Jingsghan Park had been on my to visit list for quite a while. It is in a great location in central Beijing, just behind the Forbidden City. I was a bit gutted when I turned up, as there were quite a lot of tours groups outside of the park. I hoped they wouldn't all be heading in there. I went to the ticket office and was happily surprised that the entrance fee was only 1 or 2 RMB. A very cheap outing! Jingshan Park was opened to the public in 1928 and is popular with locals and visitors. There are quite a few things to see in Jingshan Park, the most famous being the view of the Forbidden City. I decided to look around some of the lesser known sights first. The first point of interest ... read more

30th Sept: The train journey to Shenyang wasn't too long. The station and the adjoining subway station was a sea of people. I managed to make my way to the ticket machine and onto the subway fairly quickly. The subway station that I alighted at was also packed, probably because it is a transfer station. It took about 10-15 minutes to reach my hostel. Even though it was rather early, I was able to check in. I loved my room. It was a dorm, but the beds felt like a mini room as there was a small patch of floor, a bedside table, curtains all around and space to hang stuff. It felt like a palace. I was rather hot and hungry so decided that lunch should be my first port of call. I looked online ... read more

I love Chinese breakfast food, but rarely have the chance to eat it due to a combination of different factors. I had done a breakfast tour in Beijing, when visiting previously and really enjoyed it, so decided to check out Lost Plate and their Hutong Breakfast tour. We met at 9 am, and were greeted by our lovely guide, Kelly, who already had something for us to try while we waited for everyone to arrive. I enjoyed the traditional Beijing yogurt drink, which Kelly gave us, I've had it before and it makes a nice change from a regular yogurt. I am not a big fan of honey, but you can barely taste it in the yogurt. Our first stop was just around the corner from the subway station and on the main street. There were ... read more

Summer has arrived and the heat has led me to look for indoor things to do. After some searching online, I came across the China National Museum of Women and Children. It sounded quite interesting, although there were few reviews of it online. The museum is a fairly recent addition to the Beijing museum scene, only opening in 2010, and isn't on most people's itinerary when visiting the city. From Dongdan Station, on Line 1, it was a short walk to the museum. The museum is large and looks pretty grand and modern from the outside. I headed to the ticket office, where ID was required to get a free ticket. Then after a quick few steps back out in the heat, I headed into the main building and through security. The museum has six floors. ... read more

Once again, I was surprised to wake up hangover free. We headed out for some breakfast and decided to check out the town next to Nanjiecun. We walked through the tunnel in the city wall, Choayangmen Gate. Inside the tunnels, there were some great sculpted murals on the walls of the tunnels. I enjoyed looking at those and it was another reminder that Nanjiecun is different to the rest of China. Through the other side of the tunnel, the contrast to Nanjiecun was quite stark. While Nanjiecun is quite stark and utilitarian with its red trimmed white building, this street in Linying County was full of traditional looking Chinese architecture and was really pretty. There were quite a few restaurants on the street and we just headed into one for breakfast. I had reganmian (hot dry ... read more