 What to do in Beijing |
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 ritchie ritchie ramos Post Count: 32 Msg: #1 148 days ago, June 14th 2009 | hi guys... it will be my first time in Beijing! I can't wait actually to see great wall of china, forbidden city, etc. You might have some great suggestions on places to see, food to eat, chinese phrases, etc. Let me know, pls! | thanks!  joncasssouthkorea Jon Wick Post Count: 15 Msg: #2 147 days ago, June 14th 2009 | Ritchie- | I just got back from Beijing on a quick 4 day trip over a long weekend. It's a great city. I'll give you our itinerary that we just through together- we saw all we wanted in the short time and it all worked out great. We stayed at the Beijing Downtown Backpackers Hostel which is phenominal and right in the middle of everything. We arrived early day 1, afternoon we walked to the Forbidden City and bummed around tian'anmen square- it's certainly an afternoon's worth or more. Day 2 we hiked 10 km of the great wall from the Jinshanling to Simitai sections. it was 3 hr. from the city, but worth it and away from the crowds. day 3 we rented bikes- little scary at times, but a super bike friendly town due to the olympics reconstructions. this opened up the sites of the city a lot more for us. we biked to the pearl market, another market i cant think of the name, the olympic park and buildings which are cool. last day we walked to a drum bell tower and a sweet lake area- sorry about the lack of names- maybe someone else has more specifics- it had some good night life, bars, and live music all along the water and was still happening during the day. I know next to nothing in chinese, Nihao and Sheay sheay (hello and thankyou) and we ran into a big lack of english or willingness of it while there. luckily we bought a small phrasebook that helped immeasurably- I would recommend that. I got a couple of blogs on our time there- feel free to check them out www.travelblog.org/bloggers/joncasssouthkorea . [Edited: 01:58 - joncasssouthkorea ] ritchie ritchie ramos Post Count: 32 Msg: #3 147 days ago, June 14th 2009 | hey | this is great! thanks much i'll take note of your tips/suggestions i'm currently working on our itinerary as well is it okay if i send it thru email to you once done for checking? if it's okay. if not, no problem :) my email add is <snip>that's also my yahoo messenger you can add me too in msn - <snip>thanks! [Edited: 09:39 - Mell - Please exchange contact details via the private messaging system. ] Roojoo Roojoo Post Count: 20 Msg: #4 147 days ago, June 14th 2009 | The lake distriction will be known as 'houhai' (although each lake has a different name), and is north west of the forbidden city. | Keep in mind there are at least 3 parts of the great wall open to the public, of which the simatai part is most distant and least crowded. Also a little more difficult to reach, but doable (especially if you book a tour, but that's a waste of money). And after all, it's just a huge pile of stones. Forbidden city, well, you have to see it. I found it more entertaining to just hang out on the big square, yes it's got a name, in front of there. Don't listen to art students trying to sell you their art. Just north of the forbidden city are some shrines with low entrance fees. Nothing special, but one of them had a hill with nice view of the forbidden city frmo the north side. Special for Beijing are the hutongs, poor looking streets where they sell you tourist crap and where you can find cheap hostels (normally the backpackers region of an asian city is in china town... but I couldn't find any china town in Beijing), and little courtyards with houses that look really cheap but you can never afford them. There are some famous ones, of which I only remember one just west of Qianmen lu, which is south of tiananmen square. However, Beijing remains a polluted stinking city and there are better things to see outside of there. ritchie ritchie ramos Post Count: 32 Msg: #5 146 days ago, June 15th 2009 | ow :) | thanks for this question on the great wall u said it's a little more difficult to reach but doable but booking a tour is a waste of money... what do you suggest? go there on our own? can you help us by telling us how to do that? thanks :) Roojoo Roojoo Post Count: 20 Msg: #6 146 days ago, June 15th 2009 | It's already 3 years ago since I went to Simitai. At that time, I took the subway to a bus station (can't remember which, but this was mentioned in the lonely planet). In this minivan there was a guy shouting 'simatai simatai simatai' (which really sounds different from how you expect it would), and then he dropped me, 1 hour later, at another parking place. From there I had to rent a van, which I could share with other travellers (100 rmb, shared by 5). | The trip to get there was more fun than the wall itself. ritchie ritchie ramos Post Count: 32 Msg: #7 146 days ago, June 15th 2009 | alright.. thanks for the info roojoo :) | brenda46 brenda Post Count: 11 Msg: #8 134 days ago, June 27th 2009 | 798 art galleries is fun and interesting and gives you an insite into the world of china |  oceanjeff Jeff Post Count: 7 Msg: #9 132 days ago, June 30th 2009 | Hi Ritchie, | I live in Beijing and do organize Great Wall trip ... Jinshanling to Simatai ... most hostel do the same tour for 190 to 270 rmb per person including only transportation ... i do it for 125rmb per person coz it is for couchsurfing members ... although everyone interested can join ... i can promise you this will be your highlight of ur Beijing trip ... as for food ... well ... near Dongzhimen subway exit A ... GuiJie (ghosts street) most famous food street in Beijing ... Beihai park + Houhai + Drum and Bell tower + the hutong is another day ... Forbidden City (go when they open at 8h30 , otherwise too crowded) then cross to Tian An Men square and further south west for the older Beijing part ... Temple of Heaven on a week end afternoon to see the old people playing cards, dancing, singing, flirting, etc ... Summer Palace week day ... so not so busy ... SanLitun and Houhai for evenings and drinks ... 798 is the art district ... old amunition factory turned art district ... interesting!! If interested in the wall trip contact me !! Enjoy Beijing! Number of Users: 5 | Number of Posts: 9 | |||||||||||||||||
