BEIJING, China - Today's global road warriors may feel a bit like nomadic Mongols. They endure too many miles in their conquest of new business and have little, if any, time to sip Tsingtao beer at a local watering hole, let alone wander the halls of great palaces.

But even Kublai Khan, between forays, had time to visit his opulent summer palace Xanadu in Inner Mongolia. So why can't invaders with laptops plot playtime, too?

On a three-week work trip to this ancient and sprawling city, my colleague Nhat Meyer and I vowed we'd find some way to escape our over-packed schedule and get a glimpse of Beijing outside of subways, taxis and cluttered hotel rooms.

We found that, fatigue aside, travelers who can spare a couple of hours, or half a day, to make a few cultural detours can return home with more than business cards. The same can be said for tourists attending the Beijing Olympics who may feel they don't have room on their schedule for anything other than foot races and airborne gymnasts.

With not a lot of advance planning, we were able to work in a couple of half-day jaunts, as well as a few quick diversions between meetings.

Mao Zedong is often quoted as proclaiming: "He who has not climbed the Great Wall is not a true man." We decided we'd have to claim our manhood next time: A tour of the Badaling section of the Great Wall includes, at minimum, three hours of driving from central Beijing.

Instead, we focused our attention on treasures closer to our work appointments.

We decided to devote a half-day wending through the Forbidden City, the 600-year-old symbol of China's ancient greatness and former home to Ming and Qing emperors. Yes, one could easily camp out for a week in the vast complex of gardens and nearly 10,000 rooms. But several hours of walking on the bricks emperors once trod is better than mere drive-by glimpses of the walled wonder.

Not wanting to waste a moment, we hired a guide. Hotels can point visitors to well-trained professionals. But I found a great guide the Silicon Valley way - networking. An American couple staying at our hotel tipped me off to someone they had met during their daylong tours of the city. So I took down the number and we were in business.

Our guide, Natalie Xing, showed up promptly at our hotel in her Suzuki Swift for a Sunday afternoon trip to the Forbidden City. She and her husband, John Lee, are starting their own tour business, and she displayed the eagerness of so many of the optimistic entrepreneurs in this city of more than 15 million.

As a licensed tour guide, she knew the intricacies of the 15th-century Ming Dynasty; the history of Tiananmen Square, at 109 acres the world's largest public square; and could even dish dirt on opium-smoking Empress Dowager Cixi, the last Empress of China, aka the Dragon Lady.

Every year, Xing explained, she must take a rigorous Chinese history exam, in which only 10 percent pass.

We zipped through the city in her phone-booth-sized car, getting a quick history of Ming Emperor Yongle, who in 1407 decided to relocate his capital from Nanjing to Beijing.

After parking, we made our way through a sea of women using umbrellas for shade on a blistering day, finally arriving at the Forbidden City, which for 500 years was off-limits for all but those with permission from the royals.

The ancient fortress houses imperial palaces, administrative offices and a courtyard that could fit an audience of 100,000 people.

Work kept us from getting an earlier start, which meant we wilted in the blazing heat. But it also meant we avoided the morning rush, so the palace grounds were relatively free of crowds.

We entered through the Meridian Gate, the massive southern entrance once reserved for the emperor and his royal party. China scholar Julie Lovel describes the political center of ancient China as exuding an "authoritarian pomposity, with its aesthetic of thuggish grandiloquence."

It was hard to disagree.

Zijin Cheng, which literally means "Purple Forbidden City," was built in a rectangular shape on about 178 acres and surrounded by a moat. Multi-eaved towers anchor each corner of the imposing complex made of brick, marble and massive mahogany doors. In the courtyard, 15 layers of perfectly crafted red bricks were put in place to prevent assassins from tunneling into the fortress city.

After entering through the Meridian Gate, visitors pass over the marble Inner Golden River Bridges. The middle bridge was used solely by the emperor, while family members crossed over bridges on either side. Court officials walked over the two outside bridges, a bit like low-level employees stuck with back-of-the-lot parking.

As we approached the Hall of Supreme Harmony, where important ceremonies were held, Xing pointed out giant incense caldrons on the terrace - there are 18 in all, representing the 18 Qing provinces. Officials burned sandalwood incense to create cloud-like smoke during ceremonies.

"The emperor," she said, "believed he was at the center of heaven."

On another morning, we plotted a half-day trip to the Summer Palace, seeking relief from the heat just as royalty once did.

Located in northwest Beijing, the summer retreat rests along Kunming Lake. The palace, twice destroyed by invading Western forces, was a favorite resting spot for the Dragon Lady, a concubine of Emperor Xianfeng who rose to power by giving birth to a son who eventually became emperor.

Her pastimes included smoking opium, watching Peking Opera and eating sumptuous meals. She was known to have more than 100 dishes placed before her for every meal, some just for decoration.

The empress also enjoyed collecting gifts from foreign dignitaries.

One treasure on display is a 1903 Mercedes-Benz, the first automobile in China. The Dragon Lady never took to it; she could not bear the thought of the driver sitting in front of her, Xing said.

We watched scenes from a Peking opera before hiking up steep stairs to check out the Tower of the Fragrance of Buddha and its amazing vistas. Then we strolled in the cool shade of the Long Promenade and rode a ferry across Kunming Lake.

Although we were constantly pressed for time, we managed to incorporate some touring pit-stops into our work itinerary. Here are a few of the other places we visited:

-The Beijing Zoo: Besides tigers and giraffes, the zoo has something most people don't see very often - panda bears.

Much of the facility could use a renovation. With too many concrete cages, it was hard not to feel sorry for the pacing animals. The pandas, though, had more room to lounge about than most of the animals. When we visited, the pandas rarely stirred from their midday naps.

However, there was plenty of inexpensive panda paraphernalia, from panda umbrellas to panda purses, for visitors to buy.

-Beijing Planning Exhibition Hall: The museum is something of an homage to Chinese planning. This is, after all, a nation led by engineers.

The exhibit hall includes a model of the under-construction city. One gets a helicopter view of the emerging new Beijing - the new slanted-square Central Chinese TV (CCTV) headquarters, the "Bird's Nest" Olympics Stadium, the Forbidden City - without leaving the ground.

Another section is dedicated to ancient Beijing, with models of courtyard houses and royal gateways. A highlight is the 174-foot painting depicting life along the city's north-south axis during the 1930s and `40s.

-Beijing by night: Though most business trips to China include plenty of dinners, clubbing and even karaoke singing and drinking, we decided to do a little bar exploring on our own. Why visit one bar when you can see dozens, if not hundreds? The Houhai Lake area has rows of bars and restaurants that attract foreigners and locals.

The lakeside street is lined with red lanterns, and the air is filled with techno pop. As in other parts of town, men invariably are approached by women offering, uh, companionship.

"Hello, sir, do you want to go to lady bar?" inquired one, describing establishments where young women do their best to encourage men to drink overpriced cocktails and beer.

We settled into one of the look-alike bars with a view of the lake, dotted with paddle boats, and ordered some beers. Though the neon scene can feel a bit tacky, it is lively, particularly on the weekends.

-Hutong neighborhoods: Xing suggested a quick tour of a historic hutong neighborhood, low-slung homes made in Beijing's famous courtyard style that line narrow alleyways. These structures, which quickly are becoming extinct as Beijing bulldozes its way to modernity, give a glimpse of the ancient Beijing pecking order.

We visited a hutong area in the shadow of the Drum Tower, succumbing to the ease of a tourist trap pedicab tour. We hopped in, and our guide rode on a separate bicycle. We visited a home that once housed the family of an emperor's concubine. The courtyard house was spacious, a sign of the early inhabitants' ranking in society.

The pedicab swiftly maneuvered the slender lanes, passing public bathrooms - many of the homes do not have private bathrooms - vendors selling fruit off carts and residents chatting in front of their homes. Because Beijingers occupy the renovated homes, the tour at times felt a bit invasive - especially when our guide invited us in to have tea with "a real hutong family." We passed.

Making time to hike among the relics and pose in front of pandas provided short but welcome breaks during our work trip. And it whetted our appetite for more out-of-the-office adventures.

Just don't tell our boss.

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ON A TIGHT SCHEDULE?

Here are John Boudreau's tips for maximizing your sightseeing hours in Beijing:

-Don't go it alone; instead, hire a guide. To find a licensed tour guide, check with your tour operator or your hotel.

-Brave the afternoon heat to avoid the crowds, which tend to flock to popular sights in the morning.

-Skip the Great Wall, which is a three-hour drive from Beijing.