Worried about tourist visa refusal....

In reality, it is quite uncommon that the applications for tourist visas are rejected. To be rejected by the Chinese authorities for a tourist visa is extremely rare. Also, your question is vague and it is not possible to offer you some reasonable alternative because you didn't mention, beside Beijing, where would you like to go in China and for how long.

Of course, it is possible to take a plane to Beijing, explore the area and depart to a third country or to Hong Kong absolutely visa free relying on 144 hour visa free transit. After that, you can again travel from Hong Kong to Shanghai, explore Shanghai relying on 144 hour visa free transit and then fly to London. Everything visa free.

Now, if you want to know something more precisely, just present some inputs and you will receive precise answers. Thank you.

If your passport has a visa refusal stamp then you will be automatically disqualified for 144-hour TWOV. The official website did not mention any workarounds as long as you have that stamp so the implied way of removing the ban is to apply for a new passport. Note that this is only for those with the refusal stamp and there should not be a problem if you don't have the stamp.