What to do in Beijing?

[Tassie Devil]

I am taking a trip to Beijing, via Hong Kong, in February for a Conference and have decided to get there a couple of days early so i can have some chance to experience Beijing.

I am on QF97 out of Brisbane late on a Thursday night, arriving in to Hong Kong at 6.00 in the morning and then on a Dragonair flight departing at 9.00 getting in to Beijing at 12.15.

First question is, what will my procedure be once i land in Hong Kong to then get to my Dragonair flight? I haven't been through Hong Kong before, so not familiar with the place.

Likewise, i haven't been to Beijing so don't know the layout of the airport, etc. As i am staying at a little boutique hotel at the East Gate of the Workers Stadium called A.Hotel, a pick up at the airport is arranged. Can anyone advise where i will find the shuttle bus pick-ups?

Once i get to the Hotel, i then have the rest of the Friday, all day Saturday and all day Sunday, before i then get picked up late Sunday afternoon to be taken to the Conference (Venue not advised yet, but possibly the "New Hilton")

So, what to do in Beijing for two and a half days? Any suggestions?

 

[nlagalle]

Ok for the HKG part you should get tagged through to PEK when you check in in Oz. So all you need to do in HKG is follow the transit signs to get to the departures level. HKG is a great airport too, easy to get around.

For Beijing, there is plenty to do. Forbidden City, summer gardens, the
Lakes (ho hoi).

Do some shopping at Silk st markets, cheaper than Yashow markets.

I'll have another think and post again.

Nick

 

[munitalP]

Forbidden city - its a 1 or 2 day exercise.. if I had 2 days it would:

Day 1.

have the hotel concierge organise a taxi to take you to the great wall, leave early and dress for the cold, head to Badaling, about 50 min's drive, have the cab wait for the 2-3 hours you choose to visit. this part of the wall has a cable car to take you up, you can walk all the way down again to the gate where the road passes through and re meet your cab - world of advice, don't use an organised tour, you will regret it...

On the way back into Beijing, stop at the ming Tombs, 2 hours needed here - great place. Have the taxi deliver you to the Temple of heaven, spend a couple of hours here, then as you leave, cross the main road and there is an excellent market where you can buy everything from A-Z. This market is visited my many westerners, so when bargaining, start at 10% of the asking price and never exceed 30%! You can easily get a taxi home from here.

I would aim for dinner that evening at any of the many Beijing Duck restaurants, you cant go wrong...

Day 2.

Taxi to the summer palace. Look at the tourist map you get when you pay your entrance fee, choose where you are going. I would suggest the walk up the hill is worth every step. In Feb, you should also be able to walk across the lake.

Taxi from there to Tienanmen Square, then walk across to the Forbidden City where you will easily kill the rest of the day.

Have fun, Beijing is a great city with some great sites.

Added: Pay no more than 100RMB per waiting hour with a taxi, negotiate your rates before leaving, have your concierge do this for you

 

[Tassie Devil]

Thank you nlagalle and munitalP for your responses and suggestions.

I was thinking along the lines of visiting some markets and a general walk around on the Friday afternoon, visiting the Great Wall on the Saturday and The Forbidden City and Tianenmann Square on the Sunday.

So with a taxi, it should only be about 800 RMB for a full 8 hour day? That's only about AUS$130 isn't it?

On the Friday and Saturday nights i may visit a few bars. Any suggestions around the area of the Workers Stadium?

On the way back to Australia, Dragonair from Beijing to Hong Kong and then Qantas from Hong Kong to Brisbane, will my luggage be tagged right through again?

 

[MAX_1]

I would speak with concierge about the cost of a guide. At the hotel I stayed, I was booked onto a guided tour and the guide was able to give information bout each of the various sites , that was better that a do it yourself tour. Our tour was a driver , a guide and 3 passengers. Can;t recall the cost, but was inexpensive.
The Silk markets are an eye opener,especially the staff of each stall who seem to know what you have already purchased and tell you how they are cheaper. A great experience.

 

[munitalP]

Thank you nlagalle and munitalP for your responses and suggestions.

I was thinking along the lines of visiting some markets and a general walk around on the Friday afternoon, visiting the Great Wall on the Saturday and The Forbidden City and Tianenmann Square on the Sunday.

So with a taxi, it should only be about 800 RMB for a full 8 hour day? That's only about AUS$130 isn't it?

On the Friday and Saturday nights i may visit a few bars. Any suggestions around the area of the Workers Stadium?

On the way back to Australia, Dragonair from Beijing to Hong Kong and then Qantas from Hong Kong to Brisbane, will my luggage be tagged right through again?

Qianmen MRT stop - 5 or 6 story market - WOW factor about 9.8/10

Mrs munitalP and I spend quite some time there and had a great time shopping. Affectionately known as the "copy market". Setting aside the fakes, there are some good bargains to be had on other goods as well. There's a thriving grey market happening at this market, so ask the right questions when looking

munitalP

 

[Hvr]

There is also the foreign legation area to walk around, after you go past the Forbidden City to Tiananmen Sq keep going and you will pass through the gates and be there.

Have fun playing around with the tea shop scammers , I took their photo and lead them on a bit before letting them know I knew about their scam. Best thing to do is assure them that you know they are honest but just want to check with the nearby friendly policeman. They will run very fast when you approach said policeman. :mrgreen: If it all gets too much just tell them to go away.

Be aware there are X ray scanners for your luggage/bag everywhere. This is just a perfunctory check and is done quickly.

Use the subway, cheap and easy to get around even for an English only speaker.

Go to the Olympic stadia, the Birds nest and swimming cube are great to see especially at night. Easy enough to get there using the subway.

Enjoy Beijing, it is a fun city to walk around and I found it very safe.

 

[Tassie Devil]

Thank you to everyone for your input. I do appreciate it very much. Maybe i needed a few extra days?

Anyone got any suggestions for good bars for a drink around the Workers Stadium area?

I will be flying on the Qantas A330 from Brisbane to Hong Knog and return in Economy. It's the overnight flight both ways. Has anyone had experiences of this flight they care to retell.

For the Hong Kong to Beijing leg and return i am on Dragonair. Once again Airbus A330. I presume because it's all on the one ticket and a codeshare arrangement that i accumulate QFF points on these legs as well?

 

[Tassie Devil]

There is also the foreign legation area to walk around, after you go past the Forbidden City to Tiananmen Sq keep going and you will pass through the gates and be there.

Have fun playing around with the tea shop scammers, I took their photo and lead them on a bit before letting them know I knew about their scam. Best thing to do is assure them that you know they are honest but just want to check with the nearby friendly policeman. They will run very fast when you approach said policeman. :mrgreen: If it all gets too much just tell them to go away.

Be aware there are X ray scanners for your luggage/bag everywhere. This is just a perfunctory check and is done quickly.

Use the subway, cheap and easy to get around even for an English only speaker.

Go to the Olympic stadia, the Birds nest and swimming cube are great to see especially at night. Easy enough to get there using the subway.

Enjoy Beijing, it is a fun city to walk around and I found it very safe.

Hvr, someone has already filled me in on the tea shop scam. I am looking forward to playing around with them on that one!

I will check out the Birds Nest stadium and the Swimming Cube. As you say, maybe during the evening. How far are they from where i am staying at the Workers Stadium?

And Hvr, go the saints in 2011, although deep down i think we may have missed our chance the last couple of years?

 

[nlagalle]

Thank you to everyone for your input. I do appreciate it very much. Maybe i needed a few extra days?

Anyone got any suggestions for good bars for a drink around the Workers Stadium area?

I will be flying on the Qantas A330 from Brisbane to Hong Knog and return in Economy. It's the overnight flight both ways. Has anyone had experiences of this flight they care to retell.

For the Hong Kong to Beijing leg and return i am on Dragonair. Once again Airbus A330. I presume because it's all on the one ticket and a codeshare arrangement that i accumulate QFF points on these legs as well?

Unfortunately when I was there it was all geared for the Olympics however in the side street beside Yashow market (I can't remember the name at the moment) there was a great selection of bars (we got plastered at a few of them). I'll look for my Beijing notes and see if i can get the name for you.

If you have all QF flight numbers, then you will get SC's and FF points.

 

[Tassie Devil]

If you have all QF flight numbers, then you will get SC's and FF points.

So if my Dragonair flights are KA numbers, i won't get QFF points on those flights?. As i have AsiaMiles, should i quote that for the Dragonair flights to at least accumulate some points?

 

[browski]

KA flight numbers will receive status credits and status points on nearly all booking classes.

 

[nlagalle]

KA flight numbers will receive status credits and status points on nearly all booking classes.

These are the eligible classes on DISC Y:

BHKLMV

http://www.qantas.com.au/fflyer/dyn/program/terms#jump25

Beware on the Disc class. I got cuaght last year on a trip on CX - S class - earnt nothing.

 

[moa999]

Was there in Feb a couple of yrs ago. My hotel concierge (Westin Financial St) wanted something like RMB3000 for the Badaling tour.

Instead I took the subway out as for North as I could (Line 13 at the time was the only one that went out that far) - there now also seems to be a Suburban Railway that goes to Badaling (Badaling railway station - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

then got a cab who drove me to Badaling, waited an hour, drove me to Longqing Ice Festival, then back to the station - all for the princly meter price of about RMB400 (plus a big tip)

At that time of year would recommend Longqing Ice festival - need to go at night, which is pretty close to Badaling (not as good as Harbin but still very impressive)
Longqing Gorge Ice Lantern Festival Night Tour - Beijing China Travel Agency

Had got the hotel to write chinese characters for both spots. The Beijing Subway is very easy to navigate.
As above city is very safe.

Other interesting thing I did was the underground tunnels but they now appear shut
Underground City (Beijing) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The new Silk markets (now a five story building) is good value but I preferred the old version (in 2000 it was a bunch of market stalls running the length of one side of the US embassy - poking their nose at US copyright.

Skip the Beijing Zoo.

On restaurants, two 'different' recommendations - you will no doubt do a Peking Duck meal as part of the conference.
Red Capital Club - serves a series of Emperor,s dishes in an old Chinese warriors house. Make sure you have very good directions as it is off the beaten path, but very western oriented
Le Lan Restuarant - a PHillipe Starck designed bar/ reastaurant - very out there

 

[k_sheep]

Instead I took the subway out as for North as I could (Line 13 at the time was the only one that went out that far) - there now also seems to be a Suburban Railway that goes to Badaling (Badaling railway station - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

Indeed there is, and you don't even have to stop at the jade factory on the way

I was in Beijing and Xian a few weeks ago, but don't know how much I can contribute - I was going the cheap way with everything.

 

[BensAdventures]

Don't miss the Temple of Heaven, it was mentioned earlier, it I was amazed. I also went to the market across the road from it and was VERY impressed. It's not as big as the silk market, but still good.

If you go to the Forbidden city, get the audio tour, it's worth it. I don't normally bother with audio tours, but my host recommended it and I was surprised how good it was.

I miss Beijing, especially the duck!!

 

[Hvr]

Don't miss the Temple of Heaven, it was mentioned earlier, it I was amazed. I also went to the market across the road from it and was VERY impressed. It's not as big as the silk market, but still good.

If you go to the Forbidden city, get the audio tour, it's worth it. I don't normally bother with audio tours, but my host recommended it and I was surprised how good it was.

I miss Beijing, especially the duck!!

My guide for the Forbidden City was very good and much better than an audio tour. Her English was excellent to the extent she could make all sorts of puns with me.

I also enjoyed the Summer Palace (in winter mind you).

 

[Tassie Devil]

Thank you everyone for your input and suggestions.

 

[munitalP]

Thank you everyone for your input and suggestions.

FWIW, there is a train to Badaling I have just found out, 80 minutes and costs a few dollars

 

[kamchatsky]

Well I just came back from 5 days in Beijing (and 4 days in HK). Whilst the weather was cold, it wasn't snowing. However, it was VERY WINDY at Great Wall Badaling section, my face was frozen and numb .......

My better half and I did the following:

Forbidden City (at "Tiananmen West" at line 1)
Tiananmen Square (at "Tiananmen East or West" stations at line 1)
Qianmen and its shopping district (at "Qianmen" at line 2)
Wangfujing shopping district (at "Wangfujing" at line 1)
Temple of Heaven (at "Tiantan Dongmen at line 5)
Summer Palace (at "Beigongmen" at line 4)
Old Summer Palace or Yuanmingyuan Park (nothing much as it is all burnt down). It is only 2 stops from Summer Palace (at "Yuanmingyuan Park" at line 4)

You should also go to Prince Gong's Mansion (Prince Gong Mansion - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia) which is very good, and in a way, a compact version of the Forbidden city but with added very beautiful garden. I actually find it better than Forbidden City in some aspects. There is no subway nearby but is walking distance from the "front sea" (Qianhai) and "back sea" (Houhai).

Most places apart from Great Wall can be accessed by subway, and it is great because it only cost 2 Yuan per trip (anywhere in subway network), makes it very cheap travel. The only issue is that your hotel would require some long walk to any of the closest subway stations.

Great Wall Badaling Section
The cheapest way to get there is to catch subway to Jishuitan (Line 2) and then walk about 300 metres to Deshengmen watchtower to catch one of the 919 buses out there direct to Badaling. One way on the bus is 12 Yuan, and is how the locals go there. However those people do not know how to speak English and only Mandarin, so if you cannot speak it is not a good idea as there are lots of different 919 routes around the area and you will certainly get lost. Better to take the train or otherwise join day tour (have to pay more of course ....).

You should try some of the following for food:
-Beijing Duck at Quanjude - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia ?? . It is definitely worth paying more for trying the best Beijing Duck in the business. There are others but nowhere as good as them.
- Gobuli (or so called "Go Believe") stuffed buns (Go Believe - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Goubuli (go belive) stuffed bun - China culture).

Have fun at Beijing. If you can, stay a few more days to look around as there is a lot to see.