How to get along in a mega-city like Beijing without really speaking Chinese?
Just invest 1 € in this pocket-sized booklet – I am still using mine while going around the city.
Everything in there: sightseeing stuff, shopping malls, restaurants, embassies, where to buy flowers, major hotels, beauty parlors, and suchlike. If you are looking for some place that you don´t find within the Taxi Guide, just take a reasonably useful city map and check if there is one of these spots nearby within walking distance – altough, the meaning of “walking distance” turns out to be quite relative in a city like Beijing…
The best thing: everything in there is written also in Chinese characters, so you won´t find yourself in the challenging situation to find a taxi driver who knows how to read Pinyin!