Blogs from Beijing, China, Asia

Advertisement

Asia » China » Beijing June 25th 2023

After a solid night of sleep, we got typical chinese breakfast again in the hotel - fried chicken, noodles, stir-fry veggies, not too shabby. Then we made our way to the metro and down to the east gate of Temple of Heaven. Temple of Heaven For some reason, I thought it was an actual Temple, but it is a collection of buildings in the park built in the early 1400's. We got our tickets easy enough (we were there soon after it opened) and walked through the gate. The first location to the right was the Animal Sacrifice Pavilion, which we skipped. Then we saw the seven-star stones, which have mountain motifs engraved on them, symbolizing the seven peaks of Mountain Tai, and intended to show a united country. The main site was the Hall of ... read more
Hall of Prayer for Good Harvest
Double-circle Longevity Pavilion
Temple of Heaven

Asia » China » Beijing » Dongcheng June 24th 2023

For the Eid al Adha break, I was joining our Trekkup trip to Mongolia, connecting through Beijing. Since it did not start until late Tuesday, my friend and I decided to take advantage of the 144-hour visa for many foreigners at various entry cities across the country. The first section goes into the process since I know China has only just started to open up again and people are unfamiliar with some of the requirements. Arrival procedures Our flight left super early Friday morning and we arrived at the airport at 9:15 pm on Thursday; it took us 2 hours to check-in - it was busy but it was also apparently difficult to get confirmation that we could land and stay in Beijing. The first of many times this question was asked. The flight itself was ... read more
20230623_212729
Roasted duck and sweet shrimp
Cycling through Beijing

Asia » China » Beijing April 5th 2021

Yandai Byway is located at Beijing Di'anmenwai Avenue, north of the Qianhai Lake in Shichahai area with a length of about 230 meters and a width of 5-6 meters. It is Beijing's oldest commercial street which has numerous hotels, inns, and other foreign trade stores. Yandai Byway was built in the Yuan Dynasty, until the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) to the late 1920s or 1930s, the street mainly operated smoking sets like drought tobacco pouch, hookah. Your guide will show you the local life vividly through the old street to the magnificent ShiChaHai park area, along the way, you will be amazed by the unique Hutong scenery, architecture, and culture of Beijing. http://www.heygo.com... read more

Asia » China » Beijing » Forbidden City January 1st 2020

I spent my last day in Beijing checking out The Forbidden City, now called The Palace Museum. My hotel was close to this place, so I didn't need to take a train. The opening days are Tuesday to Sunday, and the tickets can be purchased at the entrance gates. This place is always packed with tourists, but the inside is big enough to move around. The Forbidden City reminded me of Andy Liu, a Hongkonger actor who appears in many Chinese television series. His best classic is The Return of the Condor Heroes. Classic!... read more
The giant metal bucket
The Dragon Warrior
The Turtle Warrior

Asia » China » Beijing » Great Wall of China December 31st 2019

In all my travel experiences, China was the most challenging country. I've experienced difficulties during my visit to Beijing, from entering the country, leaving the airport, staying and exiting Beijing. Not only the immigration regulations were strict, but the language barrier was a massive issue too. The scrutiny of the city is exceptionally high. The Chinese public security team and the military ensured the city was guarded. Surveillance cameras were also installed in busy streets and little blocks, which was uncomfortable at some point. Beijing got me frustrated at times however, sweet Beijingers made that drama disappear. I spent four days in Beijing under the Beijing 144 hours visa-free program. My travel point began in Beijing, where I took half the day to recover from long-haul flights. I felt the damn jetlag linger the next day. ... read more
Beijing at night
Beijing gate at night
Shopping in Beijing is heaven and a way to kill jetlag?

Asia » China » Beijing November 28th 2019

Being a total glutton, I wanted to do another food tour in Beijing. I booked up with Lost Plate for their evening food tour. I had enjoyed their breakfast one and the evening tour would go to a different area. It was also in a different area to the evening food tour I had done with Untour, so there would be no overlap. I like food tours as being a solo traveller, it lets me try many different foods that I probably wouldn't be able to if I was by myself as I wouldn't be able to eat it all and some places aren't made for solo dinners. We met at Lama Temple subway station. Our guide, Isaac, was really nice and gave everyone a beer or water in a special stubbie holder to start the ... read more
After
Barbecue
Barbecue

Asia » China » Beijing » Great Wall of China November 24th 2019

I have a massive love for Asia and I can't wait to start my journey. My upcoming trip begins from Beijing down to New Delhi then further down to Malaysia and Indonesia. Aside from pleasure, this trip is also a part of my world's seven wonders collection which I have collected 4 so far.... read more

Asia » China » Beijing » Fragrant Hills October 31st 2019

Fragrant Hills (香山公园/Xiangshangongyuan) had been on my list of places to visit in Beijing, but after seeing pictures of it in the autumn I knew I had to visit then as the trees all looked really pretty. Getting there was pretty simple and only involved a couple of buses for me. Fragrant Hills also has its own subway station, so it's really accessible from the city centre. As I made my way from the bus stop to the entrance, I was surprised that there were so many people about on a weekday. By this point, I really shouldn't be as there are crowds in most places in China. I enjoyed my walk along the streets leading to the park's entrance and it reminded me of the streets leading the trailheads in Korea and those leading to ... read more
Qinzheng Hall
Qinzheng Hall
So Many People

Asia » China » Beijing » XiCheng District October 25th 2019

When I visited China for the first time many, many years ago. I remember going to a place that I really liked but couldn't remember what it was called. I remember me and one of the guys I travelled with sat at an outside bar by a lake and it was really nice and chill. I don't think we planned to go there, we just ended up there. There were a few places that I thought it could have been, but it wasn't. That left Houhai, so I headed there for a wander around. I took the subway, not to the main part of the lake, but to Jishuitan Station as that is next to the smaller Xihai (West Lake). I had a nice walk around this lake. It was pretty quiet here, so not too ... read more
Xihai
Xihai
Xihai

Asia » China » Beijing » Dongcheng October 15th 2019

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
Two General Junipers
Jingshan Park
Jingshan Park




Tot: 0.136s; Tpl: 0.006s; cc: 12; qc: 65; dbt: 0.0718s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1; ; mem: 1.2mb