Qianmen 前 門

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It is another for tourist pedestrian mall. On the south side of the Qianmen exit "B"a block south of the rail road museum. You also can take the Tiananmen East exit and walk down the Tiananmen. It is a better route if you not in a rush. It looks unfinished a week a go and right now is the grand opening for the national day. Same as the line 4 of the new subway; both officially open on the 28th of Sept. All the scenic spots in Beijing can now be accessed by subway except the great wall.

All the shops are designed as the tourist are their main customers, Peking duck, Rolex, JFC, McDonald and etc. with the tourist prices. There are nothing really interest me except the Bank of China branch. Bank of China and HSBC (hard to come by) are the only two banks can withdraw a max. of 2,500 rmb per transaction on their ATM. Others ATM limited to 1000 to 2000 rmb per transaction. However you can withdraw multiple times at the same machine one after the others. The buildings are nicely done except none comply with ADA requirements. There are no A here, it does not matter. All shop floors are two steps higher than the mall street; may be prevent water go in during the rains.
Strollers are rare here, same as pregnant ladies.

There are two trolleys running up and down this mall approx. a mile long. It is with the tourist price to go with it, 10 rmb one way. The subway is only 2 rmb for one direction, so you can compare the price. I think all the tourists are rich except me. For those who park their car two spaces away are too far, it is worth the money.

If you are on the budget travelling like me. You can walk to the streets behind it after a stroll in the mall. There are all the local little shops and restaurants with the local prices. I think is a little more interesting. It even has the dollar store. Inflation made the dollar store become the 2 rmb stores, something like 30 cents in US dollar.

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Photos

Tiananmen 4
ready for the national day

rehearsal
performance rehearses for
the closed door opening

Qianmen 11
20 rmb for a round trip

Qianmen 4
I called the McDonald of
Peking Duck, it is everywhere

Old Qianmen
Back street of the new mall,
or the original Qianmen

Comments

[ralph lew]

hi tony,
from your past and present experience, where is the best place and rate to exchange us$ to rmp?

[BJwest]

Money Exchange
The best deal is use the ATM, Credit Union is the best no surcharge on any machine. HSBC is not bad but hard to find but their rate not as good as CU even on their own machine. HSBC on line savings ATM will work all over the world also. ATM is everywhere in China.