Try some Chinese food.
I liked my time in China. Beijing you definitely want to go to the forbidden city, the palaces, a traditional Chinese tea ceremony and a Peking duck dinner. I also went off the beaten path a bunch and ate off stands and small restaurants.
Make sure you bring flushable wipes and sanitizer wipes in case you get caught up somewhere (like the Great wall or a community bathroom). Water... hydrate. The Chinese are a bartering culture, so you will be able to always negotiate while buying things, especially in the Pearl Market etc.
Are you in Tulane’s mba program? I have a neighbor going to China for her mba class and my brother went 2 years ago I’m the same program
I'm friends with a guy that owns a chinese restaurant (Best Wok in LaPlace!). He came over to the US as a teenager. He laughs at our Chinese food. he said they ate rice and veggies wokked but that's about it. No sweet and sour, no general tso... and certainly no all you can eat buffets!
Visiting one of the floating restaurants in Hong Kong was a good way to spend an evening, last time I was there. Google "Hong Kong Floating Restaurant" for additional information. Getting there by Junk (which included a harbor tour) was part of the fun.
For entertainment on the trip you might want to consider purchasing one of the iPhone external stick drives, the one that connects to the lightning connector and then curls around the back of the phone (if you are taking an iPhone). Walmart has a 32 GB for about $30, and Best Buy has larger sizes. It's good to preload movies for a trip, and also to download or backup photos from your phone. I'm sure they have them for android also. Most are stick sized and have a connector to fit your phone on one end and a USB connector on the other end. Handy size and don't need cables.
Get a couple suits made if you don't already own nicely tailored suits. Turn around for a fully custom suit should be about 2 days, and cost 250-350 bucks including shirt. That's for a wool, fully custom tailored suit where you pick the fabric, inner lining etc. Nice slim fit etc.
Got a suit, sport coat, and two button-downs!
Was it as cheap as it was a few years back? My brother actually has suits from China, Thailand, and Vietnam and they are all high quality fabrics.