If you can see only one city in China, it should be Beijing, because many of the capital's "bests" are also China's "bests." The authors of this book are all former residents of Beijing, and our choices below reflect our approach to selecting the contents for this entire guide. We've included the obvious, but also the offbeat experiences that reflect the city far better than any list of tourist sites, as impressive as those sites are. We give you the best of the five-star hotels, but also the best bed for under $10 -- a price far more in keeping with the real Chinese economy -- and suggest a night in a former brothel. We give you the best Western restaurants, but concentrate more on the food that is best in Beijing, which, not surprisingly is Chinese food. We take you to tucked-away coffee bars even Beijingers would have trouble finding. Some of our selections will seem instantly familiar, but others, as far as we know, are featured in no other guide. Not until their next editions, anyway.