang - literally 'the sky is high and the air is fresh' - with clear skies and breezy days. Spring is less pleasant - not many tourists but lots of wind and dust. Summer (June to August) is considered peak season, when hotels typically raise their rates and the Great Wall nearly collapses under the weight of marching tourists. Winter is the extreme opposite but makes for pretty surrounds if you can stand the freezing temperatures; you'll have Beijing to yourself and many hotels offer substantial discounts. Everything is chock-a-block during the Chinese New Year (usually in January or February) and the week-long holidays of International Labour Day (May 1) and National Day (Oct 1).