Layover in Beijing

Not weird just inconvenient for sight seeing. Get a hotel room in town, have dinner, walk around, get a good night sleep, get up early to go back to the airport.

Indeed inconvenient for sight seeing. If you want to go into town (you might also consider taking a room in a hotel near the airport), have dinner and walk around and get some sleep. If you fancy a drink and a bit of night life, head to Shichahai or Sanlitun. Otherwise walk around Tianmen / Qianman / Wangfujing.

Google "Bejing at Night" http://www.tour-beijing.com/blog/beijing-travel/beijing-top-10/top-10-things-to-do-in-beijing-at-night

Just get some sleep.

If you have 12 hours from 8pm and fly out at 8am, that will mean that you will have to be back at the airport by roughly 6am so a hotel by the airport would seem necessary. You could still go into town for a short while after you check in but there isn't very much for you to see at that time. The one standout thing would appear to be Tiananmen Square and gate and, if you felt so inclined, the Birds Nest/Water Cube will be lit up like Christmas trees, too. You could have dinner/a drink in the Houhai bar area if you like.... But that's about your lot and the Airport Express stops running at about 11pm.

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